By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
May 26, 2024
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Romans 8:12–17 (ESV)
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
To many the letter Paul wrote to the Romans is one of their favorite portions of scripture. When my great-grandpa Craven passed away I inherited his set of commentaries, as I was the only great-grandchild that entered into ministry. I love this set of books but I must admit that I rarely speak out of Romans. And the reason is not what you might believe. I love this letter. It has so much theology and encouragement within its pages. But since early in my ministry the only commentaries I possessed and could use for study were those that I inherited from my great-grandfather, I faced a dilemma. My great-grandfather loved Romans. I know this because the vast majority of the volumes of this set of commentaries are in pristine condition except for a few. One is Matthew, another is John, and then Romans. In fact the volume covering Romans was so worn by use that I was afraid to even open it for fear that I would ruin the book completely.
Romans is an important book. It is clear to me that my great grandfather spoke from Romans regularly throughout his life. He spoke, from the condition of the book, almost exclusively out of Romans. And yet I neglect this book out of sentimentality.
One might wonder why we within the Evangelical church hold Romans in such a regard. Why of all the books do we know so much more about this one letter than the others? If the book of my ancestors show anything, previous generations spoke on Romans more. But I think it goes deeper. Romans more than any of the others letters seems to connect the philosophies of the gentile nations with the history of the faith of the Hebrews. It is through this letter, through the words of Paul that the western concepts of live are united or grafted into the church.
“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh.”
In this one statement we see this grafting. We are so accustomed to this merging of philosophical ideas in our western world that we may not even notice it. We also may not be able to see this because of how languages are translated.
I say this because what comes to mind when we see the word debtor?
In our twenty-first century mind when we think of debt, we think of the amount of money I charged on my credit card, or possibly the loan that I took while obtaining my degree. We see the word as something owed to another. This is not wrong, it is actually a proper way of regarding this word as it means obligation. If I have taken out a loan I have an obligation to repay it based on the contract that I signed. The problem comes from our culture. We, especially in the Untied States, do not have as full of an understanding of what obligation means as other cultures. Our lack of understanding of this very concept can skew our understanding of what Paul is writing to the Romans. It also skews our understanding of the gospel in general.
When we think of debt in a transactional manner, we naturally develop within our minds that there was some negotiation of sorts that must have occurred, and both parties agreed to terms. This is a very western understanding of debt. We are transactional. Our theological understandings of salvation often revolve around transactional concepts, because we emerge from cultures where the transaction is important.
If you were to go out and ask people within our community how one would get to heaven, the most common answer would sound similar to the balancing of one’s checkbook. I have done more good than bad so if there is a heaven I would be accepted. More good than bad, or I have more credit than debts.
We in the western world have a transactional worldview. It is not surprising really because our entire culture revolves around transactions. The most common degree Americans obtain is a business degree, have you ever wondered why that is? We as a culture have built our concept of self worth on having more good than bad. More credit or capital than debts.
I want us to take a step back from that manner of thinking for a moment. I want us to consider a different concept for debt or obligation. I want us to do this because Paul came from a different cultural understanding, yet he spoke into a culture that held many of those ideas.
The Hebrew people had a different overall understanding of obligation. Their obligation, their debt, what they worked for was not for the repayment of expenses but the tribe. Much of the teachings within the law that we so often regard from a transactional mindset, to them were seen as lessons on life within a family or community. We see the commandments as sin. If I commit a sin I must find some way to repay that debt. But what if we look at it from a different perspective?
Consider the teaching surrounding bearing false witness. We look at this and assume that lying is bad, it is a sin. This is a transactional interpretation, credit and debt. We get a credit for honesty and a debt for a lie. The Hebrew people regarded this teaching a bit differently. In their mind personal “sin” was not the central focus, instead their focus was on how falsehood would harm the family, or others within the community. The moral obligation within the teaching or commandment of not bearing false witness is not merely being honest but to protect the reputation of others. It is our obligation, our duty, or our debt to protect not only our reputation, but that of our neighbor.
