Welcome to the first episode of The Messenger. The Messenger is a blog by Pastor Russell Willis and others from the United Church of Colchester (Vermont).
It will often be a biblical meditation, sometimes a study of Scripture, every once and a while an excerpt of a sermon. But in any case it will be offered to the friends and members of the United Church of Colchester, and any other fellow travelers who come upon this website, as a gift of the Spirit, a gift of faith, a gift of the heart. We hope you are blessed by these our simple gifts.
"HOPE!" Just what so many of us are searching for in the midst of the coronavirus crisis -- hope. And, as you can see from the photo from our Sanctuary in Colchester, Vermont, we can say to the whole world, the United Church of Colchester has hope!
Not just because it happens to be hanging on the wall behind the pulpit, but because we are the Church. We are the body of Christ. And the Christ is the One who started so many conversations -- "fear not." And it is through Christ that we know peace and hope.
Romans 5:1-5
1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
And as we hope together, we can realize that we are in this together, that by sharing the load we give rise to hope, a gift of faith to those who are afraid.
God bless!
Pastor Russ
Finding Rest for the Soul
In the midst of
A ladened life
Yoked to worrisome busyness
To the constant murmur
Of unrest and disquiet
Within and without
To responsibilities
Both freely assumed and
Wantonly assessed
Exhausted by incessant incessance
Where sleep is at best
The absence of incessance
If not for the dreams
And night fears
Yet, hope forms
As that small voice
That gift of faith
Of grace
That releases the soul
From the load
Though not shirking the load -
That living of life
That we do -
But by sharing the load
by Russell E. Willis