Welcome to Pastor’s Pen!
Letters of love from Pastor O.
I am an UNASHAMED WITNESS
Our first Sermon Series of the year 2024 kicks off today. The basis for this series comes from the common refrain in the Black Church, “Can I Get a Witness?” In this series we’ll be exploring six encounters in the Gospel of Mark with individuals who went on to be witnesses for Jesus Christ.
What is the connection between being Unashamed and being witnesses for Christ? In the legal world, witnesses are called to testify of their personal and particular experience in a series of events. Likewise, witnesses for Christ speak of their personal and particular experience with God in Christ. That testimony for all believers starts with our conversion experience--the moment we received Jesus as Lord and Savior. From there, our testimonies may have similarities, however each of us has a unique story of how we encountered God. Some of us have been sick and know Good as a Healer. Some of us have been tormented and know God as our peace. Some of us have been down to our last dime and are living to tell the story of God as Provider. Whatever the experience and however we encountered God, this is the year to shake off timidity and to tell everyone with ears to hear about our AMAZING God. In the year 2024, will you be an UNASHAMED WITNESS for Christ?
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
Unashamed
Happy New Year! Blessed be God for granting us another year of life! What a gift is is to see the year 2024!
I use the word excited quite a bit to express how I am feeling about God and what God is doing through the ministry of the First Baptist Church. Truth is, I am beyond excited for what God has in store for us this year! I pray you are excited, too!
In 2023, we were Moving Forward Together as Pastor and People, getting to know each other as part of the foundation for a fruitful relationship. I am grateful for your welcoming embrace and the steps forward we have taken together.
In 2024, God is calling us to be Unashamed in our worship, discipleship, fellowship, and witness in the world. To this end, our worship, preaching, teaching, prayer, service, giving, and ministry will be centered around this theme. I believe that by the end of this year, God is going to develop within each of us a radical faith so that we will be bold witnesses for Jesus Christ that will have impact within and beyond the walls of our church. I believe God will reward our Unashamed witness with INCREDIBLE and UNIMAGINABLE blessings!
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
44 Weeks and Beyond
Forty-four weeks ago, on Sunday, February 25, the week before I began my tenure as your Pastor-Elect, I wrote the following words:
“To God be the glory for the great things God has done! First Baptist Church Family, we are over the moon excited that God has joined us together as Pastor and Congregation! I am inspired by the depth and breadth of FBC's ministry through almost 130 years and I am invigorated by the Holy Spirit and expecting God to do great things in and through our church and community as we move forward together in ministry. Special thanks to Sis. Reeves and the Search Committee, Deacon Addison and the Diaconate, Rev. Ponton, Sis. Roland and the Transition Team, and Minister Barbara Backous for all of their efforts in getting us here and settled in the church and community at large. Joseph, Afia, Adjoa and I are looking forward to meeting and getting to know each of you in the coming weeks. Don't be surprised if I ask to take a picture. #Iloveagoodselfie #wearefbc #socialmediaministry”
Forty-four weeks later, I am still giving God glory! Forty-four weeks later, I am more excited that God has joined us together as Pastor and Congregation! Forty-four weeks later, I am encouraged by the amazing things we have been able to accomplish together in our church and community with the help and grace of God! Forty-four weeks later, Joseph, Afia, Adjoa and I have developed deep and wonderful relationships with many of you and we are anticipating deepening our fellowship. I feel incredibly honored and blessed to be your Pastor.
And, yes, I still love a good selfie and more than that, I love a good “ussie” with my First Baptist Church Family, so for the next forty-four weeks and beyond, let’s take out our camera phones and capture these joyful moments together!
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
The privilege of Pastoral Visitation
Family, I have been amazed by your surprise when I have visited you at your bedsides during hospitalization. I want to use this space to share why pastoral visitations are and will remain a hallmark of my ministry.
