Maybe you remember when you were little and growing from year to year. Your parent marked the door frame with each new year. Your appetite increased and you could eat a whole rotisserie chicken! Literally! One day you were reaching over the table top with your hands to find the candy bowl, and the next you were looking down into it (empty because your parents started hiding it better). And from time to time you would have an ache in your arms or legs or shoulders. “Growing pains,” you were told. It didn’t make sense, but then again how do you make a bone bigger except by stretching it out. Regardless, it hurt. Growing pains are a good thing though. They are physical reminders of progress and development. They are tangible signs that you are trying to fill more space in a growing environment. They hurt, but good things often do. You’ve read the letter by now about our financial challenges, and you’ve felt the changes to our church body. Now I’ll admit, it’s easy to see these as markers of death. We hear about how we live in a post-Christian world; how so may churches are losing members and property and more; and we see a world that doesn’t see the value in church life as it used to. It’s so easy to see these pains as inevitable and a sign of the end… But that’s human-you thinking. Human-you knows we all have an expiration—an end. Human-you sees pain and tries to avoid it. Human-you doesn’t like this pain. But friends, we just got done celebrating Easter. We celebrate the resurrection and life anew of Jesus Christ, and if you are paying attention, you know that resurrection is for you too. That death is not the end of you either. You are human, yes. But you are also divine! So church, would you start thinking like the divine being you are? Because divine-you knows pain in a new way, or rather an old, old way. Divine-you knows pain means you no longer fit in the space you’ve been occupying, that you are outgrowing the environment around you. Divine- you knows that you’re about to be asked to do something bigger and you’ll need to be bigger to do it. Divine-you knows that your Holy Parent in God loves you and is creating you new today with as much care as when you were first created. Divine-you knows that these too, are growing pains. Not meant to mark your end, but instead… your new beginning. Friends, I believe in the future our community will look at us and say with curiosity, “My how you’ve grown!” And we will respond by saying, “Thanks be to God!” -Pastor Stephan

Life often presents us with unexpected changes and transitions that leave us asking, “What’s next?” or “Why me?” We try to predict the future and prepare, but the future remains unclear, filled with uncertainties. For those of us who enjoy solving problems, and detailed plans, this sense of uncertainty can stir up feelings of unease, anxiety, fear, and even distress. To call the season of the unknown “uncomfortable” would be an understatement. It’s a season we can’t simply avoid or predict—it comes to us through our choices or circumstances beyond our control. I'm sure you've experienced seasons of change, just as I have—especially when making significant life choices and decisions. In those moments of change, relocation, moves or loss, it’s often easy to look back and focus on the people, things, and ideal circumstances of our past. But with a change in perspective, we may begin to see God’s hand in our journey. Abraham provides a powerful example of faith in the face of uncertainty. In Genesis, God called him to leave his homeland and journey to an unknown destination, revealing only that He would show him the way (Genesis 12:1). Despite not knowing where he was going or what lay ahead, Abraham trusted God's plan. He left behind the familiar—his family, his home—embracing an unknown future based entirely on God’s promise. Along the way, he faced numerous challenges and uncertainties, yet he continued to trust in God’s faithfulness and guidance. Like Abraham, I have often found myself deep in the midst of the unknown, the unfamiliar, the unplanned, yet somehow sensed God presence with me. My guess is, you have been in the same space. In the world and culture which we live today, in our own families, through loved ones we no longer have with us here, even here at Church, change is constant. I don’t like change. I want things back to where they were—or at least, the way I liked them. Yet it is these moments of change, I’ve realized some huge God-gifts. First is that God is my constant—in an ever-changing world. No matter what I’m going through, God is ever present. Too, I’ve learned that if my desire is to grow as an individual, a husband, a dad, a friend, a pastor, a disciple of Jesus the Christ, I must be in the constant rhythm of change. There is no possible way I can grow in any area of my life without my willingness to change. Have you ever thought of that? You see, our faith grows as we learn to trust that God will guide us and provide for us, just as it says in Philippians 4:19— no matter the upheavals of change in our lives and there’s no need to fear. Seasons change, but God remains unchanging (Psalms 102:27). Our role in this journey is to: Stay connected to God and seek God’s guidance through Scripture, and Godly friends. Be open to God’s voice, even when it isn’t what we want to hear. Avoid relying too much on others—no matter how close they are—for fulfillment or progress. At the same time, embrace support and care from those around you. Apply God’s guidance, even when it feels uncertain. Though the unknowns of change can breed fear, anxiety and doubt, we can know that God is guiding, nudging, shaping and growing us all along our seas of change. Seasons change. The unknown is scary. Yet growth without change isn’t possible. And God is with us, even when we are not so sure….. -Pastor Ray