Psalm 31: 1-5, 15-16 reminds us to be persistent in prayer. In the midst of traps laid for us and enemies and persecutors all around us, an assurance of God’s keeping power provides assurance of support for the journey.

	What spiritual disciplines help you to remain in the present, aware of God’s presence in the moment of trial or other tough times?

Acts 7:55-60, the stoning of Stephen, can be read in the context of the rehearsal of salvation history in Stephen’s sermon (Acts 7:1-53). That context calls us to reclaim salvation history for ourselves and to rehearse it as a source of encouragement, strength and proclamation. At the same time the stoning of Stephen can be read in the context of the story of Saul (later called Paul), as an introduction to that great persecutor who became a faithful apostle. Here lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender folk can claim their legacy of standing in the prophetic stream, persecuted for being bold about our life and our love.

Reading the verse following today’s passage, Acts 8:1, we hear that “Saul approved of their killing him.” Who knows what may be the result of our witness in the presence of those who would dismiss us? And some of us, LGBT folk and our allies, having remained silently watching in the past, may yet find ourselves empowered by God’s Spirit and a faithful community to speak out boldly for the justice which is consistent with God’s expansive love.

	What will it take to call forth previously silent allies and others to support LGBT folk who live “out” with integrity – who face discrimination and suffering because of their spiritual faithfulness? What does it mean to respond to hate crimes with the temperament of Stephen found in this text and its context?

The reading from 1 Peter 2:2-10 roots our identity in what we are — rather than in the negative —  what we are not. We are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” (verse 9). Here the identity of Christ as “a living stone” becomes our identity. Even though (and maybe even because) we have been rejected as Jesus was rejected, we have the ability to allow ourselves to be more. We are built into a spiritual priesthood. Christ is precious to us and we are precious to God. Surely our preciousness calls us to view others as precious. Standing again in the prophetic stream, like the writer of 1 Peter, we too can echo the proclamation of Hosea as we claim and proclaim that “once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people ” (Hosea 2:23).

	What might it look like when the Christian LGBT community and our allies allow ourselves to be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood? In this twenty-first century, what are spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ?

While John 14:1-14 is frequently read at funerals, the admonition is not an assurance of provision after death, but about staying so grounded in our sense of belonging to the Eternal that nothing will deter us from acting with passion and power in the present day. Knowing who we are and having an assurance of “home “allows us the freedom to believe — beyond the stories and traditions — in the One who works through us in ways that the church has not yet been able to imagine.  In God’s, Abba’s house, we belong. We believe; we will not let our hearts be troubled.

	Where do you find home?  Where do you ground your faith and action in times of testing or trouble?