[amc] a note from the pastor
- From: "garland robertson" <pastor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Austin Mennonite Church" <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 09:58:50 -0500
Members and Friends of Austin Mennonite Church
I pray you are refreshed and encouraged in your journey of faith.
During the month of September, we will have opportunity to re-covenant to be
church together. As in the past, you will be invited to sign the Austin
Mennonite Church Covenant indicating your intention to join in Christian
community in order to participate in our quest to fashion an alternative
living experience that reflects God's design for life and relationship.
Communities form because of some common vision of relationship and dream.
Religious communities have an additional character-to seek consciously to
relate to the holy mystery by devising a standard that will guide persons
through their physical existence. The standard chosen for this measurement
is a critical decision. We can know very little with absolute certainty,
and a review of the history of religion will illustrate that in many
instances speculations have become the criteria for defining community and
determining membership. In the quest to fashion a religious community it is
essential to remember that no matter how sophisticated the organization and
ritual practices might be, the ultimate measure is how closely the community
conforms to the intentions of the creator for life and relationship in the
universe. We do well to recognize whenever we are proceeding beyond what we
can know of this intention and what we are supposing that it might be. As a
Christian community, we seek to discover the significance of the historical
Jesus and the wisdom contained in his life and teachings. This reference is
our foundational measure for striving to live in relationship with the great
holy mystery. Together we commit ourselves to explore and apprehend this
witness that it may transform us into persons belonging to the realm of the
Divine Creator. These thoughts will compose the sermon for this next
Sunday, "Nurturing Christian Community."
May it go well with you. Sincerely,
Garland Robertson
...always hold firmly to the thought that each one of us can do something to
bring some portion of misery to an end
Other related posts:
