Grace's Spiritual Leader
Our Pastor Rev. Rafael Cubilette, OSL Staff Secretary - Cheryl Riehle Custodian & Maintenance - Joe Hoffman Treasurer - Marilyn Holmes Ministry Leaders Choir Director- Elizabeth Spees Bell Choir Director- Judie Batterman Christian Education - Sandi Tennessen |
Happy New Year!
“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” ~2 Corinthians 5:17 Everyone loves a new start, a reboot, a new beginning. We love to celebrate the coming of a new year with all its hopes and possibilities. We make resolutions that this year will be different from all the ones that have gone before us. I don’t know about you, but I often find myself losing those resolutions some time into the New Year. What happens to us that we can’t keep those resolutions? The short answer is that we are human. The longer answer is that we are subject to the fall and we are not all that we were created to be. This is why Jesus came, to offer us hope for a brighter and perfect “new” that is yet to come. At the close of 2019, I was reflecting on all my loved ones whom I have lost since moving to Wautoma. There’s nothing like saying good-bye to loved ones or a loyal friend to cause one to be introspective. I found myself wondering what our new life will be like. Whenever I think of our future, my thoughts go to the promises found in scripture. In Revelation 21 we are told by John, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” I was recently reminded that one of my seminary professors, the late Dr. Robert Mulholland wrote that the Greek word translated “new” is kainós, which implies renewed, not brand new [as in something that never existed before], rather it is a change in quality or essence. Strong Greek Lexicon defines kainós as, “new, superior to what it succeeds” or “not found exactly like be- fore,” and “fresh, unworn.” Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? We have a promise of something wonderful to come. God promises to make this world and all of us “new” – to remake and renew us into what was intended from the start. But the promise of a new life doesn’t have to wait until we reach heaven or wait until Christ returns. We have that promise of a new life today – each and every day! We read in Ezekiel 36:26, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” And in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” When we give our lives to Christ, he makes everything new. Our Creator God tells us in Revelation 21:5, “And he who sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” One translation puts it this way: “I bring all things into a new and better condition.” Let us give our hearts and our lives anew to Christ and allow God to work his newness in our lives. May you be made new in the coming year by His Grace and have a bright NEW year with our Lord! In God’s Great and Glorious Grace! Your servant in Christ, Pastor Rafael |