Dear St. John’s friends and family,
Today marks the first Sunday of Lent. The Lenten season is a time of self-reflection mixed with an intense focus on Christ’s journey to the cross. This is the time we honestly admit our shortcomings, sins, and brokenness so that we remember how much we need a Savior. Only Christ can hear us and set us free. Our quality of life is always connected to Christ’s saving work on the cross.
Throughout this season we will take an intense look at the last couple of days of Jesus’ life and the characters that surround him. And we will take a serious look at how these last days of Jesus impact all the days of our life.
This week has been hard. Many of us struggled and muddled through without power and limited access to water. Yet, we come back to worship in community with praise and thanksgiving in our hearts. Our circumstances do not negate God’s work in our life. When life is hard, it solidifies our faith in a God that leads us out of the wilderness and strengthens our resolve to love with abundance. This week we saw God’s love at work in people opening their homes to those that had no electricity. Or making sure neighbors had necessities. We see God at work every time we take care of one another. Our active love and care for one another is a proclamation of God’s goodness.
Let’s turn our focus on this amazing God that never leaves us or forsakes us. The God that leads us out of the wilderness to still waters and green pastures. The God that loves us even in our sin, but isn’t satisfied to let us stay in our sin. The God that came as Jesus Christ to live among us and die to give us eternal life. A God that gives life and defeats death. This is the God we worship today and always!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Stephanie
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