Neighborhood Church

Can’t we all just get along? ... Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out.
RODNEY KING

“If the house has fallen, woe to the windows.”
2nd CENTURY JEWISH TEACHING

The civility we need will not come from watching our tongues. It will come from valuing our differences.
PARKER PALMER

We must consider that we shall be as a city on a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us.
JOHN WINTHROP

“the world’s best hope.” - THOMAS JEFFERSON

“the last best hope of earth.” - ABRAHAM LINCOLN

“America will save the world.” - WOODROW WILSON

President Donald Trump insisted in his 2019 State of the Union address, “We must keep America first in our hearts. We must keep freedom alive in our souls. And we must always keep faith in America’s destiny—that one Nation, Nation, under God, must be the hope and the promise and the light and the glory among all the nations of the world." - DONALD TRUMP

“The only way for us to live up to the promise of America is to give it our all and to give it for all of us. We are truly now more than ever the last great hope of Earth.” - BETO O'ROURKE

"If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.” - MADELEINE ALBRIGHT

Hope is not something we can outsource to the political party of our choice.

The church is not to be found at the “center” of a left/right political world. The church is to be a species of its own kind, confounding left, right, and middle and finding its identity from the “center” of Jesus’ life.
RICH VILLODAS

Christianity isn’t just an intellectual idea; it is a way of living in the world rooted in the love of others.

JOHN 17
1. Jesus prays for us.
But Number Two, Jesus has a prayer request.

Jesus prayed for oneness because of what he wanted to do through us.

We’ve been asking, “How do I get others to change their minds, see as I do, come to my side and be like me?” But what if instead, we started asking, “How can we begin to close the space between us?” What if instead of trying to make us the same, we got better at understanding and appreciating where we are different? What if we learned to practice compassion in our differences instead of judgment?
SARAH BAUER ANDERSON

POSITION
What I believe to be right and true.

POSTURE
How I respond to others around me in light of what I believe to be right and true.

What if we have unknowingly become the religious leaders collecting stones?

It’s moving from, “I want to be right,” to, “Being right may not be as important as being kind.” It’s realizing being right has more to do with a position we take and being kind with a posture we pursue while holding a position.
SARAH BAUER ANDERSON