“As you, therefore, have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6-7, NRSV)
We celebrated Vacation Bible School this past week, and the atmosphere was electric. Not only did we have a bunch of kids running around the church learning about Jesus, but there were also adults who made the love of Jesus real to the children through their servant leadership. The kids will recall the songs they sang, the stories they heard, the crafts they made, and the games they played for a long time; however, even though they may not be able to articulate it now, they’ll remember the feeling of being loved and nurtured for the rest of their lives. The soil of their souls was tilled, the seeds were planted and watered, and God’s love for them began to take root and grow. Hopefully, whenever they need a reminder of God’s love for them, they’ll be able to recall that on a few summer nights in 2022, there were people who cared enough about them to show up, demonstrating that not only Jesus loves them, but their church loves them, too. That memory could sustain them through the difficulties they face.
This week, for the first time in quite a while, our Youth are on a mission trip in Nashville. This trip is the first such experience for most of the participating teens. They are there because the soil of their souls was tilled, seeds were planted and watered, and their faith took root and grew to the point that they realized they were ready to share the love of God with others. Indeed, they still need more nurturing to develop a more mature faith, but the investment of people like you in their lives has brought them to this place of service. This experience of servant leadership on a mission trip will also be an experience they will draw on for years to come—shaping how they see God, the world, and others. It may even challenge some to consider becoming a missionary, youth director, or pastor. Who knows where this experience will lead them? Don’t you love the possibilities that emerge when we make ourselves available to God?
You and I are not yet where we need to be in maturing in our faith—and we never will be—for the deeper we go in our relationship with Jesus Christ, the deeper we can go. We’ll never exhaust the depths of a relationship with God—there is always more to the experience of God’s love. That’s what our new sermon series is about—getting connected to God in ever-deepening ways. Join us this week as we explore the rooting process in the life of faith. Don’t forget to invite a friend to join us!
— Senior Pastor Dale Cohen
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