Jonathan Shradar

"But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this, he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word." (ESV) 2 Thessalonians 2:13–17 How can we live today, in the midst of what we see as a rampant opposition to the truth of Jesus and a misguided embrace of self above all things? How can we face the struggles, the challenges and the people we are surrounded by? We do it by clinging to our eternal comfort and good hope and asking to be comforted yet again i

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” Hebrews‬ ‭12:1‬ ‭ESV‬‬ This morning as I made the way down the street for my morning run I was pestered by something in my shoe. It began as a little itch, something I just ran through trying to take my mind off of it. Then it became more annoying so I adjusted my shoe a bit hoping for relief. Then it was unbearable so I put my finger in my sock to find a small rock, a pebble, working like sandpaper on my heel as I ran the race that was set before me. Immediately the comparison to sin that lingers and stays so close became abundantly clear and painful even. I suppose I could have continued on with the rock in my sock but it would have ruined the run. It would have dominated the experience and detracted from the purpose. I may have hobbled along, but there would have been no joy, no undi

I am in the midst of a very slow process of drafting a vision document for Reservoir Church, something I have been hesitant to do but something that is increasingly needed for our congregation eager to engage in ministry and the purpose of the church. As a replant of a twenty-year-old church, the elders and I have been slow to cast "a grand vision" for the future of our church frankly because our key vision was health, something we drastically needed. Approaching now the four-year mark of replanting we are ready for the long view so that we can "drive in the right direction." We have a new name, 80% of our members became so within the last four years, and our demographic has shifted slightly younger to new families looking for something to invest in long-term. This process is much like plotting your course in google maps. You have to know where you are going in order to choose a route. It can seem daunting in the near term and maybe premature. Certainly, anything we