In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2?Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.? 3This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, ?The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ?Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.?? 4Now John wore clothing of camel?s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, 6and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

??????????? 7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ?You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 9Do not presume to say to yourselves, ?We have Abraham as our ancestor?; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11?I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.?

??????????? 13Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14John would have prevented him, saying, ?I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?? 15But Jesus answered him, ?Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.? Then he consented. 16And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, ?This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.?

The beginning of a new year always seems to be a time when we think about all the things we are going to do differently this year. We can all come up with a list, yet we rarely follow through with what is on our list. Sometimes, we make a promise to ourselves and we stick to it. Maybe it is joining Weight Watchers and really making the commitment. Maybe it is quitting smoking?this year?for real! Eating healthier, working out, loosing weight, developing healthier habits, having a better devotional life, etc. I think many of us have made these kinds of resolutions or goals. As a congregation, I want us to think about making a few resolutions together. The first resolution I want us to make is to grow in faith and strengthen our relationship with God-learning to depend on God. The second resolution I want to propose is that we change the patterns of the past that have caused us failure. And the third resolution is to work towards growing our congregation by inviting people to join us in worship, fellowship, study, and fun.

This might sound like too many resolutions, but I think they are possible. Because I think they can apply to our lives together as a worshiping community and individually. Maybe it is part of my dream for God?s people-deeper relationship with God, letting go of the past, and faith communities growing authentically. It is my dream, my hope, and my goal. But I also believe it is God?s dream, hope, and goal for every person, every one of his children. And I hope to inspire you for it to become a part of yours as well. As we begin this part of our journey to learn more about where the dreams for Wintergarden came from, I pray that we are able to hear some of the stories, learn from them, and move forward to what God could truly have in store for us. I invite you to join me in prayer.

As I have reflected on the stories I have heard about Wintergarden and how it started, I was amazed when I read the lectionary passage in the bible for the week. The story from Matthew that I shared is about John the Baptist and Jesus being baptized. Both of these men were doing what God had called them to do. John was preparing the way for Jesus to come by teaching of the importance of repentance and asking for forgiveness. While Jesus shows us the importance of putting our lives into the hands of God, of letting go of who we thought we were to be, and trusting God with our lives?to make our lives new and fully devoted to God. Both of these men are on are starting new beginnings and have dreams about what the future will hold.

Jesus had spent about 30 years preparing for the mission God, his Father, had in store for him. He was trained as a carpenter, in the scriptures, in teaching, in fellowship, in community. Jesus knew how to engage people and be present with people. He had been preparing for what was next the whole time. Jesus had probably spent a lot of time with his cousin John growing up and knew what John was doing as an adult. Although the things Jesus was doing were important, we could look at it and say was idle in his ministry and mission from God. He wasn?t fully practicing his ministry. But then something happened. It was time. John had left to share a message with people, and John?s mission from God had begun. Now it was time for Jesus to begin practicing what he had been preparing for during his life. So he went to where John was teaching about repentance and forgiveness in the River Jordan. John challenged people and encouraged people to let go of the things that held them back. He encouraged them to burn off the old patterns and develop new ones as people grew in their relationship with God. As people accepted this message, John would baptize them. John was reminding people of the stories of old and of promise, stories of remembering and preparing for someone new to come, stories of new beginnings and not sitting by idle any longer. John was getting the people riled up, because he knew that Jesus was coming. And John knew that it was time for this new ministry and new way of being a follower of God to begin. No more sitting back, learning, and watching. It was time to move. It was time to actively begin to practice living out faith instead of passively waiting for a savior to come.

So the promise was fulfilled and the Savior was born. But it had been almost 30 years since the so-called savior had been born. And after years of waiting, Jesus? ministry was about to begin. Jesus? ministry begins with being baptized to the new journey ahead. As Jesus is baptized those gathered around who were followers of John?s message and ready to move into a new relationship with God would have heard these words from above, ?This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.? It is the promise that the old ways are done, and a new way is beginning. Jesus? baptism is a sign that God is acting in the world differently, things have changed, and the way we have been doing everything won?t work anymore. It is almost as if in baptism we are saying, I have trusted myself to do things before?but now, I am putting my trust, my life, my everything into God?s hands. For baptism is the beginning of new things?it means letting go of the old ways, patterns, behaviors?and beginning new ways and new adventures with God.

There are a few people who have been in this place of worship for many, many years. And others of you who have been here a few years, or this is your first Sunday with us. I want to share with you the dream that started in 1987, almost 30 years ago. The New Church Development group with Southwest Florida Presbytery felt the desire to have a church in this area called Murdock. Murdock was an up and coming area of Port Charlotte, and the NCD group felt it was vital to have a Presbyterian presence in the community. The New Presbyterian Church, as it was called, began meeting under the leadership of Rev. Jerry Bone. Rev. Bone led the congregation of about 45 for 6 months because it was terminated. A bit of a rocky start for the New Presbyterian Church of Murdock.

