First Presbyterian Church Of San Anselmo

Facing violence and death, Stephen fixes his gaze on the life we find in the Risen Christ – healing, justice, and mercy stronger than any power that can do us harm.

In Resurrection, Jesus shares life with us, and invites us to share everything in life-giving community.  Acts 2 gives us a glimpse -- a memory of who we hope to be, in Christ – a community where love takes shape, where we live together and learn together and break bread together, where we share what we have so that everyone can thrive.

On the Road to Emmaus, in the walking, talking, and breaking of bread – they experience the Risen Christ and the power of Resurrection – in the fullness of life – in every step – in every word – in every taste, sight, sound, smell, and touch.

Will we have the courage to embrace doubt and the faith to believe in the one who can overcome it?

In Resurrection, Jesus opens up a brand new day where everything that lies ahead is life.  The beginning, the middle, and the end – it’s all right here in this moment – full of grace and truth – alive in us. 

On Palm Sunday, Jesus sets his face like flint, knowing where he is heading, and leads us toward the cross and on into Resurrection.

In the valley of dry bones, Ezekiel embodies a word of life. In all our places of desolation, God breathes breath into our dry bones and brings us into new life.

The story of Jesus and the man born blind challenges us to question the assumptions underlying some of our questions -- and invites us to ask, "How can we heal?" and "How can we help?"

In all our parched places, Jesus gives us living water and invites us to live in relationships of mutuality.

With God, we go, into this world of new beginnings, together, to be a blessing and to welcome each other into beginning again.

This Sunday, we consider the story of Jesus tempted in the wilderness. In a world full of voices that compete for our attention, the one that matters most is the one that says: “You are a beloved child of God.”

In the experience of awe, God draws us out of ourselves, connects us to something so much bigger than us, and urges us into lives of strength, courage, and kindness. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus opens up an ethic for living God’s brave new world into being. In Jesus Christ, we come to understand that what God has always been doing is urging us toward what matters most – what God has always been about – the dignity and well-being of all humanity and all creation.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus announces a brave new world, breaking forth even now. We actualize that when we live it out. “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” Let salt be salty. Let light shine.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus announces a brave new world that honors and dignifies and lifts up our humanity and that, in Christ reshapes our lives on the basis of loving relationship.

“Follow me” is an invitation not just to do something, but to be something. It is an invitation to belong to God’s beloved community.  

As we set intentions at the start of a new year, God guides us together into the life of Christ.

On the first day of the new year, we arrive in this truth: The Word became flesh and dwells in us, full of grace and truth.  Let it be.

This is the Good News of Christmas – the heartbeat of God pulsing in the fullness of humanity.  As we live into the life of Christ, we become the heartbeat of God in and for the world God loves.