the corner of Marsh and Morro
Dear First Pres Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus the Messiah, the one who loves us and calls us and makes all things new…even the years. Happy New Year!
We’re moving into an exciting chapter in the history of First Pres. This week you’ll receive the Mission Study Survey, a tool for gathering information about what individual members and regular attenders think about the ministry of this church. This is an essential step in discerning what God is doing—and what God will do—in the life of this congregation.
This new year is beginning much like the last, with a surge in COVID infections both nationwide and in our community, and with protective measures still in place. I wish that could be different! Like you, I miss the singing and gathering of church life, things which have been limited over the last 22 months. Still, we will continue with our caution and care for our church and for our neighbors—we will update you as things change, either for better or worse.
During January I will be sharing four messages with on what it means to be the church. As I do each year, the series will be built on a sentence that goes like this:
A healthy church is built on a foundation of Jesus Christ, and expressed through fellowship, worship, discipleship and mission.
I believe that our church will thrive when we pay close attention to the person of Jesus Christ—to the teachings and behavior and promises of the Messiah as we see him in the Bible. I also believe that when we focus on Jesus, our communal life bursts out in new expressions of those four critical practices in the sentence above. Church life and health are things that only improve when we’re intentional about them—when we give our time and prayer and effort and financial support to our shared life as the church on the corner of Marsh and Morro.
It begins with trust. It begins with knowing that we’ll never know all the answers, but that we believe God holds us together in a meaningful way. We church people can spend a lot of time trying to be right, and trying to convince others that we’re right. I think that misses the point of who we’re called to be. Pete Enns says much the same thing in his book, The Sin of Certainty.
“Life’s challenges mock and then destroy a faith that rests on correct thinking and the preoccupation with defending it. And this is a good thing. Life’s challenges clear the clutter so we can see more clearly that faith calls for trust instead.”
As we enter yet another uncertain and disrupted year, maybe we can clear some of our clutter and learn to trust God just a little bit more. Maybe as we reflect on the church and consider the questions in our Mission Study Survey, we can set aside the harder edges of how we think it should be, and put that effort into loving God, loving our neighbors, and learning to trust that Jesus is who he says he is, and that he’ll do what he promised to do.
Maybe I’m a dreamer, but if I can borrow a line from John Lennon, maybe I’m not the only one.
And so I mean it when I say Happy New Year to you. Whatever happens in 2022, we’ll face it together, sharing our skills and resources, and trusting that God has a future for this wonderful church that is even better than its past. Join me in praying for exactly that.
Blessings to you. Stay safe and healthy.
Pastor John
PS: The themes for the remaining January Sundays are Fellowship, Worship, Discipleship and Mission. In your groups please look around for what the Bible might teach us about each one of those topics. We’ll start with specific texts again in February.