Letter From The Pastor

“Who has a reason to praise the Lord to share with us tonight?”

As I asked the question, a young lady immediately shot her hand up with a smile on her
face that wasn’t leaving anytime soon.
“I’m more joyful!”

As the conversation continued, she came to the realization of the source of this curious
newfound joy: Jesus. You see, not long before this conversation she came to saving
faith in Christ. Understanding that she was a sinner, she turned in faith to Jesus for her
salvation, surrendering to Him as her Lord. Ephesians 2:4-5 describes what happened
to her: “But God…made [her] alive together with Christ…”. So, this otherwise
inexplicable joy that she was experiencing was some of the fruit of this new life. (See
also Eph 1:13; Gal 5:22-23)

Where there’s life, transformation will begin to be evident. We just recently put some
duck eggs in the incubator. It’s not immediately evident, but there is life in those eggs.
We have a drake in the flock, so I know that most of those eggs are likely fertilized. As
they stay at the right temperature and in the correct amount of humidity, the life that is
within will become more evident. There will be growth. When it’s time to take the eggs
out to candle them, a beating heart and blood vessels will be visible in the ones that
were fertilized. As that life continues to grow, a duckling will eventually break out of the
shell, looking a lot like the one who put the life in there.

Similarly, this life inside disciples of Christ – or the new creation, as Paul calls it in 2 Cor
5:17 – continues to grow and become more and more evident, as we become
“conformed to the image of [Christ]” (Rom 8:29).

So, while the young lady’s statement brought a smile to my face and did my heart good
to hear, it did not surprise me. It’s the evidence of the inward change!
Have you been brought from death to life through faith in the only savior, Jesus Christ?
What evidence are you seeing of that newness of life? And like the temperature and
humidity for the egg, what conditions are you putting yourself in that are conducive to
your growth?

Love ya!