God’s grace be with you.

The author of Hebrews writes these words for Christian believers:

“Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10: 19-25 NRSV)

Leaving 2025 behind and stepping forward into 2026, I encourage all of us to keep this Hebrews passage close to our hearts and minds as we continue to be the body of Christ in the life of the world. Perhaps you noticed that I highlighted three words in the passage: faith, hope, and love.

Where else in scripture do we find these words together in one passage? The answer is in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13, where he ends it by saying “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, and the greatest of these is love.” I think we would all agree that what the world needs now is a greater measure of love, and particularly the love of Jesus Christ pouring forth through us into the world. The author of Hebrews emphasizes faith, hope, and love as the marks of a Christian. But they are not simply marks worn on our sleeve as a show of support, they are a call to action including active worship together and encouraging one another to love. We cannot wait, we cannot sit back, for the Day of the Lord is fast approaching. With urgency, then, we are called to be God’s faithful people in 2026 and beyond.

Thus, we are encouraged to strengthen and renew our relationship with God’s Word in the various means by which Word and Sacrament ministry are carried out among us. Time runs out for each and every one of us as each new day passes by and another comes on.

Each day we grow closer to the time when our lives on this earth end…and it is Christ’s desire that all come to know him as Lord and Savior, as the one through whom we have everlasting life.

As your pastor, I encourage everyone in our Penn-Zion’s & Brush Creek Lutheran Cooperative Ministry to find a way in 2026 (1) to spend more time among God’s people in worship and fellowship; (2) to spend more time reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word, privately and among God’s people, for we are people of “The Bible”; and (3) to pray and live into the future with Christ, rooted in the love and forgiveness of the cross so that one day we may unite again at the great banquet feast which has no end in the kingdom. The time is now to do this, before it is too late.