Jesus the Healer

Rev. Debbie Cato
Isaiah 40:21-31 and Mark 1:29-39
Fairfield Community Church
February 4, 2024 

What news do you bring our way this day, God?  We sit.  Quietly.  Waiting.We are open to your Spirit.  Speak into our hearts, Lord and give us the courage to live out what you speak to us.  In your Son’s precious name.  Amen.

 

Jesus the Healer

 

Probably one of the more frequent questions pastors hear – or maybe I should say – one of the most frequent questions Christians ask is - “why?”  I’ve been praying that God would heal me… my friend… my family member… but he isn’t answering my prayer, or maybe he didn’t answer my prayer.  Why?  I know God can heal people so why doesn’t he/why didn’t he heal ….. (pause) … you fill in the blank.  Have you ever asked that question of God? 

Have you ever thought that maybe if your faith were just a little stronger, God would answer your prayer?  Maybe if you prayed a little bit more; a  little bit harder it would have made a difference. Have you ever thought that?

My daughter was diagnosed with a rare pain condition the summer before her 9^th grade year.  She fell and hurt her back – just a fall in a parking lot; a freak accident.  No big deal. Her back healed, but the pain didn’t go away.  It took over her life.  Tracy spent weeks at a time in the hospital.  She missed her whole 9^th grade year of school. The pain never left her.  We prayed for healing.  Our friends prayed for healing.  Our church prayed for healing. 

Finally, after about a year and a half, her back pain went away.  But it moved to her stomach and for a year, she struggled with intense abdominal pain. More tests.  More medical procedures.  More hospital stays. We prayed and prayed.  Finally, the pain in her stomach went away. But her struggle didn’t stop there. She has had a migraine – a daily chronic headache as they are called, ever since.  She’s 35 now. It never leaves her.  At times it’s crippling. 

She has needed hospitalization.  A lot. Dangerous intravenous drug treatments that resulted in great risks to her health.  We continue to pray for healing, but her headache remains – constant.

So you can imagine that as I planned my sermon for today, these healing miracles caused me to pause. 

Simon’s mother had a fever and Jesus healed her – immediately.  She got up and fixed dinner as if she had never been sick.  And then, after dinner, “all who were sick or possessed with demons” were brought to Jesus.  He cured many and cast out demons from many. 

I’ve read this passage in Mark many times but this time when I read it, something caught my attention that I hadn’t noticed before.  It’s subtle but did you catch it?  “All” who were sick, all who had demons were brought to Jesus.  But… “Many” were healed.  Many were healed.  Many – not all.  Not everyone who was sick; not everyone who was demon possessed was healed. Jesus healed some of them.  Just some.  Obviously he had the ability to heal everyone.  But he didn’t.  He healed many.  He healed some of the people.  But he did not heal everyone.

Now let’s get a good picture of this.  Jesus is just getting started in his ministry.  He’s making a name for himself.  People are flocking to see him.  They’ve heard the news.  It’s not just talk.  They have seen evidence.  People that were sick and invalid are miraculously healed.  People that had emotional and spiritual ailments – demons as scripture calls them – are made whole.  Jesus had a great thing going.  He was a hero. 

Maybe it got too late in the night, and he didn’t have time to heal everyone.  Maybe the ones he didn’t heal that night were going to come back the next day.  I think even more people would come the next morning, don’t you? News gets around!  There’s a healer in town.  Jesus had the opportunity for an encore performance.  He was a big draw.  He could make a name for himself as a healer. 

It’s certainly what his disciples expected.  When they get up the next morning, they are upset because he isn’t there.  They think Jesus should be ready for the crowd that will be coming back. Jesus isn’t where they think he should be. Where is he?  In the Greek it says the disciples “hunted” for him. They were frantic.

Jesus had gotten up early – while it was still dark. Apparently, he didn’t want others to know he was leaving – that he was going off by himself.  Away from the voices telling him what to do.  Away from those who needed him.  Away from the demands of the world.  He wanted to be alone with God. Jesus left early in the morning by himself to go somewhere alone and pray. 

"Everyone is looking for you!" the disciples tell him.  I imagine the crowds were already beginning to gather.  The disciples were ready for their leader to do more healing miracles.  Everyone is looking for you, Jesus!  Come on!  It’s sort of like – “you’re on in 2 minutes”.

But after spending time alone; after spending time in prayer with His Father, Jesus has other plans.  He’s not going to do what the others expect him to do.  After his early morning prayer, he chooses to move on.  "Let us go somewhere else,” Jesus says.  “We need to go to the nearby villages-- so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."   

