April 20, 2007

Dear family and friends of WCPC:

As humans we have a choice.  We can live in one of three places.  Some people live in the past.  They are always reliving an event, either something very good or something very difficult.  Over and over again either they are celebrating a past achievement or mourning a past lost.  They are living again in the afterglow of a triumph or wondering what might have been.

Other people live in the future.  They are always imagining what their lives will be like later, when, they graduate from school, get their first job, when they get married, have children, when their children leave home, when they retire, and on and on.  They are always “about” to start enjoying life, but sadly they never get around to it.

The third way to live life is to live each moment, each day, in the presence of God.  This doesn’t mean you don’t reflect on the past, gaining insight from your experiences, or that you don’t plan for the future, but you don’t let either control how you live and experience the day you have been given.  How sad it would be to live a life and at the end realize you never fully experience the joy or the sorrow that every day holds, because you were either trapped in the past or forever imaging what tomorrow holds.

I think as disciples of Christ we have been given a great gift.  We are free from the guilt and shame of the past.  Paul writes, “Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”  (Romans 8:1)  We can forgive ourselves, learning from our sin, but not forever brooding over it.  We also can live with confidence because we know that even though we may not know what the future holds, we know who holds the future.  God can be trusted.  With such a great gift we can enjoy and live today! 

Our text this Sunday in worship is John 20: 19 – 29.  We’re going to talk about Thomas, who encountered the resurrected Jesus a week after all the other disciples did.  The title of the message is: “Coming Late to the Party.”

Your pastor,

David Jones

P.S.  I would welcome your prayers for me next week.  I’ve been invited to join a Covenant Group with others pastors from around the country.  We met next week in Atlanta.  Ben Johnson, who taught at Columbia Seminary, will be our facilitator.  The week will be focused on spiritual formation and developing and nurturing our relationship Christ and with one another.  I’m looking forward to the week (even though we’re getting up every day at 4:00 a.m. for prayer) and would welcome your involvement through your prayers for me and the other pastors participating.