With many other people around the world, I observed the acts of violence upon Congress and those who protected our country’s elected leaders from a mob of insurgents on January 6. In turn, I have observed the various responses to the troubling actions that precipitated and have followed in the aftermath of that day. In the midst of what I have observed during these challenging times, I pray for God’s guidance of our elected leaders so we may live beyond the hope challenged realities of our day.
Throughout the season of Epiphany, worship at Fort Hill is focusing on the three things that are eternal for Christians – faith, hope, and love. As we encounter the realities of the present, the ways we practice faith, proclaim hope, and live love is our witness to the reality of God in the midst of the realities of the time in which we are living. If you are feeling isolated or hopeless as you face the realities of this time, I invite you to remember our Christian faith in the reality of God. Connect with fellow believers, either through in-person or online worship, in remembering that part of our calling as followers of Jesus is to live in community with each other. Remember who God has called us to be as followers of Jesus we live in the reality of God’s presence.
As we pray and experience the reality of our time, I invite us to live in faith, hope, and love as we remember the psalmist’s affirmation of faith in Psalm 121.
I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
In Christ’s Service,
Marc
