Brightness and Warmth

We are coming into the time of year when everyone seems to be a bit antsy.  The weather is nicer (some days), the days are getting longer, the robins have returned, and we just feel like getting out more.  As we go about our increased time outside our homes, let us try to remember to keep our eyes open for God.  I have been asking our youth group to be looking for places they can see God at work during the week, and we have a time to share these observations every time we are together.  It is amazing how much we can see God out there, active in the world, when we look.  In addition, I would encourage everyone to be a reflection of God’s love to the world around us.

As everyone emerges from dark homes, squinting in the almost spring sunshine, let the brightness in our hearts that is there because of Christ, shine as an even brighter witness to the power, majesty, and grace of God.  The world is a place that is in need of some serious light.  Everything around us seems to be changing, and while that is difficult to navigate at times, it is not necessarily bad.  The changes required for God’s Kingdom to fully be on earth are significant.  Until that time, as Christians, let us live our lives as if we believe it already is here.  Let us live our lives devoted to sharing the Light of Christ.  Let us live our lives in reflection of the indescribable wonder of the Creator of the Universe that, somehow, still loves us and desires a relationship with us.  When I think about that, I can’t help but remember the words of the refrain of a well known hymn by Charles Gabriel,

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

While we are out and about to enjoy the brightness and warmth of the season, let God’s love go with us and through us so that God may bring spiritual brightness and warmth to those around us through our actions!  Indeed, how marvelous!

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Brian

Valentine

Valentine's Day. Some love it, some hate it. It is yet another holiday that has been coopted by the marketing gurus on Madison Avenue. It has become a day of chocolate and trite sayings. The "love" spoken of these days for Valentine's Day is something often shallow, self-serving, and purely physical. Somehow, we have allowed ourselves to get "love" and "lust" confused. Maybe the reason so many relationships fail is because we base them on fleeting criteria such as physical attraction, happiness, or emotional fulfillment. What if we really looked at love in a Biblical sense? What if we really took love seriously, and based it on the ultimate model of unconditional love that we find in Scripture - the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ? I dare to say that things would be different.
All in all, I look forward to celebrating Valentine's Day with my lovely wife whom I try to make the most important person in my life every day. For those who are married, I encourage similar behavior. For those who are not yet, treat everyone with the integrity they deserve. Do not let the world's corrupted, selfish image of "love" distract you from being able to truly express (and receive) real love in a real way. If anything, Valentine's Day should serve as a reminder of the commitment required for real love to blossom, grow, and mature. God did the same with us.
As Reba McEntire sang, "Love isn't love until you give it away." I agree. Let's really make this Valentine's Day mean something as we try to give real, unconditional, selfless love away in meaningful, deep ways. If we do this well, we can shake the world upside down and show a little bit of Christ's light in a world full of darkness. That's real love.

Happy Valentine's Day!