“January 2019 Newsletter”

Sisters and Brothers,

Rev. Delsol Meade

My prayer is that you experience God’s richest blessings during 2019.
A Happy New Year to everyone!

Let me begin by expressing sincere thanks to you my sisters and brothers. You have been channels of God’s grace bringing tremendous moral and prayerful support, as I faced significant health challenges since my arrival in the circuit. Surely, you have a place in the grace we celebrate when we affirm “God is good.”.

As we add our individual experiences of God’s goodness, in our life together, we have enough to remind us of the Lord’s faithfulness and abundant love for his people. So, we need not give in to despair and let worry overwhelm us, even when difficulties arise, as is likely, at some point(s) this year. Let us resolve that when we go through periods of sadness, struggle and testing, we will not give up, but rather hold on in faith and like the psalmist affirm that while weeping may linger for the night,but joy comes in the morning. (Ps. 30:5b).

Let us be committed to maintaining our relationship with God so that in the face of life’s difficulties, God’s peace will be ours. This is the Lord’s promise – to be with us through life’s changing scenes, never leaving us alone. Let us not forget this and focus on our limitations instead of rely on God’s ability to enable and to deliver us.

Throughout 2019, we need to remember that our weaknesses are outmatched by God’s power at work in us, if only we are willing to have faith, trust and obedience. Start with that small seed faith if you must, but please invest some trust in God who will in turn, grow your faith. If you didn’t do this before, take the risk of trusting and obeying God. Then the relationship will grow; it will pay off as you prove the abundant life that has been promised to us.

The outcomes we experience in 2019 might well exceed our expectations. We simply cannot know the full riches of God’s grace. We can witness new mercies with each day that dawns, even the down days that will come. Let us prepare to see each situation as one in which God’s possibility remains wide open.

We need this firm resolve to trust in God’s provision. We also need to show God’s presence among us as we cooperate on various tasks letting us and others see how the uniting grace of God transforms problematic situations into victories. It can be a sign of God’s presence as we teach others to focus on what God can do rather than dwell on the problems of the past.

Let us embrace a positive outlook. I’m not putting forward some cheap psychology that asks us only to believe in our potential. Great as that may be, when we are driven by the power of the Holy Spirit, we become testimony to the dynamic power that God makes available to and through humans to transform problems into solutions.

If we are going to do this together, then of course we must do it individually too. Each one of us must take that tiny leap of faith remembering God’s promise of his unfailing empowering presence: I am with you always, even to the close of the age.

May we together claim the richness of God’s grace to save and to sustain us, our families, our church, our land, and all God’s people everywhere.

And may the triune God – Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer- be praised in our life together this year.

In God’s service,

Your Pastor,
Joan Delsol Meade