Pastor's Page
Pastor Sam and Abby
Greetings Friends!
Greetings friends! Pastor Sam here, I pray everyone is staying safe and warm during these winter months and maybe even enjoying the chill of the season! As wintery days continue to drag on we still find ourselves in the strange time between the joyous celebrations of Christmas and New Year's, and the beginning of spring and Easter celebrations. This is the season where our routines return to ‘normal’ after the business of the holidays but we still find ourselves waiting; for the return of warmth, for the blooms of spring, for God to do something new in our lives.
The faithful know that this season of waiting has a name: Lent. We begin this next season in the life of the church near the end of February, but the whole time period after Christmas and New Year carries a similar feeling. In the midst of the cold gray days of winter we long for a warmth to arrive both physically and spiritually. It is the time where we look ahead to the light and love of Easter, longing for God to break through the grave-like state our lives often feel like. Lent is a season where, through waiting and watching, we look to better embody the work God did and the work God is doing in the world today. Though we are not at the joyous rising of Easter yet and our lives are probably not fully risen with love and joy and peace, remember the Psalmist words; “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” This season is about waiting, in the sense of preparing our hearts and lives for the work ahead, for the living of a fuller and more loving life in the Resurrection Power Jesus offers all who wait on the Lord’s timing.
I encourage us to see these chilly days and longing for something warmer, fuller, more alive as calling to the faithful ‘waiting’ God desires in this season of our lives. Spend some time in the season before Lent considering the work God has in store for you and our community, and wait faithful for God’s guidance on living it out.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Sam Mitchell