Eight centuries before the birth of Christ, the Prophet Isaiah had a thing or two to say about how we live our lives. Chapters 56-66 of the Book of Isaiah are addressed to the Israelites who have returned home to devastation in Jerusalem, after the Babylonian exile. With generations of banishment ended, they need to rebuild their lives, their community, and what it means to be a God follower.

When they returned to Jerusalem, the Israelites were no longer bound by the restrictions of exile. Humans don’t always handle freedom wisely, however, so God gave them instructions. First, God told the Israelites to fight injustice and workplace exploitation, to free the oppressed, to cancel debits, and to feed, clothe, and shelter those in need. This guidance has been enacted into law through civil rights, bankruptcy, and labor legislation, along with programs such as SNAP benefits and Section 8 Housing.

In addition to advising the Israelites on how to care for others, God also provided instruction on we all are to live our lives. Eliminate unfair practices, victim blaming, and gossip, and share generously with the hungry and down-and-out. Consistently following these instructions isn’t easy. Manipulation and victim shaming still occur, and judgey Christians continue to point out others’ sins.

There is work for us to do as we strive to live as God’s faithful representatives. When we heed the same instructions that God gave the newly freed Israelites, others will identify us as God followers. With the example of how we conduct our lives, we will be known for our ability to make community livable through restoration, rebuilding, and renovation.

During baptism, the candidate or the parents of a candidate make a set of promises. Then the church community makes promises in return, telling the newest member of God’s family that they’re not alone in their faith journey. The community’s promise includes surrounding the baptismal candidate with love and forgiveness.

Baptism is a celebration of salvation and initiation into Christian community. But where there is community, there are people. Where there are people, there is conflict. And where there is conflict, there is the need for forgiveness.

Forgiveness done well is astounding. We’ve seen it after terrible events. When a white supremacist murdered nine African American members of a South Carolina church 2015, AME Bishop John Bryant said, “He wanted to start a race war, but he came to the wrong place.” In 2006, a 33-year-old man barricaded himself in a one-room Amish schoolhouse. He shot ten girls, killing five and injuring five. Then he killed himself. Despite the devastating losses, 40 members of the Amish community joined the man’s grieving parents at his funeral.

Talk about forgiveness can be difficult to take in. Does it mean putting all the burden on the victim and letting the perpetrator off? In the early church, people promised love and forgiveness, but it wasn’t unconditional. Serious sin meant getting expelled from church, and the only way to return was to make a public confession and do public penance.

The ability to connect and choose love was one of Jesus’s superpowers. As he and two other enemies of the Roman state hung on crosses, one of the men ridiculed Jesus and the other defended Jesus. In that moment, Jesus assured the defender that he would join Jesus in paradise. Jesus modeled forgiveness, love, and community building right up to his death. When we, the community, make promises during baptism, we’re pledging to recommit to following Jesus and his ways.

Lent and baptism go hand in hand. In the early church, Lent was a time of preparation for baptism. Today, we can use the season of Lent to remember our baptismal promises and discover our place in the story of salvation.

In baptism, water symbolizes washing away sin and we make four promises, naming the kind of life we will have in Christ. First, we renounce wickedness and repent our sins. This is the moment of letting go and relaxing into God, much like water flows over a waterfall. Then we accept God’s power for resisting evil, injustice, and oppression. Next, we confess that Jesus Christ is our Savior and put our whole trust into God’s grace. And finally, we promise to remain faithful members of Christ’s church.

Baptism is about taking on the identity of a Christ-follower—distinguishing ourselves as Christians. When we make our baptismal promises, we take on the role of being Christ’s representatives in the world. This is important, because people will make judgements about Jesus based on our actions. Here are a few questions to ask yourselves. Do we take care of others? Do we forgive and ask for forgiveness? Are we kind when it’s difficult? Do we stand up for people who are attacked?

When we don’t do these things, we give Jesus a bad name. Each of us called in baptism has been handed work called ministry. We’re all empowered for work in the church and work on behalf of the church. The life of following Christ and nurturing others is something we get to do together—we call it church.

In his prophecies, a shepherd named Amos described God’s grace. He said, “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24).

English translations for the biblical meaning of the justice and righteousness described by Amos differ from our everyday usage and are somewhat incomplete. In the biblical sense, justice is an idea of fairness, receiving our due, or the conclusion of justice. In other words, a response that is right. Righteousness describes a core quality of God that includes holiness, faithfulness, integrity, and the life-giving power of restoration. God puts things in right relation, and we can share this quality with God.

The image of water rolling down is also about baptism. Lent, the current liturgical season, originated from the 40-day preparation for baptism. At the beginning of a baptism, parents or sponsors share the name of the baby, child, or adult being baptized. Names are important, because they become a part of our identity and connect us to the name giver. During baptism, we are called by name to be children of God.

One of the most influential writings in church history is the apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. Throughout the letter, Paul repeats the theme that God’s love and salvation is available to all. Paul describes the new reality of the resurrection that connects God’s people to the love of Christ. Paul says that bond is unbreakable, even when it looks like we’ve have failed or God has been beaten. In times of hardship, God saves.

The Bible includes multiple instances of justice and righteousness being used together. When water rolls down, nothing pushes it. With Amos’s description of rolling water, we’re reminded that the connection to God and church is a process of relaxing into God’s grace, justice, and righteousness.

