From the Pastor

For almost 2,000 years, Christ’s Church continues a tradition through its proclamation: The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the resurrection, we find a glimpse of what the future holds for human history. It is not gloom and doom, it is resurrection and life: Christ came to bring us life in the midst of our sin and failures, as individuals and as societies. Paul, and we, proclaim the tradition of the earliest Christians (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)

The resurrection tells us that the last word is God’s victory of love over hatred, kindness over malice, and life over death. This is indeed our proclamation! Only the future proves the truth of the resurrection, but in the meantime, we embrace the life and love that flows from God to us because Jesus rose from the dead.

When we think of descriptions of Christians, we may think from whence they come, what language they speak, to which political party they affiliate. Yet, do any of these describe a Christian
as Paul describes a Christian? What are the attributes of a person who follows Christ? It is love and compassion (1 Corinthians 13).

When love and compassion do not arise from your heart, ask yourself why. Then, ask the Holy Spirit to help you to grow in love and compassion that come from God. The Holy Spirit enables us to live the Christian description of love and compassion in whatever we say and in whatever we do.

We do not have to be top-notch engineers or theologians to grasp the wisdom of God (Psalm 19). God’s wisdom revives us and causes us to rejoice. It teaches us to not transgress God and one another. It is a Word from God that speaks against us but also enlightens us beyond a natural revelation. The teaching leads us to examine ourselves. The psalm ends with a practice to keep us aware of God and close to God: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable unto thee, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14, King James Version).