Beloved Friends in Christ,

Promises, promises! People make them and people break them. But not God. God keeps the promises that He makes—always!

Of course that applies among us also, as the verse above declares. Even though the words of this verse were originally spoken to Joshua at the time of the death of Moses, these words are equally ours. Just as God was with Moses, so will He be with us. And He has been—not only during the past year, but throughout the 150 year history of our beloved congregation.

During the year of 2010, we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the founding of St. Paul’s and we remembered with thanksgiving God’s faithfulness and grace among us throughout those many years. We remembered the grace of God that we desperately need. We pondered a grace that we cannot do without. We rejoiced in that grace that never—not even for a fraction of a second—did our Lord withdraw from us.

It is this faithfulness that was at the centre of our 150th anniversary celebration. Our anniversary celebration was not a commemoration of our accomplishments since 1860, rather it was a tribute to His—our Triune God’s—grace that He freely pours out upon His people.

Since the beginning of time, He has generously granted the forgiveness of sins, declared the certain hope of life eternal through faith in His Son and offered us the assurance of His daily presence. All the while, we, His people, have failed to completely forsake the sin of which we have been forgiven; we have struggled in the faith that God has implanted in us; and we have found ourselves worrying about our daily needs. Yet, here we are, recipients of a beautiful place of worship, fellow heirs of salvation joined together by a common faith, and owners of the means of grace by which our Lord has delivered forgiveness and assurance to our beleaguered souls.

No wonder then that we celebrated our anniversary year under the words “To God be the Glory”. All that is ours and all that ever will be is ours by the grace of Him who said, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.”

in His service,

Pastor Richard A. Frey