Bright Light

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One of the joys I have discovered at my new call is how much they appreciate technology. One church has a webpage and a Facebook page while the other has a Facebook page. Weeekly, at St. Tim's, they have the pastor prepare an e-message based on the coming Sunday's scripture texts. This motivates me to keep up my blog. So, this was part of my e-message for St. Timothy's today: 

If our Message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.

Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.
(2 Corinthians 4:3-6, The Message)

How do we as "messengers, errand runners from Jesus" let the light of Christ shine in our lives so that others will want to know the Lord we love? One way is to spend time listening to God's heart for people, so that we can love and serve them as Jesus would. Here is a very simple lens through which we can look at scripture. We ask three questions about the text:

1. What is God doing in this text?
2. What is God saying to me personally?
3. What is God saying to us as a community of faith at St. Timothy's?

Regarding our first question, in scripture, God is always the One acting. In some texts that is harder to see than in others. Each question requires us to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying.

This is the scripture I will be preaching from Sunday. As you spend time with this passage in the coming days, I would love to hear what you came up with as answers to these three questions. You can email me at pastorivyg@gmail.com  or answer in the comment section of this blog.

Thank you all for the wonderful welcome you have given Ray and me. It is a privilege to serve God with you. I'm very excited to see what God has for us in the coming days and years.
                                                                                                Yours in Christ,
                                                                                                Pastor Ivy


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