Sing with me – It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Do you believe it? The holidays are upon us once again – already! There are a lot of preparations to make! As you read this, Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. Our annual Hanging of the Greens service is just over two weeks away. There is so much to do!
It’s probably the same for you, too, isn’t it? Have you started shopping? Hanging up the Christmas decorations? Prepared for the big family Thanksgiving gathering? So much to do and so little time! This time of year, we seem to get spread so thin, that it’s hard to make time to do much more.
Yet, there is always more to be done. There is always more ministry to be conducted in the Kingdom. There are always more ways that you can help the church in our mission to spread the good news. Sure, I get it, you’ve got so much of your own to do. I know. I do, too. But, here’s the thing. If we, the body of Christ, the church of Jesus, don’t do it, who will? Who else but us are called to spread the gospel message, even when we might think that we’re too busy to do so?
It’s funny that this week I was reading the Gospel of Matthew and was reminded of Jesus’ encounter with Peter’s mother-in-law. She was very sick with a high fever and Peter asked Jesus to go by and be with her. So, the passage tells us, “[Jesus] touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him” (Matt 8:15, NRSV). She got up from bed and began to serve Jesus! Immediately! She was so overcome by his touch on her life, that she just had to serve him. Sure, the house was probably a mess, for she had been in bed for some time, but that didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that she had other things to do; her heart told her that serving Jesus had to come first.
Are you ready to serve Jesus this holiday season? Are you ready to help spread the good news of this joyous time of year in some way? Are you ready to help the church bring the gospel message to our community? I hope so, because we need your help! We need all hands on deck to make the preparations necessary for this most wonderful time of year. We need orders for poinsettias. We need donations and volunteers for the Thanksgiving meal. We need helpers for the Hanging of the Greens. We need your help. Jesus needs your help! Are you ready? Will you make the time?
Ponder this and pray,
Pastor Steve