Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. —2 Corinthians 1:3-4  
 
One of COTC’s core values is consolation. Rooted in the verses above and in the conviction that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a comfort, and that Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit as a comforter (John 14:16), we want to be a people who experience the comfort of God, and extend it to others. The beauty of the Gospel is that we become some abundantly rich in consolation through God’s generosity, filled with the fullness of God, that we are able to extend it forward to others. My hope and prayer is that all those in need of consolation who interact with our community would experience abundant comfort in God, and that we would grow in extending ourselves out into the world in the hope of bringing comfort.
 
An obstacle to us living out this value is that many of us do not know how to receive consolation and comfort, from God and from others, and so are unable to extend it to others. To receive consolation often means recognizing our needs and being able to acknowledge them, to God, to ourselves, to others. Extending comfort means being willing to embrace others and making ourselves vulnerable. To be a people of both receiving and extending consolation means being a people of faith, hope and courage.
 
This Sunday, I’m excited that Mike and Carol Watson, members of our COTC community, will be leading us in our “Lunch and Learn” on the topic of receiving and extending consolation. This is a topic that is dear to the Watsons and one with which they have a great deal of experience. I hope you’ll consider joining us following the worship service. Also, if you’ve never checked out our core values, you can see them on our website.
 
Grace and peace,
 
Peter+