Messages From Trinity Galewood

Every story has a beginning and it is often in our beginnings that we begin to understand the truth about ourselves and the world we live in.

Though made up of several books containing a variety of literary genres, the Bible is not a collection of random stories or pieces of literature. Rather it is one single narrative from beginning to end, with one central character: God. In its opening pages we are introduced to him and to some foundational truths which echo throughout the rest of Scripture’s pages. Specifically, in the opening lines of Scripture we learn that, before the beginning, there was God, there was love, and there was darkness. And these three things are important for us because they help us understand that all of creation ultimately finds its purpose in God and that our lives are designed for self-giving love with God.

Among Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples was the command that they were to be his witnesses to the very ends of the earth. But such a calling is not one that any of us can achieve alone.

From the beginning of time we were called to partner with God in the work He is doing in the world. At creation we were made as His image to care for the world He has made. Now, in salvation, we partner with Him in reaching those who are far from Him and introducing them to Jesus. And these relationships are all around us!

We aren’t called to live our life of faith alone. It should be instructive to us that Jesus didn’t just call individuals to follow Him; He called them into a community.

We are made for a relationship with God. He has made us with a deep longing for Him that nothing else in life will satisfy.

One of the things that we were designed for is relationships (see Genesis 2:18). And this shouldn’t surprise us because we are made in the image of our God who is Himself a community (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Perhaps that is why this past year has been so difficult: it has been a year in which we are not only separated physically, but separated relationally. Between COVID and cultural conflict, social media fights and social division, it is no wonder we are exhausted, worn down, and depressed. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Old Simeon waited patiently in the temple – hoping and praying to see God show up in the form of a baby to rescue the world and reunite them with their God. Then, there he was: God’s Messiah had come! Simeon held the child in his arms and praised God!

When Jesus comes into the world, from his “fullness” we receive grace upon grace. Paul describes this in this way: “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9) This “love in action” by Jesus did not just extend to certain people, but to all.

Wise men come, seeking the newborn king. They bring gifts and give generously, inspired by the gift that God gives to all mankind!