First Presbyterian Church of Chili

Pastors Message

Wooten Wisdom…

Throughout the Season of Epiphany we have focused on the journey of faith which begins with worship and leads us out into the world. At each stage of the journey, like

the stages of life, we learn something new about the God whom we worship. In the month of January, we heard members of our own community share stories about their

faith experience. These stories were incredibly honest and reminded us that none of us have it all together when it comes to faith. We engage in a constant process

of learning how to listen and discern God’s still small voice among the many louder voices vying for our attention.

About midway through February, we will transition from the Epiphany Season into the Season of Lent. The Lent Team has chosen a theme which seamlessly moves us from reflecting on what each stage of life has to teach us about faith, into a focus on the bumps and challenges that we encounter along the way. Their theme is “Living on the Edge of Faith.”

There are many times in our lives where the “rubber hits the road”, so to speak. Where events occur in our lives that present us with a choice and challenge: do we react the way the world does or do we hold to our faith and react accordingly, even if that means taking a more difficult path? For example, I was at a department store a while ago and purchased a couple of items. As I was

leaving the store, I looked at my receipt and noticed that the salesperson had forgotten to ring up one of my items. I could have easily thought that I was lucky and kept the

item since it was the cashier’s fault -- not mine -- that I did not pay for it. But I went back and paid for the item because it would be dishonest of me to do otherwise.

My faith informs me to be honest and upright in all my interactions. The world would tell me to look out only for my best interest and to take the “deal” and keep the

item. I had a decision to make and I chose the faith response. Now I know that this is a fairly simple example, and the fact is that there are much more difficult challenges to

our faith and life that we experience. But the choice is the same every time whether it is a big or small issue. We live on the edge of faith and we have two choices:

do we live as the world does or do we take our faith seriously and act accordingly? This is the question we will explore throughout Lent as we begin the process of walking with Jesus toward the cross.

~Grace and peace,

Brandi