Closing/Sending Forth: For a Closing or Dying Church

Linda Furtado

Published on: 2026/05/29

We Are More Than What Is In Front Of Us is a sermonic sending forth for Christmas Day (Year B, Revised Common Lectionary), written for Discipleship Ministries (UMC) as part of “Millennial/Centennial Voices from the Africana Diaspora.” Inspired by Isaiah 52:7–10, it calls the church beyond nostalgia and decline, urging faithful courage, embodied witness, and renewed participation in God’s kingdom work in the world.