From The Pastor’s Desk

From the Pastor’s Desk…

Eighty-nine years ago, Dr. James Allen Francis summarized the impact of Jesus’ life with a story that has since become known by the title One Solitary Life. Dr. Francis’ summary of Jesus’ life has been shared countless times through the years. I hope that you’ll take a moment to read it, reflect on its message, and share it with others during this New Year. 

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then, for three years, He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. While He was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only property He had while on earth: his clothes. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today, He is the central figure of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that were ever built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has this one solitary life. And remember that the promise expressed in John 1:12 still holds today:“...to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God....” May you all have a blessed New Year and I hope you will share God’s good news with all you meet.

See you on Sunday,

Misty