This past spring our church council and staff, along with input from the congregation, discerned how to put our core values as a faith family into words. The result was the following core value statement:

 At Abiding Presence:

All Are Welcome
We are a Faith Family, Together
We are God's Hands and Feet in the World
We See People as Christ Sees Them

 In my weekly newsletter messages this month, I have been exploring what each of these core values mean. This week I want us to take a look at “We See People as Christ Sees Them.” This value encompasses the idea that we both see other people as Christ sees them AND that we come to see ourselves as Christ sees us, too. They are two sides of the same coin of looking at people through the lens of Christ rather than the lens of the world.

First, let’s talk about how we see others through the lens of Christ. We know how Jesus sees people. The Bible is filled with stories of Jesus not only   noticing those who were on the margins, but also stopping to engage with them. He touched people who were considered to be unclean. He welcomed at his table those who were shunned. Over and over again, Jesus widens the  circle of who is included in the kingdom of God. No one is unworthy of Jesus’ time, attention and love.

When we look at others through the lens of Christ, we see not their sin, faults or mistakes, but instead we see that they are beloved in God’s eyes. We may not like them or their behavior. But, we are called to see them and treat them as  fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, beloved by God. That’s what we try to do here at Abiding Presence, whether the person is a fellow church member, one of our weekday community center guests or someone in the community in need of help.

I’ll be honest, some days this is harder than others. When telemarketers call the church, the last thing I want to do when I pick up the phone is to treat them as a beloved child of God. When someone throws a brick through the church    windows like happened this summer, it is really hard to stop and see them as Christ sees them. When I get cut off in traffic or hurtful by someone’s words, my go-to lens is not Christ’s. It takes practice, lots of it, to see  people first and foremost as Christ sees them.

To see others through the lens of Christ is not enough, however. We also come to see ourselves through that same lens. In my sermon last weekend I preached about being   defined by our identity as beloved children of God instead of the successes or failures the world tells us matter. As I preached last weekend, I need the voice of this faith family and of the God we proclaim to be the loudest voice in my life and in the lives of my children.

I wholeheartedly believe that this core value in our faith community has the possibility of changing our lives and the lives of others with the good news of God’s love. It’s a different way of being in the world. It is the way of Jesus. While it is far from easy, it is important.

This weekend we have the privilege of welcoming new members into our faith family. To our new members we say, “Welcome! We are glad that you are here.” We are the vibrant, Spirit-filled church we are because of new people like you who come into our midst.  

Welcoming new members is a great  opportunity for all of us to remember who we are as God’s people here at Abiding Presence. As some of you might recall, this past spring the church council and I invited the congregation to help us identify our core values. Core values serve as guiding principles that shape our life together. They reflect how we understand our call to be the Body of Christ in this time and place. 

 At Abiding Presence:

All Are Welcome
We are a Faith Family, Together
We are God's Hands and Feet in the World
We See People as Christ Sees Them

Today, I want to focus on what it means to live out our value of “We are a Faith Family Together.” As I look at it, there is a lot packed into this one phrase!

Family
As a congregation, we place a high   priority on supporting families, especially parents/caregivers and children/teens. Our worship environment is one that offers grace to adults as they teach children how to worship. We invest with time, finances and staff in our growing children, youth and family ministries. We envision new ways to connect with students, such as the Sunday night Youth Group ministry we launched this fall. We want to be a church where families/children/teens are fully integrated into all aspects of our life and ministry.

Families at Abiding Presence come in all different shapes and sizes. At any given worship service and throughout the week you will find families who are nuclear, extended, biological, adopted, blended, separated, LGTBQIA+, interfaith and not-so-sure-about-faith. Our definition of “family” is as broad as the beautiful diversity of families in our congregation and the community in which we live.

Faith Family
More than just wanting to support   families, though, we understand the church to be family. You will often here me teach, preach, write and talk using the phrase “faith family” to describe the church.

All that said, when we talk about family, we realize that it isn’t a word that creates a sense of warmth and       acceptance for everyone. For those whose prior family and/or church experiences have been less than   positive, we grieve with you and want this faith family to be a place where you find hope.

Together
At Abiding Presence, we live life together. It’s not perfect. Often times our life together is messy. Some days it involves a lot of forgiveness, grace, patience and strength. Many days, it offers great joy. We seek to be faith family that is real and authentic as we do life together.

We are a Faith Family, Together
I am grateful for each one of you and your place in this faith family. It is my privilege to walk with you in the holy space of being one of your pastors, raise my children alongside you and do life together with you.

I have been reminded recently of the opening  words of the ELCA social statement “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice,”  which say:

Christian concern for the environment is shaped by the Word of God spoken in creation, the Love of God hanging on a cross, the Breath of God daily renewing the face of the earth. We of the ELCA are deeply concerned about the environment, locally and globally, as members of this church and as members of society...we know care for the earth to be a profoundly spiritual matter.

