This is the weekly bulletin insert from Sermons That Work.

Explore the Way of Love – Go

As we discover the Way of Love and the practices through which we can follow Jesus more closely, we realize that Jesus did not stay in one place very often.

The pursuit of Jesus can often mean moving out of our circles of comfort and going to other places:

• Geographically
• Culturally
• Economically
• Spiritually

Because if there is one thing Jesus did, it is that he went – out of his home, out of his town, out of his community – to do these things:

• Engage with other cultures and people.
• Listen and dignify their stories, no matter their culture or station in life.

Jesus was a listener and witness to these people:

• Outcasts and sinners
• Drinkers and tax collectors
• Strangers and foreigners
• The rich and the poor

He uplifted women who were considered unequal to men. Jesus dignified people of other faiths or no faith at all. He showed them the values of the Kingdom of God, through these actions:

• Teaching.
• Healing.
• Listening.
• Meeting them where they were.
• Putting love into action.

The Scriptures teach us that it is also our mission to go out into the world.

• As the writer of John’s Gospel quotes Jesus, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
• As the first letter of John tells us, “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”

Are you ready to make the commitment to go beyond your boundaries? To listen and talk? To love and serve? To use your gifts in the struggle for dignity and justice for your neighbor and for people who are outside your comfort zone?

Are you ready to do these things:

• Challenge yourself to forge new friendships?
• Open yourself up to new perspectives?
• Build bridges where once there were walls?

The Way of Love challenges us to Go.

As the writer of Hebrews tells us: “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” We are called to give freely of our resources, our stories and experiences, our time and our attention. And we are called to invite others into this Way of Love. We bless ourselves in the process.

Learn more about the Way of Love at episcopalchurch.org/wayoflove. You can find suggestions on getting started and going deeper with Turning at iam.ec/ewol.

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For more than 20 years, Sermons That Work, a ministry of The Episcopal Church’s Office of Communication, has provided free sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and other resources that speak to congregations across the Church. Our writers and readers come from numerous and varied backgrounds, and the resources we provide are used in small house churches, sprawling cathedrals, and everything between.

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.