For most of us, the social dynamics of middle school and high school are really hard to navigate when you’re living through them. Trying to fit in when you don’t even really know who you are is an experience of real struggle and trial. There are few things more painful than being left out of a group to which you’ve tried to connect. It tends to send the message that you are unworthy and that you always will be. But the Gospel invites the outsiders to come in and belong. Churches are actually supposed to do that too! We’ll see this message directly from God from the very beginning of Jesus’ story. And we’ll celebrate HOW God made it possible for even the most isolated or rejected person to become a part of God’s family.
