Pastor's Notes

It is the season for graduation. It is time for high school grads to walk across the stage to receive their diplomas, college grads will receive their degrees, and all of them will be moving on. The graduation ceremony celebrates accomplishment. We speak of what or where we have graduated from, but what about what we graduate to?

Did you know that the Church uses a different calendar than the one on your wall, computer, or phone? We have seasons which reflect the religious significance of time as it passes.

When we confess our faith using the Apostle’s Creed we confess the identity and work of God. These confessions mean that we believe that God has not only made us his own, but that God has made us each other’s.

Every year for 5 weeks before Easter, Christians observe a season called Lent. Lent is a time to get ready.

In order to see things as they truly are it is necessary to turn one’s attention from time to time to things that are often hidden from our sight. You can’t really understand how Trinity works without recognizing the legions of faithful volunteers.

Rather than putting Christmas behind you I encourage you to keep it before you. Christmas is first and of God in Jesus Christ.

A child born out of wedlock. Poverty. Families who don’t stick together in tough times. The word of God has been in a state of decline.

In this season of giving thanks, God prepares our hearts by adorning our home with autumn’s blanket of color. For a precious few weeks, the beauty of Ashland emerges in away we can’t ignore. Though Ashland’s true beauty remains in what we share together. What we have is beautiful because it is ours.