Rev. Zach

Colossians 3:8-9 James 1:19 Colossians 3:12-13, 15b Last Sunday we talked about the power of words to build up, and we specifically struggled with the idea of speaking up for the needs of others without losing our identity as God’s people and without forgetting that everyone is created in the image of God. We also talked a little about the need for a witness that we can all agree on and share that grows out of our love for God and gets expressed through our love for those who are vulnerable. We did not talk as much about our own vulnerability as we did about those who are considered more at risk these days: the elderly, those who are in nursing homes or homebound, those with disabilities, supply chain workers and those in crowded and unsafe working conditions, our police and healthcare workers, and the African American community. If this list describes you as you are watching, know that we are worshiping online as a public witness of God’s love for you! This is a public witness t...

Scripture:  James 3:7b-10, Proverbs 31:8, Ephesians 4:29 Worship Online: youtube.com/c/fpclafayette From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My siblings in Christ, this ought not to be so. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. These words seem like simple truths, and, on the surface, they are. It is true that with the same mouth we praise God and curse those made in God’s image, and that ought not be so. Yet Proverbs 31:18 also tells us that we must, “Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute.” How is it that we can follow the rule of “not saying anything unless we have something nice to say” when there are some pretty bad things going on that need to be spoken about? Over the next two weeks, we are going to be wrestling with the difficulty of speaking out against injustice, while always working toward a greater unders...

Scripture:  1 Peter 1:24-2:10 Worship online: youtube.com/c/fpclafayette “Let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Peter’s letters were written to followers of Jesus who were both Jews and Greeks who were trying to figure out how to be faithful to God. They needed a way to escape the influence of the Empire and the trappings it brought, and so these letters focused on ways to follow and glorify God by living in response to the promise of forgiveness of sin and freedom from death. These early Christians were also trying to sort out what it meant to be God’s people, having included those who were not used to the rituals and customs that had set them apart as God’s people for generations. Most scholars also believe that these letters were written after the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed. They were meeting in homes and synagogues, and there was simply no way to fulfill...