ReDiscover: to find something that has been lost, forgotten or ignored.
A week ago, a small group of us gathered to decorate the church for the Christmas season. It was good to come together and be reminded that no matter what is going on in our world, even if for the time being we cannot gather in the sanctuary, the Christian tradition of celebrating the birth of our Savior this time of year goes on. The lights remind us of our Immanuel.
The day after as I looked at the sanctuary, I realized something was missing. The unique star that usually hangs high from the rafters was not there. I “ReDiscovered” it hanging downstairs in the basement and it hung there as yet another reminder that this year Christmas looks and feels different.
Does it matter, I thought to myself? We may not even be all together to see the star in this blessed season. And then another thought came to me. It matters, but what matters more is how we are expressing the love of God to one another. Our friends and families, our community, our co-workers, our benevolence partners, His church.
This week a friend reminded me that as we ask for God to break through into our lives and bring healing, hope, love, peace, joy and wholeness to this broken world, that he is answering that prayer through those who are filled with His Spirit. As we plead for His presence, he sends those who are filled with His presence to bring those very expressions of His great love. When we sing O Come O Come Immanuel, we embody His coming.
At a staff meeting recently, we sat and shared our thoughts about this season we are in and it came to us. This year not only are we ReDiscovering the true significance of Christmas, we are ReDiscovering our call as the living expression of God in this world. The way we live our lives says to this world that we can choose to ignore God, but God is here, the kingdom continues to come as we love God and love one another.
Just then we were inspired to create a new initative called, ReDiscover Kindness – Care, Love, Share. There are 3 ways we are inviting our community to ReDiscover the Perfect Gift of Christ through tangible gifts of our own.
1. Christmas Gift Card Fund: We have chosen 3 families this year who need to be reminded of God’s love in a tangible way. We hope to give each family a $250 gift card to WalMart. You can designate your gift for this fund.
2. We are encouraging random acts of kindness. If it’s a gift you are giving, Julie has created gift tags you can download and print off at home. Just go to https://www.edenmuncie.com/rediscover-kindness and spread the love of God!
3. Remember Eden Church needs you! As one of the “hubs” that God moves through to bring His love and presence, Eden depends on combining our resources to keep the light of Christ shining in our community. Even though we are not meeting in person, you can give on our website, through the church app (Don’t forget to download!!) or by dropping off or mailing your offering.
Our journey into the second week of Advent is a reminder we can find peace in our struggles when we “ReDiscover” we find peace in our God, in Jesus the Christ, not in our circumstances and not in a paper star. Jesus can be forgotten or ignored by people in this world, but Jesus can always be ReDiscovered because God is never lost, …for He himself is our peace (Eph. 2:14).
Peace,
Pastor Tammy
Comments