I am a fan of history. I like reading about historical figures and events. A few years ago, our seniors group did a tour of the World War I museum and one of the couples on the tour bought two books for me. I have read one of them – it was Margaret McMillan’s The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914. It is a fascinating recount of the political, familial, and economic issues that led to World War I. The second book I have not read – yet. What I found most intriguing are all of the ways in which we continue to repeat past errors. Some of the dynamics of the late 1800s to early 1900s are resurfacing in world affairs. You would think that we would be astute enough to learn from past examples.

In some ways, the stories of the scriptures act in the same way. They inform us of human activity, God’s grand scheme, and the diverging plot lines between the two. In the scriptures, we find examples of people who try to live in a way that participates with God’s vision for the world while also seeing examples of those who choose not to. Unfortunately, because of the cultural, social, political, ethnic, and economic differences between their world and ours, we may not gain as much from their example as we would hope. As Paul says, “we see in a mirror dimly,” meaning their example isn’t clear-cut. That is why we need living examples today.

We need people who live with courage, faith, perseverance, and loyalty among other things. We are desperate for living examples that can inform and encourage us to be better than we are now. Our task is to lean into the power of God’s Holy Spirit who can help us find and become living examples who shed hope and light in our world. I invite you to join us for our series, A Living Example as we examine what it means to live with courage, faith, perseverance, and loyalty.  - Rev. Dr. Jim Hoffman

Did You Miss The Message?  Live Worship Replay circlerightarrow