Pastor's Midweek Message

December 3, 2025

Sisters and brothers,

Advent is a time of refocusing ourselves on God. These four weeks are intended to inspire us to turn our hearts and souls back to Jesus—in a word, to repent. Boy, that can be hard, when we’re bombarded by commercials and flooded with Pintrest-ready images of the perfect Christmas! But that’s what this time is for: to turn again (to re-turn) to God.

In this season of turning back to God, it might be worth asking: what is it your soul needs most, in order to thrive?

Sometimes, for me at least, it’s valuable to go back to beginnings. Maybe it means reading Genesis again; maybe it means re-reading John’s gospel. Maybe it means rediscovering that first love, the one God had for me, in some words from the early church, or our spiritual forebears.

I am excited about a new opportunity for our souls, starting in January—a new class we’ll be offering, called Explorers. The Explorers class is designed for people exploring the roots, the underpinnings, of Christianity and Methodism: what is it we actually believe about God, about Jesus, about the Holy Spirit? Who was this John Wesley fellow, anyway, and what makes Methodism unique? What are the core beliefs of Methodism that distinguish us from other faith traditions?

If you’re fairly new to Christianity, or Methodism; or if it’s just been awhile since Sunday School and you’re intrigued about getting a refresher—then Explorers might be right for you. We’ll meet on Tuesday evenings at 7pm for an hour, starting Tuesday, January 6, 2026. We’ll hold this class in a hybrid format, offering both in-person and online options for those who might not be able to make it to the church. If you want the Zoom link, please email me and I’ll be happy to send it along.

I actually don’t know for how many weeks we’ll run the class—because the pace will be up to you. We’ll go at the rhythm of your questions, and if we need to stop to push into a topic a little more, then we will. The class can accommodate everyone from youth up to our senior saints, so everyone is welcome.

My hope is that this will be a class that strengthens us in our faith (first and foremost), but also in our understanding of Methodism. So if you’ve come from a different faith tradition, we’d love to have you be a part of this!

Deepening our discipleship is an important part of deepening our connection with God. Advent is the perfect time to ask ourselves, do I need to grow more in my faith? It’s my hope that Explorers will be a way for us to strengthen ourselves as we begin the new year.

So let’s go.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Eric