Hello Hyde Park Community!
Pastor Todd and I are looking forward to our first Sunday with you as your new co-senior pastors.
We have been preparing for this time with you and are excited to begin with the worship series “Transformed by Trust.” It will build on the series you have just finished, “Trusting God When…”
It is a summer of trust isn’t it? We trust that God’s Spirit is leading us even when the world seems to be full of chaos and anxiety. We trust that God’s Spirit is uplifting us even as we reach out in joyful and compassionate witness of God’s love and grace by serving children, families, and those without secure food or housing. We trust that God’s Spirit is guiding us as we experience this time of transition in pastoral leadership, offering us comfort as we say goodbye to good friends and leaders and excitement as we welcome new ones. We trust that God’s Spirit is moving in this next chapter in the ministry of Hyde Park Community UMC as we grow together as disciples of Jesus Christ who transform the world.
The scriptures that will guide us during this worship series come from the Gospel of Luke, Chapters 9-12. I encourage you to add these chapters to your devotional reading during the month of July. They are filled with stories that give us examples of the radical trust that Jesus had in God and how that trust led to transformational experiences and outcomes.
A key question for us to ponder during this next month is not just whether we trust God, but what might happen if we have the same kind of trust in God that Jesus had. What happens when we fully trust God’s abundance, mission, compassion, gifts, response, and values in the same way that Jesus does? We are transformed and the world around us is transformed as God’s Spirit works in us and through us.
We’ll begin this week with “Trusting God’s Abundance” based on Luke 9:10-17.
We look forward to seeing you in person or online!
Blessings,
Pastor Suzanne