Following the example of Jesus, New Creation MCC is a living model of acceptance and welcome, built on faith instead of fear; hope instead of judgment, love instead of rejection.
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Sacred Spirit of wonder, we pause in our hectic and distracting, joyful and sad, hope filled and despairing lives to assume a posture of contemplation and humility towards ourselves and each other.
May we remember that we all struggle in various ways.
May we remember that we all hunger for justice.
May we remember that we all live on both sides of privilege and oppression.
May we remember that we all came to MCC for a reason; out of hunger for healing, a sense of call, a desire for a community who reflects the divine.
May we cultivate in ourselves a spirit of curiosity.
May we cultivate in ourselves a spirit of generosity.
May we cultivate in ourselves a spirit of collaboration.
May we cultivate in ourselves a spirit of vulnerability, and forgiveness.
May we remember to make the space for others that we hope is made for ourselves, and that we do you the divine as we do to the least of those among us.
Amen
prayer submitted by
JARED VÁZQUEZ
Associate Director of International Diversity and Inclusion
Metropolitan Community Churches
What Does the Bible say about Foreigners? Walls? Welcoming the Stranger? Decide for yourself:
Deuteronomy 27:19
Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien…of justice.
Leviticus 19:33
When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Exodus 23:9
You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt
Deuteronomy 10:19
And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.
Mark 10:14
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Matthew 18:6
If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Romans 13:10
Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Matthew 25:35
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me
Romans 15:7
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God
Hebrews 13:1-2
Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares
Ezekiel 47:22-23
You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord God
Ezekiel 22:29
The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.
Exodus 12:49
There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.
Jeremiah 22:3
Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place."
Jeremiah 7:5-7
“If you do not oppress the alien…then I will dwell with you in this place…”
Zechariah 7:8-10
Do no oppress the alien.
Luke 4:16-21
…Bring good news to the poor…release to the captives…sight to the blind...let the oppressed go free.
