Prayer of Confession
You appear to us in this way and that way. Sometimes you show up in our neighbors’ face and sometimes you’re as dramatic as a burning bush. Still we don’t see you. We are too focused elsewhere to recognize you are everywhere. Forgive our failure to perceive you. Guide us to sense your mystery and respond with actions of your heart. Amen.
Assurance of Grace
Hear the Good News: Always, we are forgiven for our lapses of awareness. In obvious and subtle ways God reminds us of the mystery of boundless love. God never stops reaching out for you in small and big ways. You are God’s beloved, of course God reaches out to you. Share the Good News with your neighbors.
*Passing of the Peace
You are God’s Beloved.
As are you.
Tim strives to share God’s extravagant love for all–no matter what & without strings. Seeking to follow the lure of the Spirit, Tim writes about what it means to be a follower of Jesus in an era where Christianity has come to be associated with hatred and political wedge issues. “Heinous things have been said & done (& still are) in the name of the One who breathed in the Divine,” notes Tim, “but Jesus shows us that God loves extravagantly.” Following the teachings and life of Jesus is about inclusion not exclusion. It is about compassion, grace, and admitting no one has all the answers. It is about responding lovingly to the best of our human ability. It is about people not institutions. It is about social justice. It is about caring for creation. It is about being who we were each created to be. Tim is a former early childhood educator, a runner, a hiker, a devoted husband, father of two adult children and their spouses, and a grandfather of four perfect grandchildren. Tim serves as Lead Pastor of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Albany, Oregon. He writes from home, from the coffee shop, and wherever the trail leads him.
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