| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us” Our Bible verse for today: “There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven … a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:1; 4 (CSB) Our thought for today: “We need to celebrate” The season of Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years is my favorite six weeks of the year. It’s a festive time of giving thanks, and celebrating, and expressing hope for the future. I love the family gatherings, the giving of gifts, the increased sense of togetherness we all share, and the anticipation of the coming year. There’s usually lots of laughter and joy and fun. We need seasons like this. Celebrating is good for us. The dictionary says that to celebrate is “To observe a day or event with ceremonies of respect, festivity, or rejoicing.” When explaining the concept of celebrating from a Biblical perspective, the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology tells us that celebrating is at the core of life for the people of God. Celebration is depicted in the Bible numerous times in multiple ways including festivals, weddings, religious ceremonies, the Lord’s Supper, in celebratory poetry such as in the Psalms, and much more. Clearly God intended for times of celebration to be a regular part of life for His people, which is why Solomon reminds us in Ecclesiastes chapter three that there are special times established specifically for celebrating. In many ways 2020 has been a difficult and challenging year for all of us. Therefore, I believe a season of celebration is more important this year than in most years. We all need a few weeks of laughing, feasting, and gift-giving. We need a period characterized by love, joy, praise, and hope. We need to do some celebrating. Granted, there are practical realities (such as the ongoing pandemic), which have to be accounted for and adjusted to but still, we can and should find ways to celebrate. All this month we will explore the Bible to discover the many forms celebration can take in the lives of God’s people. We will of course spend time considering Christmas and New Years as special occasions for celebration and festivities (we just spent a month considering giving thanks). But we will also discuss the importance of many other times and occasions for celebrations. Life can often be hard. Times of celebration serve not only to give proper attention to special occasions and events, but they also help to alleviate tension and release stress. Celebrating also reminds us to lighten up a little and enjoy life more. Let’s do that. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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