From the Pastor...
Have you ever heard the phrase "Pay it Forward?" Or what about
"Random Acts of Kindness?" These phrases come from the popular notion
in our culture that "what goes around, comes around." And that goes for the
good and the bad. "Pay it Forward," is a turn of phrase used to
encourage people to choose to participate in the good. That one should
do good in hopes of one day receiving good. This notion toward the good
has developed a wonderful movement in our society of doing kind things
for one another, because it has a ripple affect, hence the word
"Random."
For the next four weeks, as we are in-between high holy
celebrations in the church (Advent/Christmas and soon to be
Lent/Easter), we will focus in worship on going deeper in our
discipleship through what I am going to call a season of "Intentional
Acts of Kindness." As disciples of Jesus, we are expected to give our
faith feet, and to live our daily lives in the Kingdom of God. The
kindness that we show to others is not so that we will receive their
praise, it is so that our Father in heaven will see our good works and
know that we have taken His love, grace, mercy and peace to the streets!
Yes, we will all be asked to step outside of our comfort zones.
Yes, we will grow and be blessed in this process. Yes, and most
importantly, we will honor God in our expressions of kindness. Get
excited, because it means that God is going to show up!
As our scriptural foundation, we will journey through John's
Epistles, letters written to believers about what it means to live out
our faith in love. The heart of this sermon series comes from 1 John
3:18 where it says, "Little children, let us love, not in word or
speech, but in truth and action." Let's take it to the streets and show
our neighbors "Intentional Acts of Kindness" because as John says a
little later in chapter 4:19, "We love because he first loved us."
Hope to see you and yours in worship this Sunday. Invite a friend to join you!
Peace,
Sarah
