From our Pastor

November always feels like a month of transition and a mix of seasons. The pumpkins are still on the porch, yet Christmas lights begin to appear in windows and along rooftops. We have not yet gathered around the Thanksgiving table, but we are already planning for Advent and Christmas. It’s as if we are balancing between gratitude and hope—looking back with thanksgiving and looking forward with anticipation.

In the church, that is exactly where we are called to live. We live in the now and the not yet. We pause to give thanks for all that God has given—to look back over the year and recognize God’s faithfulness through blessings both large and small. At the same time, we look ahead in hope for what God is still doing and what is yet to come. God’s kingdom is already among us—in acts of compassion, in prayers offered, in moments when peace and joy break through our ordinary days.

Yet we also know that the world is not yet fully what God intends it to be. There are still hearts that ache, injustices that need healing, and souls that need peace. Between the “now” and the “not yet” is where our faith grows. We learn to be both grateful and expectant, trusting that the God who has blessed us in the past is still at work among us and will be faithful in the days to come.

This month, we will remember and celebrate our blessings with Thanksgiving and then, a few days later, begin the season of Advent—the season of waiting and watching for the coming of Christ. Together, these seasons remind us that hope is not wishful thinking. We know God’s promises are true because we have already experienced God’s blessings. And because of that, we can thank God for what has been and make room for what is coming. Gratitude and hope belong together – one looking back with wonder, the other looking forward with trust.

May this season be a time of both remembering and renewing—a time to give thanks and a time to prepare for the coming of Christ with hope.

With joy in Christ,
Pastor Lisa