We understand this to some degree. When I was in elementary school getting ready to go on a field trip our teachers would hold us all on the bus to give us a speech every single time. “Be on your best behavior because the way you act personally reflects on the whole school.” I am sure you have heard a similar speech yourself. Our obligation our debt can be community driven. What we do and say can affect the reputation of not just yourself but everyone connected to you in some manner.
Paul tells the people of the Roman Church, we are not debtors to the flesh. He is saying our obligation, our responsibility or duty is not to the flesh.
Which brings us to another philosophical concept, the flesh.
This is something that can see looked at in many different ways. One is flesh and blood, or physical. Paul might also be speaking to the philosophical concept of Plato or Stoicism. In these philosophical ideas the soul is good and the flesh is bad. Those that indulge the flesh are corrupting the soul but those who in a transactional sense do more good than bad the soul can be released uncorrupted after death.
These concepts were present at the time of Paul’s writing, and many theologians use portions of these philosophies, even the few Friends theologians have had a positive view of these Greek and Roman ideas. The problem arises when we go back and try to rationalize them with Hebrew scripture and concepts. At times they work but at other times it seems as if they contradict.
This is one of those passages where the east and west meet. Paul does speak in a Platonic sense within Romans, but he puts a Hebraic spin to it. “Brothers, we are debtors,” he says, we are have an obligation, not to the flesh, or the body.
The Hebrew concept of the body is different than the Hellenistic view. As mentioned before the Greek understanding is that the body and spirit are separate, in the Hebraic understanding it is united. In Genesis God formed humanity from the dust of the earth, and then God breathed into Adam the spirit. This is an interesting concept if we take a step back. Were we alive before God breathed into Adam’s nostrils? Many would say no, but I ask were the animals alive without God breathing on them? I do believe what the writer of Genesis is saying is that God formed humanity from what was already at hand, and then he gave us spirit. He made us different than all the other animals by connecting us to both the physical and spiritual aspects of life. It was the spiritual aspect of life that died during the fall. Not necessarily die but we became disconnected like a worn out phone charging cable that we have to hold just right for it to work.
To the Greeks the body is a imperfect vessel for the spirit, and for the Hebrews the body is disconnected from our original state. There is not much of a difference which is why western philosophies can often be found in theological texts. The greatest difference though is how we interact with our bodies. In the Platonic sense we are individuals, where as in the Hebrew mindset we are community. We see this in Cain. God asked him where his brother was, and Cain replied am I my brother’s keeper. The western thought is no Cain is not his brother’s keeper which is why we focus on the murder. Hebrew thought is that yes he is his brother’s keeper and because he refused to live in community with his brother he justified murder.
We have an obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die. Paul is bringing both the eastern and western thoughts together here. Yes it is true that there is spirit and body, pneuma and flesh. But he is also saying there is the individual and community. The concept of flesh could be interpreted as the self indulgent or the selfish one. This is where Paul takes the concepts of Plato and turns them back to the God of the Hebrews. In the Platonic view we are individuals, everything we do is focused on self. I can indulge or I can abstain. By indulging I am harming my spirit and if I abstain from things I am purifying my spirit. These ideas are not necessarily wrong, but they are incomplete. It is like we are trying to hold the charging cable in just the right position, all of our effort is focused on ourselves as we attempt to reached that virtuous state by our own strength. What happens? Eventually we look away for an instant and now we are back where we started, trying again and again to restore the broken connection.
That is the selfish life, the moral life. That is the legalistic, platonic, or stoic life. I am making the effort. I am good. But we are working with a broken connection and no matter how much we work we cannot do it ourselves.
This is where the Hebraic mindset comes in. The Hebrew mind knows that the self cannot do it alone. In their mind we are in debt or obliged to the community. They are their brother’s keeper. They protect the reputation of others, they will not allow themselves to covet their neighbor’s property because their neighbor is just as important to them as you are to your neighbor. When we put to death the idea that we can do it ourselves and recognize that we need those around us we are beginning to move from death to life.
