First Presbyterian Church Of San Anselmo

Grounded in Christ, empowered by the Spirit, we engage the work that is ours to do in the world. The Spirit gifts each of us with particular gifts that together we embody for the common good.

In the waters of baptism, we find our identity with and in Christ, in a community of mutuality and sharing. In a tumultuous world, we ground ourselves there.

The prophets look to what God is doing in the world: Always, God is bringing new life for a new day. Let’s begin every day there.

In the ache of our world, God enters into the lowest places, comes alongside the most vulnerable, and makes God’s home there.

With the angel, Mary proclaims that God is turning the world rightside up.With Mary, will you say “yes” to being turned rightside up?

In the clamor of the world, God gives us a holy hush – quiet to listen and watch for God’s tender mercy setting the whole world free.

When we choose to live lives of gratitude, generosity, and sharing, it is a radical, subversive act. We say “no” to the dominant narrative of scarcity, and “yes” to sharing a world full of God’s abundance.

In a world stripped bare, God’s unshakeoffable lovingkindess grounds us, sustains us, and moves us forward.

On All Saints’ Sunday, we remember how we have seen God at work in the lives of the saints. This Scripture reminds us that what God is doing in the world is so much bigger even than what eye can see and ear can hear.

Over the course of the Scriptures through the Hebrew Scriptures, and really on into the New Testament, again and again, a tenacious people make meaning out of the recurring rubble of their world. Standing in the reality of that rubble, the people lament even as they glimpse a path toward healing, weeping, and shouting, and singing “God is good. God is good. God’s steadfast love endures forever.” God creates us for life in community and accompanies us so that, in a changing world, even in calamity, we can find our way to life.

At the Welcome Table, Jesus invites one and all, the deep need of the world becomes clear, and Jesus says to us, “You give them something to eat.”

Jesus gathers us in and sends us out, insisting that we create home for each other along the way. Home is both a place of shelter, steady and sure – and a vital and living place of encounter – moving out into the world – meeting and greeting the world – in ever-expanding circles of hospitality, welcome, and healing.

In worship, we welcomed to the pulpit Elder Susan Krehbiel from the Migrant Accompaniment Ministries of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.  Looking to the experiences of migrants and those who accompany and support, Krehbiel invited us to consider what we have to learn from heart-opening encounters with each other.

A sower went out to sow: In the work we do, the life of Christ comes alive in us.

In these courtroom scenes in Scripture, we have seen a lot of real life, and we’ve seen God right there in the midst of it all – with truth, wisdom, justice, compassion, mercy, and grace. In this Scripture, Jesus invites us to wade into real life and engage the worthy work of reconciliation.