A Note from Pastor Beth

Dear Saints:

This Sunday we’ll be concluding our sermon series, “The Wesley Way” by looking at the last piece of the Wesleyan quadrilateral, “experience.”  The word “experience” has been coming up a lot in the news lately in regards to the presidential campaigns of John McCain and Barack Obama.  Both candidates have different understandings of what kind of experience is going to be helpful to lead the country over the next four years, but neither would argue that personal experience is not important.  The things that we make happen in life and the things that happen to us all shape who we are, how we make decisions and how we see God and the world.  There is certainly no such thing as life in a vacuum.

One of the things that I enjoy most about being a mom is getting to watch my daughter, Anna, experience things for the first time.  Whether it was the startling feel of a wet snowflake on her face one cold Thanksgiving in Blue Ridge, GA or seeing her eyes grow wider and wider as Tinkerbell “flew” off the top Cinderella’s castle to begin Disney’s evening firework display it’s wonderful to watch her be amazed by things that I tend to be more ho-hum about.  Being with her reminds me that the reactions we have to many things we experience are based on how we approach them.  There can be so many responsibilities and issues that are a part of everyday that sometimes it’s easy to miss the extraordinary on the ordinary road of life.

Two followers of Jesus had an experience like this on the road to Emmaus when at first they were unable to see it was Jesus himself walking with them.  They were so weighed down with confusion and grief over having lost their Lord that in the end it was only the grace of God that helped open their eyes and see.  This week in worship we will be exploring further this passage of scripture, Luke 24:13-35, as well as reflecting on John Wesley’s experience with God’s grace which found his heart, “strangely warmed” at a church meeting on Aldersgate Street in London, England.  I hope each of us will come to St. Luke’s with the fresh eyes and open heart of a child so that we might experience the extraordinary grace of a God anew or maybe even for the first time.

With a love of Scripture, Tradition, Reason, Experience and most of all, God and you,
Beth