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of Slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father!”
As we begin to recognize that we are community beings and not mere individuals the Spirit of God begins to urge us, or more accurately drives us deeper into community. We begin by asking one person a question, and then that person encourages us to become part of a wider community as they introduce us to others.
Paul then reminds us of the Exodus of Israel. It was while they were in slavery that they began to unite together crying out to God. They were not alone, together they cried, and God brought them Moses. Together they endured and God brought them out of the land of bondage. Together they wondered and God made them into a nation. They were not alone. They were not individuals striving for their own personal redemption. They were a community. They were a nation brought together by God. Gathered like a flock of sheep by a working dog and driven to green pastures and still waters.
This is what Paul is reminding us of. This is what Paul is calling us to. The western world is built on the concepts of individual effort and morality, but we do not exist as individuals. We are social beings, created to live in community. But fear keeps us in bondage. Fear prevents us from speaking to our neighbor because they might take what is mine. Fear prevents us from pursuing greatness because I might fail. Fear urges us to violence because we must protect ourselves. Fear and selfishness builds a kingdom of death. It builds a society of exploitation, envy, and hate. Paul urges us to listen to that still small voice so that we can be driven into God’s community.
A community where all people are brothers and sisters united in Christ. A community where we care for the needs of those that cannot help themselves. A community were we are our brother’s keeper. Israel became the God’s people when they became a community when they looked at each other not as individuals or tribes but as one nation under God. And this is what God wants for all people. He wants each of us to be able to cry out to God just as we would our own mother or father, or our closest friend. He wants us to be part of his family. No longer disconnected but restored and renewed.
Jesus, God Incarnate, come to live among humanity. He came to live within a community. He came to show us life with God as he made it his custom to worship, withdraw to isolated places to pray, and to minister to the needs of those around him. Jesus showed us true life. This life that Jesus lived revealed something else. It revealed the darkness within us. It shows us that all to often we do not live our lives devoted to community instead we live to the flesh. We live looking for what is best for me, with little regard for how our actions affect those around us. This darkness that Jesus revealed in the hearts of man caused many around him to react as a spot light was shown on their own actions and people began to see the hypocrisy of the moral selfish life. And the religious leaders began to plot and the high priest said, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”
Jesus came to restore the connection, he came to reunite the physical and spiritual. He came to restore true community and life. He took the injustice of the kingdoms of men on himself, he suffered, died and was sealed in a tomb.
This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day. It is a day that I have mixed feelings about. On one hand it is a day where we celebrate the sacrifice of those within our nation that have died in service to our nation. We celebrate those that gave their lives. And on the other hand I mourn the loss of those lives because it is a testimony that we as nations still live bound in the bondage of fear, and do not see each other as children of God. That is the reality of our human condition. We celebrate and morn. We use force to change the minds of others, but we often fail to see the truth of what Jesus did.
He did not fight. He did not use force. They did not take his life but he laid down his life. He laid down his life as he stood against the injustice of the kingdoms of men. That flesh focused life will continue within each of us, within our neighborhoods and nations until someone stands and breaks the cycle. Until we recognize that we are our brother’s keeper and we die to our own selfish desires and treat other better than ourselves. Jesus suffered, died and was buried. But the story does not end there. He rose again to life. And he promises that we too will be glorified if we take on his life and lifestyle. When we no longer just cry out in self righteous morality and live life with our brothers and sisters equal in the eyes of God.
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By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
May 12,2024
1 John 5:9–13 (ESV)
9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
This has been a stressful couple of weeks for me and my family. Near the end of last week, my dad fell off a ladder and he would love that I am broadcasting that over the internet. Our family was worried because he had back surgery last year around this time. Then that same evening I received a call from my dad telling me that he taking my mom to the emergency room. It took a while for me to process what he said. My mom not him. My mom had what they call a widow maker heart attach. And the blockage was in a place where the arteries branch off to a couple of directions, this meant that she was going to need open heart surgery. We were all in shock. My mom had health issues but nothing that would have pointed to her heart.
