Think about Jesus’ ministry. Think about all the people He healed and forgave and made whole. They all had something in common - the world held up an image and said, “if you don’t look like this, act like this, live like this - you are worthless.” Instead of loving and forgiving them back into the community - they were cast out and shamed or ignored - Until Jesus came along.

God saves you IN your body, not FROM your body. Your body is the same form and substance God chose to put on and walk among us with. Your body is holy and beautiful to God just the way it is. We may see the creativity and power of God in the beauty of nature - but we see the image of God in the human body. Billions of human bodies – each one unique and unreproducible - different shapes and textures and colors and size – but all bearing the image of God.

When God asks, "what more could I have done?" - He doesn't want to know if He should have fertilized more or built a bigger water tower or higher fence. The question is rhetorical. He did everything that needed to be done - and the vineyard still wasn't what He wanted it to be.

A number of years ago a father walked into my office. His son had taken his own life and the dad was trying to make sense of something you can't make sense of. He had been a pretty good dad - given his son whatever he could - but the son made choices that led him further and further away. The dad never gave up - right up until he got the phone call. As he sat in my office his only question was, "what more could I have done?" And of course, if we knew the answer - he would have done it. Sometimes, there is no answer - sometimes there is nothing more you can do. But that doesn't mean you don't spend your sleepless nights asking the question over and over.

Mark 8:36 says "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" There are far too many people who don't have time for God because they are so busy paying off their credit cards and mortgages - and yet at night in their silent cries of being overwhelmed and out of control they expect God to have time for them.

In Matthew 11 Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will give you rest! For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

God gave you friends and family as a gift. They are to bring joy and encouragement to you as you make this journey through life. And ultimately they are the only things you get to take with you when you leave this earth. Everything else is going to disappear. Makes it kind of simple to figure out what God thinks is important.

Romans 10:9-10 says, "if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

No one can believe for you. No one else's opinion matters. This is between you and God. Period.

And if you're carrying around a whole bunch of baggage because you think you aren't who you think you should be - that God didn't do right by you - dump it. Just put it all in those little plastic bins and walk through the screening machine and keep going - never look back.

If Jesus really is God. If He is your Savior. If He created the world and called everything into being with just a few words - then He certainly knows what He's doing when it comes to you.

If I came to church on Sunday with a backpack full of rocks and complained I had a backache - you would tell me to stop carrying the backpack full of rocks. You don't have to be a doctor or nurse to figure out what's causing my aches and pains.

But when someone comes and says, "I am carrying a huge load of things I cannot forget. A long list of people I will not forgive" - why don't we say, "it's time to learn to forgive and forget - let Jesus carry those burdens for you?"

Jesus made you His own in baptism - and every single day the Holy Spirit works in and through you to bring about miracle after miracle. Jesus said, "whoever wants to be My disciple has to take up His cross and follow Me." That's our carry-on - our cross - but the truth it, it carries us - we don't carry it.

You only need faith in Jesus to make this trip - everything else is overpacking. Trust in God - believe Him when He says everything you need is already yours in Christ. Your ticket says: final destination Heaven - no bags checked. Remember when I said my dream vacation is to just go to the airport and climb on the plane with no carry-on or suitcase and get everything I need when I arrive at my destination - if I don't get to do it while I'm here, that's exactly what I'll be doing when I go home to heaven. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Canaanite woman doesn't try to justify herself or claim she is good enough or deserved anything - but she knew God was a "dog" person - the kind that "accidentally - on purpose" dropped scraps from the table.

Jesus reaches through the waves and the wind as we start to sink and pulls us into His arms and sets us inside the boat. He sets us back into a community that watched us try to walk on water. He does not yell at us and say, "what were you thinking?" He knew what we were thinking. He knows us inside and out so it's not a surprise.

So why put us back among people that saw us make fools of ourselves? The church is not perfect, or even practically perfect. It is a community that gathers around The Cross and who in many and various ways have all cried out with Peter, "Lord, save me!" And across the spectrum of our faith and our doubt, Jesus does save. The greatest churches are not the largest or prettiest - the greatest are the ones who know the power of the Law and the Gospel and trust in the forgiveness of God.