Where and how are we distracted from the Spirit? Where is the pain or worry or conflict so big that we don’t know how to find our way out of it? How do we need to reattune ourselves to the things of the Spirit? This Sunday, learn to name and confront the difficulties ahead of you and lean on the Spirit for the perseverance to respond in the power of the Spirit of life and peace instead of the world’s despair and discontent.

This Sunday, we will hear about Paul’s honest and blunt assessment of his struggle between what he wants to do and what he ends up doing. It is an invitation to all of us to slow down, pay attention, and turn toward the work of grace in our lives. Find ways today to lean into simplicity, to slow down the pace in the middle of a busy weekend. Paul’s words call us into a time of confession and pardon. It is through God’s pardon and grace that we can turn once again toward God’s ways and learn to align our actions with our delight in God’s law.

We are all welcome in God’s Kingdom. God does ask us to sacrifice on his behalf, but the sacrifices he asks of us are small, he simply wants our talents and gifts used to serve his kingdom. Come and learn how even a cup of water is meaningful in God’s eyes.

We’ve been working our way through the 23^rd Psalm, and this Sunday, we’re moving out of the darkest valley into the feast. Both Psalm 23:5 and Isaiah 25:6-9 describe the benefits of letting Jesus be our Shepherd. Much of scripture was written during times when starvation was a common condition of life and a weapon of war. That’s one reason the Kingdom of Heaven is often described as a feast. Isaiah even describes the Lord providing a feast for the whole world! We don’t need to be afraid as we walk through those darkest valleys, because we know a party’s waiting on the other side, either in this life or the next!

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