It seems that our world is brimming over with evil. Racial bigotry, terrorism, political strife, crime, war (and the threat of war), meanness, loneliness, and well, you can finish this list because you feel these things crashing into your heart every day. And it leaves us all with feelings of anger, fear, and sadness, which often lead to anxiety, rage, isolation and tribalism, medicating, depression, and callousness.

Jesus' response to all this? His church. His chosen people whom He summoned and set apart to be a counter-story to all this chaos, to be His presence of healing and gladness, to be His mouthpiece calling every tribe and tongue to, "Come on! Join us! Be a part of this beautiful, never-ending story!"