The apostle John begins his gospel with these very familiar words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” The Word is Jesus. He was with the Father and the Spirit from the beginning. This is important, because historic, orthodox, and apostolic Christianity affirms the preexistence of Christ. That Jesus, the Son of God, like the Father and the Holy Spirit, has been and always will be. No other world religion claims such a truth for its God or prophets. Christianity stands alone. All that has begun had its beginning in and through Jesus Christ. And familiar words from John’s gospel continue,  “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing was made. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” Christianity stands alone, because it is a journey about a relationship with God and one another.

Beginnings are important. Whether we trace the beginning of a particular trip or the birth of a child, we remember beginnings. Such is true when it comes to the beginning of one’s journey as a Christian. In my particular case, I remember accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord during Communicant’s class in the seventh grade. I also remember when I began my dating relationship with Janet. It was Saturday, December 4, 1976. We went to the Spaghetti Factory in Fresno California for dinner and then to a production of “Godspell”. I remember many beginnings from my ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament August 15, 1982, to the Session asking me to serve as Grace’s Interim Pastor beginning January 15, 2024. Beginnings are markers.

Janet and I are thrilled to be in relationship with you and our Interim Pastor Journey. On Monday evening, July 15, 2024, the Session approved a process titled, The Proposed Timeframe. From Interim Pastor to Pastor. The Proposed Timeframe. From Interim Pastor to Pastor is a new beginning document and is now on its way to the Church Order Ministry Team (COMT) of the Presbytery of Southern Kansas (PSK) for its action.

Do not press Session members for answers. Know that God is in this and at the Annual Meeting on Sunday, February 23, 2025, the Strategic Plan (Mission Study) will be presented and the election of the Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) members will occur.

It is true! A new beginning is emerging for Grace Presbyterian Church. Continue to pray as I know you have been doing.

On the journey of Christian discipleship and spiritual formation with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor

What should drive the Church if it claims the historical marks of the Church and the visible marks of being revealing, resolute, ready, responsive, resilient, reframed, repentant, repetitive, remembrant, receptive, refined, and reverent?

We should see a Church that is conversional and missional: a Church that is people coming to Christ and living the Great Commandment, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 25, and the Great Commission. For this to happen, there must be unity, in the body of Christ, characterized as faithful doctrine and practice.

• If both doctrine and practice are constant, the result is dead orthodoxy.
• If both doctrine and practice are constantly changing, the result is living heresy.
• But, if doctrine is constant and practice is always changing, the result is living orthodoxy.

The Holy Spirit works with power in our lives.

• Scripture and history have repeatedly proven that the preaching and teaching of Scripture which engages Jesus and justice is transformative.
• Scripture and history have repeatedly proven that the right administration of the sacraments demonstrates the missional nature of the Church.
• Scripture and history have repeatedly proven that the practice of Church discipline protects the Church from drifting, as its members are reminded of the deadly reality of sin, convicted by the Spirit of their sin, and run to the cross where Jesus Christ accomplished the forgiveness of sins through his substitutionary death and bodily resurrection.

As followers of Jesus, we are marked to tell and live the Truth. We are marked to make a difference. Society can be transformed one individual at a time.

On the journey of Christian discipleship and spiritual formation with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor

We are destined to be followers of Jesus!

Jesus said to his disciples in John 6:40, For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Jesus prayed to the Father concerning his disciples in John 14:17-19, I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Jesus said to Pilate John 18:37b, You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason, I was born, and for this reason, I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead changed the world forever. Jesus’ word changed everything. And it will change everything again as Christian Nationalism is straying from the truth of the gospel.

Jesus’ resurrection overturned the synagogue, as institution; the empty tomb reinstated the missional priority of the people of God. There is one mission; loving God, loving others, being a disciple, and inviting others to be disciples. A disciple is changed by Jesus’ words. The truth sets one free to be a disciple. The disciple loves God, loves others, and takes the gospel to the streets. You and I have the privilege of encountering the streets in Wichita, Kansas, the other forty-nine states, and to the ends of the earth. That’s not my definition of a disciple. It’s Jesus’.

In Genesis 12:1-3, God called a people to live the story of being a blessing and inviting others to be a part of the blessing. God called Abraham and his people to be missional. Our purpose as people of the resurrection is to love God, love others, and be a blessing to others. That is being missional.

Let’s recognize that God’s arms are tightly wrapped around his children and move out of that identity as blessed people in order to be a blessing. Love won and continues to win.

On the journey of Christian discipleship and spiritual formation with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor

As followers of Jesus, we are marked. These marks are meant to characterize our life as believers and as a church at Grace.

• To preach the gospel marks us.
• To properly administer the sacraments marks us.
• To rightly exercise church discipline marks us.

As a church, living as marked followers of Jesus, we are marked to address culture and society that struggles in knowing its way and building a better humanity.

• Followers of Jesus are to be leaven for individual and social change.
• Followers of Jesus are to be salt and light for individual and social change.
• At one time the Church held a privileged place in culture. That is no longer the case.

A shift from modern to postmodern philosophical assumptions began in the early seventies. The Church was then thrust into the culture wars which have only intensified. The message of the Church was no longer readily accepted. The cultural and societal response continues to be apathetic and hostile.

As the Son of God, Jesus was marked.

• Jesus suffered for you and me.
• Jesus stayed focused on the will of his Father.
• Jesus died for our sins.
• Jesus rose from the dead so that we could experience forgiveness for those sins and live a new life, now, and eternally.

Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins? Do you believe that by placing your faith in him you are forgiven and will live a new life now and have eternal life?

As followers of Jesus, we are marked. Let’s participate with God in bringing salvation and transformation to individuals and society.

On the journey of Christian discipleship and spiritual formation with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor

As I reflect upon the meaning of the resurrection, and I do that often, I am becoming more and more convinced that authenticity is of utmost importance in the Christian walk.

What is it about authenticity that is so difficult, yet attractive?

• First, to live authentically means to tell the truth about others and ourselves. Are you willing to look in the mirror of your life and honestly admit what you see? What if you see deceit, hate, anger, arrogance, or jealousy? What will you do?
• Second, to live authentically means not to pretend. Integrate your Christian faith into everyday life. Living an authentic life in the Christian faith means that we face the ups and the downs with honesty and forthrightness.
• Third, to live authentically means to be vulnerable. Vulnerability means that who you are is what we see. And what we see is what we get. And what we get is who you are and what we see. You mean what you say and you say what you mean.

No matter how difficult it is to live authentically in truth, not pretending and being vulnerable, there will be people who don’t understand. I yearn to live my life more authentically. I yearn for others to do the same. Authenticity is the indicator of being fully alive in Jesus Christ. No untruth. No pretending. No avoiding of vulnerability. Let’s trust Jesus Christ, through the written Word of God, to give us the courage to live lives that are truthful, not pretending, and vulnerable. It is the way of Jesus Christ. It is the way of the cross. It is the message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

On the journey of Christian discipleship and spiritual formation with you, I remain faithfully yours,

Steve

The Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

Interim Pastor