It was mid December 2013. I was in the first trimester of my second pregnancy. I was extremely ill with hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition that includes intractable vomiting. I was still nursing Afia, who was 18 months old at the time. I had lost twenty pounds and was barely sustaining. Dr. Judy Banks, my OB-GYN, was so concerned that she admitted me to the hospital. At the time, we were living in Edison, but Morristown Medical Center is where Dr. Banks had privileges and where our girls were born. The day after I was admitted to the hospital we had our first snow. It was heavy. I was sitting in that hospital weary and weak when I heard a knock at the door. It was my pastor, the Rev. Ronald L. Owens. He traveled over 30 miles in a snowstorm to visit my bedside. He stayed for about 15 minutes and prayed before departing. At the time Joseph and I had only been members of New Hope for a few months. His visit made a lasting impression.
Fast forward. Afia was scheduled to have her tonsils and adenoids removed just days after her third birthday. We were to arrive at the surgical center at 6:30am. As parents, Joseph and I were anxious. Our anxiety was quelled when Dr. Owens, who is not a morning person, walked in shortly after we arrived to pray with us before the surgery. Afia was happy to see her Passuh.
In these moments, our Pastor’s visit were a reminder that God was with us. I watched him show up for countless others the same way he showed up for us and as long as God allows me the privilege of being your pastor, I will do likewise.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
Do you see what I see?
I am writing this from my desk in the quiet hours of the morning with instrumental hymns playing in the background. There is a stillness present. A moment of pause. Our usually active church is overcome with inactivity.
Nothing to see here...
Or is there? Though it is quiet and still, under the surface, there is great anticipation brewing. Though it feels like the pause button has been pressed, I get the feeling that something exciting is going to happen at any moment.
I sense that God is going to pierce the silence and penetrate the stillness with God’s prominent presence and God’s great wonder working power.
This is what Advent is all about...Advent is about the mundane being interrupted by the miraculous. Advent is about the birth of something new as we toil in the old ways of being. Advent is about God infusing our weary world with hope and joy through Jesus.
But this interruption, this birth, this infusion of God through Jesus is about substantially more than this moment in my office and the calendar season of Advent. First Baptist Family, as people of God living between Ascension and Advent, standing on the brink of 2024, I invite us to open our eyes to the new thing God is about to do in our lives, individually and as a congregation.
There may be nothing to see now, but if you squint...
Do you see what I see?
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
Mary Knew
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you...
Mary Did You Know, Mark Lowry
The writer of the song, “Mary Did You Know?” says of the lyrics, “I just tried to put into words the unfathomable. I started thinking of the questions I would have for her if I were to sit down & have coffee with Mary." The song, released in 1991, was made popular again in 2012 by CeeLo Greene. I have to be honest: I don’t like the song. I like the arrangement, but the words fall short for me because I believe that Mary knew... When we read the Luke’s Gospel, it is clear from the angel’s announcement to Mary’s song, that Mary did know the magnitude of the life within. A survey of the Gospels, especially the Wedding at Cana and Mary’s presence at the Cross demonstrates that Mary knew way more than we give her credit for. I prefer an alternate version of the song written by Jennifer Henry questioning Mary about whether she recognized the magnitude of her impact through the centuries.
Mary did you know,
that your ancient words
would still leap off our pages?
Mary did you know,
that your spirit song
would echo through the ages?
Did you know that your holy cry
would be subversive word,
that the tyrants would be trembling
when they know your truth is heard?
Mary Knew, Jennifer Henry
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
Advent: A time of expectation, hope, and anticipation
“With the arrival of Advent, Christians everywhere turn again towards the Savior. Advent marks the beginning of the celebration of His birth and His long-foretold ministry, atonement, death, resurrection and second coming. If Advent is an occasion when I re-turn my eyes to the Savior, then it is also an invitation to consider where my eyes—and my heart—have been in the meantime. Advent is the gentle nudge that invites me to remember that the truth most worth knowing is that Jesus Christ is the only way Home. It is also a gentle reminder that I ought to keep my eyes upon Him all year long.”
― Jean-Michel Hansen
Today marks the first Sunday in Advent. Advent is the Season in our Christian liturgical calendar that marks the period of preparation for the birth and the second coming of Christ. Often, especially with the secularization and commercialization of Christmas, we focus on the angel visiting Mary, Joseph’s quiet acceptance of God’s will, and the birth of Christ in a manger in Bethlehem.
