I believe that's what the Spirit of God does: calls the people of God together to pray, to sing, to heal, to teach and learn, to give thanks for all that we are and to be willing and able to do the work we are given to do. I see it happen all the time here. And yet, we can never be too open to the Spirit.
I felt the Spirit gathering us this past Sunday as we welcomed in Baptism a new Christian brother into the household of God. I sense God's presence in meetings of ministry groups and in conversations at Vestry meetings, in the huge Tuesday afternoon Study group, in the smiles and enthusiasm of our acolytes and young percussionists, in the conversations I have with faithful longtime members of this congregation who are honest about changes we've made in music and liturgy. I will feel God's presence when Jack and I gather with the Adult Choir for a kick-off social this Sunday evening.
God works and moves and acts everywhere in the cosmos. And God works and moves and acts on Sundays at Emmanuel when a psalm refrain catches us off guard and we're touched somewhere deep inside. The Spirit is moving when a new person or family walks through our doors and they see a place they might just be able to call home. Being welcomed means experiencing a gathered community that doesn't want to turn them into a clone of themselves, but is open to being changed by those we welcome in the name of Christ. A life in God as revealed in Christ is about transformation.
Welcome and hospitality and transformation are hardwired into the DNA of Emmanuel. Our work this fall is to share it with reckless abandon. See you Sunday in church!
Blessings upon us all, Hunt+
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