The Way of Christ implies that there is a better way of being and doing . And the church in its actions shows that better way. Whether is Philemon freeing a slave who eventually becomes a bishop or a congregation becoming racially diverse in a segregated society, the church is charged with showing the world there is a different and better way.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The church shows it every day, every week. It’s been said many times before me that 11 o’clock on Sunday is the most segregated hour during the week. But we show every week in our worship it doesn’t have to be this way, when people from east and west and north and south, people with light skin and dark skin and every hue in between worship together.

Over the past four decades it has gotten progressively harder to make ends meet for more and more people. But we show every time we gather for fellowship it doesn’t have to be this way. When we say, “Bring what you can, and eat what you need,” we show the world a different way.”

It is becoming clearer to more and more people that our society and culture is becoming more and more fragmented. People are becoming more and more isolated, even as we claimm more and more “friends.” But we show in how we love and care for one another and even for those who visit us that it doesn’t have to be this way.

In Greek society, no one who was a slave became anyone of any importance. Yet in the church, Onesimus became the bishop of Ephesus.

Christ shows us a better way, a way of truth and grace, a way of fellowship and love, a way of life and freedom.