Grace and Peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer!

On Sunday November 28th we had our first session to explore and understand the proposed covenant between Our Redeemer and Asbury … and while that work is of immense importance, this was also going on …

This is a picture of the Advent project the Sunday School children created while the meeting was happening on the 28^th. I, while trying to give some space to allow the discussions in the sanctuary to go on, kind of floated between the fellowship hall and the sanctuary to keep track of how both were proceeding.

And while the discussions between the adults in the sanctuary were happening, the excited planning about candle placement, bows and berries was occurring in the fellowship hall.

In the faces of the kids I saw excitement, energy and enthusiasm about a project that would lead them to experience God more fully. I heard excited voices talking about candles symbolizing God’s love, peace and Jesus’ birth. I felt the spirit of the Advent season, a longing for the love of God to come again into the world, come alive. And as I traveled back and forth between the two rooms, the room in which we gather for fellowship and the room in which we gather for worship, the children and their activity were acting out an important piece of this whole process that should always be at the heart of everything we do as a church.

If we’re going to embrace this opportunity with Asbury then we need to be able to see this as an opportunity to experience God more fully. If we’re going to embrace this opportunity to re-center our ministry, then we need to be able to hear it as an opportunity to voice God’s love, peace and Jesus’ birth. If we’re going to embrace this opportunity, then we need to long for God’s love to again come alive in our midst.

Following God in these ways is something that I need. It is something that, hopefully, you need. But more importantly it is something that our world, and our community needs, and something God longs for as well.

So let’s do our due diligence. Let us be present, be honest, share our thoughts, and make sure the covenant says what it needs to and what we want it to say. Let’s follow the process set out for us and make sure all of our i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. And then let us, faithfully and with passion, celebrate the new opportunities within our reach to see, hear and long for God’s love to be realized whether it be through candles, bows, berries or with Methodists!

In Peace, Pastor Andy