We begin a series of five Sundays devoted to the theme of "Foreigners." As Christians, we, at least we here at GNF, do not advocate for wall building. We advocate for Christ, who, scripture tells us, 'broke down the dividing wall of hostility between two separate peoples in order to make them one people'. The "one" referenced here is God's people or, more pointedly, Jesus' people. It is why God said the foreigners, when they come to worship should worship in the manner he prescribed for his people Israel. They were to look at foreigners who came to faith as equals. How are you doing with that?

We have all been afraid at one time or another. We all know what its like to experience angst or even panic. On Easter morning Jesus' friends, family, and disciples all had reason to feel fear, angst, and panic. They must have been asking, “Now what?”. That question has not changed. We, too, need to ask “Now what?”, “What shall we do?”, “What do I do?” Resurrection means “to get up”. Resurrection resists death. It resists just laying around. It resists the predisposition to give up and do nothing. This Easter morning we'll explore what resurrection looks like in our lives.

This Sunday at GNF: Go back to a time when you were about to start something new; something that created some angst and apprehension. It's one thing to launch into something new with all your ‘ducks in a row’, it's another to begin with a serious handicap or disability. Imagine having to continue parenting without your eyesight. Scary, eh? Israel was about to start something new despite numerous disadvantages. They were going in blind. They had to trust that when God led everything would work out. The same is true for GNF, especially now.

We are told that Jesus cast 7 demons from Mary Magdalene. In essence she was a crazy lady; the lady we shy away from or avoid eye contact with; the lady sitting on the sidewalk talking to herself. Today we’d say she has a psychiatric diagnosis of some sort. What ever else has been said of Mary she was definitely considered to be unclean, a sinner, a person to be avoided and even shunned. She ended up being part of a very enterprising group of women who everyone knew were providing financial support for Jesus and his followers, a group of women that others came to depend on. How would you feel about being taken from the very dregs of society to move about in circles far beyond your wildest dreams? It’s something that Jesus does for all who come into contact with him. What might he be calling you to?

This Morning...

We will take a look at Christ’s relationship with two very different sisters, Mary and Martha. One values service and doing while the other seems more content to just be with people. One seems more concerned with fairness and justice while the other is quicker to surrender herself. Yet Jesus loved them both. Many scholars believe that he was very close to the two sisters and their brother Lazarus, that he visited there often and found, so to speak, a second home there. Some have suggested that that is why he raised Lazarus from the dead but I think that is why he allowed Lazarus to die. Though it did not change the sister’s personalities it did change them from the inside out which is the one hallmark of all real relationships with Jesus.

We look at the last chapter in the gospel of John. It is the story of the disciples going fishing despite being asked by Jesus to remain in the city till the Holy Spirit came. Maybe that’s why they went fishing. Fishing they knew – Holy Spirit, not so much. Maybe they were sitting on pins and needles and could barely handle the waiting. Sounds a little like GNF. We are in a kind of waiting mode with Thursday evenings and the upcoming retreat and wondering about GNF’s future. What is interesting in this story is not their obedience or lack thereof - not their excitement for the arrival of the Holy Spirit – what is interesting is that Jesus comes to find them and that he comes with power, assurance and grace. We should expect no less.

Today we will be looking at the parable of the Talents.

Although "talents" in the context of the parable refers to

money it was used by Jesus as a symbol of our faith and

the gifts or "talents" that he has blessed us with. The

essence of Christ's teaching is simple, "if you don't use it,

you lose it". As true as that is in learning a new language

or in playing a musical instrument or in

keeping physically fit, it is also true in our

spiritual lives. Having said that, it is not

so much about the the hard work of

practice as much as it is just "resting" in

Christ and letting him "pump us up".

We continue our summer series, Parables: Small Stories, Big Ideas.

The story of our focus today is the Parable of the Laborers. Many

people think that this story is about fairness but in truth Jesus is

addressing the fact that his hearers are not really hearing what he is

telling them. Picture it.....God came to earth and told stories to

people about HIS KINGDOM and all they could think about was

their own lives. What is amazing is that God did not leave them in

their foolishness, he was, as he promised so often, slow to

anger and full of compassion. May you sense that reality

for yourselves and your community this morning. May you

find yourselves at the footstool of his throne of Grace.

There are several things going on this morning. The first

and obvious one is that we will be celebrating the

sacrament of Holy Communion. If you believe that Jesus

is the Son of God and that he did conquer death and hell

for you and if you feel Him tugging on your heart’s sleeve

then please join in. We will also take some time to remember the

compassion of God to Wes and Linda P. and their family and

also to us here at GNF for sparing his life one year ago and giving him

back to us. Lastly we’ll continue our summer series “Parables: Small

Stories, Big Ideas”, with a look today at the parable of the five wise

and five foolish virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom. Don’t

worry, by the end of this morning’s service it will make more sense

to you. (I hope.) May you find a blessing of Peace and Grace this

morning as we take time to turn our hearts towards God.

We are exited to begin our new series for the summer with our new pastor, Kasey V. starting us off today. Kasey will share his thoughts with us on "The Sower" from the book of Mark. We'll continue learning about stories Jesus told right through August including a fun 'Stories & Songs' Sunday in late July. So listen up and see what you can learn this summer from the best story teller of all.