Pastors talk a lot about eternal life. That blissful state of life without suffering, doubt, anxiety about tomorrow, and every other exigency of life this side of heaven. Walking through death into new life is the goal of very believer in Jesus Christ. But, what about today, right now, right here? Scripture offers an intriguing perspective on eternal life. Eternal life by grace through faith in Jesus Christ is the reality of the Christian life. Now of new birth, life becomes eternal, abundant, and the transformation of the heart begins. When life is not eternal it becomes highly circumstantial. We are happy and content when the world reflects our personal desires. We are encouraged when our health and our family’s health is fine. We never speak of death, loss, or pain until we face all those inevitable events in every human life. When life is abundant and eternal, we have a certain hope not born of circumstance, and a strength not derived from our own capacity. In times of prosperity and in times of grief, we live to reveal God’s love and provision. The breath of our lives comes not through circumstance, but through Jesus Christ. Now, that is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom 1 John 5:10-11 Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God[a] have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
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This month marks the 178th birthday of Salem Church. 178 years is a long time. Our community, our nation, and our world are much different today than they were in 1844. From the founding of Salem Church through today America has elected 36 Presidents, endured a great Civil War, suffered through the Spanish Flu, and COVID-19. The nation has mourned the assassination of four Presidents, fought two World Wars, and put a man on the Moon. Automobiles and airplanes have replaced the horse and buggy as primary means of transportation. Electric lights, radios, cell phones, and television sets are no longer considered improbable ideas. Computers can now be worn our wrists, and cars that need no driver are appearing on roadways. Diseases that in 1844 carried a sentence of certain death are effectively cured with antibiotics today. Yes, a lot has changed, but one thing has not: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On Christmas Eve 1844, the first Salem congregation gathered to proclaim Christ our Savior is born. And on Christmas Eve 2022, the people of Salem Church will gather to say those same words. Easter Sunday, 1864, the first Methodist Episcopal Church Pastor at Salem Church read the story of an empty tomb and a risen Savior. The same story of victory over sin and death was read as the fire of new life burned brightly in front of Salem Church at Easter sunrise, 2022. It is an amazing truth. The only thing that has not changed in 178 years, is the Gospel. Now that is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Why are you a United Methodist? I must admit the question caught me off guard. I was raised in the United Methodist Church. My grandparents and parents attended a Methodist Church founded by a circuit rider. Being a United Methodist is part of my cultural, social, and religious heritage. Now, I am a United Methodist pastor. During this time when our denomination is confronting tough questions, it is necessary that we all stop and truly consider why we are United Methodists. And, why we will stay United Methodists. Of course, every Confirmation student can recite the core United Methodist beliefs. We serve a God of grace. It is God’s grace that invites us into a relationship with the Divine. It is God’s grace that offers new birth through justification, and it is God’s grace that enables us to grow in the image and likeness of Christ through sanctification. People in many denominations could echo those same or remarkably similar confessional statements. The United Methodist distinctive is that we believe in faith on the fault line. In other words, we see our task and our mission as actualizing faith in the world through acts of compassion, service, and justice. Our founder, John Wesley believed in holiness of heart and mind. To engage in both pious actions such as worship, prayer, Bible study, and in acts of mercy in the world. That is our call today. And that is why we are and will be United Methodists. Now that is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom 1 John 4: 7-10 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. It is hard to believe that 21 years have passed since that fateful morning of September 11, 2001. During those 21 years the march of history has radically changed our nation and our world. Tragically, the horror of that day has been culturally tempered. Images that once captured the very psyche of our nation have been curated to become part of the fabric of history. However, the true messages of that day can never be stilled by the passage of time or the coming of age of a generation that had yet to be born on that September day. Without question, 9-11 laid bare the capacity for evil that resides within the human psyche. Yet, the day also brought about an amazing revelation. As people were under attack, the socially constructed barriers that separate us ceased to exist. First responders, and common citizens alike never decided who should be led to safety based on race, age, gender, religion, or ethnicity. Everyone joined in true human community. In the face of tragedy, the things that divide us became markedly irrelevant. As Christians we affirm that God is not the author of evil. It was God’s hand that led us to discard our divisions to join hands in acts of compassion, mercy, and hope. In truth, we can all have differing views. Differences celebrate the beautiful mosaic of human community. Divisiveness and division are choices that remain contrary to the very message of the Gospel. Now, that is genuinely Good News. Blessings, Pastor Tom 1 Corinthians 12: 12-13 You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive. |
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