Hi Grace Family!
I hope you are all having a wonderful week, and I look forward to seeing you all in church this Sunday. I was delighted to see I am preaching on the passage in John about the vine and the branches. I love this passage found in John 15. I find it is a beautiful metaphor for staying connected to God and the church. In fact, when I was reading through this passage to get ready to write my sermon, I couldn’t help but remember how connected I have been to Grace UMC and how my connection to Grace UMC has kept me connected to God. Grace has been a wonderful church, and you and all those before you, truly have become like my family. I have been so blessed by all how you have supported and nurtured me through my journey since 1986. That is a long time!
In my tenure here, I have had the best of times and the worst of times. There have been highs and lows as I have served first as a volunteer, then as a staff member, and finally as a pastor. But no matter what I was dealing with there was always someone who encouraged me in some capacity. My connections here at the church deeply fostered my connection to my faith and ultimately my relationship to God.
Connections are important. It is through our connections that we support and love one another even in challenging times. We don’t always have to agree with one another to be supportive either. Our faith teaches us that we are to love with the agape love of God. We are able to do that when we stay connected. It is when we are disconnected that we bring anger and discord into the world around us. Jesus was very clear in this teaching by reminding us at the end of verse 5 that we can do nothing apart from him anymore than a TV can work when it is no connected to an electrical outlet.
I hope and pray that you continue to stay connected as we grow together in our faith and encourage one another in our deepening relationship to God the Father.
I love that Pastor Michelle asks us questions each week to ponder and share. So, following in her footsteps I would like to offer the following two questions for your consideration:
1. Who in your life has helped you in your relationship with God? What was it they did that connected you on your faith journey?
2. What is your favorite place to go to unwind and find peace from your daily activities? Why is that space so special to you?
Peace,
Pastor Beth