Members and Friends of Austin Mennonite Church I pray you are encouraged in your journey of faith. Many actions operate in our surroundings that dishonor what God has intended for the creation. Attitudes and relationships often do not reflect the love and respect that God seems to have envisioned for life and community. Boundaries divide and complicate communication between persons of diverse culture and vision. Yet all of us, each one of the six billion human creatures living on this planet, senses a hunger for fulfillment and peace-the opportunity to live in security, freedom from malnourishment and disease, and a promise of well-being for the future of our children. How do we nurture this inner, 'wisdomed' perception of life? How do we avoid being dislodged from this primal orientation for living out our days? How do we appropriately manage the 'evil' influences that invade our environment and divert us from our intended proceedings? Jesus invites us to save our lives taking up a cross and following in his way. Paul understands this process as overcoming evil with good. Both Jesus and Paul appear to have been defeated by the power of evil. So what is going on; .how can we accommodate this invitation and value its eternal significance? Perhaps we can understand by recognizing how this process transforms us, not merely rescues us. These thoughts will compose the sermon for this next Sunday, 'Unconquered." May it go well with you. Sincerely, Garland Robertson