Dear Visitor,

When the Lord Jesus calls someone, He says, “Follow me.” Well, that’s a change, because we tend to think we’re the center of the universe. But Jesus doesn’t ask what you want from Him. He doesn’t ask who you think or feel you are. He doesn’t ask about your pronouns. In fact, He doesn’t focus on your skin color, your preferred language, your gender or attraction, your history of hurts, or where you have been, what you’ve done, how you’ve failed or succeeded. He knows everything, looks you in the eye, and says, “Follow me!” And when you follow, you get up and go with Jesus. But wait a minute.

Who is Jesus? He is God’s Son in human flesh. That’s hard to wrap your head around, because a lot of people talk about Jesus in the past tense. And that’s a whole lot easier, because a past tense Jesus becomes whatever people want Him to be and a past tense Jesus isn’t someone you can really follow. But Jesus is (present tense) God’s Son in human flesh, and that’s Who people follow. So, among His followers, the days leading up to the celebration of His birth, for centuries and centuries, have been called Advent (which means “coming”). Advent is about waiting and hoping… just like parents waiting and hoping for a baby to be born. It’s a time to discover again Who Jesus is, to pin your hopes on Him.

So, Jesus is calling you, saying, “Follow me.” It’s scary thing to follow Jesus, because He will re-form all your other loyalties, yes, all those ideas and things you leaned on or you were sure defined you. In short, following Jesus means it’s not about you. But why would you do that? Only Jesus can save you from yourself, from death, and from evil. Only Jesus can remake you to be the person you were created to be.

Just show up and remember it’s not about you. We really won’t entertain you or push you towards a group, a program, or a packaged plan. We will be real about futility, failure, and forgiveness. We will show you Jesus, the down-to-earth God in human flesh, and invite you to follow Him with us… forever.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pastor Sam Zumwalt+

szumwalt@stmatthewsch.org