September 2013 – Pr. Anthony’s Letter

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our new parish is now off and running, with a full paid staff. Pastor Eric came on board last month and now we are fully ready to journey on to wherever God is calling us to go. As we discern together where it is God is calling us to, I have been hearing that it would be good to start off by discerning who we are. Who are we as members of St. Peter, Trinity or Waverly Lutheran churches? Who are we as Circle of Faith Parish? Who are we as children of God? This is the question we will be asking ourselves this next year, “Who are we?” To go along with this question, our staff has picked 1 Peter 2:9 as our theme verse:

“…you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

We all are born into sin and live in the darkness of the world. But Christ, who is the light of the world, has called us out of the darkness into his light. At our baptism a candle is lit signifying Christ’s light that is now in us, and the darkness of this sinful world cannot overpower it. Saint Peter says in this verse that we are made to be God’s children, placed as citizens of God’s kingdom, and empowered to live as his royal priesthood. We are not alone but are part of his people, a holy nation.

As we begin to answer this question, “Who are we?”, we are first and foremost children of God. Chosen at baptism to be God’s children. We have been called out of the darkness to proclaim the mighty acts of God. Throughout this coming year we will expand on this question to dig deeper into how our identity as children of God works with our parish mission statement: “Saved by Grace, Gathered in Faith, Called to Serve.”

In Christ, Pastor Anthony