True, there were more sick people in Capernaum.  People who hadn’t been healed the night before.  People who needed Jesus’ healing touch.  Yet Jesus moves on.  (pause) “All” who were sick, all who had demons were brought to Jesus.  But… “Many” were healed.

 When God created the world, he created everything – including humanity in his image. God’s creation was whole; it was healthy; it was perfect.  God created shalom –wholeness, well-being, peace.  There was no brokenness nor sin nor heartache nor disease.

Jesus came to restore shalom to God’s creation – to bring God’s kingdom to earth.  Jesus came to bring healing and restoration to creation.  Jesus’ healing touches the whole person – the physical, the mental, the spiritual.  Jesus’ healing brings wholeness.  The kingdom is all about renewing the shalom God intended for his creation.

Jesus doesn’t just heal the physical.  He heals the demon possessed – he heals the psychological and spiritual sicknesses.  He brings healing and wholeness to our minds and our hearts. The Good News of Jesus Christ – the good news of the Kingdom of God brings psychological, spiritual, and physical healing.

As you know, my daughter still suffers from debilitating migraines.  But I’ve seen God bring healing and wholeness into her life in ways I never would have imagined; ways I didn’t know she needed.  But God knew.  And in March, she’s having a surgery that could heal her migraines completely.  We are still praying for healing.

Where in your life do you need healing?  How do you need God to bring wholeness and well-being and peace into your life?  Perhaps Jesus has already brought healing into your life that you may not have recognized?

Healing occurs when we can see what God intends for us – when we see the beauty God sees in us.  The apostle Paul proclaimed that in Christ we are a "new creation;" the "old has passed away;" behold, "everything has become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

Jesus stays focused on God by going off alone to pray.  Jesus knows what he needs to do.  It isn’t what his disciples expect him to do.  It isn’t what the crowds want him to do.  Jesus moves on to the next village because Jesus knows his mission. Jesus doesn’t get caught up in the fanfare; the notoriety. He doesn’t get distracted.

Jesus didn’t come to be some healing miracle worker to draw large crowds.  He isn’t a sorcerer who heals peoples’ aches and pains on some whim. Jesus can’t be distracted by the expectations of the crowds or even his own disciples.  He has a message – a life changing message for all who listen.  Jesus came to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God.  Not just to one village.  Not just to Capernaum.  Jesus came to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God throughout Galilee. 

The healing miracles that Jesus performed in Capernaum and other places through Galilee are a taste of things to come – when all creation will be restored to God’s image -  when shalom will be restored.  But for now, we get a taste. 

Jesus’ compassionate healings underscore what the restoration of the Kingdom of God will be like – complete fulfillment of fellowship with God and the shalom of all creation – under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 

May we all eagerly wait with great anticipation and hope for the time when Christ will come again and the Kingdom of God is fully realized. Amen.

Listen Up!

Rev. Debbie Cato
Deuteronomy 18:15-20 and Mark 1:21-29
Fairfield Community Church
January 28, 2024 

Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Listen Up!

 

Our Scripture passages today are concerned about who God’s people are listening to.  That’s a good question.  Who are we listening to?  There are a lot of voices competing for our attention.  What voice are you listening to?

In Deuteronomy, Moses is beginning to transition out of his role as leader of the Israelites.  As a prophet, Moses was unequaled.  Not only did Moses lead God’s people out of slavery in Egypt, but he performed great signs and wonders in Egypt while securing the liberation of the Israelites from Pharaoh.  He also served as the mediator between YHWH and the people.   Dt. 5:5 tells us that Moses “stood between the LORD and the people and spoke the words of the LORD to them”.  

YHWH promises the people that he will not leave them without a prophet after Moses is gone.  In fact, YHWH will raise up a prophet like Moses from among them.  The prophet who God calls to replace Moses will be one of them – He will be familiar with their journey; their history.  He will know their needs; their fears; their dreams.  He will speak to God on behalf of Israel, and he will speak to Israel on behalf of God.  Just as Moses has done, “He will stand between the LORD and the people and speak the words of the LORD to them.”

The meaning of the Hebrew root for prophet is uncertain but is most likely “one who is called” or the “one who calls.”  The prophet is the moral and ethical agent who summons the people to repentance. “You’ve sinned against God,” the prophet tells the people.  “You must change.  You must turn back.  You must repent.”  YHWH’s prophet holds us accountable.

