It is not your identity that determines your faith. It is not your qualifiers that determine whether or not you are capable of receiving the promise of new life. God’s love in its full divinity is greater than the shallowness and brokenness of our humanity.

In the parable of the prodigal son, the younger son had squandered all he had and was welcomed back by the father. It’s a great promise of God’s love for all who have sinned and lost. But the story isn’t just about a younger son, it’s about a father who had two sons. The older son’s interaction invites us to see the greater love of God in the work of reconciliation.

Have you ever been in the same place as Job? Have you ever felt like the world was against you? Have you ever been tired, weary of the world, and felt exhausted in a cloud of darkness? It’s not always easy, but the story of Job invites us to find the “yes, and …” of darkness.

What are we do to with the law? Entrap Jesus into heresy? That’s what the Pharisees tried to do, and they used divorce as the area of law to attempt such a task. Perhaps we should consider more deeply the intent of Mark 10:2-12, and rethink our own use of church law today.

Yes, we will not always understand the almighty work of God’s love in the world – we may not even always agree with it … and … God still invites you and me to pursue this call of discipleship, to learn and to grow, to expand and to embrace, to be redeemed and reconciled, that God’s created humanity might share in the eternal joy of God’s love for all of creation.

Guest Preacher: Shani Mcilwain. Sometimes death is a reminder that we can’t stay comfortable. We must die daily to flesh, and wake up new each and every morning, receiving the daily grace and mercy of God. You don’t have to rely on yesterday’s grace – you can afford to step out and do something new, something radical, something different because you belong to a Savior who has made that possible.

The first step to living into the “yes, and…” invitation is to say yes. We can’t add on the “and” until we’ve acknowledge what is. And yet, saying “yes” is insufficient for God, and it shouldn’t be sufficient for us as God’s people.