[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The start of a New Year brings to mind the inevitable marking of time and its indelible mark on each of us. How fast and fleeting time is as it seemingly evaporates into thin air before our bewildered hearts and startled eyes. Enveloped in this limiting and often noisy reality we call time, do we hear the Psalmist’s words exhorting us to number our days that we may live attentive lives? Will we heed Paul’s words calling us to make the most of our time that we may honor Christ in all dimensions of human existence? While an array of seamless stewardships compete for the measured time we have been given, none are more important than the stewardship of our apprenticeship with Jesus. Jesus extends to you and me his grand and grace-filled invitation to come to Him, to be yoked with him and to learn from him how he would live our lives if he were you or me. While we greatly benefit in learning from others, the most important mentor in our lives, at home, at school, and at work, is brilliant Jesus.
As a multisite church family our focus this year will be to press more fully into Jesus’ great invitation. In our extended message series through the Gospel of Matthew, as well as in many of our community groups, we will be considering together what it means to be yoked to King Jesus. We will be exploring how apprenticeship with King Jesus beckons us to increased intimacy, as well as how it informs and empowers our lives, in all of life. No matter where we find ourselves in our journey of faith, Jesus’ great invitation is the transformational pathway for us to truly experience the life we long to live. My heart skips a beat of eager expectation when I think about the year ahead. I hope yours does too.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]