Join us sundays at 8:00 & 10:30 AM

From The Pastor

December 13, 2019 by Rev. John Hartman

From the Pastor

There is a phrase that Jeb Stuart used to sign at the end his letters to General Robert E. Lee. He would finish his letters with the words, “Yours to count on.” I believe that Jesus wants us to stand with others in that way. At the Last Supper, Jesus looked around at his disciples and said, “I am calling you ‘friends.’” Our friendship with Jesus Christ makes us invincible. It’s kind of like the hymn that begins, “What a friend we have in Jesus.”

Have you ever had the experience of being with some friends when you look at the time and say, “Oh my goodness, I’ve stayed way too long. I have to get up early in the morning, and I know that you have to get up early tomorrow morning too. I need to go home so that you can get some sleep.” And even thought there is this twinge of sadness, we part from our friends, but grateful for that time of fellowship and conversation.

My friends, with Jesus Christ, that moment never comes. When Jesus begins to talk to us as his friends, he says, “Nothing is going to stop us from having this conversation, – neither death, nor life, nor powers, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else, -- will interrupt my sweet communion with you as my friend.” Indeed, Jesus Christ is yours to count on.

This Sunday, December 15, we will be talking in worship about the need for friends in our lives, especially in this holiday season, and the gift from God that they are to you and me as he sends those special people into our lives to take away our loneliness. And so, please join us for worship at either 8:00 A.M. or 10:30 A.M.

Quote of the Week

“Lovers face one another and are absorbed in each other; but friends stand shoulder to shoulder, and face in the same direction.” C.S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis was a British writer and lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University and Cambridge University. He is best known for his works of fiction, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain.

Pastor John