Jon's Pastor's Letter January 2017 

 Dear Friends

Happy New Year!  I hope that 2017 will be a great year for you, for those you love, and for Liberty Church.  As you think forward to this year it could be that you have exciting things to look forward to; plans already made and dates already set.  It could be that you go into this new year with little idea of what lies ahead.  It may be that there are things ahead which you find troubling and daunting and that you approach this year with some trepidation.  I am slowly learning that whatever plans we have in life, it is good to hold them lightly.  I’m sure we’ve all experienced things we longed for not working out the way we wanted, but also things we dreaded or feared turning out a whole lot better than expected.  

There is one thing, however, that we can absolutely count on as we move forward, and that is the presence of God with us.  When I consider my own walk with God over many years there have been some real “wow” moments and times of great blessing, and I hope there will be many more, but the thing which is most precious to me is the continued presence of God in every situation and every moment.  There are times when I am not aware of him and times when he seems distant, but the truth is that he is always there.  The precious moments for me are those times when God affirms again his presence.  It may be through the words of a friend, through a Bible verse that just jumps out, through an answered prayer, through a sign or a circumstance, and you just know that God is there, inviting us to stand and to trust in him.

I hope that this year will be a year of great blessing for us all, but whatever happens I want to walk through it with God; my Saviour and my Lord.  I pray that you would know his presence with you through this year, whatever happens, and that together, as we walk through this exciting new year, we would grow in faith, in love, in devotion, and in understanding.

Let me end this letter with these amazing words from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, along with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Eph 3:16-19

Much love and abundant blessing for 2017

Jon