Messages
Pastor’s Message
I hope you and your family had a blessed Christmas. Carolyn and I want to thank those who shared Christmas cards and gifts with us. Our prayer is that God will bless each and every one of you as we begin a new year.
I want you to think about this question ……… What new things does the Lord have planned for you this year? When I was in college and seminary, I loved starting a new semester – perhaps the previous semester had been difficult and maybe I didn’t finish as strong as I would have liked. But a new semester meant a fresh start, a chance to do better.
We start the year off with new things, a new calendar on the wall, and new goals for the days ahead. Everybody likes new things, including God. A couple of verses to meditate on for New Year’s Day is Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT) “But forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” These words fill me with excitement the same way hanging a new calendar on the wall does. The way of God is to start fresh …. 2025 lies ahead with new experiences, new adventures, new acquaintances, and new opportunities to serve Christ and grow to be more like Him.
The prophet Isaiah spoke these words to Israel during a time when they were in captivity. Because of their rebellion, they assumed God wanted nothing to do with them anymore. Yet God told them to stop living in the past, dwelling on the good ole’ days. They needed to shift their focus, and see God doing new things, and making new pathways. I am reminded of that familiar phrase, “In order to go where we’ve never been, we have to do something we’ve never done.” If we want to experience a closer walk with God, we’re going to have to allow God to lead us in places we’ve never been before; God is already at work, whether we see it or not. Accept the invitation to SEE (v.19), pray for open eyes, ask God to reveal his ways and what he is doing. There is a wilderness, but God is building a pathway. There is a desert, but God promises to create a river. God loves doing new things. God loves showing us new places. God loves using new methods. Open our eyes Lord, to what you are already doing and what you want to do in our personal lives and in the life of our church.
I hope you are planning to join us in church this coming Sunday. Have a great week and let your light shine for Jesus this week!
Pastor Rick
