Job 29:1-20; Acts 14:1-18; John 10:31-42

Many of you have heard the news:  I have been asked to become the next General Presbyter for Maumee Valley Presbytery.  And I have said yes.  Maumee Valley Presbytery is in NW Ohio and SE Michigan so it means a big change for me, for INP, and for FPC-Duncan.  I begin in Ohio on November 1.

Change is all around us.  In the gospel story today we see how something has changed in the lives of the disciples and that with Jesus, the incarnate God, something is rising from the ashes of extinguished hope to lift the people to a new kind of hope.

This is the great joy of the Christian journey!  While change may swirl all around us, the reality is that our hope rests in the same God who brought us into this life.  Through election cycles, new school routines, daily stresses of our jobs, God remains our Rock.

We must never forget that we are a resurrection people, called to new life, and new possibilities.   Lately I have sensed that some of us seem to have lost that fire and that spirit that we once had.  We must never forget that our lives are like that of the phoenix and that we have risen from the ashes to a new life.

Today is a new day.  Today is an exciting new beginning.  Our chance is now!  The world is at our doorstep hungry for change – hungry for a new breath of fresh air in this world of stale hope.  It is also the anniversary of the September 11^th attacks.  Today is not just about looking back and remembering, but looking forward and grabbing on to the same courage and working toward a brighter future.

We are a resurrection people.  We are called to bring that message of hope and light to a struggling world.

We don’t just read scripture, and then say “That’s nice” and put it down and never do anything with it.  Through it we can see beyond the grave – knowing that God is on our side and that the world has yet to see the greatest chapter.

With God on our side, the possibilities are endless.

-Matt