Scripture: Romans 12:4-5
For just as each of us has one body with many members, thumb and these members do not all have the same function, buy viagra so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Thought for the Day: Part of the reason the followers of Jesus were dangerous to the Roman Empire was Paul’s insistence that, at least while they were gathered as the people of God, they were all equals—men or women, slave or free. The Empire was not (and is not) known for egalitarianism. I know some of you are out there going, “But isn’t Paul the same guy who tells women to be silent and obey their husbands?” Yes and no. Whether or not Paul wrote those particular letters is highly suspect, but either way, we also know that Paul’s letters say much more than we read on the surface. Like most works written during times of oppression, Paul’s letters contain a hidden transcript—ideas that seem harmless on the surface, perhaps even ideas that seem to conform to the power structure. To the people reading them though, to the assembled people of God in the know, the words mean much, much more. They are words of freedom from a society that continues to oppress and enslave the least of us.

Prayer: God of every nation, make my church the assembly of every man, woman and child; of every ethnicity and every nation. Fill our hearts, our souls, and our world with love, mercy, compassion and understanding. Amen.