16 / 35
Page 16
2016 Worship Guide
December 7, 2016
A Lincoln Daily News Publication
G
od has a dream for us, and it is no
small matter.
Throughout scripture we see how God
imagines our earth as a place where
life flourishes: a place of justice for
all peoples and a place of harmony for
creation.
In God’s hope for the world,
g
the blind are given sight, the deaf are
able to hear, and the captives are set free.
g
Strangers and immigrants are
welcomed without concern for anything
but their wellbeing.
g
The child who identifies as LGBTQ
does not fear going to school or—even—
church.
g
All races, genders, creeds, and
ethnicities are celebrated for the diversity
they add to our community.
Ultimately, God longs for the day when
the beloved community will be actualized
and no obstacles will stand in the way of
enjoying authentic communion with one
another.
Sadly, we have neither lived fully into
God’s dream nor to the reign of God,
sometimes called the kingdom of God;
each has not been experienced His reign
in its fullness.
Some of us hear the prophet Isaiah
speaking of the day when lion will lay
down with the lamb, to which some will
say that is nothing but a pipe dream.
Others of us wonder if anyone has really
listened to John the Baptist’s wilderness
invitation to repent of our missing the
mark, and to believe we are capable of
doing our part to usher forth the reign of
God.
Many of us become so jaded and
frustrated during this time of the year—
perhaps with the church and all the
hypocrisy that comes with the institution,
or the commercialism and consumerism
God’s Kingdom on earth
as it is in heaven
Pastor Adam Quine
of First Presbyterian church in Lincoln
Continue †