What is heaven like? Will we know our loved ones when we get to heaven? Jesus talked about the kingdom of heaven using parables. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. The kingdom of heaven is like a farmer who planted a field. The kingdom of heaven is like a pearl. Despite these teachings, we don’t have a concrete understanding of what the kingdom of heaven is like.

So, what does the Bible tell us about heaven? Scripture says, the kingdom of heaven is where God is the ruler, where God’s will is done, that exists now and not yet. However, when we think of heaven, we generally mean something specific in the afterlife. For example, a place of paradise, reward, happiness, or freedom from pain.

Many of us have likely formed beliefs about heaven, but we really can’t know if we’re right or wrong until we die. Jesus was the only one who died and came back to tell us about it, and he didn’t say much. Instead, Jesus focused on inviting us to follow him. Jesus repeatedly told us about God’s love, and we are like God when we are at our best—loving, peace-filled, courageous, and giving.

Ultimately, we can believe in the next life because Jesus said it was so. We can only trust that we will have closeness with God and that we will recognize our loved one who are already there. Guessing about what heaven is like from this side of the gave changes nothing, except everything that we believe about heaven in the next life affects our lives today. Like Jesus said, when we believe that heaven is where God’s will is done, then we start living today by doing God’s will today

God, how can we have faith in you? And how do we keep faith in times of difficulty? Trying to answer these questions of faith is a feat that leads to more questions. God, are you real? And if you are real, are you worth my loyalty?

At the start of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, everyone believed in God and people made decisions based on which church was truly following God. Then things changed. Use of the printing press spread, the Scientific Revolution began, democracy took root, and people started asking questions. For the first time, they stopped automatically assuming God existed.

Having faith begins with an awareness that both transcendent and imminent thinking exist. Transcendent thinking is the realm of spirituality, ideas, and cosmic order. The focus of imminent thinking is on earthiness, physicality, and natural order. In other words, it’s a comparison of things we can and cannot see.

In a quest for a perfect understanding of God, some people reject everything that is not religious and they do not tolerate questions. This behavior never works, because Jesus is the only person in Scripture who had perfect faith. Everyone else doubted or failed in some way. Trusting that God is real is to have confidence in something we cannot see.

If God is real, is God worth my loyalty? When we acknowledge that God is really the creator of the universe and the Savior who comforts and protects, loyalty to God makes sense. The question about faith in times of difficulty is really a question about loyalty. However, we have trust issues when bad things happen and God doesn’t intervene. Ultimately, God knows things we don’t and that power makes God worth our loyalty.

If you have questions and doubts about faith, it’s okay. God never promised to make our lives easy or pain free. Instead, God’s promise was to be with us, to comfort us, and save us for a mission worthy of our whole lives.

Why do you allow suffering? Why do bad things happen to good people? Because these two questions to God persist, suffering is one of the most common reasons for rejecting God. You've heard the statement, "I can't believe in a God who would let that happen."

The attempt to make sense of God's role in suffering is a monumental task. Sometimes the good we do leads to suffering and sometimes suffering just happens at random. We want suffering to make sense, but it can end up leading to more questions. There is an assumption that bad things should only happen to bad people, so when bad things happen to good people, we wonder if those people are actually bad.

When suffering occurs, we're focused on who is to blame. Because we're invested in the idea that bad things happen for a reason, we blame victims or we find a way to justify the suffering. Jesus wasn't interested in assigning blame. John's Gospel describes Jesus's encounter with a man who was born blind. When the disciples asked whether the man or his parents sinned, Jesus replied, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." Then he healed the man.

Jesus takes a different approach to suffering. In John 11, he weeps with sisters Mary and Martha after learning their brother Lazarus has died. Jesus didn't blame the sisters for the death of Lazarus. Instead, Jesus grieved with Mary and Martha. In other words, he joined them in their suffering. When Jesus tells us, "Take up your cross and follow me," his message is twofold. Jesus is saying you will suffer—and I will with be with you. When we suffer, God joins us instead of taking our pain or grief away. A grieving widow once summed up the relationship between God and suffering when she told a group of friends, "Without suffering, there is no resurrection."

When people are grappling with injustices or disasters, they ask God, “Why do you allow evil to exist,” and “Can you stop evil?” Although there isn’t a precise answer to either of these questions, clues in Scripture provide some clarity. Guest speaker Patrick Meisen shares the insights he gained while examining these questions to God. Christian Apologetics, a branch of theology focused on defending and explaining Christian faith, phrases the question of evil another way: If God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good, then why is there so much suffering in the world? The relationship between evil and suffering exists, because evil can lead to suffering. Evil is classified as moral or natural. Humans are responsible for moral evil, and natural evil is the result of natural disasters or disease. The Bible includes examples of each. In the Book of Job, an innocent and upright man demands an explanation from God after a storm kills his children. And in the Book of Habakkuk, a prophet complains to God about persistent injustice in Judah and God’s seeming inaction.

When God responds in these stories, we learn that human knowledge is too limited to understand the full context of these events. Furthermore, we discover that it’s okay to question and lament while holding onto faith in God. When we suffer, God is there with us. God constantly works to prevent evil. God sent the Old Testament prophets to warn about evil and the Holy Spirit to guide us. Occasionally, God prevents evil through miracles. Most of the time, however, God heads off evil through us. When you see evil and it makes you angry, God is calling you to prevent it. Because God gave humans free will, it’s up to us to choose whether to do good.