Hello Church!
You are an amazing church! We are an amazing church. Let me say again what I said from the pulpit on Sunday, January 23. In John 3, Nicodemus has us questioning Jesus and wondering what requirements there might be to enter into God’s grace. Spoiler alert: God loved you before you loved God. Our individual and collective faith is often witnessed instead of explained. Church, you have faith. From the sermon:
As pastor, I often get outsized credit for the outreach of this church. But it is you and your faith that displays who we are and how people are drawn to God’s light here. You are the ones who had the foresight to build a gym in 2004 for the community. You are the ones who for decades gathered coats to keep children warm in the winter. You buy boots and apples for our local elementary school. You have a community garden on this church land to feed your neighbors … ALL of that was here before I got here and what drew me to you. It is not me, it is not you either. It is all of us collectively in this place where God calls us seeking the kingdom of God together. I can’t explain it. I can’t quite put my finger on why this church is so special. But I do know one thing, if we only focused on our doubt, if we put a litmus test of belief in place, if we shackled each other with categories and checklists, we would be crippled in fear and unable to act and love in faith.
Thank you, Church, for choosing faith over doubt; for acting in love even before you can explain your beliefs. God calls and you respond.
I’m grateful for you all.
Peace to you,
Rev. Rebecca