I thank you all for your prayers through all of this. I thank God that we were already planning on having pastor Mwenitanda speak so we did not need to rush to figure out who could speak. That all being said my mom came through the surgery fine, she went home on Wednesday, but on Saturday she went back to the hospital. Her heart is fine, she was just retaining too much fluid so please continue to pray.
That was enough, but like many things within a community trouble multiplies. The Friends Meeting that I grew up in was celebrating their 150th Anniversary last Sunday. We just recently celebrated the 150th anniversary for our yearly meeting so this means just a few short years after Kansas Yearly Meeting began in Lawrence, Friends had settled halfway to the Rocky Mountains.
I had enjoyed listening to the stories from every family within our Meeting and within the surrounding community. I heard stories of tornadoes and floods, of farmers getting ill at critical times of the year and the people within the Meeting coming together to make sure their crops were planted or harvested. I heard stories that would make you swell with pride and break down in tears as you heard the hardship.
Mt. Ayr was settled by Gregory’s, Bales’, Stanfield’s, and Mendenhal’s. There were Windslow and Peterson’s and many others. Each family had a story to tell as to why they moved west, why they stayed, and why they continued. That small church in the middle of nowhere planted other meetings throughout the area. They promoted ministry, and they went on missions. I have enjoyed hearing the stories over the years, and as I look through various history and political science publications I can see how those few people one hundred and fifty years ago influenced a world in a manner beyond their size.
In 2012 Collin Woodard published a book called American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America. Mr. Woodard developed a map based on his research that depicts the boarders of these cultural nations that I have found to be fascinating. David if you will show the next slide I would appreciate it. You notice the light blue area through the center. This is where those families emigrated. And the next slide shows right on the edge of The Midlands and The Far West is where Mt Ayr is located. This light blue area on the map was is small in comparison to other areas, it does not contain a great number of people yet in American history these areas are significant. They stand between vastly different cultural ideologies. This light blue area is where the Friends largely settled, with a few exceptions. The Gregory’s did move to North Carolina before they moved back to Ohio and west.
I am off track. But it is important. Since Europeans have been in America, Friends have been here. We have sat between, quietly encouraging those around them. That is my heritage. My family settled on the boarder of the far west, and they wrote about it in their journals. Saying that one harsh winter they had to go farther west to hunt and just a few miles west, they spoke to the last English speaking individual for the next three months. My home town celebrated this rich heritage last week. But shortly after this celebration the pastor at Mt Ayr along with his family faced great loss, as their Father Bill Peterson passed away after battling Parkinson’s disease for twenty-eight years. My mom had a heart attach and Bill passed away, too much loss and stress during a time of celebration.
John tells us in his epistle, “If we receive the testimony of men.” If we receive? Often when we hear the word receive, we think of it as getting a gift, but in this sense of the word it is speaking about gaining knowledge or information. John is telling us to listen to the stories. Tell your story. Offer your story which is what testimony means. Let those around you know what makes you excited, what drives you crazy, what inspires you and what discourages you. Let people know what you trust and why. And on the flip side, listen. John is encouraging us to know each other.
Your story is important because it is your story. I can debate you on pretty much anything, but I cannot speak with any authority on you. I can make interpretations, I might even think you are fanatical at times, but when it comes right down to it your story your experience in life and faith can only be shared by you. You might not think you have much to say. I am just a small town country boy from the middle of nowhere, but guess what there is more to me than anyone thought. My life is just one that is connected to countless others, and each of those lives multiply throughout history. Your story is important.
“If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater.”
