In Seattle we have just passed through record-breaking heat. In years gone by, preachers could have used this as a mild foretaste of the hellish flames awaiting the ungodly.

The modern Anglican style may be less colorful, but we should not lose sight of an important fact: all of us will live eternally (that is what we are made for) and we will live either with Jesus or without him.

We can’t earn our way to eternity with Jesus by being good people or by doing good deeds. It’s both easier and harder than that.

Easier because Jesus offers eternal life with him for free, harder because to accept that offer we need to acknowledge that we need Jesus, that we are not God.

Some strong impulse in all of us fights against that acknowledgement. That’s what the Church calls “original sin.”

One way forward is to join with other Christians on a weekly basis to hear God’s words in the Bible, confess our sins, and receive the bread and wine as Jesus instructed.

Now where could one do that?

St. Barnabas welcomes you at 10:00 am on Sundays.