Tell me all your thoughts on God
'Cause I’d really like to meet her
And ask her why we're who we are.

-- Dishwalla, "Counting Blue Cars"

“See, the home of God is among people.”

-- Revelation 21:3

Who are we?

We are part of God’s family. That’s the short answer, at least. Did you know God had a family? Since the beginning of time, God has not been much of a loner. Some of the earliest sacred stories that have been passed down to us tell of a God who just wasn’t satisfied with the universe until it had people in it—women and men—human beings—creatures capable of giving and receiving love.

Why? Because God’s primary attribute is love. And love is not simply an emotion one can feel in one’s heart. Love can only be shown in relationship to others. And while human beings have managed to find just about every way to run away from that love, God has never stopped seeking us out, calling to us through women and men in every age—prophets, sages, artists, and poets—with a word that never changes: “You are precious and honored in my sight and I love you.”

We who call ourselves Christians have heard that word most clearly in Jesus Christ, in whom we have seen and touched the face of God. In his preaching and healing, in his dying and rising, we find ourselves transformed: drawn out of fear into freedom, out of isolation into community, out of self-absorption into service.

Because of the love we have experienced in Jesus, our lives can never be the same. We see the world with new eyes. Every person we meet, no matter what they look like, where they come from, what language they speak, or what they’ve ever done is a person that God loves, and a person in whom we see the face of Jesus.

So who are we? We are children and adults, women and men, young and old. We are teachers and engineers, builders and social workers, students and retirees, musicians and bus drivers. We are single and married, widowed and divorced, straight and gay, Democrat and Republican, and everything in between. We are healthy and hurting, faithful and questioning, courageous and doubting. In other words, we are your everyday slice of humanity.

And God loves every last one of us. God loves you too. Why? Not because we’re incredible people. Not because we’ve earned it. But because we are part of God’s family. We’ve been welcomed home, and we hope to welcome you as well.