The theologian, N.T. Wright, wrote, “The deeply personal reconciliation between the creator God and the human race in and through Jesus the Messiah can hardly be explored too often, or too thoroughly.”  The Christian church on earth has spent a lot of time thinking, writing and preaching about either individual salvation and spiritual growth or trying to make the church politically relevant by trying to bring one group or another’s version of the Kingdom of God into existence.

What both projects do ignores the fundamental truth of God’s saving action; namely, that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross has reconciled us to God and our enemies. There must be a way that our individual faith and trust in God, combined with our communal efforts to be God’s hands and feet, can bring unity across divided families, communities, and nations. The question we will explore in this preaching series for the second half of the summer is, “How might God’s saving and reconciling act in the death of Jesus Christ be a model for the reconciliation of our divided world?”