The Light of the Fruit of
the Spirit
Live as
children of light -
for the fruit of the light is found in all that is
good and right and true.
I have invited people in the
coming year to allow the Light of the fruit of the Spirit to grow in their
lives. Each month I will highlight one of the themes of the Light of God’s
Spirit.
This month I
am writing about JOY. One of the things
that really gives me joy is watching movies. I am a
huge film buff. I love movies of ALL kinds. Recently, I watched the American
Film Institute’s “10 Top 10” special on television. The AFI listed the top ten
movies in ten different categories of film. I had seen all the winners, and all
but 20 of the 100 movies they listed (time to update my Netflix
queue). Here are the winners in each category:
ANIMATION “Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs”
ROMANIC COMEDY “City Lights”
WESTERN “The Searchers”
SPORTS “Raging Bull”
MYSTERY “Vertigo”
FANTASY “The Wizard of Oz”
SCIENCE FICTION “2001: A Space Odyssey”
GANGSTER “The Godfather”
COURTROOM DRAMA “To Kill a Mockingbird
EPIC
“
Thinking of all the time I
have spent watching movies put me to thinking about church, worship attendance,
and how often we find other things to do besides being in worship – especially
during the “dog days” of summer.
So, with a joyful tongue
firmly planted in cheek, here is my list of the “Top Ten Reasons to Be in Worship This Summer”:
#10 Pastor Mike may preach on YOUR topic that particular Sunday.
#9 Earlier start time means earlier
dismissal time.
#8 You can’t play in the sun anyway,
because it is likely raining.
#7 It’s hard to sleep in when the sun
comes up at 3:30 in the morning.
#6 It is easier to find a parking spot
and seat.
#5 You might miss a funny remark during
the Children’s Moment.
#4 There is a 1 in 5 chance that Pastor
Mike won’t be here to preach that day.
#3 Would you REALLY rather go watch the
Mariners lose another game?
#2 “Church in the Round” – well, sort of…
… and
the Number One reason to be in worship on a summer Sunday is –
To
experience the loving, caring, uplifting fellowship of worshipping with your
church family, and gathering around the Lord’s Table.
God’s Peace (and Patience),
Pastor Mike
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In May many of us think of
mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, wives, and other women who have played
important and meaningful roles in our growth and development. One of the traits exhibited by many of these
women is Patience.
I know that my mother was a
woman of great patience. Like many
preachers’ kids, I was a bit of a handful growing up. Actually, I am still a bit of a handful. My mother had many meetings with teachers,
counselors, and principals when I was in school, and I can still recall the
numerous times on Sundays when I was escorted out of the sanctuary to receive
some “correction” to the seat of my pants for misbehaving during church.
Patience is one of those
things we often pray for, but as my mother used to say, “Be careful what you
pray for, you may get it.” Patience only
seems to come to us when we are put in situations which call for the continued,
ongoing practice of patient behavior.
Will you allow the light of
Gold’s spirit to shine in your life this month?
Perhaps God is trying to build patience into your life. I know I still have a long way to go, but
please, be patient with me.
God’s Peace (and Patience),
Pastor Mike
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For April, as we are still
in the season of Easter, I want to highlight the Peace that the resurrected Christ brings to our lives.
Peace is something lacking
in many of our lives. We live in a time
of war, with battles fought in both
In our personal lives,
finances, broken relationships, self-destructive behaviors, all these and more
bring anything but peace. When Jesus
appeared to his followers after the resurrection he said over and over, “Peace be with you.”
Jesus can usher into our
lives the real peace, the peace that passes all understanding. The peace that the world
can neither give nor take away.
As one seeks Jesus, learning more about him, uniting with him in a deep
prayer life, following his teachings and his example, one can find this
wonderful peace.
May God help you in your
daily life as you seek to experience the light of God’s peace in your mind,
heart, and soul.
Pastor Mike
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In February, the month of
Valentine’s Day, I highlighted Love.
The Bible speaks over and
over of love. The word love occurs 489 times in the Bible; 185 times in the New
Testament alone. Unfortunately, we have but one word for love in the English
language.
New Testament Greek had four
words for love:
Eros, the
physical/romantic love of two people in an intimate relationship.
Philos, the familial love of a close
relative.
Storge, the community love for a friend, co-worker,
or neighbor.
All of these are loves based
on conditional relationships. But, the word for love most often used in the New
Testament is Agape`.
Agape` is
a word best described as UN-conditional love. The type of love that is
interested only in what is best for the other person, regardless of how they
may or may not respond to me.
So often in our world, we seek
love, a love that fulfills us, that makes us feel good about ourselves, that
meets our perceived needs and desires. But, what if each of us was filled
instead with agape` love, the love
that Jesus had for all he encountered. The love that asks not, “What will I get
out of this?” but rather, “What can I give of myself to help another grow,
live, and thrive?”
What the world needs now is
love, sweet love.