Thoughts from Pastor Michael Smith
March 2024 Letter from the Pastor
Lent can be a tough season if we are honest with ourselves. Despite our best efforts to be good we always seem to be able to find room for improvement. There is always something to repent of. We wake up each morning vowing to do better today, and end up each evening with something to confess. It can be demoralizing if we view the season as trying to make ourselves righteous before God by rule following and holy living.
Last Sunday’s passages about Abraham give us hope. Abraham wasn’t righteous before God because he was sinless; only Christ can claim that. Abraham believed the promises of God, and that was credited to him as righteousness. Abraham put total trust in God, even to the point of offering up his own son at God’s command. He believed God’s word that He would make him the father of many nations even though it was impossible; at least by human capabilities. Nothing is impossible for God; and God kept His word to Abraham.
God has a promise for us too; that our sins are washed clean, and that we’ll be with Him in heaven forever one day. That isn’t possible by human means either; but nothing is impossible for God. We just need to put our trust in Him and believe that His promises to us are true: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Our repentance that we are all working so hard at is so much less daunting in the face of that promise. The battle is already won, our destiny is assured if we put our trust in God. In the light of His love and grace our hearts are transformed.
In Christ,
Pastor Mike
