Sharing Christ’s Peace
I share an illustration I came across as I worked on my Message for Sunday (based on the healing of the bleeding woman through touching Jesus). At Holy Faith we have an active and sincere sharing of Christ’s peace in worship. As the Lord’s Supper is the pinnacle of worship and receiving God’s grace and peace through His Word the heart of our worship, the sharing of Christ’s peace plays an important part as we share with each other the healing power of what we have received in Christ! Here it is:
Touch in Church
What is all this touching in church? It used to be a person could come to church and sit in the pew and not be bothered by all this friendliness and certainly not by touching. I used to come to church and leave untouched. Now I have to be nervous about what’s expected of me. I have to worry about responding to the person sitting next to me. Oh, I wish it could be the way it used to be; I could just ask the person next to me: How are you? And the person could answer: Oh, just fine, And we’d both go home…strangers who have known each other for twenty years.
But now the minister asks us to look at each other. I’m worried about that hurt look I saw in that woman’s eyes. Now I’m concerned, because when the minister asks us to greet one another, the man next to me held my hand so tightly I wondered if he had been touched in years. Now I’m upset because the lady next to me cried and then apologized and said it was because I was so kind and that she needed a friend right now.
Now I have to get involved. Now I have to suffer when this community suffers. Now I have to be more than a person coming to observe a service. That man last week told me I’d never know how much I’d touched his life. All I did was smile and tell him I understood what it was to be lonely. Lord, I’m not big enough to touch and be touched! The stretching scares me. What if I disappoint somebody? What if I’m too pushy? What if I cling too much? What if somebody ignores me?
“Pass the peace!” “The peace of Christ be with you!” “And also with you!” And mean it. Lord, I can’t resist meaning it! I’m touched by it, I’m enveloped by it! I find I do care about that person next to me! I find I AM involved! And I’m scared. O Lord, be here beside me. You touch me, Lord, so that I can touch and be touched! So that I can care and be cared for! So that I can share my life with all those others that belong to you! All this touching in church — Lord, it’s changing me! What was it our audacious friend said so many centuries ago? “If I but touch…I will be healed.” (David E. Leininger, Christian Globe Illustrations, www.eSermons.com)
Keep sharing Christ’s peace with all your heart! With His presence in your heart you truly mean it! Pastor Craig
Well, I’ve seen my first bear this spring. No, it wasn’t in-person, walking through the backyard or behind the church. I saw him in the news, catching my eye because of his dastardly intent. You see, he loves cookies beary much. This lumbering cookie monster has been seen throughout the homes of Monrovia, California, entering through open windows and garage doors to find and abscond with his treasure. You can see why they’ve named him “Oreo!” Truth be told, he’ll settle for any sweet treat!
We at Holy Faith have the sweetest of treasures. Certainly not a treasure that we have to break in and steal. Instead, our treasure has been received freely by God’s grace. 2 Corinthians 4 says, (God) “made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” We have the treasure of God’s forgiveness and love not to keep to ourselves but to share!
This Sunday we celebrate “Faith, Family and Friends” and with our Sunday School as well! We have God’s treasure in us through faith in Jesus. We celebrate the gift of our individual families and the wonderful Holy Faith Family that we have been blessed with. And we encourage each other in our ministry plan that focuses us on what God has called us to do! Please find it attached to this email. Come and be part of the family fun! Love in Jesus, Pastor Craig
A young mom was driving her 3-year-old child to church early on Easter morning. As she drove she told the Easter story. “This is the day we celebrate Jesus coming back to life.” From the back seat she heard, “Will He be in church today?” How cute that child’s question! The Good News for her and each of us is that He is there with us. The tomb could not hold Him back. Our risen Savior has burst open the rock that closed the tomb. Our risen Savior comes to us through His Word and Supper. His love is seen in the fellowship we share. In His resurrection, He has become the rock upon which we can build our lives, now and for eternity! Hope to see you in worship (8 or 10:45 a.m.) so I can hear you shout —
“He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” 1 Peter 1:20
I loved Show and Tell. It was 1st grade! Everyone in the class took turns bringing something in to share with the class. What fun it was to bring something in that we were especially passionate about to share our excitement. Show and Tell time was filled with interesting insights and some surprises as well. I loved to bring the cool things my father had collected growing up in India. I brought in such things as a mahogany carved elephant with real ivory tusks. I was fascinated by snakes so I really enjoyed sharing the cobra carved out of sandal wood that had a lamp post and a bulb that came out of the snake’s coiled form. How energizing to share the stories behind the object. Truly we would show and tell!
This Saturday is the Epiphany! It is the day that celebrates the Magi, the first Gentiles to worship the Christ child. They come to the house in Bethlehem, a year or so after Christ is born, to bring their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. God had His own plan of show and tell for those Wise Men. He revealed a star that led them to the Light of the World. He led them to the Messiah, the One who by His sinless life and innocent suffering and death would bring salvation to all people. Having their Lord revealed to them, they worshiped Jesus as King with their gift of gold, as God in the incense that was used in worshiping deity, as Savior in the ointment that would later be carried by the women of Easter as they come to see the empty tomb. They left to tell, certainly not evil King Herod as they were warned by the angel to return home another way. But you can bet they told the good news with everyone on their way home and finally with their royal employers, family and friends.
So we have seen! We have come to the manger of our Jesus at Christmas to worship our Lord. Thankfully we haven’t had to travel great distances to worship the King! Our God has revealed His Son where He promises to always be for us, in His Word and Supper. We have entered a New Year, 2024, in the name of Jesus! As we travel through the Epiphany season, the Greatest Gift of all is unwrapped in our worship.
Show and tell time in the classroom always had a sense of excitement as the stories were revealed and as we saw how they related to our own lives. And so our Epiphany journey is the showing of our Savior. We see how His saving story becomes part of our story. He came for each of us individually and His life comes to transform ours in His love and forgiveness. The exciting Epiphany message of a Savior revealed is not just for us to treasure. It’s for us to Show and Tell!
May we, men and women made wise through faith in Jesus, move into this New Year with our Savior to share. Have a blessed 2024 in Him! Pastor Craig
God grant you the light
in Christmas,
which is faith;
the warmth
of Christmas,
which is love;
the radiance
of Christmas,
which is purity;
the righteousness
of Christmas,
which is justice;
the belief
in Christmas,
which is truth;
the all
of Christmas, which is Christ.
–Wilda English
Have a Christ-centered Christmas and a 2024 of growth in Him!! Love, Pastor Craig
Recent Comments