Pastoral Letters

October 23, 2024 Friends, As you know, there will be a national election in a few short weeks. Given that reality, I wanted to share with you a few thoughts on politics. I’m not able to say everything in this letter that I might. And there’s nothing that I’ll say that in this letter that is especially new or profound. But I thought it might be helpful for you to hear a few simple things from your pastor as we enter into another round of elections. First, I want you to know that you should feel free to participate as much as you feel called in the political process. In God’s providence, we are part of a constitutional republic, and you should feel every freedom to participate as much or as little in political action as you feel called to exercise that freedom. This might include voting, openly supporting particular political candidates or issues, engaging in political debate with friends or neighbors, knocking on doors for a campaign, or even running for political office yourself. I support you in these endeavors, and believe these are all practices Christians may freely engage in. But, if you choose to engage in these kinds of political activities, I encourage…

July 13, 2024 Colleyville Family, By now, I’m sure that all of you have seen the news of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump as he spoke at a political rally in Pennsylvania today. Needless to say, this is a significant moment in our nation’s history. It brings to mind the assassination attempt made against President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and the assassinations of President John Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy in the 1960s. A few brief thoughts as we all seek to process this event together. First, let us thank God that Donald Trump’s life was protected today. The assassination of a former president and a current presidential candidate would have been a devastating blow to our nation. We should be grateful for God’s mercy that this heinous act did not result in former President Trump’s death. Second, we must disavow and condemn this act of violence, and all actions like it. This assassination attempt was evil, and against God’s law. We must decry it and reject any sympathy for actions like this. Third, we must grieve the murder of an innocent bystander, and pray for the other two persons who were seriously injured, as well as any others affected by this shooting, including former President Trump…

Dear Colleyville Family, I only rarely provide pastoral comment on Supreme Court decisions. The last time, in fact, was seven years ago, when I sent a pastoral letter to you after the Obergefell decision which legalized homosexual marriage. If you’re interested, you can read that letter here. But yesterday’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson is momentous enough that it certainly calls for a pastoral response. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for God’s mercy and kindness toward our nation in yesterday’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade! Like many of you, this is a day for which I have been hoping and praying for many years. I read the news yesterday after flying back from Birmingham, and I was overwhelmed with happiness and gratitude. My father, Barry Anderson, directed the Crisis Pregnancy Center in Richmond, VA from the mid 1980s until the early 1990s, so I grew up from an early age on the front lines of these matters – both politically and practically. I was 12 years old in 1992, and I remember vividly the hope and expectation that Roe v. Wade might be overturned when the Planned Parenthood v. Casey case was heard, as well as the…

“What good is baptism?” We can answer that one of the primary gifts that is given to us in our baptism is the confidence that no matter what comes into our life, no matter what suffering, no matter what spiritual depression and dark night of the soul, we can be confident, above all things, not only that God is good and loving in general, but that God is good to me in particular, that God loves me, that I have indeed been engrafted into Christ, that my sins have been forgiven by Christ’s blood, that I have been regenerated by his Spirit, that I have been adopted into the family of God, and if he has done all that for me, he will surely also remember me on the last day, in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. In other words, one of the reasons that baptism is given to us is so that, to use the language of the great protestant pastors Martin Luther and John Calvin, we would remember our baptisms. Not that we would remember the day of our baptisms, remember the feeling of water on our head or what…

Beloved, Each Sunday, during the Lord’s Supper, when we are seated with Jesus in the heavenly places and about to eat the bread that he has given us, I say to you (quoting the Apostle Paul): “Alleluia, Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us!” And you respond: “Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia!” And then we eat. It is perhaps the most sacred and beautiful thing that we partake of in this life. Indeed, to keep the feast is a holy act. And all of our feasting is predicated on this: the Passover Lamb has truly been slain. And yet the Lamb who is slain also reigns enthroned in heaven, giving himself even now for the life of the world. Another way to say it is like this. We are Baptized. We are Christians. And so all of the feasting that takes place in our homes and with our families and friends flows from the great feast of the Lord’s Table, which is itself a participation in the feast of Heaven. Our tables are joyous because His Table has made us partakers of a joy that cannot be taken from us. This indeed is the mystery of our…

