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Good morning! Today is a day of mixed emotions for me, and for many of you too, as it is my last Sunday here as Pastor. I feel like I have gone through all the stages of grief, and I have come to a place of acceptance. Even though I don’t understand it, I trust in God’s plan and God’s will for Nativity and me personally.

“[Jesus] said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’” Seems like a fitting Gospel following my retreat!

I believe this is the only time you get to hear a reading from Amos this liturgical year. We have Amos, a caretaker of sheep and sycamore trees, chosen to be a prophet. The prophets did what no one else dared to do, they spoke truth to power. Prophets are not popular among government leaders who are in power by force and military might instead of by the will of the people. God's laws are enforced by conscience. We worship God not because God is power but because God is truth and love. Prophets risk their lives to speak truth to leaders.

I hope everyone had good 4th of July celebrations. The biggest part of my celebration was actually on the 3rd, I went down to AY McDonald Park with the Radio Station to watch the Airshow and the Fireworks. As always, it was really good, I am behind the scenes enough to know how much work goes into them year round from Perry and his crew, so I appreciate their efforts and the show even more that way, they put a lot of work into it and people never see that.

We just heard two famous healing stories, and in reflecting on them, there are really two central themes within the healings, faith and humility, so I want to focus on those two aspects, very important virtues of our faith.