January 1, 2025
Beloved of God,
We ended last year focusing on Jesus at the start of His first coming.
But we couldn’t think of His being born in that Bethlehem barn without thinking of His promise, and the promise of the prophets who foretold Him, that He would come a second time to set the whole world right and establish God’s justice and righteousness throughout the earth.
Our faith is all about Jesus, from beginning to end.
And our message to the world, the world into which God sends us to serve, is all about Jesus, from beginning to end.
It’s not that we are particularly special people, but that He is a spectacularly special Person – and that He has done a spectacularly special job in initiating improvements of our character and conduct, making us very different people than we would have been had He not gotten His hands on us.
And our message is that what He has done for us He would gladly and eagerly do for anyone who gives up on making their own way and gives themselves over to His governance and transforming action on their behalf.
We are not special, but we know Someone who is exceedingly special and would do special things for anyone who gives Him half a chance.
So, in this first month of this new year, let us set our trajectory aright. Let us put first things first. Let us represent Jesus clearly and compellingly in our behavior and in our basic messaging. Let us direct people’s attention to this Redeemer who makes folks better than they used to be and enables them to make more of a difference for good in their community and throughout the world.
Jesus is the light of God’s love, the bright warmth of God grace, the source of new life and power for serving God and His good purposes of justice, compassion and witness. Jesus, therefore, deserves to be front and center in all we say and do!
May we be windows through which others catch glimpses of who He is and how He can change folks for the better!
Warmly in Christ,
Rob & Adele
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