February 2011
Dear Friends,
When I was in high school, our church theatre troupe did a production of Godspell. This delightful play takes the ministry of Jesus as presented in the Gospel of Matthew and transforms it into a high energy, inspiring musical where the audience learns to hear the gospel and feel its ebbs and flows. It literally brings the text to life. Throughout the month of February, we will be reading the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew. As we read it, I will delight in remembering my role in Godspell, and I will delight in thinking of new and exciting ways to read these instructions from Jesus.
I think it’s easy to forget that the words written in scripture were written by people who were like us: people who were seeking to know God better, people who encountered Jesus and wanted to live like him, people who had families and jobs and dreams. When they wrote those words, I don’t know if they knew the impact that they would have, but what I do know is that they wrote them out of a compelling desire to tell the story so that others might hear it and be changed by it. The words of scripture of meant to be read, yes, but they are also meant to be felt—they are meant to be responded to, argued with, and changed by. The words of scripture are not meant to stay on the page, they are meant to be lived out, and never does this feel more real or more important to me than in Jesus words from the Sermon on the Mount.
In the pages of this newsletter, you will find many opportunities to live out Jesus’ words—you will find opportunities to be in fellowship, to care for one another, to serve and to be served. You will find opportunities to love, to receive, and to give. In these pages you will find opportunities not just to hear about scripture, but to also be moved by it. I pray that in these winter months, you will continue to feel the movement of the Spirit and join with your church family in acting upon it.
Blessings,
Pastor Danielle