With our lives turned upside down by the disruption of COVID-19 and Stay at Home orders, how do we as people of Jesus go about life? As we find ourselves coping with stress, busyness, or boredom, what does Jesus call us to? The answer, is what he has always called us to.

As the effects of Covid-19 continue to impact our daily lives, we begin to ask ourselves when this will end. Serious questions about our life and mortality begin to invade our hearts. What if a loved one dies? What if we die? Death is Jesus’ enemy and not His friend. But there is good news, death does not win.

In times like these the question almost always arises, did God do this to us? Are we being made to suffer as judgment? This week we address this question head on as we grapple with our suffering and a loving God.

This week the world was turned seemingly upside down. The effects are far reaching and have even caused us to cancel our in-person services. Nevertheless, our call from Jesus is not suspicion but love. How might we do that? Here are some ideas.

What does a life of love look like? It means our lives are imbued with love in all aspects, including our careers. The American vision of work is one of success, prestige, and fulfillment. Jesus’ vision of work is a vision of love. Paul, in one of the earliest letters of the church, gives us a picture of how this worked in the earliest days of the spread of the Christian faith. How might this vision transform our work? What would it mean for us to love in our work?

The Christian faith from the beginning has been simple. Jesus Himself boils it down to two commands, love God, love others. But both require vulnerability. Paul understood this and we find him doing just that in one of his earliest letters in the New Testament. How do we as followers of Jesus imitate this type of vulnerability? What does it look like for us to truly love others? Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians helps us.

Encountering the Living God can be frightening, but over and over again, when faced with God's glory, the message is clear, "fear not." A similar fear of being seen and known causes us to fear vulnerability. We fear rejection. We fear being unloved and cast out. But John tells us that these fears, of God and vulnerability, are tied together and that the one overwhelming force that overcomes our fear is love.

When we understand what prayer is and why we should pray, we are still left with the very real and practical question of how to do it. The Church throughout the centuries, in a variety of expressions, cultures and socioeconomic realities offers us a primer. What do those who have literally devoted their entire lives to prayer have to teach us when it comes to the practical question of how? This week we find out.

It can be so easy to fall into the trap of substituting religiosity for genuine spirituality. Jesus teaches us that the distinction between the two centers on the presence of God. One experiences the presence of God with depth while the other is a veneer substituting itself for the experience of God’s presence. We would call both versions prayer, but only one truly is. How do we know if we are truly leading spiritual lives and not playing a part? If we don’t have this how do we get it? Jesus helps by teaching us to pray.

Jesus implores us to pray for God’s harvest. This invitation into prayer is an invitation into the work of God’s Kingdom. But it is also an invitation that is often misunderstood. How does this subtle command change the way we live our lives as the people of God? The answer is found in the core of who God is.