LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lay preacher Alethea Eason of Cobb will deliver her sermon, “Jesus and the Canaanite Woman,” on Sunday, Aug. 17, at 10 a.m., at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lakeport.

“God's love spills over racial identity and cultural boundaries,” said Eason. “God does not abandon the world, even when people abandon Divine Love by believing their group is ‘in’ and people who are different ‘less than’.”

Eason’s sermon asks, “Why does Jesus appear like a jerk when addressing the Canaanite woman in the Gospel of Matthew? Taking what he says at face value, the casual reader might think he is espousing the racial prejudice of the time. But can this scene be interpreted differently … that there is no hierarchy of social class, racial or national identity in which God metes out love?”

Eason is an author and educator. Her published novels include “Hungry,” “Starved” and “Heron's Path.” She is the language arts specialist at Minnie Cannon Elementary School in Middletown.

Follow her blog at www.theheronspath.com .

St. John’s Episcopal Church is located at 1190 N. Forbes, Lakeport. Social hour follows the 10 a.m. service.

For more information visit the church's Web site at www.saintjohnslakeport.org .