October 2009 Message from the Pastor

Rejoicing in Hope

I continue to hear the stories of our members who are facing the economic storm of the recession. A few families are losing their homes, several are out of work or had to face cutbacks in their hours and many of us are afraid to look at our retirement account balances. While there are signs of recovery, there are still signs of despair.I continue to be mindful of the impact that cancer and ALS and other diseases have on our lives and those of our congregation’s members, our friends and our family members. Many of them face tough battles waged in treatment centers, in beds or wheelchairs or in their lonely nights of anxiety and fear. Events like our recent Relay for Life and the ALS Walk remind us how many casualties (and also survivors, thankfully) there are among us. I’ll be going on a fundraiser walk to support Alzheimer’s research in a few weeks. This is a disease that also kills and is now believed to be more prevalent than we once thought.

I continue to wonder what we can offer those in economic or physical or mental anguish. What words or solutions make a real difference? What actions will speed solutions?

Our Council spent a fair amount of time in recent meetings discussing a very small issue. (This is not unusual, as former Council members can quickly attest) The question was, what short expression might we add to the narrow sign that sits above our major church sign on the corner? We list the times of our worship experiences on that sign but wanted a short phrase that invites people to come and that captures something of who we are. We wanted to say that in these tough times, there is something encouraging and positive happening here.

Paul speaks to us in Romans 12 when he encourages his readers to be faithful in their devotion to God, even in hard times. Use your spiritual gifts, he says, to support each other and be “transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may discern what the will of God is.” And then he says some important words that gave the Council our little slogan for the sign and a challenge for the way we live together on this corner.

“Let love be genuine….. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer! Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.” (And there’s more. You might want to read the whole chapter).

What we have to offer to those who anguish and to ourselves when we worry is the transforming love of God that gives us hope and helps us always to rejoice.


Pastor Jim Friedrich