The Sunday School today explored the story of Abraham and Sarah, and made quilt pieces showing the desert, to put alongside our “garden” pieces from the Adam and Eve story. In all our lives, there are “garden” times – rich, productive, comforting – and there are “desert” times – alienating, difficult, lonely. Yet for some people, including Jesus, the desert is where you go to be closest to God –in the barren landscape, where distractions are stripped away.
The Creche heard the story of Jacob and Esau, and Jacob’s dream of a ladder of angels. Jacob is a deeply flawed person, yet God chooses him. The Old Testament heroes are often weak, foolish, or even cruel. But God still has plans for them. If God can work through them, then there is no reason our own flaws can prevent him from working through us.