If you have small children or elderly relatives you know that birthdays are a big deal. Birthdays mark out the early stages of life as well as milestones of a long life nearing the end. It seems that somewhere between years 30 and 60 we prefer that additional birthdays are forgotten! Nevertheless, we mark off our birthdays by keeping track of the years, like this one, 2015.

But 2015 is not just a number. It is 2015 A.D., or Anno Domini, the Year of Our Lord. We mark time according to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus is still alive, so we mark the time by his living regency.

That’s why birthdays are a reminder of the grace of Christ to us. He lives, so we live. He sustains all creatures by the word of his power (Hebrews 1.3).

It is also why the people who believe in Jesus Christ ought to recognize markers, milestones, birthdays and anniversaries. Each celebration is a reminder of the grace of Christ in another Year of Our Lord.

This is true for churches too. Seeing that God has raised up and sustained a local church is a cause for thanksgiving and remembrance. Though God has promised that the Church will not fail, we know that local churches can have seasons of ministry and then become reconfigured as God’s people move and re-gather around the gospel.

Calvary Grace Church has a birthday today. It was 9 years ago that we had our first service in the living room of a Calgary home.

Since that time there have been many joys and sorrows, trials and triumphs. We can celebrate our local church’s birthday as an evidence of the grace of God toward us.

So on a 9th birthday, let us praise the risen and living Christ Jesus, who reigns and sustains a local church. Even today, we are reminded that the most important thing in the world is living by faith according to the Year of Our Lord.

Oh, and one more thing. Over the last two months, both as a devotional project in support of our current preaching series in First Kings and as an anniversary gift to our congregation, the elders have been working on a short book of pastoral meditations on First Kings.

Called "Shadows of the King," you can download it in PDF, Kindle, and ePub (i.e., iBooks, Kobo) formats here:

Shadows of the King - PDF

Shadows of the King - Kindle

Shadows of the King - ePub