Pastor's Corner

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As I am anticipating the beginning of another Confirmation class, I am reminded of the need we all have to ground ourselves in the essentials of the Christian faith. My philosophy of Confirmation is simply to give the students the essentials of the Christian faith over the course of 13 weeks, and with that foundation established, my hope is that they will desire to continue learning and growing in the faith throughout their lives.

You know the basics – don’t you? Things such as a clear understanding of our God as Father and Creator, of His Son Jesus who offers salvation to us, and the power of the Holy Spirit available to all who will accept it. Are you aware that we are called to be servants – to love and serve others in Christ’s name? Is prayer an integral part of your life? Do you know the vital importance of worship in our lives?

We will study topics such as these along with some other key essentials. In our study, I will save one key element for last – one word that the students will need to hear at the end in the hopes that it will be a word they remember. That word is- HOPE. In just 4 letters we have contained the essence of the Christian faith. If anyone ever asks you to describe the Christian faith in one word – try hope. It says more about the faith than any other single word

Hope is such a consistent theme in Scripture because God wants us to be grounded in hope. He wants us to have a hope that no matter what happens in this world – even when it seems the world is falling apart – we need to have hope in the simple fact that God has the last word, AND that God has control of our eternal souls.

True stories can be so tragic. I am reminded of a U.S. soldier who lost hope. He was flying in his jet faster than the speed of sound over enemy territory when an enemy missile hit his plane. As he was parachuting to earth, he heard a lot of gunfire, and as soon as he touched down, he released himself from the harness and looked for a safe hiding place. But the gunfire kept moving closer and closer. He must have felt alone and isolated. This scared pilot then pulled out his pistol and shot himself. He did not wait to see that it was in fact allied forces that were doing the shooting to clear the enemy away, and that they had come to rescue him. The pilot did not realize that he actually landed in a very safe place.

He had lost hope. And I have the concern these days that many persons are losing hope. Listening to the news can really make you question whether we can still have hope. And yet that is precisely the purpose of the Christian faith and our emphasis on hope. You won’t have to look hard to find a story of some great Biblical character that realized that even though the odds were against him or her, when they maintained hope in God, they received a wonderful blessing.
You want a good passage to “hang your hat” on? Try this passage – Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Now that’s a hopeful passage!

Yes, it has been quite a few weeks since Advent, but I hearken back to what we are reminded of every year – Emmanuel – God with us. No matter what happens, God is with us. Is that not enough? Sure, the Christmas decorations are back in the closet, but Emmanuel remains – not just for December, but every moment of every day. All it takes is a little memory on our part – God is with me, I need to remain hopeful. God has the last word, and our lives should reflect that simple truth.

Hopefully Yours,