If you’ve known me for any length of time, you’ve probably heard me talk about my passion for blowing stuff up. More specifically, my love of fireworks! For about 12 years now, this first week of July has been a busy one for me. My father-in-law is a professional fireworks display artist and I have the joy of working with him each year and lighting up the sky with fireworks. Most years, we do at least two shows during the July 4th week. Needless to say, it can be a busy (but FUN) week!
The challenge is, however, that with being so busy with the fun (and practicing good safety) with fireworks, it can be easy to forget why we’re lighting them in the first place. This week marks an important holiday in our nation’s history. While most of us just call the holiday July 4th, it really is Independence Day. We gather at picnics, we light fireworks, we have all of this fun to celebrate our country’s freedom. But in the midst of all the fun, we can easily forget why we are celebrating in the first place.
Likewise, we can do the same thing with our faith. We can become so focused on what we are doing that we can forget why we do it in the first place. Our faith practices all come back to Jesus and His loving sacrifice on the cross. Our faith practices all come back to Jesus, our Risen Lord and Savior. He is our King. He should be the one sitting on the thrones of our lives. But many times, we can get so focused on what we’re doing for Him that we can forget to spend time with Him.
May this week be a week to give us pause and reflect. Not just to reflect on why we celebrate this Thursday but why we do what we do each Sunday morning and beyond. Rather than simply going through the motions of faith, let us be known as people who live dynamic lives of faith because we are so in love with Jesus our King!
In Christ Alone, Pastor Jan
P.S.—Don’t forget the schedule change for Dwelling Place. We will not be meeting this week with the holiday but will gather once again on Wednesday, July 17th at 7pm!
Also, if you missed yesterday, feel free to read 1 Samuel 8-10 (yes, you missed 3 chapters! I was preaching fast!) You can also get a head start for this coming week and read chapter 11. Travis Brubaker will be with us and be sharing a brief update about his family’s recent trip and then we’ll dive in to chapter 11 with a shorten sermon.
And one last thing…it’s July which means we’re less than two months away from our Summer Splash and Picnic. Mark your calendars, invite a friend! Can’t wait to see you all there!
