Pastor's Message - October 2025

~ Generation to Generation~

“One generation will proclaim your deeds to the next…” ~Psalm 145:4

Dear Members and Friends,

The novelist André Aciman said, “Music is the unlived life.” This rings true to me. Music stirs something deep in the soul that no other thing can touch. It convinces us of an unexplored depth and possibility within our lives. All art functions in this way: it reaches for a thing we all know in part, a thing we all long for, but which can only be expressed in symbols like notes, or brushstrokes, or words. Preaching is an art too, for preachers deal in shadows, and symbols, and hints of things too great to fully know or understand. Like all artists, preachers never fully grasp the message they’re conveying. The beauty, and hope, and possibility, and peace that they proclaim are as urgent and elusive to the preacher as they are to the hearer. These things belong to all of us, though we know them only in images, parables, stories, songs…glimmers. “Here and there, now and then” God reaches into our lives powerfully, then the moment fades.

That’s why Christians believe that God comes to us not only in shadows, and in music, and in words, but above all in a human life: Jesus—who in turn commissions us to embody love and goodness to the world around us. It’s marvelous in its simplicity: immerse yourself in all the mysterious wonder that God is, then carry that fullness into your relationships. The untold mystery of faith is expressed best in art, but seen and known best in ordinary human lives. It has to be modeled, however imperfectly.

This is one of the best things about church. Not only does it express the goodness of God in all manner of art, but it puts us in touch with others who are also reaching for the light, bringing their imperfect stories together to be shared, known, and healed.

So…why do I spend all this potential sermon-fodder on a newsletter that I fear few will read? Because the newsletter lands in more hands than my sermons, and I am putting out a plea. We need to know each other. Our children and youth need to see adults and seniors who are living into Christ’s call upon their lives—imperfect people who sense that there’s more to life than what we see, and who are making meaning by following in the way of Jesus. Our young people need to see faith lived-out in people’s lives. Ask yourself this: Would your children or grandchildren even know people in their 60s, 70s, 80s, or even 90s outside of church? When my daughters were small, they adored sweet Marian Brannan, well into her 90s, and she adored them. They still talk about her, and they never would have had such a relationship if not for this church.

It's time to build inter-generational friendships at our church—to flesh out the gospel in human relationships and lives. Mark your calendars for Sunday, October 19, when we will host a second-hour event called “Partnering for Faith: Investing in the Next Generation.” We will talk about the power of intergenerational friendships, how such relationships are nurtured in the congregation, and how you can participate. There will be booths representing various ministries, personal testimonies, a time for Q&A, table discussions, snacks and next steps. Please plan to stay for second hour on October 19! Our kids need the resources of faith to live into the future. They will only develop “sticky faith” (faith that sticks) if they know people who are, however imperfectly, living out their faith today. At their baptisms, you promised to do this! I hope to see you there.

Christ’s Peace,

~Brian