What Revelation Says About Love and Hope
(Posted May 17, 2019)
"If you are a Christian, you are not a citizen of this world trying to get to heaven; you are a citizen of heaven making your way through this world." -- Vance Havner, 20th Century Evangelist
In this divided world, we too often hear the purveyors of “Fear Religion” as they try to scare people into believing the way they think and vote. They scold America: “If you don’t reject (insert name of group that they despise here -- e.g. gays, blacks, women in leadership, Muslims, Jews), you’re all going to hell. If you don’t deny them membership in Christianity, God is going to destroy America, and only WE will make it to heaven.”
Lines of scripture are just as capable of being twisted as a leather belt when they're fashioned into a way to bind people’s reason. Revelation, which actually is a writing not of destruction and fear, but of hope, is one of most frequently twisted for the purpose of scaring people into line.
Church Services on Sunday
All are welcome to worship with us. Service begins at 10 a.m.
Hopefully none of us will ever fall for this kind of “theology” based on FEAR. Our scripture readings this Sunday, including from Revelation, teach us otherwise -- that God’s relationship with us is steeped in LOVE, love for the incredible world God has created and which we “sing” about in Psalm 148. We, too are a part of that Divine creation, meant to spread God’s righteous love to all people and creatures as we move through this world. We are, indeed, citizens of a heaven we haven’t seen but can only dream of, as we work our way back to God. Unfortunately too many people associate religion with exclusion and hatred, instead of the way God’s love is manifested in the world. But that’s not how we think at First Church.
If you think religion is about fear, we are that DIFFERENT kind of Christian community that says our focus has us embracing everyone for exactly who they are at this moment in their journey. Our work is all about taking that welcoming message and spreading that vision of heaven on earth, to this often sad and depressed world, to show people that Jesus Christ indeed lives in all who practice what he preaches. Join us this Sunday when our new beginnings include a double Baptism of two lovely little girls, Elyanna and Sophia Pinto. I’ll be sharing that message of joyful love with you this Sunday -- Pastor Pat Kriss