Pastor's Page
Pastor Sam and Abby
Greetings Friends!
Pastor Sam here, as fall quickly approaches, I pray everyone is enjoying the last weeks of summer and keeping cool as the hot days keep coming.
The first thing that comes to mind when many of us think of September is of course the start of the school year. For students, parents, teachers, and most of the community this is without a doubt a massive yearly change. The start of a new school year signals a major change for every student, and for everyone connected to them. I encourage us to pray for all our local students and teachers, that they may have a great school year full of not just academic progress, but success in every area of life. In a deeper sense, this definitive start offers a wonderful opportunity for all people of faith (those in school and those long since graduated) to recommit ourselves to education of a different kind. As people of faith we are reminded of these well-known words from Proverbs 1: 7
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Right at the beginning of the Book of Proverbs, the writer makes it clear that for people of faith, our days of learning are never really over. Our young students might be doing the lion’s share of the learning, growing, and developing, but all God’s children are called to grow in the knowledge and love of God our whole life long. The Book of Proverbs highlights this in how it pulls together wisdom for every area of life into one. Each and every one of us, regardless of how many grades we have passed or degrees obtained, must continually dedicate ourselves to growing and developing morally in and through our connection to God and one another.
This back-to-school season might focus on our students and teachers, but I challenge each of us to take up the deeper calling of the season; to recommit ourselves to growing and developing morally and God’s children. Seek out ways in the coming months to spend more time with God and more time with our siblings in the faith. Remaining open to instruction is essential if we are to be life-long students of the faith, ever seeking new depths of God’s wisdom and new heights of fellowship with the Children of God. So as this school year starts up, let us pray for our teachers and students, but also for all God’s children that we may faithfully learn from the Lord’s wisdom.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Sam Mitchell