Good day my friends,

 

                It is so good to start 2023 together with you. We are all under the mighty hand of God. He has plans for us and power to fill us to be all that He wants us to be this year. He has some fantastic intentions for us, and I am excited about what He is going to do.

 

                I love how He reveals His plans and work. He chooses the lowly, the humble, the servants to be the first in on His great work.

 

                This is illustrated in John 2:1-11

 

             On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so, they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

                Notice the role that the servants played? They were the means through which Jesus did His great miracle.

 

                Notice how they did their job? Jesus told them to fill the water jars and they “filled them to the brim”. They did as much as they were able to do to obey Jesus.

 

                Notice who knew about the miracle first? Even the master of the banquet and the groom had no idea what had just happened, but the servants knew!

 

                I love it.

 

                Jesus’ first miracle performed with the help of lowly servants and revealed to them first.

 

                Friends, I want us to be on the front lines of seeing Jesus at work! It seems to me that means that our primary goal is to be faithful servants of Jesus. We, on our own, won’t do miraculous things. But, by being faithful and obedient, Jesus can and will do miraculous things in and through us.

 

                That’s what I want to see happen in 2023.

 

                This Sunday, I will be sharing the annual “State of the Union” sermon. This is where I will do a bit of a recap of what God has done last year and then where I see Him leading us in this next year.

 

                I am humbly asking you to do everything you can to be there this Sunday. Maybe that will be in person or maybe that will be online. Either way, I really want you to hear what I feel God is saying to us as a congregation. The passage I will be focusing on is John 4:1-42 and the two verses that will be of particular focus will be:

                31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

                Come this weekend and let’s learn together what this food is that Jesus is talking about. Let’s learn how we can know more about it, both in our heads and in our actions.

 

                Love you guys. So glad that we are on this journey together.

 

                I love being your pastor.

 

Pastor Tim