FROM THE PASTOR

 

FROM THE PASTOR

Grace: It’s Amazing. This is a slogan our congregation uses. We use it to proclaim God’s amazing grace to us and to describe our congregation as we seek to be a community that is amazing because of God’s grace. We don’t use it to boast about how great we are, but to describe a place where all are welcomed to experience God’s amazing Grace.

This is also the theme of our midweek Lenten worship. The hymn Amazing Grace is 250 years old this year. This hymn is probably the most well-known and well-loved hymn in our culture. Even non-Christians recognize the tune and maybe known the first verse. It is an enduring hymn because it speaks the basics of our faith. We who are lost, people captive to sin who cannot free ourselves, experience God’s gift of grace which makes us new. Grace leads us to faith, assures us of God’s presence at all times, keeps us secure, and gives us joy, peace, and hope. During this season, as we gather on Wednesdays, we will hear faith stories of how people have encountered and experienced God’s amazing grace.

On the Sundays in March, the Sundays in Lent, we will hear scripture stories of people who encountered Jesus and how he brought them to faith through God’s grace. Each of these scripture people ask questions of Jesus, questions that we may well have ourselves. As Jesus talks with them, they come to see who he is. They come to faith in him and receive life from him.

May your Lenten journey this year draw you deeper into God’s grace and the life of faith as we make our way once again to the cross and the empty tomb of Easter. Blessings on your March and your Lenten journey. 

Pastor Siri