This Thanksgiving we can see clearly in spit of any controversy at the dinner table, or more outrageous headlines in the news. We can keep Paul's simple list—let's call it a "simply living list—before us as a guide. From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thougths on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise. Practice these things. The God of peace will be with you.

We work with God when we "practice justice and pursue peace for the sake of all..." When we keep lifting up the oppressed, feeding the hungry and serving our neighbors... When we put our very lives between the evil doers and the persecuted... In these ways we are living the promise that God will and is doing a new thing! With God's Spirit fueling us, God's comfort surrounding us and Christ's promise that life lived with him is a life worth living, we forge on faithfully, because it is "in the promise of God that hope is kept alive. (Rivera)."

We join the saints in daring to imagine and engage the world in God's name. May the God of Jesus Christ give you a spirit of wisdom that you might come to the hope to which you have been called as the saints of God.

We gather because we seek to be renewed in our energy and efforts to live the way God requires in this 'in-between' time of waiting for God's ultimate reconciliation of creation. We look to God, whose purpose never ends with our individual lives, but keeps us involved with each other and with our neighbors. Seeking God's purpose, we are careful about our actions, aiming for each one to be out of gratitude, obedience and love. This is our path towards wholeness. May we walk in faith—fully formed yet always growing—and may we walk in love—love for one another and for God who first loved us.

It may sound funny at first, but Jesus tells us to be like a cheating tax collector. He was talking to people convinced of their righteousness, looking down on others with judgement. How do we hear the story? Let us humbly consider the source of many of our privileges and be more consistently aware of the toll others bear for our comforts. We all rely on God's mercy, especially those of us with advantages that delude us into believing we are self-reliant. When we open ourselves before God, we can all be certain of God's grace.

We have a very human tendency to equate success with blessing. When we do that, we end up comparing the other side to curses from God. We all too easily equate 'my good' and 'their bad' with God's choice. Let us not define answers to prayer with our limited vision, let us be open to finding answers in unexpected places, and let us continue to pray. Our faithful and persistent prayers keep us close to God. So, we pray for the Chibok girls, victims of sexual assault, for black lives to matter in our society, an end to the death penalty, decent homes for everyone, food for hungry children, and an end to the bombing. We can be persistent, because God is persistent and God answers our prayer.

In the healing of the lepers in Luke 17, Jesus tells the Samaritan his faith has healed him. So, did he save himself? When we faithfully pray for healing it's not always answered in the way we expect. Still, we are called to imagine our own healing and wholeness. The human response to God's mercy--what God did and is doing in Jesus--demands our faith, praise and gratitude. Faith saves not because humans do, but because God is.

Recall the people who first taught you faith and let their strength be passed on to you. As we face fears that seem like enormous obstacles, consider the lives of those humble servants who lived each day, not remarkably but faithfully. Can we faithfully accept that it's not about more, that we only need a little and likely we have enough already? When we live as servants—like Jesus did—having faith that we already have enough for each day, we keep on.

The message reflects on I Timothy, chapter 6 in three parts, followed by three reflections. Listen to God speaking through scripture and story to hear how we should live.

Known as the parable of the "Dishonest Manager", the story in Luke 16:1-13 has caused many a Bible reader to wonder what Jesus really had in mind. Listen as the congregation and Pastor work backwards through the scripture.