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Dear Friends,

When I watch the news or scroll through my news feed, I find myself more and more shaking my head and wondering, “How on earth did we get here?!” Can you identify? Now, let me be clear, in many, many, many regards I’d rather live here today than as a Christian in the 1st century or in the days when you could die from an infected tooth! And yet, we live in an increasingly bizarre and troubling world.

For example, I recently saw a news report that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a “topless” ban. This means that it could soon be completely legal for women to walk down Main Street totally topless in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The lawsuit was brought from folks who are part of a “Free the Nipple” movement. The rational is discrimination and equality: if it’s not illegal for a man to be topless in public, then it can’t be illegal for women.

Written to churches and Christians that were experiencing the pressure of persecution and the rejection of their world, God has much to say to us in 1st Peter. This Sunday we start a season in 1 Peter that will take us through next February. Again, in many ways I’d rather live today as a Christian than in 1 Peter’s day under Emperor Nero. After all, there is general agreement that Peter himself was executed by Nero for being a Christian! However, we do live in a place and time that is increasingly hostile to Christianity and Christians. It looks like it’s only going to get worse. So how do we remain faithful and not give up or shrink back?Read More

Dear Friends,

What is the secret of self-control?

Think about the difficulty, suffering, and damage you would have avoided if you only had more self-control. Think about how fit you would be or how much further you would have gone in your career if you had just had the self-control to work out more regularly, eat better, study more, and work harder. Or think about how much greater your spiritual life and health might be if you had exercised more self-control.

Self-control seems to be the secret to success and happiness, doesn’t it! If only we had more, how much better things would be. However, despite several thousand years of human history and development, we don’t seem to have progressed much with regard to self-control. It continually feels like we are our own worst enemies.

This week, we come to the last of the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: Self-Control. In the Galatian time and world of Greek Philosophy, self-control was an especially valued virtue (like I said, it has been for thousands and thousands of years!). As human beings, we have always talked about, struggled with, and longed for more of it. Read More

Dear Friends,

Charles Wesley wrote a hymn titled, “Gentle Jesus, Meek, and Mild.” To be honest, I’ve never really loved that hymn nor the reduction of Jesus to being only gentle, meek, and mild. It’s clear from Scripture that Jesus was bold, confrontational, awkwardly direct, and at times angry. In addition to that, there are many, many, many passages of Scripture where God speaks to his people in ways that we probably wouldn’t say were gentle, meek, or mild.

But it is true that Jesus was often gentle. It is true that we worship a God who has been, is, and promises to be gentle with us. As followers of Christ, the Bible regularly exhorts us to be gentle with each other in Christ and gentle in our interactions with the unbelieving, harsh, and even persecuting world around us. Our increasingly angry world needs more of that gentleness that turns away wrath. And, yes, gentleness is a Fruit of the Spirit. It’s a gift of God – not a personality trait that some just have more than others. It’s God’s own gentleness that we are empowered with.

How has someone’s gentleness impacted you? Take some time to reflect and remember when someone’s gentleness made all the difference. Maybe they were gentle with you in a difficult time or a time of conflict. Or maybe they were a constant gentle presence. Reflect on the power of gentleness and its impact.

As you do that, take some time to read and reflect on the following passages as we prepare to worship together as a church family this Sunday: Hebrews 4:14-5:3, Galatians 6:1-5, and 1 Peter 3:14-18.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Ewan