Conflict abounds! I suspect most of us are involved in multiple conflicts, varying from minor annoyances and open disagreements to national and international disputes. And we each add to or subtract from those conflicts, don't we? What if there was a way to resolve every one of those disputes completely? What would that be worth to you?

Well, good news! Not only IS there a way to end every conflict, but the steps we each need to take to do so are carefully laid out for us. They are SIMPLE, they are SHORT. Ordinary folks like you and I can do them! In fact, we need to.

You know who really sucks? THOSE people. THOSE people over there. The ones not like us. How dare they refuse to conform to all of OUR expectations? Why won't they just do the things we wad to do? How can they ever be like us if they don't live out the same experiences and habits that we have chosen to make central to our way of life? Well, if they want OUR approval, they're going to have to straighten up and do things OUR way!

EXCEPT... Paul says this isn't true. He did all that and it's crap. There's something better; something which makes all of the things we have valued seem like they are not the gleaming gemstones we thought, but instead they are sticky balls of... Oh, I'm out of space. Guess you'd better listen in on today's teaching about why we should REJOICE!

Can violence be redemptive? Scripture (and history) says no.

And yet, we keep trying.

Today we revisit the story of Cain and his brother Abel to see if we can understand the root of violence and how God responds to those who perpetrate it. How are we told to respond?

Paul had said that we need to have the same attitude and make the same choices and take the same actions as Jesus. Which he knew a lot of folks would think might be too hard! So he gave us two examples of ordinary folks who lived that out so that we could know it wasn't just some kind of unreachable goal, but was actually something that is EXPECTED from each one of us.

Who were they and what was their witness to the world? And, more importantly, what is YOUR witness? Are you a testimony to Christ or do your choices suggest you are following a different commanding officer?

Look, I'm sure that your national pride, like that you might have for a favorite sports team, can be a fun component of your approach to life. However, Followers of the Way of Jesus need to make sure that Jesus is Lord!

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul lays out the requirements for being and keeping our citizenship in God's Kingdom. Those may start and end with rejoicing (they do!) but citizenship has both rights and responsibilities attached. If we refuse to live those out, then we aren't citizens of Christ and maybe we never were. But don't despair! Paul explained in some detail the attitude we need to have to be successful! So listen to today's message, then go live it out.

Does it seem that there is more reason for sorrow than for joy?
There's not.

Am I ignoring the pain and suffering which is so prevalent in life?
I'm not. It sucks. We should rely on our JOY as we combat those things.

How can there be anything to rejoice about when there is war, injustice, people being falsely accused and condemned, people taking advantage of others for their own benefit, people working to bring misery on others, people living in fear?
Because JOY is GREATER than that.

The reasons for joy are GREATER than the reasons for giving up. And the JOY that will sustain you comes from a source which is greater than any misery the world can muster. And you can count on it at all times and in every way.

Know what we need a little more of in our lives? JOY! What if I told you that I have a gift for you which can fill you with joy to the point that you NEED to share it because there's too much for you to hold onto yourself? Paul wrote a letter to some friends once, trying to express the same thing to them and letting them know that these things apply to ALL of us! We can all become bearers of amazing and unending love and joy, and bring the gift of wholeness to others around us. In fact, it may be more than a possibility; it may be a command...

Welcome to the Book of Philippians! REJOICE!

DEAD OR ALIVE

Jesus was dead. There is no question about that. So what happened to make someone who had spent their life wishing that was true come to believe that Jesus is alive?

It's Resurrection Sunday! Maybe there's more to it than jellybeans and colored eggs.