Letter to the Congregations: 24th October 2025

Our Dear Brethren,

Our God is “the God of the living” (see Matthew 22:33, Mark 12:27, Luke 20:38). Jesus made this statement in answering a question about the resurrection, specifically the first resurrection which will be a resurrection to eternal life. He didn’t make this statement to say that those who have died are alive right now, but in the eyes of God the Father and Jesus Christ those who have died in the faith are as good as alive. By this I mean that it has already been guaranteed that they will live again and that from the point of their resurrection, “nor can they die anymore” (see Luke 20:36).

We’ve recently returned to our homes after keeping the Feast of Tabernacles. While the Feast itself was a reflection a future time when life will be much improved, we still presently live in a world filled with deceit, with death, with wars, and with all kinds of confusion. But as we navigate through life’s ups and downs, we need to keep in mind the hope of eternal life, believing that if we choose life then in the eyes of God we are ensured of that promise. We should also hope that others who don’t yet know God, who haven’t yet had the opportunity to choose life, will also make that choice and have the hope of the same promise.

We know that it is the hope of the present members of the God family that more members will be added to that family. If possible the entirety of humanity. The apostle Peter wrote reminding us that our Heavenly Father “is long-suffering toward us” with the hope that we should choose the promise of eternal life over the temporary pleasures of sin (2 Peter 3:9). He also has this hope for everyone, but still it is an individual choice.

How do we choose life? And when other come to us, what should we tell them when they ask that same question? Soon before His arrest and subsequent crucifixion, Jesus prayed to His Father. His words are recorded for our benefit. In one portion of his prayer He mentioned that “eternal life” is “that [we] may know” God the Father and His Son (see John 17:3).

How do we begin to know these divine beings who have created us and desire to know us? We begin with believing that they exist. There is proof of this around us in the very creation we live in (see Romans 1:20). We get to know them by reading their word and applying it in our lives. We further get to know the Father and His Son by keeping in constant communication with our Father in prayer through the name of the Son, and by responding to the urgings from them both through the gift of the Holy Spirit. This we must continue to do for the rest of our lives, being strengthened by the fact that there are others who are struggling just as we are and yet have not given up the hope of eternal life.

Our love is with you,

Lewis VanAusdle

Pastor, United Church of God

NYC, NJ, CT, Malawi, Zimbabwe