Hi Church! 

It definitely feels as though summer has arrived! It is hot, the AISD school year has come to a close, and folks are already headed out for vacation. I can't believe it is nearly June, but the summer is here! 

Beyond the beginnings of summer, these weeks also represent a transition into a new season of the church calendar, Ordinary Time. From Pentecost and Trinity Sunday until the beginning of Advent these next months are the longest season in the church calendar. The word "ordinary" comes from the "ordinals" used to number each Sunday, but the word also helps to capture the reality that much of our lives following Jesus are lived out in the ordinary stuff of life. 

To be sure, there are "mountaintop experiences" of God's love and grace, the reality of Pentecost is that the power and "fullness of God" are with and in His people. We have foretastes of the glory and goodness of God's restoration of all things. As followers of Jesus we can live in expectancy of God's healing and active voice at work in our world. Yet these amazing truths are lived out in the midst of laundry and loneliness, to-do lists and traffic. The life of God is known in the everyday reality of our human existence. We work for the good of the world and the glory of God here and now. 

The liturgical color for Ordinary Time is green. The green shade is a reminder that even in ordinary life, God is working and, by his Spirit, bringing new life. In the middle of our everyday lives God is growing us in the image of His Son, to bear the fruit of His Spirit, and bringing about His good and gracious rule and reign. My prayer for each of us is that in these weeks, the dog days of summer and into the fall, we would have eyes to see, appreciate, and celebrate the work of God in our midst. He is faithful to complete the work He has begun in and among us. 

In Christ, 

Peter+