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In light of Pastor Josh's Good Samaritan sermon on Sunday, many of you have come up to me to ask about best practices when helping people in certain situations. Some of you understand the tricky balance between the desire to help others and the fear to cause more harm with our assistance.

It’s helpful to read the Gospel of Luke as a travel narrative: something like Kerouac’s On the Road or Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie, except Jesus wasn’t seeking adventure or spiritual enlightenment. Jesus was on the road to die. All of Luke points toward this end -- his entry into Jerusalem and his eventual death and resurrection. This is the point of the story, and the closer we get to Jerusalem, the more clearly we see Jesus.

The Leaders Collective exists to help pastors and church planters sustain healthy, fruitful ministry so they - through Jesus' Church - can advance the gospel throughout the world. In 2018 I joined a two year, eight retreat cohort through the Leaders Collective. It was a tremendously helpful experience for me, and I continue to meet with my same cohort of pastors now 5 years after our offical program ended. Pastor Brian just began with a new cohort. And New City as a church has partnered with Leaders Collective to train church planters.

With all apologies to REM, when we think of "the end of the world as we know it," most people don't feel fine. This was certainly true for the church at Thessalonica. Paul had written a previous letter trying to encourage them and calm their fears. But as time passed, the situation grew worse. So Paul writes again to offer clarity about the return of Christ. What he tells them (and us) is meant to create hope, not despair; provoke preparation, not speculation; and embolden engagement, not apathy. We hope you'll join us this spring as study this short letter together.

One of the most vivid images in the whole New Testament is that of a man running. Jesus tells a story in Luke 15, about a son who can’t wait to get out of dodge. He gets his share of the family wealth, tells his father, "I want my money; I don’t want you,” and he leaves. After awhile, things go poorly. He squanders the money and he comes back home. He expects to grovel -- maybe he can be an employee somewhere on his dad’s land.

Ours will be a Tenebrae service -- Tenebrae meaning “darkness” or “shadows.” Once a service for the monastic community, Tenebrae later became an important part of the worship of the common folk during Holy Week. We join Christians of many generations throughout the world in using the liturgy of Tenebrae.

When the church worships on Maundy Thursday, it remembers the last evening that Christ spent with his disciples in the upper room. Three major events make up this evening: he washed the disciple's feet, he instituted the Lord's Supper, and he gave them the "new" commandment to love one another.

"Solomon the preacher is giving me a hard time, as though he begrudged anyone lecturing on him. But he must yield."

How to prepare for worship on Sunday Feb 25, 2024