To the church I so dearly love, I greet you this day the way Paul did in his letter to the Galatian church so long ago, still relevant to us today.

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”  Galatians 1:3-6

I pray you truly understand the deep meaning of this greeting to the church who was so tirelessly working to become the Christian church. I believe we as well are in challenging times as a church. We must continuously strive for and give thanks for the freedom Christ gives. Though we recently celebrated our freedom as a nation on the fourth of July, I encourage us to consider searching for a deeper freedom through our faith in Jesus.  All of this is fresh on my mind as I have been studying for our 28th Disciple Bible Study class. (I can hardly believe it’s been 28 weeks) Our theme as I write this is “Freedom”, titled, The Son Shall Set Us Free.

I’ve been reading in Galatians, about Paul who easily shared his story of finding freedom from his earlier violent life, of finding God’s grace through his conversion experience. Knowing what Paul went through, I believe there is a place for all of us in God’s story. Despite the pain we have been given, or have done. We have freedom in Christ. We intentionally have to give those things that weigh us down, that cause us to stumble, that tear us up, over to Jesus if we truly want to find freedom of life with him. And then accept what Jesus gives. New life.

I pray you have free time this summer to enjoy the warm air, beauty of the earth, and celebrations with family. I, as well, hope you spend time in prayer for our denomination as we continue to move toward changes, pray for our church and communities, and keep me and the leaders of our church in your prayers. I pray for you often and I hope to see you at our outdoor 8:30 am worship service or inside in the air conditioning at 10:30 am.

I close with Paul’s words of blessing,

“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen”  Galatians 6:18

Pastor Beth