Let Your Little Light Shine
Like a tree, we have our roots deep in the field of memory. All while our branches are reaching up into the coming future. As persons of faith, we trust in the goodness of God to lead us forward. All while being nourished by the Holy Spirit present in and around us. That Holy Spirit being the presence of God, who is our salvation. By salvation I mean our healing and renewal. As each of us grows in the way of God, we become carriers of Grace into all of our relations.
Our faith is not about religion. We see this in Jesus, who gave himself for the broken and the lost. This is made clear in our texts for this week. Central is the 23rd Psalm. It speaks of our trust in the goodness of God as we find our way forward. That trust being the foundation of a life lived faithfully.
Here is our recording for this week:
Psalm 23 - The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.
1 John 3:16-18 - We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us--and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
John 10:11-17 - "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away--and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.