Pastor's Message

Dear Friends,

            Have you ever thought about God’s strong sense of beginnings?  The first words of the Bible are, “In the beginning…”  The first words

of the Gospel of John are the same.  The Bible attaches great importance to new beginnings.  We are raised to new life, a new beginning, through Jesus Christ.  The Apostle Paul writes about this in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”  Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that for everything there is a season.  John’s revelation records Christ saying in Revelation 21:5, “I am making everything new!”

            Clearly God sees an importance in beginnings.  But beginnings do not always come easy.  There are many questions that inevitably come with new beginnings.  What will this new beginning mean? 

What does the future hold?  How with this new beginning affect me?  What will be my role?  Am I ready to begin again? 

The New Testament recognizes our problems with new beginnings in the story of the Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:1-14).  Although the difficulty of the invited in responding is treated sympathetically, the final point of the story is that those who miss the banquet have paid dearly for their hesitation to embrace a new beginning.  So we remember the banquet, and the invitation unheeded.

We remember, also, the story of the mustard seed (Mark 4:30-34).  From small beginnings God has worked God’s will and done great things.  One thing that makes us different, as Christians, is the way we deal with beginnings.  The difference lies in the fact that the Christian never embarks on a new beginning alone.  As Christians we can be confident that when we face a new beginning we do so with the anointing of the Holy Spirit of the God who welcomes, encourages and commands new beginnings.

In ancient cultures, when a member of the community was ill the “holy man” would read over the ill person the story of the communities beginnings.  This act was intended to remind everyone that God’s own strength still lays in new starts.  What was looked for in the healing was not a repair so much as a rebirth, a new life. 

We too trust that our beginnings are the start of a new life.  We listen for the inner voice of God bidding us to act, and then we put aside our hesitation and respond to God’s nudging.  In response the grace of God comes to us.  Our part is simply to begin.  As a Greek saying goes, “He has half the deed done who has made a beginning.”

So as we embark on our new beginning together I want to encourage each of us to do three things.  The first is to be in constant prayer for our new relationships and the grace and wisdom to discover the most effective way to do ministry together.  The second is to keep the words of 2 Corinthians 5:17 close to our hearts.  The final one is to remember the hope of Revelation 21:5, God is making all things new.  May God greatly bless all of us as we begin this new chapter in our journey together.  Think about this and I will see you in church.

God Bless, Pastor Kevin

Home | Birthdays | Pastor's Message | Staff | Prayer Ministry | Children & Youth

 Worship and Nurture Experiences | Worship Hours | Rainbow Room | Missions | Events