For the 4th Sunday of Lent, and Affirming PIE Sunday, Rev. Cari preached on John 3:13-21 (a text that has two others hovering in the background: Numbers 21:4-9, and Genesis 22). Though it was tempting to dive into the troubling aspects of the background texts, Rev. Cari kept her focus on the love of God.

She started with a story of a dinnertime conversation that really happened, and a couple of questions that were directed at her. Then she moved to the text. Two words of the first 5 (or 6!) in John 3:16 really caught her attention: “so” and “world.”

The invitation in this text, to join the Holy One in a wide embrace of everyone, leads Crossroads to continue its commitment to public, intentional and explicit affirmation of members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.