Returning
Returning is one of those words that carries more meaning than we sometimes realize.
After the celebration, travel, disruption of routines, and turning of the calendar to a new year, many of us are returning. Students are heading back to school after Winter Break. Many of you are returning to work and familiar rhythms. Households are settling back into schedules. Life, once again, finds its pace.
In our family, this season of returning feels especially sacred. Carol, Gavin, Isiah, and I are returning to local church ministry–and specifically to this wonderful congregation! We’re returning to familiar places, favorite restaurants, old friends, and new beginnings. Gavin and Isiah are returning to Orange County Public Schools, while I’m returning to weekly preaching, not as a guest or retreat speaker, but as one of your pastors, sharing life, Scripture, and worship together week after week.
This past Tuesday, January 6, marked my first full day back, as I joined our staff for our retreat. Today, Thursday, January 8, I’ll experience another meaningful return. The Bishop’s Clergy Day Apart (held in Lakeland the last two years) will be hosted at Warren Willis Camp. In my other current role as Senior Director (until March 31), I’ll have the joy of welcoming our Bishop, more than 200 clergy, and Conference staff back to that sacred place for a day of worship, fellowship, and growth. It’s a reminder that returning often carries both gratitude and purpose.
And now, we return to worship together.
This Sunday, January 11, we’ll gather for my first service and sermon back, titled “Guided on the Way.” Rooted in Matthew 2:1–12, the story of the Magi reminds us that returning doesn’t always mean going back the same way we came. Scripture tells us, “Having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route” (v. 12).
God reveals Jesus as the Way, and the Spirit guides us to see him, follow him, and become living witnesses of his love. As we return to routines, relationships, and responsibilities, we do so prayerfully, asking where God may be guiding us on a new route forward.
This season of returning is also a perfect time to begin, or return to, life-giving spiritual practices like Scripture reading and prayer. To help, I encourage you to engage the Florida Conference’s Awakened to Grace Advent to Epiphany Devotional. Pastor Melissa wrote this entire week’s (January 4–10) devotions on Covenant Renewal, and I wrote next week’s (January 11–17) devotions on Prayer. It’s a simple, meaningful way to ground our return in God’s grace.
I am deeply grateful to be back here, to return to sharing life with you, walking alongside you, and worshipping together as we begin this new year. I look forward to seeing you Sunday as we are once again Guided on the Way.
With love and excitement,
Pastor Corey
