“I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”
(John 10:10b)
Jesus told us His “why” in the gospels. He came to pour, spread, and offer up life. Life to the full – this is the core of the gospel. This is why it’s good news. God Himself came so that we might have full, abundant, and bottomless life. Not just eternal and heavenly life someday, but eternal, heavenly, and transformed life right here in the middle of the real, not-so-eternal, and not-so-heavenly earth. If you have ever known someone who had that transformed kind of life, you know that eternal life and love look different when someone is embracing it. It’s open and joyful. It’s patient and relaxed. It’s abundant and bottomless.
My prayer for our church this fall is that each of us as individuals and all of us together would embrace that gospel and find that full life in Christ.
My prayer for our church this fall is that this love and life would bubble up out of this place, pour out of the doors, and flood into our neighborhoods, workplaces, and communities, not because we know so much or perform so perfectly, but because we are so full of God’s life and love.
My prayer is that when our abundant life and love pours out, people would see it, hear about it, find it, and embrace it for themselves – that abundant life in Christ.
My prayer is that out of our full life in Christ we would connect with people who need connection, we would grow in Christ and love, and we would serve and send people to joyfully serve in our community and world.
Most of the rest of this issue of the Chronicle is about many ways we are trying to do that together. Be sure to use the link to a document with a complete run down of all that’s happening. Take a look, pray about how you will be involved, pray about who you will invite, and most of all, pray that our abundant life in Christ will overflow in acts of love and service in the name of Christ this year.
It is a blessing to be a part of Christ’s body with you all!
Pastor Todd
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