Our lives in self-surrender
by Rev. Paul L. Escamilla, Senior Pastor
Our baptism into Christ and the church is a call for us to follow Jesus in offering our lives for serving and leading, finding our deepest sense of fulfillment in this chosen life of self-giving. We answer that calling in myriad ways—both in the life of the congregation and beyond—growing in the grace of sharing our time, our energies, our love, our talents as an offering to God.
Enclosed in this newsletter, and also available online, is a Service Opportunities form — an invitation to explore and extend our understanding of God’s invitation to grow in that grace through serving at Laurel Heights. Have a look and see if you sense God’s leading into a new area of service in or through the church. Perhaps once you’ve looked over these opportunities you can take some time for silence, prayer, and listening as a way of seeking God’s direction for your life through ministry in the church. Once you’ve completed the form, you will be contacted regarding possibilities for involvement.
The late Dag Hammarskjöld, U.N. General Secretary until his death, expressed the decision to practice a life of serving with words that have been close to my heart for a lifetime, ordering my steps toward serving: I don’t know Who — or what — put the question, I don’t know when it was put. I don’t even remember answering. But at some point I did answer Yes to Someone — or Something — and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, in self-surrender, had a goal.
Following Christ, we find our goal; finding our goal, we fulfill our calling; fulfilling our calling, we bless the world; blessing the world, we follow Christ.
Grace and peace.
Paul