God didn't come to condemn us but to save us. God didn't come to shame us into relationship. God didn't send Jesus to condemn us and make us run and hide. No, Jesus came to free us from shame and fear and sin and darkness.

Our response to suffering is determined by the foundation of our lives.

Taking care of ourselves sustains us for whatever life throws at us, be it mountaintops or valleys. We all have mountaintop experiences, but most of our life is not lived on the mountaintop. We all have valley experiences, and fortunately, life is not lived just in the valleys. Most of life is lived somewhere in between.

When you are lonely or depressed, remember God’s power, kindness and love.

When you are lonely or depressed, remember God’s power, kindness and love.

The most important thing - our first-base tag - is staying close to Jesus. That's what sustains us for the lives and the works to which we are called.

God is Love. God showed His love to the world by sending His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. If we acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, we receive the very Spirit of God, and God lives in us and us in God. If the Spirit of God lives in you; God’s love will drive out fear, and you will love others.

When we love as Christ has loved us, we fulfill the letter of the law with the spirit of the law. But, we cannot love as Christ loves us without the Spirit of Christ in us.

God's Love is everything! Because it is the one thing that can endure all things, and the one thing that will never fail.

Jesus said "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". On this first Sunday of the new year, let's take the time to remember our own baptism.