Friends, As you may have heard, there will be a national election in a few short weeks. Given that reality, I wanted to share with you a few thoughts on politics. I’m not able to say everything in this short letter that I might. And there’s nothing that I’ll say that in this letter that is really profound. But I thought it might be helpful for you to hear a few simple things from your pastor.  First, I want you to know that you should feel free to participate as much as you feel called to do so in the political process. In God’s providence, you are part of a constitutional republic, and you should feel every freedom to participate as much or as little as you feel called to do so. This might include voting, openly supporting particular political candidates or issues, engaging in political debate with friends or neighbors, or even running for political office yourself. I support you in these endeavors, and believe these are all practices Christians may freely engage in.  But, if you choose to engage in these kinds of political activities, I encourage you to do so intentionally as a Christian. This, of course, means…

Dear Colleyville Family, I know that this season has been profoundly challenging for each of us, and for our church as a whole. I know that it has been, without a doubt, the most challenging period of my pastoral ministry (and I don’t expect those challenges to end any time soon!). I know that you each have your own stories of difficulty and grief and frustration during this time. I am thankful that so far, the Lord has spared us from death or serious harm from the virus itself, but all of us have suffered in various ways due to the broader societal changes the virus has brought. Some of us have lost work, or suffered other financial loss. Many of us are missing out on special experiences, things long planned and anticipated that now will be impossible to replicate or replace. All of us are suffering from isolation and the normal joys of life in community with one another. And yet, I want you to know that I am also seeing and hearing many beautiful things in our congregation that are encouraging me during this season, as I speak with you and hear your stories.  As you enter into…

Dear Colleyville Family, It has not been quite the restful Spring Break I had hoped for! I’ve spent the past several days in the office in communication with our Session and church staff and other leadership, all the time monitoring the situation with the Coronavirus. As you may have heard, today Tarrant County declared a state of emergency and is recommending that all public gatherings be cancelled if possible. Our Session had yesterday already made the decision to suspend all church activities and events outside of Sunday worship before this announcement by Tarrant County was made. But now that we have received this recommendation from our governing authority, our Session has also very reluctantly decided to suspend worship this Sunday, March 15. Please know that this decision was not made lightly, and not without much prayer and discussion. I am very aware that some of you may feel that this is an overreaction on our part, and to be honest, it may be. But, based on the information we have at the moment, it seems the wisest thing to do, and our Session is unified in this decision to suspend gathered worship this Sunday. Along these lines, I will be…

January 2019 Dear Colleyville Family, As believers, we know that time is not an arbitrary human invention, but the Lord himself put the lights in the heavens “for signs and for seasons, and for days and years” (Gen. 1:14). And indeed, the turning of the calendar to a new year is a natural time to pause and take stock of our lives, and consider the year to come. In fact, I would encourage you to take an evening or two in the next week or so, alone or with your spouse if you are married, and ask yourself a couple of questions – 1) What has the Lord been teaching me in the last year? 2) What are my hopes (and resolutions!) for the year to come?  As your pastor, I am not very qualified to give you advice about losing weight or balancing your checkbook, but when it comes to your spiritual life, I would like to give you some counsel. If one of your desires in 2019 is for increased spiritual growth for yourself and your family (and I hope it is!), I would urge you to consider the central role of the means of grace that God…

An Introduction to Advent Advent is a season in the church year often considered exclusively as a preparation for Christmas. While this notion is part of the meaning and purpose of Advent, it does not tell the full story. In reality, Advent is much more than just four weeks to prepare for the coming of the Christ child. The season of Advent is about all the comings of Jesus. The word “advent” is from the Latin advenire which means “to come.” This includes, but does not limit itself to, the coming of Jesus when he was born as a man. There are three distinct comings of Jesus that are in view in the season of Advent. The first coming is in the past—the birth of our Lord Jesus over two thousand years ago in the Israelite town of Bethlehem. The second coming is his coming at the end of history and is the bodily return of Jesus Christ to judge the earth and make for his people the New Heavens and New Earth, where those who trust in Jesus will live forever with him in resurrected and gloried bodies. These two comings, or Advents, of Jesus are indeed glorious, yet…