The Power of a Contrite Heart

Dear Church Family, Friends, and Guests,

Religiously and spiritually speaking, we live in an extraordinary time. There are competing versions of spiritual truths, historical and biblical facts and interpretations, and—of course—morality and ethics. The religion of Jesus is endangered as the rhetoric conflates earthly allegiances with heavenly ones. Humility, grace, contrition, repentance, and other essentials of the Christian outlook and journey are almost completely eclipsed by brashness, pride, vulgarity, vengefulness, blaming, lying, and abuse of power. The marriage of political power with religious forms is an overt failure. Worse still, it is an obscene deception with mass appeal, and many remain locked in its grip.

Today, I want to see what scripture has to say about the conditions of conversion. What happens when our stony, unresponsive hearts are replaced with beating hearts of flesh, hearts that can feel the humanity of those around us, attuned to the Giver of all life and all good gifts? As we journey further into spiritual darkness in this world (defined by secularism and atheistic outlooks on the one hand, and corrupt religious and political systems on the other), authentic expressions of Christian faith will become more important, and more impactful. I hope our church is prepared to radiate the love of Christ in expressions of life and faith true to the historical Christ.

Whatever your situation spiritually, socially, politically... I hope you'll experience the life-changing power of Christ here in this space.

Grace and Peace,

Pr Greg