“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly

as you teach and admonish another with all wisdom”

Colossians 3:16

I have been receiving the Kiplinger Report over the past year. In the current report, the economic forecasters are making their predictions for 2022. They review such financial indicators as the price of fuel, interest rates, retail sales, unemployment, real estate activity, stock market analysis and so on. Taking this information, they try to predict what the new year may be like for working class America. Sometimes they are right and sometimes they are wrong.

Of course, we view these predictions differently. We know that God is in control. It is God that can help us fix our eyes, not just on the strengths and weaknesses of Faith Lutheran Church, but on the cross and the precious people living all around us in Southwest Florida. God has put you and me in this place and time for a purpose.

As Christians, living under God’s grace in Christ, our purpose is identified for us in God’s Word. Jesus taught us to “love God and our neighbor.” (Matthew 22:37-39) Jesus told us to “go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19-20) This is why you and I are alive today and living where we are. God has planted us here to let the light and love of Christ shine through us into the darkness all around us. God wants us to have and share true riches and His eternal wisdom.

Last year, I received a rechargeable flashlight for Christmas. When it is fully charged, the light is strong and bright. When the batteries run down, the light gives off an orange glow than quits. When I charge up the batteries and don’t use them for a while, they run out of power very quickly. So, If I want the light to work, I need to put a fresh charge on the batteries.

You and I are like those rechargeable batteries. We don’t stay charged up unless we are daily in God’s Word. Thus St. Paul urges us to “let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.”

I challenge all of us to make this resolution for 2022: to grow daily in God’s Word and teaching and to ask God to grant us wisdom to know and do His will.

A Blessed New Year to All!
Pastor Don Treglown