January 2018 Tapestry

Page 1

The First Baptist Church of Redlands

TA PE S T RY

Woven Together In Love: Colossians 2:2

ISSUE No. 1

JANUARY 2018

Welcome to 2018! A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR SHAWN

Welcome to 2018! As you pick up this Tapestry to read, you may be sitting in the midst of Christmas decorations that are beginning to look out of place. In the days leading up to Christmas they may have seemed warm and cheery, but every day after New Year’s Day is a reminder that Christmas is over and it is time to put things back in the boxes and get on with the year. Sometimes it is anticlimactic. And for some, for whom Christmas has turned out to be a disappointment or a very difficult reminder of loss, putting the decorations away is a welcome relief. After the anticipation and waiting of Advent, Christmas has come and it seems like the end. And yet Christmas is the beginning. We have celebrated God breaking into the world, into the lives and history of humanity. The Kingdom of God is at hand! And it means change. The people of Jesus’ time heard the message and saw what Jesus was doing and realized that things were different. For some it brought freedom and relief and new life. For others, change was difficult, confusing and even

infuriating. As we go through the year following Christmas we deal, spiritually, with the implications of the Incarnation, God coming to dwell among us. Beginning this month on Sunday mornings we will be spending time in the gospels, mostly Mark, discovering, in a fresh and new way, the Good News. But also, the year 2018 promises to be one of transition for our church. Even as I write this I can hear your thoughts: “STILL?” It seems like forever! The church waited for a new pastor and finally one came. Now, nearly two

years after finding out who that new pastor would be we are still talking about transition? In 2018 we will be calling an Associate Pastor and continuing to shift and evolve a new staff structure in the church. Transitions are hard and often messy. Things slip through the cracks and we find ourselves saying “oops” and

“uh oh” and “I’m sorry” a lot. And in the midst of all of it we find out what is important and what isn’t as important. We find out what needs to change and what we need to do better or in a new way. The season following Christmas is Epiphany. It is the time of discovery. It’s when we remember times of finding God in places we didn’t expect. Often this happens when we are pushed out of our comfy chair and forced to look around us in a way that we haven’t for a long time. So here we go, into the realm of transition! Let us keep our focus on Jesus. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to guide us. Let us find in ourselves a spirit of adventure, a tolerance for irritation, new eyes for discovery, a heart of grace and a bit of a sense of humor. God is with us! May we go in hope, peace, joy and love! Happy New Year!


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.