A Word From the Pastor (January 2009)

Dear Friends in Christ,

The celebration of the Covenant Service is one of the earliest traditions of Methodism. As John Wesley visited the early Methodist societies, he would use the Covenant Service to call God's children to spiritual renewal. In London, Covenant Services were usually held on New Year's Day as a symbol that the new year would be lived for the Lord. The purpose of the Covenant Service is to remind worshipers of the pardon they have received in Jesus Christ while calling them to recommit their lives to Christ in humble gratitude. The Covenant Service invites those who are new in their Christian walk to offer themselves to Jesus in holy devotion. Most especially, the Covenant Service is a precious opportunity for backsliders, and those who have fallen away or lost their zeal, to start anew. The Covenant Service is an invitation to put the past behind and make a fresh commitment to God, to submit again to Christ's sacrificial service. The following words from Wesley's Covenant Service have always seemed a fitting prayer with which to begin the new year. May these words resonate with your heart as they call all of us to renewed worship and service in Christ's name. In 2009, may we, as the Fishkill United Methodist Church, renew our devotion to the work of Christ in our world.

Let us, therefore, go to Christ, and pray:

Let me be your servant, under your command.
I will no longer be my own.
I will give up myself to your will in all things.
Lord, make me what you will.
I put myself fully into your hands:
put me to doing, put me to suffering,
let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,
let me be full, let me be empty,
let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and with a willing heart
give it all to your pleasure and disposal.

May God bless you and bless Christ's Church as we offer ourselves wholly to the Lord in this new year.

Yours in Christ,
Rev. Peggy Ann Sauerhoff