From the Pastor

I love the story of a minister and a music director who weren’t getting along. It seems that the music director had this annoying habit of intentionally choosing songs that seemed to contradict everything the pastor was saying. For example, one Sunday the pastor preached on the importance of Christians getting out to share the gospel with others. Immediately after the message, however, the music director led the hymn, “I Shall Not Be Moved.”

 The next week, the pastor preached on the importance of giving more money to support the church. But, the director followed it with the hymn, “Jesus Paid It All.” The week after that, the preacher talked about the danger of gossip, and the hymn that followed was, “I Love To Tell The Story.”

 Well, the minister got so frustrated that he actually threatened to resign if the music didn’t change. The music director followed that with the hymn, “O, Why Not Tonight?”

 Finally, the pastor became so fed up that the next Sunday he said, “I’ve had it with this church. Jesus is calling me to leave and go to another church.” And, the minister of music stood up and said, “Let’s all sing, ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus!”

 Do you find that funny? Sure, you do. I am also very thankful that our music director, Erik Welchans, is nothing like that. The truth is, forgiveness is serious business. It’s no laughing matter. Forgiveness requires patience, love, grace and the ability to move on from past hurts and wounds to the healing that God so desires for us to have. 

 The command to forgive is a recurring theme throughout God’s holy word. In fact, we find it every time when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our debts … as we forgive our debtors.” Please join us this Sunday as we take a closer look at the theme of forgiveness, and may God give you a forgiving heart for those people in your lives. 

 Pastor John