Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
Dear Easter People,
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
I have spent a lot of time lately in Zoom meetings with other pastors. I’ve been blessed by these conversations, but not as you might expect. To explain, I go to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Paul writes, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers (Ephesians 1:16).” In speaking to my fellow pastors, I am abundantly thankful for you all! I say that because, I hear what many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are going through right now, as are we. Yet what I hear from others are indications that, despite the difficulties we’re all going through, many are struggling to remain strong in faith in this difficult time. I am thankful for your continued strength of faith … a faith I feel each day through your prayers for me and for God’s people. Quite honestly, Paul’s words to the church in Ephesus could truly be words from my own pen to the church in Calvert County.
Paul wrote many letters to many churches across the Mediterranean. Usually he was addressing a breakdown of faith at some point. However, there was no apparent breakdown of faith in Ephesus. Paul encouraged the Ephesians to continue their faithful worship of the one true God in the face of great pressure to capitulate to the economic and religious forces of the day. Yet, they didn’t! They remained faithful to Christ … “the one body, the one Lord, the one faith, the one baptism, the one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:4-5).”
As we all face pressures to give up on our faith … even placing it in the “ways of the world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesians 2:2)” … it can be very hard to remain faithful to God and His Word. However, I see each day, your strength of faith in God … that His will shall be done. I thank God for you and your singular, faith filled focus on Him.
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Pastor Jim