Happy New Year
To: Our St John Family and Friends,
Greetings my brothers and Sisters in Christ and a Happy New Year from the Hall family. We are humbled by the grace of God for allowing each of us to enter into another year, a year that none of us have seen or experienced before, a year full of new mercies from a loving and merciful God. The past year seemed extra special because of the challenges and uncertainties we faced. For most of this year our nation and world were faced with and are still being confronted with challenges associated with a worldwide pandemic. At the same time, each of us should be especially grateful to a compassionate God who in the mist of this pandemic continued to take care of our every need. I am very much aware that many of us did not receive everything that we wanted in 2020 however, if we take the time to accurately assess the past year we will realize we received everything we truly needed to survive.
God has been good to the St John family and our friends in 2020, we seek God protection from this virus every morning during our 7:30 AM prayer line, and God responded by not only keeping us safe but also cleansing and healing many who were affected by this virus. I have said many times before that this virus may have caught many of us by surprise; however, it did not catch God by surprise. Nothing takes place in the universe that God created that he is not aware of, and this virus is no different. I continue to believe that God will use this pandemic season to give His Holy Name Glory! In fact, I have witnessed spiritual growth and greater intimacy among our members in 2020. Our prayer platoons participation has grown significantly over the past year and God has blessed us to have almost 80 people on our 7:30 AM morning coronavirus prayer line. The implementation of new technologies has allowed St John to continue to have church services and bible studies even during periods when our physical sanctuary was closed. I can sense greater intimacy in our fellowship amongst each other even though we have been physically apart. This is a testament that our individual spirituality is more in line to where God desires us to be.
The social restrictions that we have faced this past year has forced us to assess what is really important in our lives, which is God, family, and friends. As your Pastor, I am so thankful for what God is doing in the lives of the St John Family. I am aware that many of us continue to face major challenges and trials in our daily lives. I also know that God is still on the throne and He will never leave us nor forsake us in our time of need. Let us embrace 2021 with renewed faith and hope in a God who desires to give His children good and perfect gifts, and a God who will work everything out for our good, if we just trust and obey Him. We love you!
Somebody Say…..Jesus!!
Pastor Charles A. Hall