With Labor Day weekend around the corner, many of us are in a season of transition. Summer vacations are winding down. Students have returned to classrooms. New routines take shape. The light shifts a little earlier each evening. Whether you're looking forward to what's next or wishing summer would linger longer, this season reminds us that life is always moving, often into places we can't fully predict. That's why our summer theme, Courage for the Unknown, has felt so fitting.
This Sunday, we'll conclude our series on the Ten Commandments with just one verse: "You shall not covet." (Exodus 20:17)
At first, it may seem like an unusual commandment to spend an entire Sunday exploring. But unlike the other commandments, this one reaches beneath our actions and into our hearts. It asks not only, What do we do? but What do we long for? What captures our attention? What convinces us that if only we had someone else's success, security, possessions, relationships, influence, or life, then would we finally be enough?
The truth is that many of the things that fracture our lives and communities don't begin with dramatic acts of wrongdoing. They begin much earlier, with desires that slowly grow unchecked. This commandment invites us to notice those desires before they become actions that harm ourselves and others.
We live in a culture that tells us we are missing something. Advertising depends on convincing us we don't have enough. Social media tempts us to compare our lives with curated snapshots of someone else's. Our economy rewards endless accumulation while leaving many without enough. It's no wonder contentment feels elusive. We all compare. We all envy. We all forget that our worth rests not in what we possess, but in the God who calls us beloved.
I think that courage for the unknown doesn't always look like taking a giant leap. Sometimes it looks like trusting that God has already given us enough to take the next faithful step. Sometimes this looks like loosening our grip on comparison so we can celebrate another person's joy. Sometimes it looks like asking hard questions about the systems that cultivate scarcity while committing ourselves to the work of sharing abundance more faithfully.
As we gather this Sunday, we'll explore what it means to cultivate hearts shaped less by scarcity and more by gratitude, generosity, and trust.
However, you're arriving this weekend - rested, exhausted, content, searching, hopeful or uncertain - you are welcome here. I look forward to seeing you as we close this journey through the Ten Commandments together and discover once again that God's grace is always greater.
Peace,
Pastor Katie
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