YHWH’s prophet represents the single, legitimate mediator of God; whose ultimate word is one of hope & promise for the people.  The prophet, who is called by YHWH, calls the community back to the covenant and anticipates what YHWH will do in the covenant. YHWH’s prophet brings the presence of God when God seems absent – where and who is the God who let this happen to us?   We hunger for a word from God, and we want YHWH’s prophet to go and have a deeply personal and fervent experience with YHWH and then come back and share His word with us.  A word that creates justice, brings hope, and brings God’s promise to fruition.[1]  A word that has authority, is often revolutionary and radical.

Jesus’ invitation to the kingdom is certainly radical and overwhelms the very being of those he encounters.  Accompanied by the four fishermen Jesus’ called to follow him, Jesus begins his “kingdom campaign,” inviting the neediest to come along.  He doesn’t notice the great ones, nor does he call those who pose as the great ones or the important ones.  He comes to the desolate places, and there he summons for the kingdom those who are far away from the powerful kingdoms of the world.

Mark tells us that “they entered Capernaum.”  Jesus and Simon and Andrew, James and John, have left the bank of the sea that is a fishing and calling place of the messengers of the kingdom and have come to the space of security and tradition, where the old religious teachings have been shared for ages.  There in the synagogue, Jesus takes advantage of the Sabbath, the day the faithful ones meet, to teach them.  Jesus’ communication style creates vitality.  “He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes!”

The people listening to Jesus teach are delighted to hear a new teaching.  Why?  What was so new about Jesus’ teachings?  He teaches from the same Scriptures that the scribes taught – the Hebrew Scriptures.  Why were his teachings considered revolutionary and radical? 

This word – this new teaching with authority – defines Jesus.  It’s the reason crowds gather around him everywhere he goes.  It’s the reason the scribes and the Pharisees feel threatened by him.  It’s the reason in our Mark text, Jesus’ fame grows.  He’s getting a reputation as an up-and-coming prophet, someone who speaks as “having authority.”  Quite unlike the scribes of the day who were good at quoting Scripture, but perhaps not so good at living it.  Besides, the scribes were scholars, and just listening to them made your eyes glaze over. 

But not so with Jesus.  He has a “new teaching – with authority!”  Jesus’ teaching; his gospel message is a healing word with action.  You might say, he practices what he preaches.  He preaches God’s truth; God’s timeless promises to the people and He teaches through his actions.  The ways he loves the people; the ways he respects and treats those who are considered worthless and lowly and oppressed.  Jesus teaches through healing and miracles and exorcisms.  Even the evil spirits in possession of a man in their midst obey him.  Jesus’ actions; his very being, gives his teachings authority.

There’s a story about a pastor who preached an eloquent sermon one Sunday.  It was brilliant and fascinating.  The people in her congregation were deeply moved by it and said it was the best sermon they had ever heard.  The next week that pastor preached the same sermon, and again the people were excited to hear it.  But when that pastor preached the very same sermon, word for word, the third week in a row, the congregation began to wonder.  Finally, one of the members, shaking the pastor’s hand after the service, with a small crowd gathered around him said, “Preacher, that was a great sermon; thoughtful, insightful, even inspiring.  But some of us wanted to know why you keep preaching the same sermon again and again.”  The pastor smiled and replied, “Because I haven’t seen anyone do anything about what I said.”[2] 

The role of faithful people is to listen – not simply to hear, but to listen thoughtfully and courageously.  By learning to recognize and trust God’s true word, the people learn to trust God’s own self.  But unless people hear, listen, and then heed, nothing is gained.  God is not obeyed without heeding His word.  Without doing.

Where have all the prophets gone?  Where is this century’s Martin Luther King Jr.?  Where are the great prophets and preachers of old who challenged the establishment and called people to faithfulness?  Why must we reach back so many years to find the voice crying in the wilderness that changed the world?[3]

Who are our prophets today?  To whom do we listen?  Whose counsel do we value?[4]  When and why did the Church stopping being the prophetic voice in the world?

Perhaps if we actually lived and acted and treated people as Jesus taught us; if we actually practiced the teachings of Jesus, the church would still be the prophetic voice of the world today?  Perhaps the teachings of Jesus; our Holy Scriptures, would be revered today if we lived as we believe.  Perhaps people would see vitality in our churches. Perhaps people would say of our churches, “they teach as one having such authority!”  

We can still be that voice.  The voice of Christ in a world that is sorely hurt and broken and in need of healing.  A world that needs a prophetic voice.  It’s not too late.  We can be that voice.  Amen.

