Dear First Pres,
Growing up, this time of year was always buzzing at my house. Not just because of all the normal spring activities (we have plenty of those coming up for FPC, check out our event calendar for details), but also because my parents’ house is surrounded by orange trees. And, during this time of year, when the blossoms are out, the bees are also out in force. It was always a bit unsettling to walk outside and hear the literal buzz of thousands of bees doing their work all around our house.
Now, we only have one tree at our house here in Fresno. But as you can see from the photo, it’s in bloom and the bees are busy. The bees may be a bit unsettling for some, but they’re also a sign of the season – a season of new life, new growth, new opportunities. It’s the season of spring.
On Sunday we launched a new sermon series called The Call to Faith. We’re going to spend the next several weeks focused on the story of God’s gracious call to Abraham and Sarah. They were called to step out in faith, to leave their country, network and household and go to the place the Lord would reveal. Walter Brueggamann, a well-known Old Testament scholar, calls it a story of promise and faith.
“The promise is God’s power and will to create a new future sharply discontinuous with the past and the present. The promise is God’s resolve to form a new community wrought only by miracle and reliant only on God’s faithfulness. Faith as response is the capacity to embrace that announced future with such passion that the present can be relinquished for the sake of that future.”
I love this sentence about faith. Abraham was willing to leave where he was and go to the new territory, even yet unknown and unseen. He was willing to relinquish his present for the sake of God’s declared future. Why? It was because of the LORD’s gracious and promising call.
Do you believe the LORD has a call on your life? What is it? Do you believe the promises that go with it? Are you willing to relinquish what needs to be relinquished and embrace God’s announced future?
In the midst of this abundant spring, I pray that each of us will individually and collectively hear the LORD’s call to faith. May the opportunities for growth in Christ be pollinated by His Spirit. And may there indeed be new growth, new life and new territory as we embrace God’s promised future in Christ Jesus.
Blessings,
Jeremy
P.S. You’re not going to want to miss this Sunday as 10 of our young people are coming into church membership through the public proclamation of their faith in Jesus. It’s going to be a great day.
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