Commencement
Posted on June 1st, 2012
Pastor’s Column published in The Informer (FBC Newsletter for June 2012)
These past several weeks have been a season of graduations in our church and community. We saw many of our college students, including our own Liz Chassey and Ryan Yeatts, earn degrees. Carter Chassey and Charlotte Cave graduated with honors (both of them!) from Prince Edward High School and Fuqua High School. Last week, I attended the graduation ceremony at Prince Edward Middle School and watched with pride as my daughter Thea and Erin Copeland walked up the stage to receive their certificates. There were many joyful moments as parents, family members and friends proudly celebrated the accomplishments of these young people. On Sunday, June 3, we will have an opportunity as a congregation to honor and recognize our graduates at the end of worship.
As we celebrate with these young people the completion and end of a significant chapter in their lives, we also anticipate the dawning of a new chapter. Graduation is not just the end; it is also the beginning, the commencement of something new, something different, but no less important. For some graduates, the future is pretty certain: high school or college. For others, the future is still not too clear as they seek employment or acceptance from graduate schools. But in all these situations, we have faith that God will be with them, leading them every step of the way.
At the end of the book of Revelation, the apostle John recorded a vision of the Lord proclaiming, “Behold, I am making all things new!” God continues to be at work making things new, not just for these graduates, but for all of us, as we continue in our journey of faith. New chapters are constantly unfolding before us as each day contains the possibility of the commencement, the beginning of something new that God is doing. Some of those things may be eagerly anticipated; others not so much. But in all these situations, we have faith that God will be with us, leading us every step of the way with hope into God’s future.
So, as we recognize our graduates on their school commencements, let us also recognize that each day is the commencement of something new that God wants to make in each of our lives!
In Christ, Michael
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