<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_extra">
<table class="gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout-table gmail-m_-7207236084523274104root-table" style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" width="650" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout-row-margin21605" style="padding:5px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr id="gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout-row21605" class="gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout-row gmail-m_-7207236084523274104widget gmail-m_-7207236084523274104_widget_text gmail-m_-7207236084523274104style21605" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout-row-padding21605" style="padding:10px 30px 0px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td id="gmail-m_-7207236084523274104text_div21164" class="gmail-m_-7207236084523274104td_text gmail-m_-7207236084523274104td_block" style="color:inherit;font-size:12px;font-weight:inherit;line-height:1.5;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:Arial" valign="top" align="left"><div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:1.5"> <div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-align:start"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-size:18px;font-style:normal;text-align:start"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">Friends,
 <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>the Gospel for today centers around a theme that we can never speak of 
enough: <u>the divinity of Jesus.</u> </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>There has been a disturbing tendency in 
recent years</b></span>—you can see it clearly in Eckhart Tolle’s bestselling book,
</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:italic">The Power of Now</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">—<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>to turn <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Jesus</span> into an <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">inspiring spiritual teacher</span>, like t<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">he Buddha or the Sufi mystics.</span></b></span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"> </span></b></span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>But
 if that’s all he is, the heck with him</b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>The Gospels</b></span> are never content 
with such a
reductive description. Though they <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>present </b></span>Jesus quite clearly as a 
teacher, they know that <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>he is infinitely more than <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">that</span>.</b></span> They affirm 
that something else is at stake in him and in our relation to him.</span><br><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><br><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">In our Gospel today, Jesus plainly declares his relationship with his Father: “</span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">I
 did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, 
is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”</span></span></b></span></b></b></div>
</b></b></b></b></b></div>
 </div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout-row-margin21602" style="padding:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr id="gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout-row21602" class="gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout-row gmail-m_-7207236084523274104widget gmail-m_-7207236084523274104_widget_break gmail-m_-7207236084523274104style21602"><td id="gmail-m_-7207236084523274104layout-row-padding21602" style="line-height:0;padding:20px 0px 0px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;line-height:0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td style="line-height:0" height="0"></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>

<br></div></div>