In baptism Jesus submits himself to his God-given destiny and vocation, and it is by a similar submission to God, allowing Christ to live out his baptismal life in us and for us, that we have life and hope.
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
An Open Table where Love knows no borders
Sermons on Commitment (Page 3)
If we can lose ourselves in the worship of Christ, then Christ will come to fill our emptied egos with his own self which now dances in the freedom of God.
We voluntarily live a vowed life as a grateful response to God’s saving acts.
Following Christ may take us into costly confrontation with the powers of the world, and we cannot be protected from the costs of that, but Christ will bring us through to the land of promise beyond.
Jesus is not calling us to self-mutilation, but he is saying that our efforts to root out sin in ourselves need to be as rigorous as it takes, even if it means appearing like a fanatic.
The God who stopped at nothing to stand in solidarity with us, looks for those who will give everything to work in solidarity with God.
The Gospel made known in Jesus draws us, body, mind and spirit into the full life of God. This totality of involvement scares off many people, but there is no other way to life.
Whole-hearted devotion to God and commitment to God’s mission brings joyous freedom, but also often results in derision, rejection and even violent opposition.
It is true that God is love, but God’s love is so tough, demanding and uncomfortably interactional that we will sometimes experience it as harsh, unpredictable and unreasonable.
Our doubts and questions are welcome to God so long as we are not using them to avoid Christ’s question to us – “Will you follow me?”