A Message from Pastor Jon Anderson

 1 John 4:7-8-“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

I am writing this on October 25th, which means that the election is just 11 days away. Some of you, like me, have already voted; some are planning to vote; and others may have decided not to vote. Don’t worry, I’m not going to discuss candidates or politics; there’s quite enough of that in the world around us, you don’t need it in the church newsletter. I have just two things to say. One is, if you choose to vote, I encourage you to bring your faith with you into the voting booth. Pray about your choice. I’ve never given out one of those so-called “Christian Voting Guides’ because I recognize that Christians hold many different positions on political issues. But whatever we do as Christians should be guided by our faith. Second, I encourage you that if you do find yourself in a political discussion with someone with whom you disagree, to do so in a loving manner. Sadly, everywhere in our society I see people denouncing and demonizing people with whom they disagree. There may be those in your congregation with whom you disagree on certain persons or certain issues-but they are still your brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us treat one another with love. Regardless of who our new leaders are, we will still need to get along with each other.  And, it is important that we pray for our leaders, whether we voted for them or not. In this divided world, anyone who chooses to enter politics chooses an extremely difficult task-they all need our prayers. May God’s peace be with all who are elected this year, and with all of us.

Pastor Jon Anderson