What will he expect of us?

Dear First Pres SLO Family,

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, who lived and loved and sacrificed and rose again to show us how to be fully human.

Nazareth isn’t much of a place. Even in the Bible, when someone hears that Jesus is from this dusty town in Galilee, they say with sarcasm, “can anything good come from Nazareth?” It’s a sign of God’s power—and maybe his sense of humor—that the Messiah grew up in a town where there were no pretensions of greatness—where nothing good was expected.

I suppose that’s meant to be an encouragement to us. The Central Coast is a wonderful part of the world—with coastline and farming and wineries and a great university—it’s a place to be proud of, whether we grew up here or were smart enough to move here! But there’s a challenge there, too. God turned Nazareth into the hometown of the Savior even though there wasn’t much to work with. What will he expect of us?

A lot, I think.

Comfort and stability and resources are the raw materials for great Kingdom work. We have all three, and in this coming year we’ll gain some clarity about how we’re going to live into the blessings we have, and how God wants to use them through us.

In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, a new disciple named Philip invites Nathanael to meet Jesus of Nazareth, and it’s Nathanael who says, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

Philip’s response is simple: “Come and see.”

That’s what we can say to each other and to friends as we invite them into this community. Come and see. Come and see a church that is learning to serve in new ways. Come and see a community learning to trust God and each other. Come and see a group of people who are learning to move beyond history and beyond conflict, toward a future with every bit as much promise and potential as its past.

Come and see.

Blessings to you and yours this week. Keep yourselves safe and healthy, and remember to complete your Mission Study Surveys!

Pastor John

PS: The uncertainty of the latest COVID outbreak has forced us to postpone our trip to Israel-Palestine. I’ll be looking for new dates, likely next spring—stay tuned.

The Bible in Community texts for February are as follows:

6 Jeremiah 32

13 Genesis 12:1-3

20 Matthew 9:9-13

27 Mark 6:45-52