You Welcomed Me!

Good morning, Loved Ones,

Here's hoping that you all found meaning and hope in your Christmas celebrations and that the onslaught of serious winter has brought you peace and beauty, not vexation and despair.

The gospel passage assigned to New Year's day by the lectionary is an interesting and challenging one. It is Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats from Matthew 25.

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me . . . (Mt. 25:35)

What a message for the New Year! If we are going to make resolutions, perhaps they should be informed by that verse.

Today I give thanks for . . .

. . . a third Wednesday of Cafe en la Calle and the generous response of one man who has been waiting for work every day now for three weeks. In the middle of his third conversation with Pastor Alfonso he reached in his pocket and pulled out a $5 bill. Pastor Alfonso told him, "No. These elements are a small offering on our part." The man responded, "Yes, I know. It is a beautiful work and I would like to be part of it." Thanks be to God.

. . . 17 young people at youth group last night and particularly for my friend and our brother, Ivan. I give thanks for him and pray that he would find the strength of spirit to move away from all the things that are interfering with his abundant life with Christ. Thanks be to God.

. . . the courageous 70+ people who braved the treacherous roads and showed up for Christmas Eve Communion and Candlelight and the 35-40 who did the same on Sunday morning. What a great meal we had --- Jean's Steak soup, Veronica's Tamales and Maria's Chicken Mole -- Mmmmmmm. Thanks be to God.

. . . Sam and Randy who are helping to fashion an idea for a "Back to Summer" youth conference that has been a dream for over a year. Thanks be to God.

. . . and finally for Kent Parrett's beautiful labor of love that decorated the front of the sanctuary and inspired us throughout advent and Christmas and now into Epiphany --- stained glass images of the Nativity, lit up, artfully hovering over the front of the sanctuary. What an addition to our worship! What great beauty during the candlight on Christmas Eve. Thanks be to God.

Let's be resolved to be thankful whatever 2010 may bring and to remember to look for Jesus and serve him in the most unlikely places.

Pastor Rick