The Time is Now for Holy Cross

(Colossians 3:16-17) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  (NRSV)

I wish you a blessed and happy New Year.   

We will  begin the New Year of Worship at Holy Cross this weekend by celebrating the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus.  This is when we remember the visit of the wise-men from the East who brought Jesus gifts of gold,  frankincense, and myrrh.   The point of the story and the season is to come to grasp who Jesus really is.   The magi brought their precious gifts in recognition of Jesus’ lordship.  As Jesus emerges from being baptized by John, the voice of God calls from the heavens declaring that he is God’s Son .  This season in the church has been traditionally a “get to know you” time with Jesus.   We take the time to get reacquainted with Jesus who we will commit to more fully during the upcoming season of Lent.

Between now and the beginning of Lent, we will come to know God more richly and also examine how God is asking us to respond to His call today..   In these weeks, you will also hear of the good work Jesus is doing in our community,  the witness of the Holy Spirit’s power in the lives of our people,  how God is calling us to respond right now, and what you can do financially to aid our mission to the Gospel.  You will witness this in a variety of ways.  You will be hearing of the blessings God has provided during upcoming worship talks,  you will be invited to a fellowship evening in February to have some meaningful conversations about where our church should be going, and we will be asking people to commit to the growth of our church when we begin the Lenten season February 17.  

These are very exciting times for our community.  Our Saturday worship has been a life giving  opportunity for people who can not make Sunday morning to have a chance to spend time with the Lord.  Our outreach missions to the community of Springfield and beyond have never been stronger as we help provide tangible assistance for those Jesus is calling us to love.  We continue to provide a welcome place for families with children and our Nursery School has been blessed with four new students starting this week.   God’s message is clear, it is time to follow Him one step at time.   The time is now,  may we join in prayer that Holy Cross become the instrument.   

May God bless you this New Year as you walk closely with our Lord.  

Keep the Faith,


Pastor Knecht