Welcome to the Exchange!

We are excited about our new class, and we are glad you have chosen to check out the class's blog.

We have had great attendance during our first two meetings, and we hope those of you who have not yet joined us will choose to do so in the near future!

In the first blog entry, we wanted to take the opportunity to discuss how the blog will be used. Our hope is that the site will be a place for us to connect with each other during the week. A place where we:

1. Converse about the previous week's discussion
2. Receive a "heads up" on the next week's topic
3. Post and otherwise stay up to date on prayer concerns and praises
4. Track upcoming events in our community of faith.

The blog also details the Class Covenant which we discussed in our first meeting, and it provides articles of interest on a daily basis that hopefully provide a well-rounded picture of the Christian faith in our world today.

Feel free to give feedback on the way the site is used, offer improvements that can be made, and submit material you come across that you believe is valuable to the class.

It is our prayer that this site will be a place that we will all frequent to connect, grow, and share together.

In an effort to recap the first two weeks, we began to discuss God's vision for communities of faith, communities that are focused on breaking down the self imposed barriers that human beings place on themselves. The barriers of pride, of fear, the walls that "protect" people from those who are different from themselves, or protect individuals from displaying their true selves, the good, the bad, the ugly... the vulnerabilities.

In other words, we began to discuss what Jesus identified as one of the main stumbling blocks of humanity, hurdles that keep all of us from experiencing the community of faith that God has envisioned for us.

In the next few weeks, we will explore this vision further by discussing the example Christ set for true spiritual community. This week's topic (May 18th) will be "Everyone is Welcome," the philosophy that Jesus had in his relationships with people. Knowing this sets the stage for the following weeks in which we will discuss the disciples, on a more personal level, and realize the fragile, imperfect humanity that made the relationship each had with Christ even more powerful.

We may find that there are some we can easily relate to, some we are drawn to, and some we, for whatever reason, find "unlikeable." Whatever the impression, through taking a closer look at them, we can see that regardless of the hang-ups, the quirks, the bad decisions, the neglect, the "whatever," Jesus took the stance that we are all welcome.

May you know that at The Exchange, you are always welcome. We are all God's beloved, all on the same level, at the foot of the Cross, yearning for the closeness of God and of each other. We look forward to seeing you soon.