Dear Servants of Christ,

 

Welcome to the Season of Epiphany! Let me once again say how blessed we have been to read all the Advent/Christmas devotionals that members of Servants have offered to the parish. If you missed any of them, you can find them on our website here.

 

Having considered Jesus’ return during Advent, and worshipped at the wonder of His Incarnation during Christmas, we are now ready to share the message of Jesus in the New Year! Jesus reminds us that we are the light; our work is to make Jesus known. The key I believe is to let the light of Jesus reflect off us towards others. This is another reason why the vestry has placed so much emphasis on encouraging you to find a daily plan for reading Scripture with prayer.

 

During Epiphany I want to do a couple of things to assist you in your own renewed commitment to making Jesus known. First, I want to offer a teaching on Tuesday, January 24 on how we can effectively share our faith in Jesus with others. There is some material I learned about in preparation for last November’s Synod that I think you will find helpful.

 

Second, I want to offer sermons during Epiphany that will remind us of our core purpose as a parish to assist in our obedience to make Jesus known. These sermons will examine the “Sermon on the Mount” from Matthew 5 and will build towards our Annual Meeting on February 12.

 

Third, I’m excited to let you know that Bishop Martyn Minns and his lovely family will be with us once again to share this time on: “How are Christian leaders to respond in times like these?” This will be a one-day retreat on Saturday, February 18 starting at 9:00 am. I hope all of you will attend. Bishop Minns will also be our preacher on Sunday, February 19. 

 

Friends, my prayer is that God make Servants of Christ like a city on a hill in our city, and that as He continues to transform us into the likeness of His Son Jesus we might see many others glorifying God in 2017.

 

Onward and Upward,

Alex +