The gospel imperative for the church is not simply the call to a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. In that way of expressing the gospel message, a radically individualistic emphasis overwhelms the definition of what it means to be a Christian. While no one would argue against the idea that the Lord saves individuals and reconciles them to himself, the gospel is so much more than that. It must include the fulness of what it means to be made in the image of God. The finished image, the most telling and striking likeness of God, is the entirety of redeemed community. - Irwyn L. Ince, Jr., The Beautiful Community
Jesus in Galilee - 2.16.25 | Dr. Cyndi Parker
The blueprint of the household of God looks nothing like the blueprints of our own cultural and social cliques. If we want to know how to embody the household of God, we need look no further than to Jesus. While on earth, Jesus modeled this new reality by connecting with every type of person around - conservative theologians, liberal theologians, prostitutes, divorcees, children, politicians, people who party hard, military servicemen, women, lepers, ethnic minorities, celebrities, and so forth - and inviting them to be part of his group and to work together to bring wholeness to their cracked and crumbling world. - Christena Cleveland, Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart
Jesus in Nazareth - 2.9.25 | Rev. Chris Currie
Many and varied are the interpretations dealing with the teachings and life of Jesus of Nazareth. But few of these interpretations deal with what the teachings and life of Jesus have to say to those who stand, at a moment in human history, with their backs against the wall.... This is a matter of tremendous significance, for it reveals to what extent a religion that was born of a people acquainted with persecution and suffering has become the cornerstone of a civilization and of nations whose very position in modern life has too often been secured by a ruthless use of power applied to weak and defenseless peoples. - Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited