Pastor's Message

Easter 2021

Dear Friends, 

Happy Easter! Time to get ready for the next “new normal.” Even though this has become a bit of an overworked expression in the recent past, fortunately this next new normal seems to be emerging on a more positive note. With several new vaccines becoming more available, perhaps we may soon envision a day in which we can take a breath of fresh air without breathing through a mask (just not yet)! But what will this next chapter look like? I think the upcoming season of Easter, along with a contemporary praise song, can help us prepare. 

Recently in church, I felt encouraged when singing Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone). It is a hybrid song combining the classic, Amazing Grace, with an additional contemporary refrain. The verse was written by slave trader, John Newton, in 1779 after a profound experience with the “amazing” grace of God. The refrain was added by Chris Tomlin and Louis Giglio in 2006 further describing freedom from the chains of sin this amazing grace provides. While singing this old/new song, I began to realize that this can be a model of our own next new normal as we begin to become unshackled from the chains that have bound us this past year. We do not know yet what the coming year will look like, but I am fairly sure it will be a mixture of that which we know from the past (Amazing Grace) augmented and reformed with that which has recently been developed because of the pandemic (My Chains Are Gone). Even though we will be apprehensive, our next new normal will become manifest in the way we conduct business, technology, education, as well as church, and we will be OK.

I know this because of Easter! Think about the disciples following the absolutely startling witness of the resurrection. Here was Jesus alive again right in front of them only three days after they had watched him be put to death. We may tend to gloss over this, but it took the disciples until Pentecost (fifty days later) to begin to readjust, and this was only because the Holy Spirit showed up in a big way. As a result, our next new normal, as well as the next ones after that, may not be the smoothest of transitions, but once again, we will be OK. God is with us, God loves us, and God will help us adjust even as we struggle to discern what these adjustments need to be. We could extrapolate this metaphor further but suffice it to say that the church has been in ministry here on earth going on two millennia (and this is not even its first pandemic). Perhaps the author of the 5th stanza of Amazing Grace, looking forward to our home in heaven, can provide encouragement and insight for all of us today:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun, 

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise 

Than when we’d first begun. 

Blessings, 

Pastor Bill

Anchored in the past, sharing Christ’s message today, and growing in faith into the future.

Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” – Luke 9:23

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. – John 10:10b

Lent, 2021

Dear friends:

Little did we realize last year in early March how our lives would be so fundamentally changed. It is strange to imagine it has been almost a year since we had to modify our “normal” way of life, including church. In spite of the duration and detriment of the Covid-19 pandemic, we embrace the upcoming season of Lent as it offers us the renewed opportunity to reflect on how we and the world have changed, how God has not, and how we might come to have a deeper grasp on God’s love for us in the fragility of life. 

Over the centuries, Lent has often been portrayed in a negative way, centered around aspects of denial. While Jesus certainly asks us to do so, pick up our cross, and follow him, what we often forget is that this is not limited to giving up things we like. Denying oneself can also be seen positively as encouraging us to give up negative behaviors and replace them with good and healthy ones. With this in mind, our enclosed calendar for March offers several ideas on how to approach these forty days of Lent from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, not counting Sundays which are always regarded as a witness to the resurrection. Our hope and prayer for all of us this year, and especially during this Lenten season, is that we may grow deeper in our relationship with God as we look forward to the joy of Easter morning!

Blessings,Pastor Bill

Anchored in the past, sharing Christ’s message today, and growing in faith into the future.  

Dear Friends,

No matter what time of year it is, dead of winter with the snow blowing all around, or heat of summer with the air heavy with moisture, our lives continue to unfold and time never seems to stand still. Sometimes it feels like life is passing us by and we worry because there isn’t enough time to get everything done. Yet at other times, we worry because there is free time and we must therefore not be doing enough. And there always seem to be difficulties of one kind or another that pop up out of nowhere. Rarely, it seems, are we satisfied that life is just as it is meant to be. The question is, then, do we focus on the worry and the problems, or do we accept that they are there and focus, instead, on the things in our lives that are fun, loving, and joyous? 

In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells a story about weeds and wheat growing together in the field (Mt 13:24-30).  The farmer had planted the wheat, but then an enemy had come along and planted the weeds. The farmer’s helpers want to pull the weeds, but the farmer will not let them, because the wheat might be harmed. It is better to error on the side of protecting the wheat, the farmer says, rather than on getting rid of the weeds.  The farmer’s choice is to wait until the harvest and then to sort things out. 

If we think of this in terms of God being the farmer, and us being the wheat, the message is that God loves us too much to risk harming us at this point in time by getting rid of all our problems.  That may not make sense, but it seems to be true.  Agriculturists say that one way to have fewer weeds in a garden, or field, is to have healthier plants.  And plants grow healthier with more sun, fertilizer, and water. We, too, can help lessen the impact of the weeds in our lives by growing healthier, not only physically, but also mentally and spiritually.  Spending more time with God, through prayer, bible reading, and worship will help us shift our focus away from the weeds and more towards the wonderful things in our lives.  The weeds will never completely go away in this life, and sometimes they will be more numerous than at other times, but our lives will be better, because our focus is on the positive and not on the negative. 

If we can help you on your journey at all, please do not hesitate to call or to visit us on Sunday mornings.

Peace,

Pastor Bill

 Anchored in the past, sharing Christ’s  message today, and growing in faith into the future.