Part of the challenge of a passage like this is that it is so difficult for most of our people to imagine getting up and leaving everyone and everything they know to follow Jesus. And so we figure the disciples were extraordinary, first-century super heroes of the faith that we can admire but not identify with. ... Sometimes that call -- to be in Christ-shaped relationship with others -- will take us far from home and sometimes it will take shape in and among the persons right around us.  ... Jesus called ordinary people right in the middle of their ordinary lives to be in relationship with the ordinary people all around them and through that did extraordinary things ... and he still does. (D. Lose, Fishers of People, January, 2014, paras. 12 & 13).

Last Sunday, I began a four part sermon series about re-imagining our call as Christians and our Christian purpose as individuals and as St. James as this church in Westwood. I invite you to listen to the sermon so you know where I am headed with this series leading up to our parochial annual meeting on February 9. I'm deeply interested in hearing more about inspirational and life-giving stories that you have to share with the world and me. I'm interested in listening to your understanding of call and how your call along with the call of others in our congregation shapes our church's life in and around Westwood. How is God calling us, all of us - into deeper, extraordinary lives with the people surrounding us?

Let's not forget, Simon, Andrew, and the other disciples were ordinary men willing to take questionable risks in order to accomplish extraordinary things because of their relationships with God and one another. That's an example of the bold but miraculously world-changing things that will happen when we more fully believe in Jesus and fully embrace our own discipleship.