However, Advent is a time of expectation, hope, and anticipation, not just for the birth of Christ, but for the return of Christ. I that find so many Christians today are living as if this earthly realm is all that we will experience. But the fact is Jesus is coming back and we are living our lives to live again in His eternal presence. Jean-Michel Hansen reminds us during and beyond Advent to keep our eyes and hearts fixed on Jesus, and to recognize that we have so much to look forward to in Christ. As the hymn goes, we are building our hopes on things eternal, and that is what Advent is all about.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
God’s Love - Inside and Outside
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:35
Today marks the close of our Love Connection Sermon and Bible Study Series and what a series it has been! I am a series preacher and I plan several series in advance, so when the Holy Spirit gave me this theme a few months ago, I must admit, I had no idea how it would take shape. This series was a far cry from the roses and chocolate associated with romantic notions of love. From the start, this examination and exploration of love challenged us, individually and collectively, to be more Christ-like, particularly as it relates to how we connect and relate to one another within the body of Christ.
Love is the foremost distinguishing characteristic and quality of Christ’s disciples. Jesus said we would be known for the way in which love is exhibited and evidenced in our lives. Who we are as disciples is not about outward signifiers of Christianity, but the love of God on the inside, working on the outside as we love one another.
In that way, love is also the primary method for witnessing to others. When we demonstrate love for one another, we model God’s love. When we demonstrate love for one another, we lift up Jesus. When we demonstrate love for one another, we witness to the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. When we demonstrate love for one another, God uses our love to draw others into loving relationship with Him.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
Giving Thanks
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.
Psalm 86:12
It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already upon us. It seems like just yesterday we were basking in the July sun. Nevertheless, the days are shorter, the leaves are falling, and the season has changed.
This season, with all of its changes, is also the time when we celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love the peace and pace of Thanksgiving, slower than the commercially charged energy of Christmas. I love the tastes of Thanksgiving, especially greens, candied yams, stuffing, corn pudding, and cranberry sauce. I love the way in which we gather as a family to feast in each other's company, playing games while the NFL games serve as background music until the Dallas Cowboys game comes on when we are all front and center.
I also love how Thanksgiving invites us to pause and reflect on the many ways in which we are blessed. Thanksgiving invites us to cease complaining, which comes to us as naturally as breathing, and to focus our attention on the God who has loved us, kept us, provided for us, and been mighty good to us. This Thanksgiving, in addition to the many other things that I am grateful for, I give thanks to God for each and every one of you and for calling me to such an amazing church. My prayer is that you and your loved ones have a Blessed and Joyous Thanksgiving!
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
Handle with Care
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well
Psalm 139:14
Recently, I have become reacquainted with death and these deaths have caused me to think about the nature of life. How are we to approach life? When I think about the nature of our lives, the word delicate comes to mind. Delicate has three different definitions. First, something that is delicate is very fine in texture, of intricate workmanship. Second, something that is delicate can become damaged and/or easily broken. Third, something that is delicate requires careful and sensitive handling. These definitions of delicate are fitting for understanding the nature of life.
Life is an intricate workmanship. In other words, life is beautiful. When I think about life—human beings and nature, I am drawn to the beauty of it all. The vibrant colors of spring flowers. The vastness of the ocean. The missing-toothed smile of a five year old. The gorgeous texture and detail of skin wrinkled with age. All around us, is beauty. Yet in the midst of this beauty, life can become damaged or easily broken. Our bodies, not made to last forever, are vulnerable to sickness and disease. We experience pain and discomfort. We are fragile, even on our strongest days, and from time to time, our spirits become weak and bend under the weight of life’s burdens. And here is where the third definition of delicate becomes important. Life requires careful and sensitive handling. It is important to take good care of ourselves and each other.
I like to buy fresh-cut flowers at the grocery store. Whenever I buy fresh cut flowers from the grocery store, I am so careful about where I place the flowers in my cart. With every item placed in my cart, I maneuver the flowers around. I want my flowers to be as beautiful when I get them home as they are in the store. Yet, as beautiful as the flowers are, they are also easily damaged, so I move them not only to preserve their beauty, but also to keep them strong and healthy. Life is like those flowers. Beautiful, vulnerable, and in need of lots of love and care.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
Loving - God is calling you!