Then in 1990, a new Presbytery was formed out of Southwest Presbytery called Peace River Presbytery. The top priority for the Peace River Presbytery was to build new churches. According to the minutes of presbytery, two new churches were planned-one for East Bradenton and the other for Murdock, a suburb of Port Charlotte. Rev. Bob Veley was called to be organizing pastor of the New Church Development (NCD) of Murdock and started on January 1, 1991. At that time, Pastor Bob asked First Presbyterian of Port Charlotte to loan the NCD of Murdock 30 families to help us get started. About 17 folks came to help start this new church. Some even stayed 3 years working as elders, teachers, and heads of committees and some stayed longer. Wintergarden Presbyterian Church officially became a church with 100 charter members on November 22, 1992, meeting in a modular building on Wintergarden Ave in the booming suburb called Murdock.

The dream started for a congregation to be in this neighborhood so long ago. Someone had a vision for a group of faithful people to reach out to this community and share the love of Jesus Christ?since 1987! I mean, I was only 9, Emma?s age! I have heard stories of people knocking on doors, inviting people to church, and joining together in worship. How amazing that people went out and met neighbors in the community, and invited them to worship! From the beginning, the people of Wintergarden have been caring, compassionate, welcoming, and loving.

Pastor Bob stayed with the new church for 3 years before he retired. During those 3 years, the beginning of something exciting happened. And although people were excited, it was clear from the beginning that not everyone knew the purpose of a faith community being placed on Wintergarden Ave. Peace River Presbytery had a purpose, a dream, a vision?but the people who had begun to gather for worship, might not have had the same understanding. After Bob retired, many people left the newly formed congregation. Some folks went back to First Presbyterian, while others wandered. Pastor Bill Clark arrived as the interim pastor for 6 months, followed by Pastor Larry Barnes as the designated pastor. There seemed to be many issues during the time of Pastor Larry and after 9 months, he resigned. A search committee was restarted, the third search in less than 2 years, for the next pastor. During this time, four different pastors filled the pulpit for the new church. After an extended search, Pastor Kathi Wiggins became the designated pastor on a 3 year contract. When she started, there were less than 50 people remaining and the NCD was in its 4th year of ministry. A lot happened in those early days?

While Pastor Kathi was with Wintergarden, the congregation grew, funding was raised for the building we are in today, ground was broken in July 1997, and the mortgage for the building of $320,000 was paid off in November of 2002. Pastor Kathi became the installed pastor in February of 1998. Outreach to the community through events on the grounds, as well as faithful worship, new adventures, and a faithful group, Wintergarden had what I would call, ?The Golden Years? as a congregation. In May of 2003, Pastor Kathi accepted a new call to Siesta Key Presbyterian Church in Sarasota.

After that, Pastor Myles MacDonald became the interim for 6 months until a new pastor was called. Through that search, Pastor Larry Yerger became the pastor in 2004. During the time when Pastor Larry was here, Port Charlotte experienced Hurricane Charlie and this negatively impacted Pastor Larry personally as well as the congregation. Many members were affected by the hurricane, many people left the area, it was a challenge to lead the congregation for Pastor Larry, and finances were difficult during this time. Pastor Larry resigned and accepted another call to a church in Texas in 2009. It was during this time when the Presbytery came back into the picture to help Wintergarden Presbyterian Church determine if they were a viable congregation and could reach a level of sustainability for the future. At that time, John Scott became the student pastor for Wintergarden. After that another period of different pastors preaching every week began. Followed by Pastor Ruth Schaff spending an intentional interim with Wintergarden in 2011. Ruth was able to bring stability to a challenging situation. Then Pastor Ron Kruezel was placed with Wintergarden in 2012. After about 6 months, Pastor Ron resigned and Pastor Ruth came back to Wintergarden in 2013. Pastor Ruth stayed another 9 months with re-establishing the congregation after a difficult time with Pastor Ron. Pastor Devon Ducheneau, now Andrews, became the temporary supply pastor in May of 2014. Devon?s role with the congregation has been as a church redevelopment pastor.

As you have heard, the last 25-30 years have been anything but smooth. Yet, I think God is up to something pretty amazing. Just like God used the experiences that Jesus had for his 30 years of preparing for ministry until the day of his baptism, I believe God can take our story of the past and turn it into something that brings new life to our community. But all of that depends on where your resolutions, or goals, for our congregation.? God?s goal for Jesus was to create a new way for people to have a relationship with him. Shouldn?t our goal be the same? I want us to remember our baptism individually, be reminded that the Spirit of God is upon us, individually and as a congregation?and that God is saying to each of us and collectively, ?You are my children, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.? It is time to live into being made new again. I pray that you will reflect on our goals:

First-to grow in faith and strengthen our relationship with God-learning to depend on God.

Second- we change the patterns of the past that have caused us failure.

Third- to work towards growing our congregation by inviting people to join us in worship, fellowship, study, and fun.

I pray you will begin this with me and embrace the ways God is calling us into new beginnings. Amen.