Hello Neighbor,

Please let me apologize up front if this letter isn't for you. You see, I'm writing this, hoping to reach someone who could use what I'm about to say – someone who is ready to hear it. Perhaps that is you, so I'm asking you to please read on.

We've all been through so much these last few years, haven't we? Wars overseas and political turmoil here in America weren't enough, now we have lived through an awful pandemic. Who thought it would still be raging this long after it began? I know I didn't.

Many things that seemed so stable have started to crumble. Much that seemed secure has been shaken. Perhaps that instability has hit close to home for you, as it has for me. Has it gotten you thinking about the big picture? I have been contemplating things more meaningful than the latest movie playing in the theater or my next vacation spot.

I've thought more often lately about mortality and about the meaning of life. Perhaps you have, too. What have we been doing with our lives? What comes next after this life is over? Is there a God up there? Will we owe Him an accounting someday for what we've done, as well as for what we have neglected to do?

Atheism seems like a modern, western fallacy to me. I'm sure 99% of all the people who ever lived on this planet believed there was something – and someone - beyond this visible realm. The idea that everything came from nothing for no reason whatsoever just seems silly. I'm not going to pretend we're just walking, talking cattle, with no ultimate purpose or destination.

No one finding a watch while walking in the woods would think it was tossed together at random by wind and rain. Yet, even the simplest living creature is much more intricate than the most complicated timepiece. If a watch requires a watchmaker, then creation hints at a Creator. And, if He made us, don't we owe Him something? Is He expecting something from us? Can we know the answers to such questions?

I believe we can. I believe the bible is a profound compilation of the thoughts and intentions of God. Scripture declares a loving God made mankind for fellowship, but humanity spurned Him and turned away. We've gone from bad to worse even as we've wandered farther away and became further lost. Still, each one of us has a God shaped hole in our souls that only He can fill. I've written this, reaching out to any who are feeling the ache of that hollow spot. I want to offer you the fulfillment I have found.

The bible shows how the Lord spared no expense to bridge the great divide separating a holy God from unholy people. It describes how He went to great lengths to find us and then paid a terrible price to bring us back to Himself. All of this was accomplished by and through Jesus Christ. He is the way to God and the way for God to us.

If you're ready to learn more about Him, if you know in your heart it's time to turn to Him, then please come visit my friends and me this Sunday. You will be most welcome!

© Matthew Schilling January 2022