Permissions and Prohibitions

How often do we associate religion with a list of don’ts? These prohibitions often seem to be the heart of religious life. But this first Sunday of Lent reminds us that God created us primarily for permission. God created us for freedom – and an essential component of real freedom is boundaries. How do God’s prohibitions orient us toward the true freedom God created us for?

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Preparing to be Changed

Despite the popular depictions, spiritual transformation is a process – more a journey than a singular experience. That being the case, how do we prepare well for a journey of transformation? What do we need to do to ensure we’re ready for the change that’s ahead of us?

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Songs of Resistance

A faithful people lives in solidarity with the vulnerable. But what if we’ve already been living unjust lives? What if we’ve spent years ignoring the vulnerable? Moses’ final speech to Israel reminds us that with God, it’s never too late to be righteous. So how do we seek justice in our time and place?

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Not So Fast

For a lot of folks, the heart of religion is spiritual practices like reading scripture or fasting. But God didn’t create us just to watch us do tasks. Practices aren’t the heart of faith – relationship is. What happens when our social relationships are unbalanced? What are the consequences for our faith? And how does God call us to heal that imbalance?

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