| Change Is All Around Us |
| Change is all around us. You only have to watch your newsfeed for every new pronouncement coming from Washington, DC. They come so fast and furious that it is hard to keep up and it often creates fear for what is to become of us as a nation and as citizens and residents. I think back to the night that President Barack Obama was elected and remember how full of hope I was then. I also think back to the elections of 2016 and 2024 and remember how incredibly disappointed I was with the results. Sometimes change can be good and sometimes change can be hard. Resurrection has been going through a time of change. It is hard to pinpoint exactly when it started, but I think we can mark the time to be right around St. Patrick’s Day in 2020. That’s when the world began to shut down due to COVID. Can you think about all of the changes Resurrection has been through since then? The loss of Rev. Vickey Gibbs to COVID. The changes to the worship experience. Rev. Elder Troy Treash’s retirement. And you can probably add quite a few church and personal changes of your own to that short list. The problem with change, especially when either sudden or prolonged, is that it can create fear about the future. Change is not something new. The book of Isaiah was written when the people of Israel and Judah faced the powerful forces of Assyria. The prophet warns of conquest and destruction but also calls on the people to have faith in God. “…do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you; I will help you…” (Isaiah 41: 10) “For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’” (Isaiah 41: 13) “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.” (Isaiah 43: 1b) Faced with very dire circumstances, Isaiah prophesied hope in God. Or we can turn to one of my very favorite Psalms. Psalm 46 begins: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea, though it’s waters roar and foam, through the mountains tremble with its tumult…The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” (Psalm 36: 1, 7) To whom do you turn when faced with uncertainty, anxiety and fear? I hope and pray that it is to the God of Israel and Jacob, the God of Jesus and Peter and Paul. As a kind of benediction to the faithful in Rome, Paul wrote, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13) May it be so. Amen. |
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| Pastor Candace Schultis PastorCandace@resurrectionMCC.org |
| View Last Sunday’s Service HERESunday’s Opening Song for Practice: Holy, Holy, Holy |