Minister's Corner

The first miracle Jesus ever performed was at a wedding celebration in Cana. It must have been quite a party! It might have been the wedding of a relative or close friend of Jesus' family, because his mother was at the party too. John 2:3, 7-8 reads, “When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’...Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast.’”

Now suppose you have accepted the invitation from Christ to join the banquet. With hope and trust you begin to drink in all the relief, support, forgiveness, acceptance, and peace of your new life in Christ and in his church. Then, all of a sudden, you run dry! You find yourself in a flat, stale place. You experience the pain of sliding back into your old unhealthy ways, or perhaps boredom when your initial fervor and joy fades, or perhaps when you have worn yourself out to the point of exhaustion with the work of service. In discouragement and panic you feel like the old wine ran out—exhausted and helpless! No more left! What now?

“In our worst times of depletion and poverty, God changes us, and gives us what we need.”When did the miracle of water-turned-into-wine take place? When there was nothing left, at the precise point of exhaustion, when all was poured out! Christ transforms the stale water of our lives into the very best wine when we obey his command to “now draw some out.”

When we follow Christ's calling to dip our buckets into what seems to be an empty well, lo and behold, a miracle takes place! Along with the steward of the party we marvel, “You have kept the good wine until now!” (John 2:10).

When we are down and out, as individuals or as a church, is when Christ can turn our emptiness into a full, rich, and sparkling new wine of life. In our worst times of depletion and poverty, God changes us, and gives us what we need.

Peace & Blessings,
Rev. Garry