A WORD FROM PASTOR ANDREW HOOK

We’re in the middle of week two of The Purpose Driven Life. The theme for the week is “You were planned for God’s pleasure.” In short, God created us out of love, and we are meant to dwell in God’s love for all eternity. I’ll say more about this Sunday as I try to cover two weeks of The Purpose Driven Life. But God wants to delight in us and wants us to experience God’s delight.

This is different than the image of God I was given growing up. I was taught that we were supposed to be afraid of God. Almost as if God was just waiting for us to screw up so God could punish us. But that’s not biblical. God loves us. And I’ve been quoting John 3:16-17 frequently in the recent months. “God loves us so much that God sent his only Son into our world…not to condemn the world, but to save it.” If there is one thing I want us all to understand it is this, God does not want to punish us. God is not an angry God. God is merciful and forgiving. God wants us to surrender to God’s love so that God might sanctify us by his Holy Spirit. God wants to get us ready for eternal life and live the way we were meant to right now.

I hope that we all find and experience God’s love this Lent in the midst of The Purpose Driven Life. I don’t want us walking around with long faces this Lent. Lent is a time to get ready for the celebration that Easter brings us.  You don’t get ready for a party with a sad face. But because we have the assurance of God’s love, we can smile even as we wait.  

As this note goes out, we’ll be over halfway back from North Carolina. The kids will probably be driving me nuts from the backseat. I’m probably eagerly looking forward to being home. But I know I’ll be ready to see you all Sunday morning!

Pastor Andrew