How many times have you heard, “I can do whatever I want, it’s a free country.” And you can, but should you? Paul had this discussion with the Romans, not about Covid-19, but about food. What can we learn from Paul’s thoughts on freedom?

Making meaning in difficult times.

Holy Week is, just like now, every feeling all at once. Deep lament and joyous celebration all mixed in together. And we know that God is with us in everything, even all at once. Pastor Jonathan and Hannah Phillips offer us this devotion!

Renee Grems is a member of the Open Worship community. As we prepare to celebrate this Communion Sunday apart for the first time ever, she offers this reminder of what the act of taking communion is really about. 

A devotional with Pastor Jonathan featuring a poem written by Rev. Raymond H. Huse, “When Churches Are Closed,” in October 1918 during the Spanish Flu.

There are lots of ideas out there about why the Word “became flesh,” even though it seemed like bad news. Even though being flesh kind of sucked (and still does for all of us sometimes). But I believe that this happened, at least in part, to remind us how beautiful flesh is. The bottom line is that it takes courage to be flesh—especially in times like these.