As I reflect upon the Love Connection sermon series, I have been amazed by how many of you have shared feedback about how the messages have resonated deeply for you. Love has struck a chord and I have no doubt that the Spirit is speaking to us individually and as a church family.
In my reflection, I have noted my own feelings around preaching this series; I have to admit, it has been challenging. God gave me the idea for this series months ago, including the Scriptures that would be foundational for each message. At the outset, I was thinking about how exciting this series would be, because who doesn’t love talking about love? But as the series progressed, I realized that love is not a superficial, sentimental, sugary sweet way of life. Not real love, at least. Rather love--as God calls us to love--is a profound, sacramental, gritty call on our lives that requires us to live communally and counter-culturally in a world that touts love as romantic, inconsequential, and easy. But as I shared in the sermon I Got You Covered, “Love is no trifling matter” and these sermons don’t always feel good to hear.
For me, this series has been like holding up a mirror. Mirrors are reflective surfaces that allow us to see ourselves. They show us what we look like, including our flaws. And my, how my unloving traits have been on full display when the truth of love is held up before me. And while uncomfortable, this is not a bad thing. For this mirror image allows me to seek God’s transformation in the areas where my love falls short. In the same way, it is my hope that this sermon series has also served as a mirror for you, showing you the places and spaces In your life where God Is calling you to be more loving, particularly within the body of Christ.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
Living Together in Unity
How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!
Psalm 133:1 NRSV
First Baptist Family, it has been a busy several weeks in the life of our church. From the Pastoral Installation and 130th Church Anniversary celebrations to resuming Prayer and Bible Study and gathering with the Fellowship of Black Churches of Hackensack and Vicinity for Revival to the Love Connection Tea and 74th Annual Women’s Day, there has been no shortage of activities. Add to this resuming regularly scheduled ministry meetings in person and on Zoom, First Baptist is brimming with passion, purpose, and possibilities.
For some, this activity may seem fruitless. But I want to suggest that we have not been active for the sake of being busy, rather we have been moving forward together intentionally in worship, discipleship, and fellowship and service to the glory of our God.
Allow me to also highlight that for others, this activity has invoked another layer of meaning. I have overheard and been in conversation with many of you about the joy that has been activated within when we actively gather together for the sake of ministry. I have seen with my eyes the goodness of God among us when we share in praise, study, laughter, connection, and the like. This anointed activity was lost during COVID, but God has restored our fellowship. So here’s to more gathering, more worship, more study, more service, and more opportunities to live together in unity, for it is there that we experience the goodness and pleasantness of each other and of our God.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
The POWER of God
I am penning these words on Sunday night, still reveling in the glory from worship after sharing the announcement that God blessed our church through the generosity of an individual who donated $100,000 towards the total upgrade of our media system and the purchase of a brand new church van. This generous gift brings to mind the words of the Apostle Paul to the Church at Ephasus:
Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 NRSV)
I remarked in service and on social media that “God will sometimes give you BIG VISION with a small budget, just to show you how good God is at being God!” We serve a God who has all power. Through this gift, we witnessed the POWER of God at work. We did not have to labor to make this happen, but God made it so. Not only are we witnesses to the power of God at work, the size of the gift, and therefore the impact and reach FBC will have through the wise, faithful, and Spirit-led stewardship of this gift, is abundantly more that my biggest vision for our church. In the words of the viral praise song, “E3:20” by Pastor Latoya Brewington, “God’s done more than I ever expected.”
Which brings me to the greatest lesson I’ve gleaned from this process. We don’t serve a stingy God of puny and paltry blessings. We serve a God who calling us individually and as a church to believe BIG, ask BIG, imagine BIG, think BIG, dream BIG, vision BIG, strategize BIG, expect BIG, anticipate BIG, and hope BIG as we spread the good news of Jesus Christ, and trust that God is ready, willing, and ABLE to accomplish more than the biggest ideas our minds can conceive. Who’s ready to think BIG with me as we move towards 2024?
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
When we gather together.
