Where charity and love are, God is there.  Emmanuel’s stewardship theme this year is “Love your neighbor”.  Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard about different ways that we can think of our neighbor.  A few weeks ago Karen King highlighted several places where the command to love our neighbor is found in the Bible.  She shared one of her favorites, Jesus telling in the Gospel of Luke the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Our neighbors can be those who were strangers but made neighbors thanks to compassion and mercy. Building on this the following week, Carolyn Roosevelt reminded us that the Samaritan made a pledge to the innkeeper to pay for his neighbor’s care.  Last week Mary Blocher spoke to us about how Emmanuel ensures that there is room at the inn by keeping the doors open, the programs running, the staff paid, the lights on, and the hospitality flowing.   Continue reading →