Pastoral Letter from Timo Sazo, July 16, 2021

 

Greetings, brothers and sisters!

 

I hope you all are well and enjoying the summer season.

 

I joined the church staff as a pastoral intern in March. In case you don’t know, the purpose of an internship in our denomination is to give pastoral candidates an opportunity to observe, participate in, and reflect on a church’s ministry so that they may practice their gifts and gain experience in ministry. So, for the past few months, I’ve had the chance to attend and help with youth group and nursery, to observe Session, Diaconate, and Congregational meetings, as well as to lead services, teach Sunday school, and preach. Lord willing, I’ll get to do some more of that between now and the end of the year. In this Pastoral Letter, I get to reflect and share some of the things I’ve learned so far. 

 

Before I do that, I want to write a few lines to express my gratitude to you all as a congregation for having me as an intern. Now, I know you didn’t get to decide whether to bring me on or not (if you have any complaints, Pastor Dave bears all the responsibility!), but you’ve been welcoming and gracious, and I truly appreciate that. Some of you have reached out to me personally to give me constructive feedback, and that’s been helpful and encouraging. Please continue to do that if you would. 

 

A lot has happened in our church since March, including two excommunications, three baptisms (including my own children), one death, several relocations, one broken foot, and most recently one torn Achilles’ tendon and a sprained leg. Following the Virginia Governor’s order, we stopped requiring vaccinated people to wear masks during our services, dropped the distancing requirements, and are steadily resuming “normal” church operations such as praying with children before children’s church, resuming the informational table, and soon to come, COFFEE! We’ve continued an Adult Sunday school class on Revelation. We finished a sermon series on Joshua, and began one on the One Another commands. We’ve celebrated the Lord’s Supper four times.

 

If you’re like me and you’ve been in the Church for a while, the previous paragraph may seem to you like a description of a regular quarter in the life of a local church: people come and go, they get hurt, times change, the Bible gets taught. But though we often forget this, the amazing thing is that, through all those things—all those ordinary things, the good and the bad—the Lord is at work. He is with us, leading, comforting, strengthening us. He’s doing extraordinary things through ordinary means and ordinary people. He’s building his Church. 

 

One way I’ve seen the Lord at work in our church has been in how members care for one another. Members and community groups are quick to organize and provide meals and visit each other when a baby is born, somebody gets hurt, or is recovering from surgery. My own family received many meals when Felix was born almost exactly a year ago, and then again when I broke my foot in May. People in our church give away and lend stuff, help each other move, share prayer requests and pray for each other. This is truly wonderful. 

 

I’ve also seen the Lord at work in in our volunteers. We’re far from being a program-driven church—let’s keep it that way! —and yet there is so much to be done for just one Sunday morning gathering to take place: set-up, tear-down, sound, music, livestream, nursery, children’s church, welcoming visitors—it’s a lot, and that’s not even considering what happens during the week in preparation for Sunday. We are able to gather and worship our God and Savior because many of you give your valuable time and energy selflessly. This is also truly wonderful. 

 

Additionally, I’ve seen the Lord at work in the life of our church in that the transition from “masks required” to “masks not required” for vaccinated people has been relatively peaceful. We all have our own views and convictions regarding the virus, vaccines, masks, and what the powers that be are doing, and some of us can be very passionate about them. But regardless of where people stand on those issues, all I’ve seen is love and respect. I think this is truly wonderful. (Caveat: I’m not on social media, and I’m not the recipient of complaints via email—let’s keep it that way, please! —so I’m only speaking from what I can see. If you’re not acting with love and respect online, stop and repent, because you should. Romans 14:4.)

 

I could mention other examples. But I think these show that the message of the gospel has taken root and is bearing fruit in our church; that God is indeed at work among us. God loved us sinners so much that He sent his only begotten Son into the world to take away our sin by dying in our place, rising from the dead, and giving us his Spirit; to forgive us, renew us, give us joy and hope, use us for his good purposes, and to look forward to his consummated kingdom. Our care for one another, our selfless service, and love and respect towards one another simply flow out of God’s love for us.

 

Sure, our love for each other is far from perfect, and there have been and will be times when we feel we’ve run out of love for one another. But even in those moments, we can be encouraged by the fruit that God has already borne in us, and that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). 

In light of these things, my exhortation to you all is simply, continue. Keep doing what you’re doing. Or, in the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:1, “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.”

 

In Christ,

Timo