4 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,  15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.  16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they…

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.  25 For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.  1 Peter 2:24-25 As Peter…

Today, we will gather in worship around the first verse of Psalm 23. Throughout the Lenten season, we invite you to commit Psalm 23 to memory. This week’s memory verse is Psalm 23:1. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23:1 What does it mean to call the Lord your Shepherd? How…

God did not call us to brokenness, but to wholeness. God did not call us to isolation, but to community with each other in the care of our loving Savior. Christ came so that all might have life – abundant life – life lived to its fullest. What if we thought of our entrance into…

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.” John 10:7 During our Ash Wednesday service this week, we invited everyone to reflect on the gate that leads into God’s pasture. God sent Jesus to us so that we would all know that gate is opened…

In worship yesterday, our Harvest Table band led us in singing the song “Beautiful Things” by Gungor, which proclaims this truth – God makes beautiful things out of the dust – God makes beautiful things out of us. As we begin this lenten journey with our Good Shepherd, trust that God is making something beautiful out of your dust – trust that your God is always and forever making you new.

To call the Lord, our Shepherd, to be a sheep in the Good Shepherd’s flock, means that we belong to our God. God claimed us before we were even born, and God will hold us still after our time on this earth is through. In death and in life, we belong to God.

My spiritual director (aka spiritual guru/ama/spirit-channeler/wise-one who helps me listen to what God is doing in my life) recently published an invitation to a spiritual practice for us to consider for the new year. In it she invites us to listen for a word that God might send us as an invitation, a challenge or…

The major issue for you now is faith – to believe that I am acting in you; to surrender your doubts and questions and believe with abandon; to allow things to happen to you and through you. If you can receive it, this is the vision, this is the new thing – a company of…

If you will believe me and trust in my all-sufficient presence, today will mark a new era in your life. I am all that you need. I will supply you with words, images, motivation, ideas – everything! Be prepared! I will require you to think completely differently. You’ve been seeking, looking from the underside, treating…

I have been breathing on your consciousness to cause you to turn to me, to hunger for me with your whole heart. I am beginning to receive your loving interest. Don’t try quite so hard or so seriously. I do not want you to strain to love me. Your mission is now taking shape. It…