Pastor's Ponderings by Pastor Paul Bennett

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Greetings Friends and Family of RRUMC,

As you may be reading this article either just before or just after Christmas day, I will open by saying I hope you have/had a merry Christmas!

This year I’ve been doubling up on the merry Christmas wishes because I know the odds have been stacked against us.

Regardless of how your December 25 looks this year, the beauty of our faith, though, is that December 26, and 27, and beyond are still ripe with possibilities. And this is the message that motivates us as we now stare another New Year in the face. Never before has the world been so anxious to rid itself of an “old” year and embrace a new one. Of course, the circumstances that made 2020 so wearisome haven’t entirely changed, so hope for a brighter 2021 isn’t a sure thing. Unless, that is, we determine that our circumstances will not, in fact, define us.

One of the unfortunate side effects of a pandemic lifestyle, I’ve found, is the tendency to lose focus, to fall out of our daily rhythm, and thus become more susceptible to the brain-numbing alternatives that are all around us. Pandemics require patience and perseverance, for sure, but they also demand of us a greater degree of focus and discipline. If only I could have added those two things to my Christmas wish list, right? “Santa, all I want for Christmas this year is an endless supply of focus and discipline.” Wouldn’t that be great!?

Discipline and focus are hot commodities every year as we approach the New Year. However, this year, if we were to finally begin to master these concepts, I actually feel the opportunities are even greater. In my experience, the greatest challenge to living as a follower of Jesus isn’t embracing those healthy practices that nurture a growing faith, it’s shedding those unhealthy or meaningless ones that fiercely hoard our time and energy.

Of course, the majority of ways COVID has impacted us have been nothing short of tragic. But, the Lord calls us to be people who look beneath the surface of our circumstances and ever seek for the silver linings. A well-disguised blessing within the pandemic has been its tendency to help clear our slates of some of the clutter of life. Scripture tells us that God is in the business of making things new, Lamentations 3:23 specifically stating that “His mercies are new every morning.” Every morning we have the ability to reinvent ourselves. With the help of a pandemic that has cleared out some of the clutter for us already, our odds of prevailing over our New Year’s resolutions, especially if they’re rooted in a desire to deepen our faith, have never been better.

I pray, as miserable as our pandemic experience has been, that it has granted you fresh perspective on those things that are truly most important, our stabilizing forces in life – faith, family, and your faith family. I encourage you to find ways to align your resolutions this year with strengthening those areas. And join RRUMC in thinking creatively, and remaining determined, to meet these most essential needs.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Pastor Paul