A Child of God

Hi Church!

This week, largely on account of the grace of my wife, I’ve had the privilege of spending two days out at Laity Lodge. This time has been devoted to prayer, being still, and listening to God. It’s been rich. I know that many of y’all have deep roots with Laity Lodge, but this was my first time there; what an incredible place! 

One morning I hiked over to the Blue Hole Preserve. As I was there alone, the sounds of a group elsewhere on the property on retreat came down the canyon. The sounds were of their singing, over and over the sung refrain “I am no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God’ reverberated down the canyon walls. It felt like a gift from God, a reminder of my own identity in Christ as a child of God, adopted into His family, well loved and cared for. I needed it. 

The echo of their singing had a haunting quality and filled me with longing. Longing to be at worship with y’all, with our COTC family. Longing to be together in the knowledge of God’s love and our shared identity as his children. As I think about the seasons ahead, anticipating the Fall, and our third (!) birthday as a church, there is a longing I feel for us to continue on and to grow in our identity as the children of God, free from fear, secure in the Father’s love. 

In his book Community and Growth, Jean Vanier, found of the l’Arche communities writes “when a child is loved, seen as precious, touched with reverence, then it is at peace. It knows it belongs. It is held, protected, and safe. It opens up without fear. The deepest yearning in a child is to be in communion with its mother and father. This is the most fundamental need of every human being, the source of all other needs and desires.” This most fundamental need is met for us in Jesus, through whom we enter into the Father’s love. As that happens we are conscripted and empowered to play a part in meeting that fundamental need in others. May it be so increasingly among us! 

I’m excited to worship with you as the children of God this Sunday! 

In Christ,

Peter+