Last week, Pastor Kris and I had the privilege of attending Fall Convocation, a gathering of rostered leaders at Lutheridge. Our presenter, Rev. Dr. Michael Adam Beck (pastor, professor, coach, consultant, and author), introduced us to the concept of Fresh Expressions of Church, sharing how his congregation makes God’s presence known beyond its walls. From church gatherings in tattoo parlors and Bibles and Burritos at a local restaurant to providing safe spaces for those in recovery, these ministries meet people where they are rather than waiting and hoping they will find their way into traditional Sunday morning worship.
Yet he also celebrated what he calls the Vintage Church that anchors these expressions of faith—the community where he first experienced the deep love and belonging of the family of Christ. It is the very community to which he has returned, now as a person in recovery and an ordained minister, inspiring new ways of sharing God’s grace beyond the familiar walls of the church.
He invited us to remember our first love – the One who loved us first, who created us from the dust of the earth and declared Creation, with humanity in it, very good. For some of us, knowing that first love came on gradually, growing as our lives matured, but for others, it was a profound shift in understanding, changing our gaze from self to the love of our very Creator.
Regardless of our encounters with it, that merciful love includes every person we encounter: every person struggling with addiction, every person seeking purpose or belonging, every person navigating life’s challenges. Each is created in God’s image, bearing the possibility of making God’s presence known in the world.
Thomas Keating reminds us of our place and calling to share this love:
“We all have the innate capacity to manifest God
because we already are that image by virtue of being created.”
So, how do YOU manifest God in the world?
How might you bring God’s presence into the places where you work, live, and encounter others? I’m not talking about Bible-thumping or even evangelizing in the traditional sense. I’m talking about BEing the presence of One who loves and accepts, who offers kindness without measuring another’s worthiness, who invites others into loving relationships just as they are, and who breaks bread with gratitude to the One who makes such blessings possible.
Bearing God’s presence into the world is both a blessing and a calling. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we live knowing that we are simultaneously saints and sinners, imperfect yet deeply loved, and continually invited to reflect God’s grace in the world around us.
May God open our eyes to see, our hearts to know, and our ears to hear the places and opportunities where we might manifest the presence of the One who first loved us.
Shalom,
+Deacon Pegi
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+Deacon Pegi