I mentioned Bill. I knew Bill my entire life. But only in the last few years did I really get to know him. Like so many people he did not share his story. At times he was ashamed of his story, scared to share it because of what people might think. But once he began to tell it, I was amazed at just how blessed he truly was. I listened to him share how God preserved his life on multiple occasions. And if certain events would not have happened the way it did he would not have become a father, and his son would not have become the pastor of that church. He struggled, do not get me wrong, but his story of God carrying him through the struggle brought tears to my eyes.
I heard his testimony. I have heard and shared stories of my mom and her faith. I have shared stories of my grandma, my grandpa, my dads and my own life. All of these stories have inspired me. Many of these stories have influenced my path of life and faith. But John tells us the story of God is even greater.
When I look at that map, I am often reminded of why they moved. During the hours we waited in the hospital as my mom was in surgery, my dad told us stories of his ancestors. The Gregory family moved west on several occasions but in each move they had a mission. They wanted to build a godly community. They moved in a period of time when Friends or Quakers did not have clergy or pastors, so to have a meeting each person had to participate in the ministry. This family as a whole moved west to plant meetings and to build communities filled with hope. They would help the indigenous peoples if asked even at risk of their own lives. They would help other pioneer families even if they were not part of the Friends Meeting. They lived what they believed. They lived their lives with God as the driving factor.
We have our testimony yes, but where is God?
I read once about a debate between a theologian and an atheist. This debate was billed as the once for all debate to prove which side was right and which was wrong. The atheist came out and gave his opening argument and then yielded to his opponent. And this theologian slowly came forward, looked at his notes and said one word. Israel. He then sat down.
This exchange went on for a while and each time the theologian would say that one word, until finally the atheist demanded a reason for that answer. What did the theologian then say? He told the story of God, through the testimony of Israel. As he began to speak of this one nation in the midst of empires, this tiny seemingly insignificant nation, that has existed, been conquered, were restored and conquered again and again. After thousands of years this small nation should not exist and yet it does.
The witness of God is greater.
This nation rose and fell, they clung to God and they often turned away. For thousands of years through hardships and surplus this nation remained even while the empires that once conquered them were swallowed by the dust of the earth. Mankind has tried to silence that name throughout the ages and yet it remains.
The witness of God is greater.
What is God’s witness? At Babel God confused the languages and the divided the nations among the sons of god, but he chose one nation to be his inheritance, Israel. He did this before the man who would become Israel was born, before his father was born. He chose that one nation before the grandfather Abraham even knew who God was. This one nation emerged out of nothing. Abraham was a childless man well into his golden years. When most people would be watching their grandchildren play, Abraham the father of a nation, the light to the nations did not have a son to hug. He was older than my great grandfather when he had his son Isaac.
The witness of God is greater.
I will not go through the whole story, Abraham did become a father, Israel did emerge as a people but only after they collectively called to God and emerged out of slavery. They saw, they experienced the witness of man, and at Sinai they became the people for God.
Notice the word, I said for instead of of. Israel just like the people of today had to receive the testimony of God. They had to listen and receive before they could become. And they struggled with this. Aaron, Moses’ own brother, watched as many among Israel turned from God and worshiped a golden calf. Time and time again the people would move toward and away from God.
Even then the witness of God is greater.
Israel fell to Assyria, to Babylon, to Persia, to the Greeks and the Romans. All these competing ideas surrounding them and yet God remained. And in the fullness of time God called a man named John to become a voice crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the ways of the Lord.”
John was just one prophet that emerged from these people for God. He stood on the banks of the Jordan telling the people to repent for the kingdom of God was at hand. Repent because God is right here within our reach. The crowds came from all over to listen to this man teach and one day he looked out into the distance and saw a man approaching. John stopped in the middle of what he was doing looking off toward that man and he changed what he had been saying. Instead of saying, “repent for the kingdom of God is at hand,” he said, “Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
Imagine if you had been sitting among the people that day. Hearing those words. Watching a man that boldly cried to everyone from the priests to the fisherman to repent, stand almost speechless. You watched as the man that silenced the prophet approached. You watch as the prophet falls before him and pleas that he should be baptized by him, instead of the prophet baptizing this man. This man the Lamb of God as John described him, takes John by the hand and says, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” So John baptized this man we know as Jesus.
