COFFEE WITH THE PASTOR – FEBRUARY 10, 2021
Pastor Dave wants to remind everyone about the upcoming Lenten Study which will be a short 6-week study titled The God We Can Know which will begin on Wednesday February 24th on a Zoom meeting at 6:30 PM. We will be looking at the “I am” statements of Jesus recorded for us in the Gospel of John. These statements are so vital in understanding who Jesus was and is. We believe that Jesus Christ lived, he died, and he will come again. The Christian faith rests upon these principles. If you have not yet registered for the study, and would like to, please contact the church office by responding to this email or Pastor Dave at pastorleistra@gmail.com so that we can send instructions on how to access the Zoom Sessions. The book is available with a DVD component which Pastor Dave will play during the study. He encourages you to either order your copy of the study book ($7.00) through the church office or acquire a copy from Amazon, Cokesbury, CBD, or whatever source you prefer as soon as possible.
Pastor Dave fears that the nature of Jesus Christ is being lost in a kind of new image of Jesus that is emerging. This image depicts Jesus as a very nice man who was strong in his faith and was a victim of the powers of the day. To paint Jesus as a victim changes the meaning of the entire story and is not biblically correct. There was no particular group responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus was always in charge of the events that took place. The problem is that the victimhood of Jesus shifts responsibility of his death to the political powers of that time and takes the responsibility away from us and our contribution and true cause, which is human sin.
At to the current status for our worship service, we still operate with our church building closed and continue our virtual worship and studies. We had hoped to reopen soon, however, in person building services we are still uncertain as we continue to follow CDC guidelines. Some of our members have been vaccinated but it is going slowly. We are hoping over the Spring and Summer months we can all get vaccinated successfully and we may once again come together in person. Even our general conference will either be postponed or will be virtual. Hopefully, Jacksonport can return to outside services in May which is something we can all look forward too.
Pastor Dave encourages you to read the gospels and look for what Jesus said, what were his words, and read it as if he was speaking to you directly. This will keep your feet on solid rock as we move through these difficult times together.
Until next time may God richly bless you.
