friends and family, It was good to be with some of you last week if only via Zoom.  It seemed like the right thing to do, but I’m looking forward to getting back together this Sunday.  I do consider it a good trial run for things we might do during the week in the future.  It was brought to my attention, however, that some might have been hesitant to join because of data charges.  Forgive me for not thinking of this.  There is a means of dialing into Zoom meetings, and in the future I will make sure anyone who would prefer to call in has that information.  I don’t think we will have the same problem we did with the conferencing system we were using before.  Often when we opt for a free service, we get what we pay for.  Aren’t you glad the free gift of salvation doesn’t work that way?

I’m happy to report that I feel just fine.  Yesterday I met up with a group that walks the local trails and enjoyed the Spring Creek Trail not too far from where we live.  I used to walk like that all the time, but it has been many years, so I was happy to find I still can.

This Sunday, we’ll be in Matthew 13:31-33.  Here, Jesus uses two analogies to describe the kingdom of Heaven.  We’ll cover them as one because their message is similar.  When we imagine a conquering king, we see someone big, bold, and brutal.  The Israelites of Jesus’ day imagined their messiah would come in with power and throw off the Roman oppressor.  Surely “the kingdom of God” would be something spectacular.  Indeed it is and will be, but not in the way we might have expected.  God seems to like starting with “little Things”: a tiny seed that produces a tree that shades and sustains; a tiny bit of yeast, which permeates the whole loaf and completely changes its nature.  These are some of the pictures that Jesus gives us of His kingdom.  What do they mean for us?  Come and let’s discover together!

Love y’all,

Larry