And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25 NRSV
The words, “Not neglecting to meet together,” especially when translated, “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves” have been separated from the preceding verse and used to bully people into Sunday church attendance. However, when we consider the context clues in these verses, I believe these words are to encourage believers to gather together--because God does something beautiful and powerful when we gather together.
I have experienced Hebrews 10:24-25 more as an ethic, an invitation to community and deep relationships filled with love, joy, laughter, tears, care, concern, etc, etc. Every time we gather as a body of believers, whether as two or three on the prayer line or one hundred in sanctuary on Sunday morning, God reminds me how much we grow and develop in community. Together is where and how God desires we be stirred to love in a world where we are often battered by the storms of life. Together is where and how God desires we be provoked to good works in a world filled with indifference and evil. Together was and always will be where God uses each of us to bring out the best in each other so that we can fulfill our mission to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
God has amazing ministry ahead of us! I have a God-sized vision for the thriving of this church and community dancing deep in my soul that I know will come to pass with the leading of the Holy Spirit and the productive provocation to love and good works when we gather together as a body of believers. Let’s continue to show up, gathering together, and watch our God show out!
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
One’s heart - a swinging door!
As we Move Forward Together, continuing our church wide series on love, I want to reflect upon the words of theologian, philosopher, and Civil Rights activist Howard Thurman. Thurman wrote, “To love is to make of one’s heart a swinging door.”
Thurman’s words remind me of my maternal grandmother’s kitchen door in her North Carolina home. The kitchen was my grandma’s haven. It was where she did her best work making green beans, smothered turkey, and rolls from scratch. The opening of the kitchen had a bright yellow swinging door that made a creaky sound when opened and would continue to move back and forth even after we had walked through it. The image of this door conjures up feelings of connection between what is outside and what is inside. Even though grandma was in the kitchen preparing a feast, we were always invited in and if we needed her, she would make her way through that swinging yellow door. The image of this door conjures up feelings of ease. A gentle push to the door would swing it open for all to enter. Even a small child could enter the kitchen without effort. Interestingly enough as I was thinking about grandma’s bright yellow swinging door, I realized that swinging doors are never really closed. They are the essence of hospitality. There is an openness about swinging doors that you don’t find in panel, flush, pocket, French and even bi-fold doors.
To love is to make of one’s heart a swinging door. And herein lies our invitation from the Holy Spirit. May we have hearts that are connected to one another; hearts that give and receive love with gentleness and ease; and hearts that are always open to the possibilities of joy, peace, and contentment that love affords us. In this way, we are obeying the command of God to “Love one another…” and witnessing to the world the great power of God’s love as evidenced in our lives.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
Love Connection Challenge
Long before I was called to ministry, Bible Study was important to me. As a lover of God and learning, delving into the Holy Scripture in community with God’s people was exciting to me. In hindsight, I recognize that I am the disciple, pastor, preacher, and teacher that I am because of Bible Study.
On Sunday I issued a challenge to the congregation to commit to attending Bible Study for the Love Connection Series. I want to highlight why I offered this challenge and the benefits of accepting this challenge.
As God’s people, we are called to be disciples of Christ. Bible Study is the spiritual disciple whereby we mature in our faith, are transformed by the renewing of our minds, and become more Christlike. Part of my responsibility is to make available and to encourage Christian maturity. Since love is the ultimate mark of a disciple of Christ, I issued this challenge so that we as God’s people would mature in our love.
Accepting this challenge has benefits for individuals and the congregation. Attending this study will foster Christian maturity and bear fruit of love in our individual lives. When we are more loving, peacefulness tends to follow. As a congregation, the more of us that participate in this study, the more we will be empowered to love each other which will make worship exciting, fellowship joyful, ministry impactful, and will also echo in the world as a witness to the presence and power of Christ.
So family, we hope to see you in Bible Study this week where we will continue our Love Connection Series, focused on God’s Sufficient love.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
Songs in our Hearts
One of the pervasive questions that has been asked from generation to generation is, “What is love?” The question has been raised across disciplines—religion, science, social studies, and literature. People have sought to capture love in various art forms—music, poetry, painting, and dance. Hallmark has made billions of dollars over the years crafting greetings cards that convey our sentiments of love in times of great joy and great sorrow. What is love?
