Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Springtime blessings to you and yours in the name of Jesus! More and more of our congregation members have been returning to in-person worship. We had 123 people here on Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen indeed Alleluia!
During the month of May, there are many things to celebrate: Cinco De Mayo (May 5), Mother’s Day (May 14), Graduations (Congratulations are in order for Michael Weindel), Confirmation Day (May 28 for Wyatt Asher), and Memorial Day (May 29). And most importantly, the Season of Easter continues.
There are a number of exciting things we have been busy working on. St. Paul’s has a new Facebook page, a Youtube channel, and we will soon be getting a new website. Our online services have better sound. Our worship services are being recorded and uploaded to Youtube. Now you are able to watch or rewatch them at your convenience. In general, these are all various ways for our congregation to be enriched and better communicate; but it can also service beyond that. It could also reach people outside the walls of our church. My prayer is that a deliberate and intentional presence online can do all those things and it will help us all to grow.
May is a month when we especially notice how God matures and transforms His world. While in April we largely saw new life blooming, it matures this month. There’s an appropriate spiritual connection here for us. While we may start thinking of summer vacations with no school, time off, recreation, and perhaps more discretionary time, spiritually our focus can well be on maturing in our faith and faith walk.
So, what are your plans? Continued regular worship is one important thing. In the event you are on vacation, remember that our worship services are recorded to offer you the next best thing to a corporate worship experience. Perhaps there will also be time for reading as we sit comfortably in the sun or shade. This is a great opportunity to read the Bible or Christian literature, even “Christian fiction,” as it’s called. This time of year is also a time to see God in His beautiful creation. His unmistakable and wonderful loving power is especially evident in nature, too. St. Paul points us in this direction in Ephesians 4:7: 13: “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Maturity. This is important in every stage of life. A baby is a beautiful creation of God, but if that person remains a baby, something’s wrong. We want to grow, and we need to grow up. Maturity is God’s goal for us, but it doesn’t happen accidentally or by itself. We can grow older without becoming more mature than before. Being intentional is the key, motivated and empowered by God the Holy Spirit. He is present and desires this for you. Count on it this May. The Holy Spirit will empower us to grow.
In Christ,
Pastor Chris