Dear friends,
 

In Psalm 78, there is a lovely image of how God’s people returning home from Exile through the wilderness are experiencing God. It’s like going on a dry and dusty journey and suddenly, you encounter a stream of water, gushing from the rock, cold and clear, refreshing and energising after a time in the dust and in the heat of a desert crossing. That image of God being able to refresh us, is the image which inspires us for our life as a church in this coming year. When people come to our church are they refreshed? Do they find a place of cool and of refreshment? Do they find the opportunity to be put in touch with God?

 

There are three themes in New Testament, in teaching of Jesus and in the life of the early church: 

To grow faith
To bring hope
To demonstrate love 
 

We come to church to encounter God and so, as we focus our life on 2022, we can ask the questions: How much do people feel they’re having a real encounter with God? Are they being blessed? Is their faith being deepened when they come to our worship? We exist to grow faith.
 

But I also believe that the Christian community ought to a place of hope. We ought to be optimistic about the future. After all, we believe in God, who holds the future, who is in control of our destinies and who offers the gift of eternal life; an eternal life which starts now. So, are we as Christians, are we people who are optimistic, who touch the lives of those around us, bringing the promise of hope and joy and love and peace with us? Do we grow faith? And do we bring hope? 
 

And finally, our faith should never be about words. Our faith should be about action and in Jesus we see the person who concentrates not on the religious, not on the wealthy, not on the proud but on the poor, on those who mourn, on those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. On the children, on the widows, on those on the edge of society, on the poorest and the outcast. Are we a church that demonstrates love? Are people helped by the work we do? Are people enabled to become more themselves because we love them?
 

So, these are the focuses for our future. We are called, you and I, to be people who grow faith, who bring hope and who demonstrate love. 

May God be with you this Advent and Christmas Season. 

Amen. 

Fr. Audrius Sarka