Dear People of St. David’s,
I pray that you and yours are well and invite you to a little prayer on behalf of our brothers and sisters getting ready to face Hurricane Florence and all who are struggling in their lives all around the world. Prayer and the power of God at work in people’s lives make such a difference.
We’ve begun a new year of mission and ministry at St. David’s under the banner and theme of The Christian Life. It’s a theme that we hope will lead all of us into a closer walk with God and change us to become the persons and Christians Christ is calling us to be. If we will take hold of this life with God and pay more and more attention, then we will be changed and become lights and a resource for good for everyone.
As I wrestle with my own version of the Christian life, I find myself returning to how much time I offer God each day and what I am doing in terms of prayer and study and ministry to open myself up to God and a more integrated Christian life. For though we are not attempting to earn God’s presence and grace and Spirit, we know that if we put forth the effort in a physical way, then the spiritual way opens up in our lives.
That’s where the rub or challenge is for me and for many of us. There are days when I, when we, don’t really pay much attention to God and yet we think that we’re all right as Christians. It’s a little like me playing tennis (doubles) once this year and saying I’m a tennis player. It’s like someone learning chopsticks on the piano and claiming to be a pianist. It’s someone planting some flowers and thinking of themselves as a horticulturist. Or it’s like claiming to be an expert parent on the day your baby is born or comes to you as a result of adoption.
Like almost everything else in life to become whatever it is we are hoping to be, we have to make an effort and not just once. We have to make a consistent and prolonged effort for any kind of proficiency. In many cases it takes a lifetime. And so it is with the Christian Life. We begin the life with Christ by following him day by day by day and over the course of our lives we become the Christian God has called us to be.
This year, in addition to regular Sunday worship, we are offering classes for all ages on Sundays and a variety of opportunities for ministry as a way for all of us to make the effort that will teach us and empower us to live the Christian life at St. David’s and everywhere else in our lives. I am hoping that we all take advantage of these opportunities and
"make the effort
.
"
If we do, the Christian life will become our actual life.
See you in Church!
Grace and Peace,
