“Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?” – Ezekiel 18:29

We talk a lot about justice. People protest in the streets and online in the name of justice. As children, we demand fairness from peers, parents, and teachers. As adults, we demand justice from our government, from the courts, from one another. But, too often, what we really mean by fair or just is that we get our own way. We pay little attention to whether everyone else is getting what they need too. God’s justice, however, sets our own demands aside and calls us to look at the world in a different way. To find true justice where all experience the dignity accorded to God’s children. To find true fairness where everyone has what they need, no more and no less.

“Owe no one anything, except to love one another… Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” – Romans 13:8, 10

We are the church. We are called by God to be followers of Jesus. But what are we called to do? How are we to live out our faith? These last months have reminded us how deeply we are impacted by the lives of those around us and how we impact them. It has shown us that the discrete circles we’ve created or independent lives we’ve tried to lead are illusory. We are connected and God wants us to be connected. As the church, we are called to participate in God’s ever expansive love, to create and nurture connections in new ways.

“Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:

‘I will open my mouth to speak in parables;

I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.’”

 – Matthew 13:34-35

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The stories we tell about ourselves and our communities shape us; they let us know who we are and how we should live. They tell us truths about the world. In every story we hear deep truths that speak across ages. Yet, sometimes we need to hear these truths in new ways. We need to retell our stories so that we can see their heart again.

“Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” – Matthew 10:39

How do we live our everyday lives as people gifted by the Spirit and called to follow the Way taught by Jesus? Every teaching of Jesus seems contrary to the way we understand the world to work. Our relationships will be strained; our priorities upended. But maybe, if we walk this path, we’ll discover God giving us even more.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” – Matthew 28:19

This Word was never meant to be held close. It can’t be contained in a house. The Spirit comes and blows the doors wide open. It pushes us out of our comfortable routines so we can be and share the good news. What that means has changed dramatically over the years. How we reach out to others, how we minister, and how we preach don’t look the same now as they did even twenty years ago. But one thing never changes: we are sent, out of ourselves and into the world.

“I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” – John 14:20

God calls us into relationship. In God we find ourselves truly known. We come as a community, the body of Christ, to live out our relationship with God in the world. To live as God calls, we cannot know one another just in passing but must know one another deeply, holding each other as God holds us.

“For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls” – Acts 2:39

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Fear can blind us. When our world is rocked, we cling to what we already know. But, especially in the midst of our hardest times, God is there, doing a new thing. Will we let fear box us in or will we open our hearts to God’s hope? In the midst of death, God creates life. Christ is, indeed, Risen.

“Pray then in this way” – Matthew 6:9

Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. Jesus teaches us a prayer for all times. Yet, sometimes we still struggle to talk to God in prayer, to understand what we’re being asked to do. There are many ways to pray, many types and many occasions. We will explore some common themes of prayer, building tools to truly do as Paul counsels and pray without ceasing.

“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” – Matthew 11:3

Some say that faith is the opposite of doubt, that certainty means having no questions. But this is not God’s way. You can trust in God and have lots of questions about life and faith. Faith and doubt side by side, hand in hand. They are not mutually exclusive. Without questions, our faith becomes stagnant, we become so sure in ourselves we lose sight of God. We come with our questions, exploring them together, seeing where the journey takes us.

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us” – John 1:14

The Christ child has been born. We spent weeks preparing our lives to live in accordance with this promise. Now we step out in the fullness of the promise.

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” – Matthew 3:3

This Advent season we explore what it means to prepare. What it means to ready ourselves to receive a vulnerable child, God made flesh, into our lives and world. What it means to prepare to respond as God wills to the most vulnerable among us. In worship and in devotions at home we will Prepare to welcome and be Christ in the world.

“we strive to worship God in every aspect of our lives” – Design of CCVP

In the midst of everything that changes, we find our foundation in God through Christ. When we forget who we, are we are reminded. We are sought and found. Our names are known. Our mistakes do not define us. We are asked align every part of our lives with our foundation, stepping out into a life centered in Christ in all ways.

“What is your name?” – Genesis 32:27

Calling someone by name is powerful. It lets a person know they are seen, not as an object, but in their full humanity. God calls each of us by name and knows the very hairs on our heads, but we don’t always give one another the same honor. We are called to speak names truly, to see and know one another. We name Jesus as our Savior and seek to embody that in our whole lives.

“Am I a God near by, says the Lord, and not a God far off?” – Jeremiah 23:23

Jesus often calls people out as hypocrites, people who say one thing and do another. Sometimes we struggle to hold together multiple parts of our faith, to allow God to guide, to act as we know we should. We are called into a faithful life, to use eyes guided by the Spirit. We are called to encounter divine paradoxes and to step faithfully into complicated situations guided by our understanding of God’s love.

“Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.” – Exodus 20:8

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Sabbath, a time for rest and rejuvenation. A time for slowing down and reconnecting with God. As I end my Sabbatical time, we reflect together on the practices of Sabbath and Sabbatical and what emerges from times of rest, rejuvenation, and reorientation.

On the seventh day God rested and celebrated all of creation. God surveyed all that God had made and said, "It is good." Over and over we hear God’s call to Sabbath, a day of rest, a time and space to focus on God. In addition to taking time weekly to pay closer attention to God, we may also take a season to refocus ourselves on God, a Sabbatical. Beginning on April 28, Pastor Laura will be on Sabbatical.

While she is away from the congregation, we will be joined by wonderful preachers. On April 28, Amanda Prorak will bring her music and message to us. Calvin Bloesch will worship us May 5 through June 9. Jerrianne Iseley will worship with us June 16 through July 21.

We hope you will join us for worship during this season of renewal.

“stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.” – Philippians 4:1

When we talk about putting down roots, we are usually saying we have chosen to make a particular place our home, to develop the relationships and connections which nurture life. While we may root ourselves in a physical location, our deepest roots are in relationship and community. They are in God. Throughout Lent, we explore the ways we nurture our roots and the ways our roots sustain us, even when we have forgotten they are there. God brings us nourished life so that we may stand firm as beloved children of God.

Who is the God we follow? What does God have to do with our day to day lives? Together, as a congregation, alongside others in the Chicago area, we ask seven big questions of life and faith, exploring God in our midst.

God draws near to us. A promise is proclaimed. Signs are revealed. The way is prepared. A baby will be born, God with us. As we anticipate the coming of God in human form, God asks: how will we draw nearer. How do we prepare for the coming king? How do we respond to the child in our midst? How will our lives reorient to the nearness of God?