Devotions with Pastor Jared Ritchey

Memento Mori. This is a Latin maxim that means “remember your death,” or “remember you have to die.” Sounds vaguely depressing at first, doesn’t it? However, it was used by the early Church as a greeting, at least as early as the 2ndCentury AD.

Right now, we’re in the middle Advent, a time of celebration and anticipation, remembering Christ’s birth. So, why am I starting out by talking about death? Well, one of the things I’ve been reminding our Montara Campus about the last two weeks is that Christ’s birth and death are a package deal. The salvific effect of Christ’s sacrificial death is part of what makes His birth worth celebrating!

Romans 6:3-4 says “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

In this joyous season of Advent, remember that the Baby in a manger that we so rightfully celebrate, was born to give you Life, and that new Life doesn’t end when the physical life does. That is the great hope of Christianity. Memento Mori, brothers and sisters, and Merry Christmas!

Pastor Jared