This is Us

We are the church, whether we are gathered or scattered--each one of us, a part of the body of Christ, wherever we go, whatever we do.

So, where can you find us, and what are we doing?  

Hector and Beth Dalton and their son Brant, Sue Ellen his wife, and their kids hosted a family for Easter through our partnership with the Hospitality Center for Chinese at the UM. Beth writes, "We were pleased to host a Chinese professor and her parents from Shanghai.  They joined us for the Easter service, and then we served traditional ham, rice, vegetables and dirt and worms for dessert.  Although skeptical,  our guests enjoyed the "dirt cake" dessert very much and asked for the recipe.  For entertainment, we performed a puppet show of the resurrection (prepared by my 8-year-old granddaughter) and finished the day by playing pie face."

3 Profound Lessons from a Devout 12-year-old Boy

Take a look at the to-do list below. It’s a real list written by an 8-year-old. Don’t forget to read the ones that have been marked as completed.

His dad found this list in his son’s room. It was his son ’s summer vacation to-do list. 

Aside from getting choked up about it, he said he learned something important: 

“It made me think about the fact that I spend a crazy amount of time being strategic and intentional with my job, and I want to remember to apply that same intentionality to my relationships as well.” 

His 8-year-old son taught him that.

Anyone who can’t learn something from a kid or a teen is simply not paying attention. 

This week we look the only story we have of Jesus’ childhood. It’s found in Luke’s gospel. It's a story where Jesus is asking questions of the teachers, learning about the Bible.

The fact that this is the only story Luke included, among all the stories he could have chosen, may be an indication of its profundity. 

We’ll take away some life-altering lessons from Jesus at 12-years-old.

Yes, he was God the Son, but he was also truly human (God incarnate). When he was a kid, he was still a kid. Think about it for a moment. After all, he didn’t come out of the womb speaking. He couldn’t walk. He had to learn those things. He learned throughout his life.

And we can learn from this story of Jesus learning.

Hope to see you this weekend, and I think it’s also a great sermon for any approximately 12-year-olds in your household.

[The picture and the story are from Barry Hill at Michael Hyatt's blog.]