Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
There are wonderful things we can be celebrating…and it just so happens the theme over the next eight weeks is “Upcycling Celebrations!” We began our new devotional on Easter morning with “Celebrating New Life!” Although we will key in on different themes for “celebrating” over these next weeks, I believe the main focus is still “new life in Christ.”
Whether our focus is relationships, freedom, new adventures, new promises, new strength, new vision or new gifts, each adds a layer to our “new life in Christ.”
On Easter I took us into the realm of the Monarch butterflies. These wonderful, large and brilliantly colored butterflies call North America home. Whether you are in Canada, the United States or in Mexico you can, during certain times of the year, encounter these beautiful creatures. The Monarchs winter in Mexico and as they begin to warm they start their migration, first to Texas and then they slowly migrate through the Southern Plains, the Midwest, the Northern Plains and finally to the Great Lakes region and on to Canada.
Feasting on milkweed and wild flowers they lay their eggs on milkweed leaves. Throughout the year they grow stronger until at last, when September comes, they begin their migration back to Mexico where they return to their winter home.
Each new generation begins the same way. The eggs are laid on milkweed leaves and after five days they hatch and begin consuming their egg case and the milkweed around them. Over a two week period they grow, molt, eat and then begin to form a chrysalis around themselves. The metamorphosis begins over the next two weeks as they liquefy inside the chrysalis they are changed and emerge as an adult butterfly.
Are we any different than these butterflies? Christ broke from the tomb and we are called to break forth out of the cocoon or chrysalis we have found ourselves in. Then we are called to return back the place of our beginning … back to the baptismal font. . .to worship . . .to learn . . .to feed on Christ’s word so we can truly break forth with a renewed life and willingness to share with others the life changing truth and experiences we have with God.
Over these last few years the church has been wrapped up and covered, but make no mistake, God is calling us forth! Are you ready to emerge? Are you ready for God to do something new with you? Are you ready to return to the ministry we are to be about? Are you ready to share with the world that we have been freed in Christ to spread our wings and fly in new directions bearing our experiences with others.
Come fly with us!
Pastor Barb
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