As Jesus emerged from the water we are told that the Spirit of God descended like a dove and came to rest of Jesus, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
The witness of God is greater.
Jesus leaves John, and he begins to gather disciples and they go and teach. They worship, and provide those in need with food and healing. There is great excitement throughout the land. And then one day while Jesus was withdrawing to an isolated place he takes his closest friends up onto a mountain to pray. His friends watch as Jesus prays, they see him change before their eyes and they notice Moses and Elijah, the law giver and the father of sons of the prophets stand with him. As the three commune with one another, a cloud surrounds them and a voice speaks to the disciples as they observe this lifestyle of prayer and transfiguration before them. That voice says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
The witness of God is greater.
This Jesus soon is arrested and charged with crimes. He is executed on a cross even though the governing official over the land found him to be without guilt. He faced injustice with us and for us, because so often we as humankind are willing to do evil with the hope that good may come from it.
What has the story of God been to this point? He will call a people, make them into a nation, he will preserve that people through the ages, and that he would make them into a light for all nations. His story is that through this nation this people God would take away the sins of the world. John proclaimed that on the banks of Jordan. And the voice of God confirmed it. The disciples saw the law giver and the father of the prophets with Jesus on a mountain, the law and the prophets the entire teaching within Torah stood with Jesus on that mountain, and the voice of God confirmed yet again, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
But the story of God seemed to be overshadowed by the testimonies of men. Jesus this beloved Son, hung on the cross, and was buried. The story seemed to be over before it began. Except on the third day the story restarts. The one that was once dead has risen. Suddenly for the next forty days the disciples who Rome and the Sanhedrin expected to quietly disperse began to meet together again.
For forty days after the resurrection Jesus reminded them of what he said and the disciples eagerly listened to him. He reminded them of his new or renewed commandment, or teaching to love one another as he has loved them. They wanted Jesus to restore the kingdom, to bring about everything they had hoped. They wanted him to complete the story. But Jesus taught them one last thing.
“It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father as fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
As he said these things. As the disciples eagerly kept their eyes on him, they saw him lifted up into the clouds. They stood there staring, in utter confusion. What had they just witnessed? Then two men spoke to them, they were dressed in white robes and they said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
We do not know nor are we to know the end of God’s story. You will probably tell me we know the end because John wrote about it in Revelation. Yes, we do not fully know, we only know what God has revealed to us. This is his story and he is inviting us to participate. We are invited to participate in a story that has been emerging before our eyes from the first breath breathed into our first parent until the today. And likely into tomorrow. A story of how God so loved the world that he would not give up.
I can look on a map and see the testimony of generations. Generations like my father’s ancestors that moved west to build godly communities. Or like my mother’s ancestral grandmother that boldly preached in a time when women were not widely accepted outside of Friends as ministers. I stand here today because I have received the testimony of men and women, I have listened to what God has done in the lives of my grandmother, my great uncle, for Bill. I have watched my father and mother live their lives before me and I have received their words too. I can look at a map, but more than that. All those stories I have told, only mean something to me. Most of you probably have not heard about any of the people that settled in that little township on the edge of civilization. They are like countless lives throughout human history, that come together. We have received a greater story. A story that calls each of us to love one another. A story that encourages us to share our sorrows and our joys. A story that says that hope is alive and that we can have it if we believe.
The story continues. Jesus rose from the grave, and he met with his disciples. He ate with them and taught with them, He breathed on them and told them, “Peace be with you. As the father has sent me, even so I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit, If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
John tells us that he wrote the words of scripture we read today that you may know that you have eternal life. That you may know that you have received and participate in God’s larger story.
What is your story?
