This is the last newsletter article that I’ll write for 2021. I am not mad about that! 2021 has been an extremely difficult year for all of us. I am happy to put this year behind us!
Putting this year behind us is a very biblical thing to do, as well. The apostle Paul has some very good advice for us to follow in Philippians 3:13-14… Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
There are two parts to his advice: forgetting and reaching.
Forgetting does not mean acting as if 2021 didn’t happen. It did. We laid to rest fifteen church members since February 2020 and family members and friends, too! We will not forget them. And in their memory and in their honor, we will continue to live!
Reaching, pressing toward the goal is the second part of Paul’s advice. His encouragement to reach and to press is not without direction. It isn’t just keeping ourselves busy, so we don’t think about last year. No! We are to reach forward towards the future and press toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus! What does that mean? It means we are to be the church!
We’ve learned many things in the past year. One of the lessons I’ve learned is that there has never been a time when our world needed the church more!
We have the gospel, the Good News, that the whole world needs to hear. We have the only answer to all the issues in the world, faith in Jesus Christ!
We have the command to love one another and to love our enemies.
We have the command to care for the poor, the widows, the hungry, the fatherless, and to steward all creation.
The world needs YOU to be the church!
Let’s reach, let’s press forward together, and impact the world for Jesus!
Let’s forget those things that are behind and honor those who have passed by living for Jesus!
Jan Clark, Martha Frink, Brenda Johnson, Alice Joy Brown, Stacey Shoop, Dave Stanton, Mike King, Don Lilja, Bill Slater, Scott Apley, Norma Keeler, Carole Cast, Josephine Lenox, Jacob Gamble, Robert Wilk.
God bless and Merry Christmas!
Pastor Rob