From the Pastor’s Desk… January 2025
The new year has begun… and with every new year comes a time for reflection – of our
life, our vocations, our hopes and dreams, and our wishes for a bright and happy future.
I’m not one for making resolutions – promises to self to make some changes that I know
will not be accomplished. Perhaps it’s time that I should.
Recently I was given a book by a friend to read. When I picked up the book to glance at
it, the book opened to this page – so I read it. The author wrote a section he called “Ark
Wisdom.” I believe the Holy Spirit wanted me to read it and God wanted me to hear it,
and Jesus – well – he was with me as I read aloud the words printed on this page. 
It was about the life lessons we could all learn from Noah’s ark. There were 11 lessons
listed but I narrowed it down to just a few, to those lessons I choose to make central in my
life over the next year
• When Noah built the ark, it wasn’t raining.
• When you are stressed, float awhile.
• No matter the storm, when you are with God,
there’s always a rainbow waiting
I could go on about what these three lessons mean to me, and what changes I may or may
not make in my life to accomplish all three – but I won’t. Why? Because they are deeply
personal; they will change over time given what is happening; and well, my ark is just that
– my ark. We each have our ark and within the confines of that ark are the life choices we
make – individually and as church.
Let me just say this:
Being church is not easy, nor should it be. There is nothing that should, or could,
change the mission to which we have been called.
Our faith is not easy, nor should it be. Faith calls us to be ever present in our life, to
know we are not alone, to reassure us mistakes are made and forgiven, to always call
upon Christ Jesus through God our Father in those times when the darkness has
overcome.
Life is not easy, nor should it be. It presents us with multiple choices and decisions
that must be made. These are personal and made within the context of our own lives.
The ownership belongs to self and no one else. But we should not make them
alone… God waits for the discussion, to hear and listen, and then we can receive.
It’s a new year, and time to make “the choice” to continue
in accepting God’s presence in our lives, in walking with
Jesus and owning those times when the darkness is too
much, to let Jesus carry us when it is too much, and to give
faith permission to help us in making those decisions and
choices.
I begin this year praying for all of you that life will give
you what we all want – a happy and bright future filled
with good health, gratitude, love, and rainbows sent from
God..
God’s Blessings and Peace
Pastor Neil
Pastor Neil’s Office Hours
Tuesday-Wednesday 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
