PASTOR'S PERSPECTIVE FOR FEBRUARY 2019
GREETING TO YOU, DEAR FRIENDS,
My birthday is February 16th. I have always liked my birthday: presents from friends and family, delicious meals, and warm wishes for the next year of my life. Some people don’t like to celebrate their birthdays. It reminds them that they are getting older, or all the celebration and fuss costs too much, or they were hurt or disappointed by a friend or family member on their birthday. But for me, my birthday always brings joy. When I turned 16, on my “golden birthday” I asked my parents for a car. They did give me a car! It was my favorite sports car, a red Porsche just like the one Bruce Willis drove in the TV show Moonlighting. The car my parents gave me was a matchbox car, but it did make for a memorable birthday. This year I turn 43. It’s not a milestone birthday like 21 or 40. In many ways, it’s just another day in another year of my life. But it is worth celebrating nonetheless. It is a day to give thanks to God for the many blessings I’ve been given, and the start of a new year as a servant of Christ. Psalm 139:13-18 tells of how God knows all of our days and is there with us from before the beginning until after our end. “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb… In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed… I come to an end – I am still with you.” No matter what our age, God is a part of our lives and God can use us to help bring in the kingdom. Abraham and Sarah thought they were too old to be the parents of a great nation, but God gave them Isaac. Jeremiah thought he was too young to be a prophet to the nations, but God touched his mouth and filled it with the words that would bring hope to an oppressed people. The Pharisee Saul, a persecutor of the young church, was in the prime of his life and career when God changed his heart and his name. The renamed Paul would go on to be the greatest evangelist, starting churches and writing letters that we still read 2000 years later. Whether or not you are celebrating a birthday this month, or an anniversary or a major milestone, know that God is with you. As long as you have life and breath within your body, you can share the good news of a God whose love knows no end! Peace+ Pastor Kowitz |
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