Letter from the Pastor
January 2012

There is nothing like something new!  Do you remember the smell of a new car?  Do you recall the joy of moving into a new home? How about the relief you felt when the officer decided not to sight you for speeding with a new chance to drive within the bounds of the law?  New is exciting and joyous to many because it marks an opportunity to start over, to begin with a “clean slate,” so to speak.

The New Year is now upon us.  It marks the moment when the past year is gone and a new opportunity presents itself for each of us to live perhaps differently than we did before.  This is especially true for the Christ follower.  We are told in 2Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Perhaps you have not truly come to realize what happened to you the moment you received Christ as your Lord and Savior. We are new, not just made over.  We have a fresh start, a new opportunity to be different from the inside out.  The things we thought, spoke, and did in the past have truly passed away.  They are behind us and there is nothing we can do to change that.  We cannot go back and redo, or undo that which has been done. It’s done.  It’s gone, except for the consequences or benefits that often linger long after.  The good news is that you and I are NEW in Christ Jesus.  This provides us with the tremendous opportunity to live life abundantly this day forward from a God perspective.

OK, so what will you and I do with the new life Christ has given?  How will you live differently in 2012?  Please allow me to offer a suggestion that doesn’t involve making resolutions that most of us won’t keep.  It’s simple.  It comes from God our Father.  It will dramatically change the way you think, speak, and live.  Here it is.  ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  In short, give yourself sacrificially to God first, and then to others without any expectation of receiving anything in return.  If you do these two things, you will live as the new creation that God has made each of us to be in Christ Jesus.  May your new year bring you the “new life” in Christ you have been looking for.  Happy New Year!

In Jesus,
Pastor Norm