Pastor’s Note 05/09/2024
34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
and you were not willing!
35See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say,
‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
(Matthew 23:34 & 35)
Mother’s Day is this Sunday and I know that many of us will be celebrating the moms in our lives. Giving them the love and thanks for the care and sacrifices they have provided in our lives. It is especially meaningful when families are able to gather and celebrate multiple generations of mothers. The goodness of God is evident.
I also know that for many of you, this is a difficult day. The difficulty may arise from the loss of a mother and the hole that is left because of that loss. It may arise from a difficult relationship that you had (or have) with your mother. Or this day may be difficult because you desire to be a mother but there are hurtful and painful emotions because of the loss of a child, or infertility isn’t allowing you to have a child, or you have experienced a miscarriage in the past. So, Mother’s Day can bring a variety of emotions into our lives.
I will say that in the midst of these emotions, we believe in a God who cares for us, who provides for us, who looks after us, and made the ultimate sacrifice for us. He is like a good mother to us and for that we are grateful. As Jesus said in Matthew 23, like a mother hen, He longs “to gather her chicks under her wings.” Our God is good, and Jesus is reminding us that our God’s goodness is like that of mother hen.
Pastor’s Note 05/02/2024
For the past several Wednesday evenings, a group of about 15 of us have been watching Season 2 of the television show, The Chosen. It has been good to watch each episode and visually imagine what it might have been like to watch Jesus as He began His ministry. I think that the thing that I enjoy in watching The Chosen is that it provides a possible backstory to some Biblical stories that we are all familiar with. The backstories are always interesting because it allows us as the viewers to think of what it might have been like as Jesus walked the earth in the 1st century.
Let me encourage you to get the Angel Studios App and watch The Chosen or if you can, join us on Wednesdays at 6pm for the showing of the series. It would be great if you could attend.