Recently, I came across a definition of love that resounded in my heart. The author said, “To love someone is to learn the song in their heart and sing it to them when they have forgotten it.” I love this equating of love with song, because music is such a powerful and vital part of our lives. Each of us, in some way, can recount the songs that have been part of the soundtrack of our lives. And whether we have melodious voices or we cannot hold a tune—like me—each of us has songs in our hearts. There are songs in our hearts that give us hope. There are songs in our hearts that soothe our souls. There are songs in our hearts that motivate us to press forward in the face of obstacles. There are songs in our hearts we sing to calm anxieties. Each of us has songs in our hearts.
To know the song in someone’s heart is to be intimately acquainted with the essence of that person. To know the song in someone’s heart is to have a deep connection with them. And in the case of someone being so overcome with despair, grief, loss, or trouble that they lose their songs, we love them by being present with them and singing the songs of hope, joy, motivation, peace, and calm. “To love someone is to learn the song in their heart and sing it to them when they have forgotten it.” Family, I invite us to share our love with each other, by reminding them of the melodies in their hearts—if they have forgotten their song.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah
Mistakes: A Fact of Life
If there is one thing I know for sure, it is that in life, we will all make mistakes. Mistakes are defined as errors in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, or insufficient knowledge. We may do something we should not have done, or leave undone something that we ought to have done. We may say something that we should not have said, or kept silent when we should have offered our voice. At some point, or another, despite our best and most valiant efforts, each of us will fall short. Here, I am not talking about sin–falling short of God’s mark–but rather, those daily bloopers, lapses, and blunders we make.
Another way of understanding making mistakes is to misstep or stumble. At the studio where our girls used to take dance lessons there was a sign above one of the classrooms that read, “When you stumble, make it part of the dance…” What a fine lesson for dancing and for life. Notice the quotation does not say “If you stumble.” Rather it says “When you stumble…” pointing to this idea that mistakes are a fact of life. Also, notice the positive invitation given in response to the mistake. Many of us, when we make mistakes, are harshly criticized. And sometimes the voice of critique comes from within. Many of us, when we stumble, get the wind knocked out of us. We stop moving and focus on the mistake. But instead of letting our mistakes stop us in our tracks, the sign invites us to find a way to learn from our mistakes and incorporate the lessons into living more fully.
Family, I invite us to approach our mistakes, and the mistakes of others, with forgiveness and grace. For in doing so, follow God’s choreography—not skipping a beat, even when the circumstances of life, our shortcomings, or the shortcomings of others try to stop us in our tracks.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Owusu-Ansah
Finishing Together
Though it has been several years since I’ve been on the pavement, I am a runner. I am not the most graceful runner, nor am I the fastest runner, but I am a runner. I can recall several years ago, when I ran my second organized 5K race, a wonderful lesson that God shared with me. The race was organized to raise money for a local arts center. There were men and women, boys and girls, of all ages. As start time drew near, I took my position towards the back. I am what many call a back of the pack runner. When the race began, I started slowly and paced myself as I passed one mile and two miles and two and half miles. When the three mile marker appeared, I was tired, but I knew that I could make it. That is, until I saw this massive hill in front of me. As I ascended the hill, my breathing was labored and my pace slowed. I was just about to begin walking when a woman came up from behind me. She said to me, “I don’t know you, but I’ve been following your lead all race. You have encouraged me to run when I wanted to walk. You have encouraged me to run when I wanted to quit. It’s my turn now. Don’t walk. Let’s finish this together.” And we did. She and I ran up that hill, and down it and crossed the finish line together.
Family, this reminds me of the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” As disciples of Christ, we are always to follow the leading and example of Christ. We never know who is watching and how our witness may encourage them to continue on their journey of following Jesus. Likewise, we thank God for the disciples in our lives, whose example gives us the motivation to keep moving when life gets tough.Whether we are leading or following, by God’s grace, we will all cross that finish line and God will grant each of us a crown of glory that never fades.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Donna Owusu-Ansah