Life isn’t easy. It can be hard. It can be devastating. It can be wearying. God knows that and God leads us into community that we might find the support, the care and comfort that we need when times are tough. The Holy Spirit comforts us that we might be comforters for others. It is in community that we care for others and we ourselves receive care. That is not something we can just do for ourselves. May we open ourselves to the care and comfort that God longs for us to know in community.

All of us can make resolutions. Many of us aren’t good at staying on track. One of the most powerful ways to stay on track is to have someone else as an accountability partner. In our faith life, we need those partners as well. People who will encourage us toward the right choices, the best actions, towards service, towards kindness, towards faithfulness. It is in “meeting together” that we are strengthened for our calling in following Jesus. We need others to help us stay on track. Do you have that community in your life?

The early Christian movement knew something immediately and instinctively—we need to be with others to follow Jesus. God created in us a longing to belong. In our American rugged individualistic society, we want to be able to do everything on our own. In American church life, church is something we “attend.” But God intends a church, a Christian community to be a place where we belong. But for that to happen, we have to invest ourselves—our time, our energy there. We need time with others who share a connection to God, with Jesus. It grounds us. It encourages us. Eating together. Praying together. Worshiping together. Friends are good—but friends who share values is even more important.

Many people grew up thinking the idea of the Trinity was something that some monk in an ivory tower dreamed up to confuse people in the future. But that simply isn’t the case. Throughout the NT, scripture speaks of the “Father and the Son” and also “Christ and His Spirit” and at two key places puts it all together—in the Great Commission and in Paul’s early letter to the Galatians. The early church experienced the One God of the Universe, in three distinct ways—the Creator of all, Jesus in the flesh, and the power of the Spirit in their lives—so from the very beginning the Christian movement has spoken of a Trinity, One God in 3 persons, 3 expressions. And even in Genesis God says, “Let Us make human beings in our image…” From the beginning, God experienced community in God’s very self. Strange and mysterious yes. But scripture simply gives us language for those three ways that we continue to experience God today.

The heart of the Bible is this man, this Savior—Jesus. His name means, “God saves.” The angel told Mary what his name would be, and after his birth, Simeon waxed eloquently about what Jesus would accomplish. Jesus is the name by which we know God in the flesh. Jesus is the name by which we meet God face to face. Jesus is the name of the man who was really a man…and so much more. Simeon said it so well: “He is the light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!” He is and always will be the light for all.

God’s messenger appears to Gideon and he is overwhelmed by the moment. God assures him he will not die, so Gideon builds an altar and calls God and that place, “Yahweh Shalom”, which means “the Lord is Peace.” We usually think of peace as watching a sunset, sitting by a bubbling stream, etc. Those are peaceful scenes. But knowing God is peace, means that you are willing to be in conflict with the world. Gideon tore down the false altars and idols because he knew “The Lord is Peace.” God’s peace lived in him, so he could handle un-peaceful situations in his life. To worship “The Lord is Peace” is know the one who can give peace, no matter the circumstances we are in.