Sugar Loaf United Methodist Church
Phone: 845-469-2583
Pastor's Page
APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS…
BUT WHAT DO MAY FLOWERS BRING…?
GOD MOMENTS!
What a journey these last many weeks have been! Challenges that are unprecedented in most of our lifetimes. Challenges and hardships that are seemingly insurmountable and truly devastating in so many ways. Yet… we have a God that loves us so very much; that God walked with us, lived our lives, died our death, and defeated that same death – erasing our sins, wiping our slates clean! A love that surpasses all understanding; a love that is eternal and unconditional! A love we celebrate and remember on Easter; a love that we are rooted in as followers of Jesus, and year-round as Easter/Resurrection People.
Where have we seen God today, this week, this year? This a question I have asked of us every day since coming to Goshen and Sugar Loaf Churches back in August, a question I have asked of my congregations and myself since becoming a pastor some 11 years ago. When we condition ourselves to see our God, that has claimed us and doesn’t let us go, we can’t help but recognize all that God is doing in and through us, in our lives, and in the lives of others all around us. The old saying is – “Seeing is believing”, but I say “believing is seeing”. We must actively search God out in our lives, believe (have faith) in God walking with us and journeying with us in our daily lives. Then we are to witness to these moments with our brothers and sisters, sharing our experiences and creating opportunities for their hearts to be strangely warmed, as ours are by hearing their stories, God moments and experiences.
These days of traversing the COVID-19 valley require great self and communal care, intentional habits of checking in, sharing our faith story, witnessing and reaching out in love to one another, and the sharing of our God moments - even when we’re struggling to find God in the midst of our struggles during this pandemic.
I’m proud of our Churches and the way we’ve come together during these trying times. I’m proud to be your Pastor and encouraged by all of your genuine love and care for each other, the communities in which you live, and me. I’m proud of the commitment you all have made to worship in a new and unfamiliar way. I’m proud that many of you have made a commitment to check in and worship every day since our church doors were necessarily closed. I’m proud and blessed by the perseverance and commitment of each of you, a testament to your faith and truly – A GOD MOMENT FOR SURE! WHERE HAVE I SEEN GOD…? ALL OF YOU!
Thanks be to God for each and every one of you! Keep fighting the good fight!
Peace,
~Pastor Mike
