Pastor Adam’s New Year’s Letter

As we begin 2022 and look again to a new year, here’s what God’s Spirit is placing on my heart:

The good news of Jesus Christ is still worth beliving: I know that so many of you have been burned by people - mostly men - who come claiming to speak in the name of God, but were actually just after a form of power, out to manipulate you or build their brand. I know that when people try to control you by pulling on your deepest sense of the reality of the universe that it hurts, disorients, seeds doubt - and it keeps hurting for a long time. But the good news of Jesus Christ perseveres through all of this: God is still making all things new. God is still faithful, even though people can fail us in every imaginable way. That's why I'm calling on you again this year to believe the good news - not to believe as I believe, not to just listen to what I'm saying, but to search out the deepest places of your soul and conscience. You'll find that when you process through your hurt, set aside your walls, and listen for the presence of God, that God will still be there - not in the fire, not in the shaking, not in the whirlwind, but in the stillness.

Community still matters: As surely as I'm convinced that we're created to be spiritual beings, i'm also convinced that our spirituality can only be fully realized in community. So much of our society tells us that all we need is ourselves - plus, of course, the right products and services, to become our best selves. The self-help genre, both as traditionally understood in books and in its evolution as social media influencers peddling the products that create their curated image of ideal life, still sings us a siren song of individual fulfillment, but still leaves us on the rocks of disillusionment, lack of fulfillment, and a treadmill of never feeling quite worthy. God asks us to walk a different path: that the way to fulfillment is sharing rather than amassing, that the way to healing is vulnerability rather than curating, that the way to change is dependence on God and our community rather than the independent spirit of hustle.

Love is still the greatest: love still changes lives. When our hurts pull us toward insulation and unforgiveness, love still builds bridges toward forgiveness and reconcilation. When our fears pull us toward paralysis, love asks us to step out and trust the seeds of good that we see around us. When our fatigue leads us to shut down, love asks us to open ourselves to the renewal that comes from receiving from God and community. When we find ourselves at the end of a dream, love asks us to dream again. God is love, and so everytime we choose compassion, charity, forgiveness, connection, affection, kindness, faithfulness, peacemaking, patience, or trust, we're choosing God. Choose love this year.

I believe Jesus is going with us into 2022, so let's walk in love together.

Pastor Adam

New Year's Day 2022