Pastor Chuck’s Corner: January 2026
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18b)
Welcome to 2026! I hope that the Christmas season has brought you much joy. God blessed my family with an abundance for which we are all grateful. (Though I didn’t need that much snow to make it a white Christmas!)
It is as I think about all that white stuff that I share this first message of the New Year with you. To be honest, my initial thoughts about the snow and cold are not usually geared toward thanking God for it. Normally it’s “will I be able to get to church or, I hope the old snowblower will start.” Snow tends to be an inconvenience rather that a catalyst for being grateful for me.
But that changed a little bit one clear and cold morning as I walked Violet just at sunrise. It had snowed about 6 inches the night before and we were out in it before the plows went to work or any of the neighbors were removing it from their driveways. What I experienced that day was not an annoyance, but rather a glimpse of God’s heart. That fresh snow was beautiful and the air was crisp and calm.
As I looked around, the verse quoted above came to mind and it made me start to think differently about Nature’s white blanket. In that quote from the prophet Isaiah, God declares that we are as beautiful as the fresh and unaltered snow.
That is not to downplay just how scarlet red our sins are. But thanks be to God, those sins are forgiven because of the Lord Jesus. In other words, God makes us pure as the new snow, looking past what shade we were.
My Friends, during the cold and snowy days that are certainly ahead, please allow yourselves to experience the grace of God’s forgiveness. God places no guilt or shame on us, so we should not put any on ourselves.
Because God loves us, God forgives us. I pray that as we venture into 2026, we will keep in the forefront of our hearts and minds how beautiful we are to God. And in so doing, may will all manifest that beauty as we care for the people in our lives and the world around us.
Be blessed and be a blessing,
Pastor Chuck