Thanks to everyone who helped with our annual sale. This year we had help from the Washburne Neighborhood Association!  We had church that day right there on the yard and helped the children in Africa by raising over  $700.

July 12, 2015 Sermon  “ Restoring the Sacred Circle”  by  Rev. June Fothergill Ephesians 1: 3-14 When I was a young pastor my friend Carol who was Native American invited me to serve on the Native American Council of our conference.  I served for several years.  One of the hard things about that time was the struggle to support the little Native American church at Williamson River, in Klamath country.   I am sad to say, we ultimately were unable to do so in a way that would allow that church to thrive and several years ago the church was closed and the land given to the Klamath tribe.  It was sad for me to lose the only Native American local church in our conference.  I still wonder, did we really take the time to understand their needs and respond appropriately?   When we talk about restoring the sacred circle of relationships with Native American persons and others different from the dominate culture, we face a complex mix of history and present circumstances. The world that first receive the letter we call Ephesians was also complex.  The Roman empire in the time of Paul and those who wrote in his tradition was connecting the peoples of the known world together in ways never seen before.  Paul and his associates could travel freely throughout the Mediterranean. People from all sorts of backgrounds and cultures were able to talk with one another and share ideas.  Writing to the people in Ephesus, one of those  Roman Empire cities in what we know today as Turkey, Paul  had a vision of Christ pulling together all of creation, including the diverse gentile peoples  of Ephesus and beyond.  Beneath this dream is the idea that there is one creator of us all, who wants to restore positive relationship with all people and therefore the wholeness of creation itself. This is the dream, not that everyone become the same ( I,e, Jewish in Paul’s context) but that  each will have its place in the sacred circle of life through the heart of Christ.   The passage suggests some things needed to restore the sacred circle. 1. Grace- forgiveness and redemption This is the great gift that Paul believed made all the difference.  We can be restored to right relationship with God and with each other through the love and sacrifice of Christ Jesus .    Jesus makes us all children of God and gives us hope to stand before God blameless and whole.   Yet to find this redemption from sin, this freedom to live for God, we have to admit our need and turn to God in Christ Jesus.    When we think that we ourselves...