We worship a God who is the creator of heaven and earth. This means that as people of faith and followers of Jesus, care for the earth is a spiritual matter. One of the ways we live out our faith and live in relationship with our Creator God is in the way we steward the earth. 

So, what does this mean? First and foremost, it means that I have sinned and fallen short in my care for the earth in ways too numerous to count. Maybe you have, too. I am mindful that there is much that I have done and left undone when it comes to being a good steward of God’s creation. 

Second, it means that the church has something to say to the world about what it means to care for God’s  creation. As people of faith, caring for the earth is something about which we can and should speak out.

Third, understanding that our care for the earth is connected to our lives as   followers of Jesus, we as the faith family of Abiding Presence have the chance to model what it looks like to be good stewards of God’s creation. I hope we can begin to have conversations around what this might mean moving forward. If you would like to be part of the discussion, please let me know.

As we seek to better steward God’s  creation, we are trying a few things this weekend in order to reduce the amount of paper we use in worship. These changes are experiments to see what might work (or not work) as we seek to care for the earth. I welcome your feedback as to how they go.

Here’s what we are trying:

· Having one prayer request sheet in the back of the sanctuary instead of stuffing individual sheets in each bulletin. (Reduction of 150 pieces of paper/weekend)

· Offering a small number of reusable worship outlines at the 8:45 a.m. service instead of printing a worship folder for each  person. (Reduction of 130 pieces of paper/weekend)

· Creating a worship folder for Saturdays that can be used for a few weeks in a row. (Reduction of 500 pieces of paper/month)

I look forward to continuing the  conversation as a faith family about what it means to be good stewards of God’s creation here at Abiding Presence and out in the world.

Some days go better than others. We know that, right? Still, when those “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad” days come (like the title of the beloved children’s book), we struggle. We wonder what went wrong. We replay the day over in our heads analyzing what we might have done differently. Sometimes, we even get angry at God.

I spent this past week immersed in the prophet Hosea in preparation for this weekend’s sermon. If anyone was going to be able to claim he had a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad” day, Hosea was the one. His story is one of love, heartbreak and frustration.

You probably could have gone to Sunday School every Sunday for your entire life and never heard of Hosea. He is referred to as one of the “minor prophets” found in the Old Testament. The biblical book of Hosea is short and to the point. If you have a minute this week, dig out your bible and give it a read (or just click on this link and read it online).

The prophet Hosea didn’t just tell the people of God’s great love for them, he felt it. His own story mirrored God’s story of falling in love with the people, having them  stray and then desiring them to come back with his whole being. Hosea proclaims to us a God whose desire to be in relationship with us is greater than anything else in all of creation. When all else fails, God is still there reaching out to us, drawing us in and calling us beloved. There is no bad day that can be so bad that God still will not be there calling us back.

Last weekend many of you got to be part of our kick off Sunday as we began a new year of ministry.  We launched our largest Sunday School program ever with 12    classes for children ages infants/toddlers through senior high and 100 adults in Bailey Hall for the Abiding Table. We had to pull out a few extra chairs at the 8:45 a.m. worship service and at the Abiding Table to make sure that everyone had a seat, which is always a good problem to have. (Don’t worry, we’ll always have a seat waiting for you when you arrive!) Every available space in our facility was in use.

What many of you might not have had the chance to see was what happened Sunday night when 40 7th—12th graders and 13 adults came back to church to launch our new Youth Group ministry. I had no clue what to expect when I pulled into the parking lot with a carload full of Chipotle. I hoped that there would be a few people gathering. I was shocked to find the parking lot filled and students      literally pouring out of cars. It was amazing!

Youth Group is a chance for our students to hang out, play games, engage in a worship experience, eat dinner and spend time in small groups talking about faith and life. Already, there are many powerful stories coming out of this ministry. It is an example of how we are living out are calling Connecting People to Christ through Community.  

As we kick off a new year of Sunday School this weekend, I cannot help but think back about my own Sunday School days. Some of my Sunday School teachers were more memorable than others, but they all seemed to have the patience of a saint. One, in particular, still stands out to me all these years later.

Mr Anderson was my Senior High Sunday School teacher. His qualifications for the position were that he loved Jesus, and he  allowed himself to get arm-twisted into saying yes when asked. Of course, at the time, most of us high schoolers were less than enthusiastic about Mr. Anderson’s willingness to teach us. We were a tough class! 

Yet, Sunday after Sunday, Mr. Anderson kept showing up. He kept talking to us about Jesus. More importantly, he kept showing us God’s love even when we were a pretty unlovable bunch.

When I graduated high school, Mr.  Anderson sent me a graduation card. I still remember how shocked I was to open the mail and find that he had sent me a card. It was then I realized how much he cared about all of us teenagers.

As I look around at Abiding Presence, I am grateful for all of the people in our church who are    stepping into Mr. Anderson’s shoes for our children and youth. We have an amazing faith family, and I am grateful that my family and I get to be part of it.