I’ve Been Meaning to Ask… Where Do We Go From Here?

Rev. Dr. Leslie Taylor, preaching

Where are you from? Where does it hurt? What do you need? Where do we go from here? This final question is not meant to be the end of the journey; instead, it creates openness to explore together what is next. This question is contextual.

• "Where do we (First Christian Church-Concord) go from here?"

• "Where do we (as individual members or friends of FCC-Concord) go from here?"

• "Where do we (as a family) go from here?"

The question is designed for individuals, families, churches, and communities to discern how to move forward into something new. As we step into the next chapter of First Christian Church, my hope is that we keep cultivating curiosity, asking questions, having conversations, and seeking connections to humanize and care for each other.

I want to encourage you to read the entirety of Acts 10 before worship because only a portion of the chapter will be read during worship on Sunday. Ultimately, this final question, "Where do we go from here?" invites us to foster hope and imagination. In Acts 10, Cornelius, a pious Roman centurion, and Peter (yes, Simon Peter, the disciple) are brought together through visions they each receive. Both men have opinions about the value and worth of people who are different from them. Peter and Cornelius meet face-to-face, and Peter says: "I really am learning that God doesn't show partiality to one group of people over another."

Through their courageous conversation, their narrow perceptions of others expand, the Spirit descends upon them, and they share in community and hospitality.

So, church, where do we go from here? Over the last three weeks, we have asked ourselves some interesting questions questions we can consider for ourselves personally and as a congregation. We, as a congregation, are reimagining what we are called to do and to be as a pandemic-informed, trauma-informed, anti-racist, open, affirming, and inclusive First Christian Church in and around Concord, California. Your voice, your ideas, and your actions are integral to this reimagining process.

Based on Acts 10: 9-16, 34-38, 44-48

Music this week:

• Every Move I Make

• Heart of Worship

• Create in Me a Clean Heart

• Help Us Accept Each Other

• Totally Available

• River of Mercy

I’ve Been Meaning to Ask… What Do You Need?

Rev. Dr. Leslie Taylor, preaching

This summer, the theme for the camps at Community of the Great Commission was "Linked By Love." One of the scriptures we used was this one from the Book of Job. This week's question recognizes that we all have needs and that we need each other. It reminds us that we each have unique needs; we can't assume to know what is best for others. It also prompts us to reflect on our own needs, priorities, and desires, which can sometimes be difficult to discern from one situation to the next.

In Job, we have a person who has suffered extreme trauma — the trauma of losing his livelihood where his present and future well-being are very much in question. Job has also seen his children die a sudden, unexpected death. The loss of a loved one, no matter the circumstances, will also impact us, but the impact can be so much sharper when it is unexpected and untimely. Job has suffered physical pain and discomfort-pain that must have seeped deep into his bones. This is very real trauma.

In the midst of Job's affictions, three of his friends promptly leave their homes and come to him. They tear their garments, weep loudly, and sit with him for seven days, saying nothing. Their response is the ministry of presence, true solidarity, and seeing his excruciating pain and joining him there. This is what we all need — for someone to come quickly, to gather the items we want, and to show up.

How can we show up for one anot her in ways that both explicitly show that we see the pain of the moment and also that we are not afraid to sit with someone in this pain?

Based on Job 2:11-13

Music this week:

• I Have a Hope

• Build My Life

• Hide Me in the Shelter

• Sister Let Me Be Your Servant

• You’ve Got a Friend

• Lean on Me

I’ve Been Meaning to Ask… Where Does It Hurt?

Rev. Dr. Leslie Taylor, preaching

This week's question implies that we all know about pain and suffering. To cultivate connection, we must first get curious about the pain others carry and the pain we carry ourselves. Before we can act, we must first acknowledge and believe the pain is real, for bearing witness to each other's pain helps us cultivate compassion.

In the dual healing story of the hemorrhaging woman and Jairus daughter, we acknowledge those who suffer chronically and in isolation. By telling these women's stories, we hope to bear witness to the particular and very common struggles related to fertility and reproductive health. Additionally, we must confess the harm done by neglecting the emotional, physical, individual, historical, and systemic wounds among us.

In this passage, we find Jesus in the midst of human life and all its hurting. He is in the press of the crowd with sweaty human bodies and the scent of a woman's blood. Jesus stops and listens to this long-hurting woman-as if pain were not so shameful but something we all experience. Jesus then enters a stagnant, grief-filled room, no doubt smelling of sickness and death. He reaches out and touches the body of a girl already thought lost. These relational and embodied healings humanize those whose hurting has been pushed aside, calling our attention to the broken systems that can perpetuate and dehumanize pain. Jesus healing disrupts the injustice of a woman who has been rejected and labeled impure for her condition. With the girl, Jesus disrupts death itself.

How might we allow Jesus to disrupt us enabling us to acknowledge others' pain so that we may seek life together?

• Where do you hurt, and where does the world hurt?

• What pain has been ignored, silenced, or unacknowledged?

• What pain have you missed or ignored? How do you feel? Where is God in the midst of this?

We must put ourselves in the uncomfortable places where human beings live, breathe, and hurt — because those are the places where we will also find Jesus.

Based on 1 Samuel 1:1-18; Mark 5:21-43

Music this week:

• Holy is the Lord

• Amazing Grace (Peaceful Easy Feeling)

• I Need You More

• Come and Fill

• Offering

• Here I Am, Lord

I’ve Been Meaning to Ask… Where Are You From?

Based on John 1:35-51, Rev. Dr. Leslie Taylor, preaching

During the month of July, we will be asking and exploring four questions:

1. Where Are You From?

2. Where Does It Hurt?

3. What Do You Need?

4. Where Do We Go From Here?

I urge each of us to engage in these thought-provoking and courageous conversations. These discussions are crucial for our growth as a community and will help us understand each other better.

For this Sunday, in order to build connection and trust, we need to listen to each other's stories and experiences to learn who and what has shaped us. We also need to feel seen and known for who we are. In this first week, the story of Jesus calling the disciples provides a helpful charge for the whole series: to "come and see" what the journey holds. In this first week, I will address how the question, "Where are you from?" is sometimes coupled with assumptions, judgments, and even microaggressions all of which can be exhausting and painful to receive. Our hope is to acknowledge, disrupt, and release the assumptions we hold about others.

Music this week:

• We Come from the Spirit

• A Song Must Rise

• Eagle’s Wings

• Totally Available

• Called as Partners in Christ’s Service

• Morning Has Broken