4th Sunday in Lent

Unbroken: God compels creation toward mercy

Worship for March 30, 2025: the Fourth Sunday in Lent
IN-PERSON and ONLINE at 10:30 a.m.

The Rev. Matthew Emery, lead minister, preaching
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

God’s merciful nature is preoccupied with graciousness rather than punishment or who deserves love and care and who doesn’t. That we are created in the image of a merciful God means we are called to embody unconditional grace and love to other people and all living things, participating in the coming of God’s reign where all are supported, nourished, and loved.

In this week's reading from the gospel of Luke, Jesus tells one of his most well-known stories: A father and two sons. Broken relationships. A squandered inheritance. Wasteful extravagance. A refusal to celebrate. In the face of it all, we ponder, “what does ‘grace’ really mean?” How do we wrap our minds and hearts around a God who does not, in fact, give us what we deserve... but rather, much much more than we deserve... and so also to the "other"?

Also in this Sunday’s worship, as we celebrate God’s welcoming home of every wandering heart, we will also acknowledge and celebrate the 75 years of life and ministry to which our building here on 58A Avenue has been “home”. And we’ll rededicate it and ourselves for God’s word and witness in each tomorrow, with a rite of rededication that draws upon the original dedicatory service on April 2, 1950.