The First Baptist Church of Redlands
T A PE S T R Y
Mar 2021
Wo v e n To g e t h e r I n L o v e : C o l o s s i a n s 2 : 2
Issue No. 3
Grow Something New A Message from Pastor Shawn
Grow something new in our lives, oh God Grow something peaceful, grow something true Grow something new in our lives, oh God Grow something new, turn our hope back to you. Matt Frazier
When you live in a place that experiences the fullness of all four seasons, you observe the realities of the different kinds of plants: evergreens that stay green all year, no matter the weather; perennials, which “come back” every year after the winter seems to kill them off or make them dormant; and annuals, which live, often boldly, through the season and then are done once the cold weather comes. When I lived in Indiana, there were years when winter would come that I would wonder if certain plant would come back in the spring. Or I might forget that I had certain flowers planted in my yard until they came up again in the spring or early summer. Then there were the seeds or bulbs that I would plant in the late fall and I would wonder if they “took” until I would see them sprout in the spring. In the dead of winter, the evergreens were the only signs of life in the garden. And so, particularly in the snows of February (when you’re getting really tired of winter) you begin to wonder if spring will ever come and if all of those trees, plants and flowers will come to life any time soon.
Our theme this season of Lent is “Grow Something New.” A song by that title has become our “theme song” for our online worship services. As we go through another Lent and Holy Week with the habits and lifestyle that we have developed due to Covid-19, we may wonder how this Lenten season is any different than what we have been doing all year. I heard that someone has said that they were giving up Lent for Lent. But this Lent we are beginning to see the signs of the end of this year of limited and changed contact and connection. With each vaccination we come a step closer to resuming a life of more physically present interaction. We are beginning to think that well before year’s end we can be worshipping and meeting physically with one another. What will we find in bloom when we come back together. What has been planted and is now germinating that we will see coming up in the month’s ahead. What “new thing” is God growing in us as disciples and as a church? THIS Lenten season, let us be intentional about engaging in the disciplines that will enable us to hear God’s voice and to identify God’s work in our lives and in our world. Pray for glimpses of God’s dream for us and for an on-going clarity of vision. Set aside time to just be quiet before God and listen to God when you are doing ordinary things, like washing the dishes, taking a shower, mowing the lawn… Allow God to speak to you when you are with others “zooming” in a Bible study or a commission meeting, or just when you are talking on the phone. When you get insights, or “possible insights,” write them down, so that you can come back and prayerfully ponder them. The whole church is dependent on each of us listening to God as we look to the future direction that God has for us. Let us all open our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies to that new thing that God will grow in us.
Grace and Peace in Christ, Pastor Shawn
