Pastor's Corner - March 18th, 2022

Having the opportunity to fellowship with and to get to know God's people is an incredible blessing. 

I had the opportunity last Sabbath to travel down to the Dallas, Texas area, as a guest speaker for the Dallas Teen Prom event that was held locally. The Reinoso family, who coordinated the event, along with a small army of helpers did a fantastic job organizing everything, and providing a wonderful time for the teens who were gathered. There were probably 200 individuals in attendance, close to 50 teens, connecting with and forging friendships and bonds that will last well beyond their teenage years. 

I took the boys with me, providing them a chance to get to know some of the teens from the Midwest and Central parts of the country, and to catch up with some friends they hadn't seen since Southwest camp this past Summer, and they really enjoyed themselves. I was thankful to have been able to bring them along.

God's people are one big family. A group of spiritual brothers and sisters, not defined by geography or congregational boundaries, but instead by the Spirit of God which unites us. I'm always blown away by how quickly you can connect with people from such varied backgrounds and cultures. For those of you who have travelled to Texas, it is in many ways a very different culture than the Northwest, but God's spirit is God's spirit - it doesn't change depending on your location, it doesn't behave differently whether you're from the Northwest, from Texas, or even from another country - God's spirit is His spirit. 

It is His essence, His character, and the spiritual seed by which we have been begotten to His family. 

Mr. Jorge DeCampos, the incoming Pastor of the Dallas area after Mr. Stan Martin is retiring gave a wonderful bible study Sabbath morning on that very concept - of God's Spirit, and it's role in our conversion process, as we take on God's spiritual DNA so to speak, and develop to become more like our Father.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus the following words of encouragement in Ephesians 3:14-19.

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

It's incredible to consider the calling of God which we have been provided. The spirit He has given us, and the strength it provides inwardly, that Christ can dwell in our heart through faith, knowing the love of God, and from within us - that the love of God can flow outwardly from us.

That outward flowing love takes the form of the theme of the weekend in Dallas, "A Servant's Heart".

That love helps us to serve one another, draw nearer to one another, and to care for and esteem one another as greater than ourselves. 

As Christ wrote in John 13:34-35,

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

These traits and characteristics of our God should flow from us like living waters, increasing the opportunity that we each have to light the world around us, and in turn, our brothers and our sisters. 

I hope you all have a spectacular Sabbath, wonderful fellowship filled with Godly love, and a chance to strengthen the bonds of fellowship. 

With love,
Ben