Church Family Update -July 2, 2020

First, some good news:

Wasn’t it kind of the Lord to send the sun to make a guest appearance during Canada Day yesterday? Of course, God is kind and good even when the sun isn’t shining. But as we sat outside with our family and listened to the frogs croaking and felt the sun shining and enjoyed one another’s presence, it almost felt like the “old days” that were BC (Before Corona). I hope that you had a lovely Canada Day and were able to be with loved ones and feel the sun on your skin for at least a little while. The good news I want to remind you of today is that God regularly sends these reminders of his love and presence and we can experience them daily if we’re paying attention.   

A devotional thought:

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”  (Philippians 2:3) 

July 4 is a day accompanied by a lot of big displays of fireworks in the States. It is also my grandma’s birthday. When she was a child her father told her that all the fireworks and all the crowds of people gathered to watch them were all to celebrate her birthday. And for many years she believed him. 

It’s a lovely story and I love to hear my grandma tell it. It must have been magical to be a small girl and think everyone was so excited to celebrate your birthday. But the story is also a parable for a human tendency that isn’t so lovely: We all want the fireworks to be about us.

There’s an innate human tendency to think that our story, our needs, our hopes, our fears, etc. are more important than others. The corrective to this tendency is found in the verse above: “In humility count others as more significant than yourselves.” That’s extremely difficult to do. But it’s part of our Christian calling. 

When you keep reading this chapter of Philippians you see that the Apostle Paul presents the life of Jesus as our model for this kind of others-focused living. Jesus put our need for reconciliation with God in front of His own needs and laid down his life for us. And then He invited us into a life of radical love and sacrifice. 

So the next time you’re tempted to make yourself the star of your own story, just pause and remember, the fireworks aren’t for you. And then find a way to lay down your life by serving others.

Enjoy the opportunities that God gives you to serve others today. 

Be blessed,

Pastor Jason