A Message from Pastor Jon Anderson

Deuteronomy 11:11-12-“But the land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky,  a land that the LORD your God looks after. The eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”

“All my life’s a circle, sunrise and sundown, the moon rolls through the nighttime, ‘till the daybreak comes around, all my life’s a circle, but I can’t tell you why, the seasons spinning round again, the years keep rolling by”.-Harry Chapin

I’ve long been a fan of the music of the late Harry Chapin, particularly his song “The Circle”. I heard it for the first time at a pastor’s gathering during my internship year, and I’ve loved it ever since. Chapin recognized that each year, there are so many things that don’t change-the four seasons come and go, the moon goes through its phases, the sun rises and sets. Yet Chapin confesses that he doesn’t know why this happens, year after year. Science can tell us how this happens, and give us a technical explanation as to why, but they’ve never yet answered the big question-Why does this universe, with its annual cycle of the seasons, exist? Why is there something and not nothing? Why is this universe so perfectly tuned to support human life? Some ancient cultures believed that the universe was the fallout from a battle between many different gods. Some see the universe as the result of a random series of collisions between different forces. But Christians and Jews believe that the universe is the result of a deliberate act of creation by God. We are here because God wants us here, and the universe is designed for us and for all creatures. Some believe that God indeed designed the universe, and then walked away and left us to our own devices, but Christians and Jews believe, as the scripture from Deuteronomy points out, that God is always watching us and remains active in our universe. Creation is an ongoing process that has continued through the centuries. When the time was right, God came into the world in the person of Jesus Christ, taking on human flesh, living the life that we live, showing forth the love and mercy of God in His life, and making it possible for all to have eternal life with God by His death and resurrection. Jesus has promised that while for now life is indeed a circle, with the days and months and seasons repeated year after year, that the circle will not continue forever, but one day He will return, completing a new creation in which we all know that we are surrounded by the presence of Christ. Each New Year brings us closer to that day.

And in each New Year until then, we are comforted by the presence of God, who is with us and watching over us. May you all have the happiest of New Years, and may God’s peace be with you, throughout 2025 and always.

~ Pastor Jon