February 13

Beloved of Good Shepherd Church,

Grace to you and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!

What is the church? The church is a community of Christians who are on the spiritual path together. We gather for worship, take communion together, and practice loving each through thick and thin and across all manner of divides. The church is for many of us the only place where it is perfectly safe to be our full, authentic selves because the people here are committed to the magnificent and difficult practice of unconditional love. That’s why we refer to our church using that tender word, home. Some of us are given to others among us by God like a pop quiz in unconditional love. I may be someone with whom you really disagree and perhaps don’t like, but darn it here we are together in our church following Jesus who says we must work hard to love each other anyway. Thus the sheer irrelevance of all our disagreements. On any given day I might be your pop-quiz (Can you love him?), and you might be mine. What strange fun that is!

The church is a community of people who follow Jesus into the depth dimension of our own lives in hopes that we will discover the divine love that underlies everything and indwells everyone. Upon discovering that hidden love we journey back to the surface to love whoever is right in front of us with God. Over time that love changes the way we see and we, like Jesus, begin to see God in all that we see. 

Good Shepherd Church is an environment of spiritual depth, community, and love. If that's what you're looking for, then I think you've probably found your spiritual home.

Remember this always - God loves you, and I love you too!

Love is all,

Hendree+