Pastor’s Message for September 2024

“Not only was the teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.”
-Ecclesiastes 12:9-10

Greetings, Friends!

When we think about great teachers of the past, what names come to mind? Perhaps Aristotle? Socrates? Plato? They have entire ways of thinking and learning named for them. We have Aristotelian logic, the Socratic method, and Platonic philosophy. Millennia of generations have been molded by their teachings. Their legacy has long outlasted even their brightest students. But would we have even known about any of them if it weren’t for their most famous student, Alexander the Great? It’s possible that the only reason we know about these scholars is because their student applied their teaching to the real world and became one of the most consequential figures in human history.

What I am trying to say is that application. What use is it to know a lot of stuff if one doesn’t then use that knowledge in one’s life? Paul put it this way in his first letter to the Corinthians: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” In this case, love is an action of applied knowledge. Our task in life is to take what we have learned and apply it to every day life. A good teacher will teach us how to learn, but a great teacher will teach us how to live.

I think that is what made Jesus such a great teacher. He had great knowledge, but he was love personified. He not only taught lessons which have long outlived his students, but his teaching changed lives, and still changes lives today. He not only has great knowledge, he demonstrated knowledge every way through acts of love. And if we live as he lived, our legacy will live long after our earthly life is over as well.

Pray for teachers. Earnestly and actively support them. Hope for the best for them. Think well of them. And pray that their students will think fondly of them for years to come.

God loves you, and so do I,
Pastor Jim