Dear Family,
Listen to the good news: God created from chaos. In the beginning when there was chaos abounding, God stepped in and flung the stars to the far corners of the night, set the sun ablaze in the heavens, and brought forth the fish and the fowl, the birds and the beasts. This God is the same God who toiled in the dust, blew into our nostrils the breath of life and who has the power to step into the tangled webs of our lives and in our relationships and in our times.
Listen to the good news. God has provided. The God who provided a faithful Abraham with a ram for surrender instead of a son for sacrifice, still longs to provide for saints a way out of no way. Like the enslaved Hebrews whom God led out of the brickyards of the Pharoah dry shod through the Red Sea waters, God still parts the seas for those engulfed by hurt and harm, delivering them to safer shores.
Listen to more good news. God’s wisdom led the wandering Hebrews to a new home. The Hebrew children of old, longed for safe shelter, harbor and home. The goods news is that there is a God who still waits and wants and wills to provide such a haven deep inside us, enticing us to love beyond all telling.
Hear this good news: the God who created something out of chaos is still creating through the human family. As my retirement date draws near, I am assured that the Transition Call Committee, under the creative leadership of Jenny Long, is moving forward in search of an Interim Pastor and a new Senior Pastor. The committee’s listening ear and guiding hand continue to calm any unwarranted feeling of chaos.
Hear the good news: God who provided a way out of no way for Abraham continues to do so with the strong Managing Board’s attention to detail for our common life in Christ; in particular, they watch over our gifts for ministry and our financial well-being.
Listen to more good news, just as God led the wandering Hebrews to a new home, we too have been led to a beautiful new church home. Under the watchful eye of Wade Watson we continue with the second phase of construction involving Andi’s Kitchen and main floor offices, and are on budget.
Gratitude, immense gratitude, flows to you – the members of SCF – for your generosity in the purchase and creation of our new home. As “new” building owners, I remain in thanksgiving for Dave Drescher and his building and grounds committee. In coordination with Pastor Rob, they shepherd and take care of the issues which surface as we “befriend” every inch of our gracious building. The continuing good news is the God we worship who believes in homecoming seeks to lead us with a similar homecoming Spirit, to welcome the neighbor known and unknown.
Let us proceed with Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, to the darkest silence of the grave and there to be confronted with a wonder beyond our imagining: an empty tomb and radiant light burst from these words: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen.”
The ultimate good news is that Jesus frees us from all that is dead in our lives and shatters the hold that fear plays on our minds. It is imperative that we remember the empty tomb’s greeting. “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen.” That means Jesus has walked out ahead of us. And in his rising, he has opened the way for us to rise with him. We have nothing to fear.
Easter blessings, Nancy