Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Celebration”
Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Good deeds are a cause for celebration”
The other morning at church I was approached by one of our members who is going through a pretty rough season of life right now. Physically, emotionally, and financially this person is fighting through a tough time. Although this person has their hands full with their own issues, they handed me an envelope with some cash in it and asked me to give it as an anonymous gift to another church member who is also struggling.
My first impulse was to give it back and tell them that they needed to keep it for their own needs. But of course, I caught myself. Who was I to deny this person the right to be a blessing to someone else? So I passed the gift along and as you would expect, the recipient of the gift was touched and blessed. That person had tears in their eyes as they humbly accepted this very kind and very generous gift that they really did need.
What does all of this have to do with our theme of “celebration”? A lot actually. There were no trumpets sounding in the hallway of our church buildings that morning. No balloons or ticker tape falling from the ceiling. But there was lots of quiet celebrating going on. The person who received the gift was grateful, blessed, and probably a little relieved that a pressing financial need had been met. The person who gave the gift surely walked away with a warm sense of having done something good (see Galatians 6:10 above). And as a Pastor my heart was touched to see my people taking care of each other like that.
Oh, and I’ll bet there was some high-fiving going on in heaven too.
In his book “Celebration of Discipline” Richard Foster wrote, “When the members of a (church) family are filled with love and compassion and a spirit of service to one another, that family has reason to celebrate.”
Yes they do.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 