Category: Pastor’s Monthly Message

“Light shines in the darkness for the upright.” Psalm 112:4

Dear Redeemer Family:

One of the meanings for epiphany is light. And we are in the Season of Epiphany where we often put an emphasis, and talk, about light. As I write this, we can use some light. We are presently experiencing the severe storm of January 24^th through 25^th. It is gray outside, very cold, and snowing – with more to come. But there is an interesting side effect to snowstorms. When the clouds break, it will be very bright. There will be a lot of light. It will be one of the few times during the year that I will be wearing sunglasses when I drive my car. It can be almost blinding. There will be an abundance of light then.

There is also a benefit to this frigid, and I mean arctic frigid, weather. The extreme cold will stop all the viruses that people are now passing around thanks to all our visits and visitors from the holidays. People have shared more than just good wishes for the holidays. Germs were there as well. Right now, there are several hospitals in the area which are full, no spare beds. And the last that I heard, there are 4 or 5 viruses that are hard at work in this area. This tremendous cold snap will help with that. Sometimes the bad also has some good lasting effects.

We are in the Season of Epiphany. We celebrate the season of light, especially after bleak mid-winter blues. But later this month, we will enter the Season of Lent. For many, Lent is seen as a dark time. It isn’t. Indeed, the word “lent” comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word which means “spring.” For most of us spring is a bright season of the year. So should Lent be!

Remember that the last Sunday in Epiphany is the Day of the Transfiguration. God’s divine light shines out from Jesus, and his clothes become dazzling white. That light is more than sufficient to get us through to Easter. It is not just “the light at the end of the tunnel.” It is the very light of the tunnel. We are surrounded by light and the warmth of God’s presence all the time.

And so, as we prepare to enter into the Season of Lent this year, may it be a good and enlightening time for you all!

In Christ,
Pastor Rose

“Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Dear Redeemer Family:

Happy New Year!!! The old has passed away. Literally, I have just written 2026 for the first time, above. The old year is gone. We now look forward to a new year, and whatever it will bring. I hope that it brings a better year for all.

There is a weird thing about time. We live in the present. We may, fondly, or not, look back on the past. Perhaps we recall some happy occasions in the past, or some mistake which we sincerely hope not to repeat. And we look forward to the future, not knowing what it will bring. But we are stuck on that fine line of the present. And to move forward in time, truly the present becomes the past, and we move into the future. Time is an interesting phenomenon which we do not fully understand, although I have heard some interesting theories, and we are stuck in it. Indeed, we don’t even control it. Time drags us forward into the future, and as it does, the old is inevitably left behind. The old passes away. The new moves in. It is the way of things.

In other words, everything changes. There are those who don’t like change. But it is going to happen whether we like it or not. Example: I once had fairly long, thick brown hair! That has changed, and I didn’t do anything to change it. The same person has been cutting my hair for over 35 years. She has cut it the same way. She didn’t change it. What did?

Change occurs inwardly and outwardly. Through faith, we have been changed as well. We who were born enemies to God – sinners; have now been reconciled to God. Did we do that? Did time? No, Christ did it. Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we have been reconciled to God and made blameless in God’s sight. More than that, we have even been made and declared children of God! The old sinful self has passed. The old has passed away. And we are made new! The Holy Spirit works through us. We are new creatures in Christ. That is a big gift. We can but thank and praise God for it.

So in that light, have a very Happy New Year! For we are all made new in Christ!

Pastor Rose