Ponderings from the Moderator - Dana McNeil

As I ponder what it means to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me; as I ponder what it means to receive the blessing of relationship with God through the gift of a babe born in Bethlehem; as I ponder what it means to begin a new year thinking about new possibilities, especially those brought by the new life offered in Jesus; it becomes easy to put myself at the center of this imagining. But there is one more central than I could ever be because it isn’t really about me or about you; it is about the one who takes hold of us, the one who brings that Christmas blessing, the one who offers that new life. It is about Jesus.

When God called Abraham in the 12th chapter of Genesis, yes way back in the Old Testament, God told Abraham, I will bless you. But God gave that blessing not just for the benefit of Abraham. God said I will bless you so that you can be a blessing. Later Jesus uses the imagery of living water to say the same thing. A woman comes to a well seeking water and discovers, in Jesus, the source of living water that not only fills her but flows out of her into her whole village.

“Taking hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” is not about being blessed although that certainly comes with the territory. It is about living into the calling of Christ; it is about being a blessing, a vessel for living water that continues to be filled by Him and flow out for others.

So how might each of us live into this call? How in the coming year might we each be a blessing to our neighbors, to our sister congregations, to our leaders and pastors and especially to our persecuted brothers and sisters in Nigeria?

Please share your thoughts and prayers with me and know that I would welcome the opportunity to visit with any congregation that so desires.

I am praying for all of you that God will bless you and use you to richly bless others in Christ’s name.