sunshine at faith
Greetings in Jesus’ Name! Even though the weather itself hasn’t quite caught up with our thinking just yet – The Summer is here! Everyone in the Northwest is hoping for months of glorious warmth and sunshine. Bring it on.
All of us need God’s sunshine light for the warming of both body and soul. When reading through the Gospel of John it is wonderful to see that the people who knew Jesus often called Him “the Light” and that Jesus enjoyed referring to Himself in this way. As well as “Light” being a term that the ancient world recognized as a statement of Deity, it was also a means of expressing endearment. Today, we might say to someone we adore, “You light up my world.” Or, we might express our love to an individual who is precious to us by actually nicknaming them, “Sunshine.” Imagine loving Jesus so much and being so free in His companionship of grace that we would adoringly gaze into His eyes and tell Him, “You light up my life!” Imagine having a heart where Jesus is so much our Lord that the incredible preciousness of who He is would compel us to worship Him with joyful exuberance, calling Him, “Sunshine!” Is that too over the top? Would that be irreverent? Not if you want to know Him like His friends in the Gospel of John. Not if your desire for real relationship with Him frees you to go there. To be honest with you, I personally long to be free enough with Jesus & “graced” enough by Jesus & worshipful enough toward Jesus & joyfully exuberant enough thanks to Jesus that I am compelled to crown Jesus as my “Sunshine.” How ‘bout you? Is that your heart’s cry also? Let that same longing in your soul find expression with our loving Lord as we head into this summer. The more we recognize His sunshine, the more He will indeed light our world!
Not long ago my dear wife Becky gave me a quote from a book (The Satisfied Heart, by Ruth Meyers) that has greatly inspired her in her own journey with Jesus. I think it would help you to hear it just as it helped me when Becky shared it. The quote is a short prayer:
Lord, in the midst of my joys and trials, work in me a constant responsiveness to You, a constant walk in the sunshine of Your love.
This is my “summer sunshine” prayer for all of us at Faith. And as we walk together in the sunshine of His love the result will be loving unity with each other as well as loving witness to our community.
Here’s a cool illustration that just happened at Faith, of how this works. I learned about it through an email that a lady who is new to our church sent to me. She has visited Faith three times now and the gist of her note was how much she senses that God is working at Faith to bring about something mighty for His Kingdom. This last Sunday she was 20 minutes early for services. She was so happy to be here and so “anticipating God” that decided she would hold one of the side doors open for people and greet them with the love of Jesus as they entered. No, she wasn’t recruited by anyone to do this. No, she wasn’t responding to anyone asking her to help out. This lady was just so warmed by the sunshine of God’s love that she was compelled by the Holy Spirit to use her time prior to the worship service to greet others for Christ. That’s how the Sunshine of God moves in a heart sensitive to Him. May the Lord move in all of our lives like this.
Thank you for your ongoing financial support of the ministries here at Faith. Each donation you give is gratefully received and your Leadership Team (Deacons & pastoral staff) continue to faithfully ask God to guide us in the spending of these monies. All offerings are used 100% in the direct support of discipleship in our church, local evangelism, global mission and missionaries, facility costs (including the paying off our mortgage) and the support of our ministry staff. Just as Becky and I joyfully give a full tithe of our income to Faith, I ask you to do the same. He blesses all His children who follow His teachings in terms of putting Him first in their finances.
So, let’s have a great summer together with our Sunshine Lord! And by the way, we’ll be doing some inexpensive hamburger/hot dog lunches after Sunday services periodically in the coming months. With our schedules often driving us apart during this time of year, we’re looking to provide some opportunities to be together and enjoy “the Faith family.” Please take advantage of these lunch events to stay connected! Luv ya …
Your brother in Jesus,
John K. Nagle
Lead Pastor