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[1] Feasting on the Word.  Year B, Volume 1. Theological Perspective.   P290, 292.
[2] Feasting on the Word.  Year B, Volume 1.  Homiletical Perspective.   P295.
[3] Ibid.  Pastoral Perspective. P290.
[4] Homiletics.  January-February 2012.  Volume 24, Number 1.  P 41.

When God Calls

Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
1 Samual 3:1-20 and John 1:43-51
January 14, 2024 

Awesome God, you knew us before we were born. You love us into life. Open our hearts and our spirits today to hear your word for us. And, upon hearing the word, may we be convinced of our call to ministry and mission through the church. Bless us with your presence and your powerful love, for we ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

When God Calls

 

God’s been calling us since the beginning of time.  God said, “Let us make humankind in our image.”  God speaks the words and man and woman are created.  Adam and Eve ….. you and me…. exist because God called us into being.  And God said it was very good.

God calls Abram to be the father of all nations.  God tells Abram and Sara that even though they are biologically too old – they will have many descendants.  They laugh!  It seems impossible. Sarah is 99 years old! But God calls and overlooking a few “I’ll help God” escapades, Abraham and Sarah trust God and follow his call. 

God calls Moses to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt.  Moses protests – I’m not a good speaker, He tells God.  But God calls Moses anyway.  And fighting and kicking all the way…. Moses responds to God’s call.

 Each of these people, God calls personally - by name.  I could continue to list folks that God calls by name… Deborah, Ruth, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah.  And Samuel.  

I like Samuel; I guess because I can relate to Samuel’s response when God calls him.  Even though Samuel was in the temple when God calls, he doesn’t recognize God’s voice.  You see, he isn’t expecting to hear from God.  So the first time God calls Samuel, he figures it was the priest - Eli.  No.  It wasn’t Eli. 

The second time God calls, Samuel still doesn’t think its God. He doesn’t even consider it could be God calling him.  In fact, God doesn’t even enter into the equation.  It has to be Eli. Samuel goes into Eli’s house again - only to be told that ‘No, I’m not calling you, Samuel.’  This happens a third time and this time Eli, who is very wise says, ‘Aha. Samuel, It’s God calling you, not me!  Go back and listen.’   Wise advice.   Go back and listen.   Listen.

You see, I get this.  It’s a little bit like when God first called me to ministry.  Back in 1999, successful in my career, I felt like I needed to be doing something different.  It was odd actually.  I felt like I needed to do something where my faith was a part of all of me – not just a Sunday compartment.  Hmmm - God was calling but I wasn’t expecting to hear his voice – so I didn’t.

I took a bunch of personality & career tests to try to figure out what I wanted to do.  Three out of three tests – 100% - said I belonged in ministry. I remember going home and telling my girls about these tests.  Jessica was about 12 years old.  I remember her looking at me and saying, “Mom.  I want to support you in this, but I just can’t be the daughter of a minister.”  My response was just as adamant.  “Oh, don’t worry.  I’m not going to be a minister.”   God was calling me again, but I didn’t recognize his voice.

Few years later – it’s 2003.  I have this deep desire to go to seminary.  Didn’t know why but it was overwhelming.  So I applied to seminary and to my shock I was accepted!  Of course I knew I was NOT going to be a pastor.  After a semester of classes, I met with my advisor and he asked me why I wasn’t working toward a Master of Divinity.  “Oh,” I said, “because, God is not calling me to be a pastor.  I don’t really know why I’m here.  I just want to learn more theology.”  “Well,” he said.  “I would like to ask you to pray about that.  Because we think you are called to pastoral ministry.”  

Did you recognize it?  The third time God called me?  Well I didn’t.  God used a battery of personality tests, a yearning in my own heart, and a seminary advisor to call me…. but I wasn’t expecting to hear God’s voice, so I didn’t.  It took me another year to hear God’s voice; to hear God calling me.  I thought I was in charge of my future.  I thought I was making the decisions.  It never dawned on me that God would call someone like me.  After all, I was too broken, too full of sin for God to call me.

But God doesn’t call the people we might expect him to call.  Just look at who Jesus calls as his disciples.  Not the leaders of the community.  Not the folks we would consider qualified – those that are well-educated and well-spoken and well-respected.  Jesus calls a bunch of ordinary folks – like you and me to follow him.

Like God, Jesus’ calls his disciples by name.  Simon…Andrew he calls.  Come follow me.  Philip.  Nathanael.  Come follow me.  One by one, Jesus calls his disciples – very personally – by name.   When Jesus calls Simon, and Andrew and Philip and Nathanael and the other disciples, it changes their lives.  It’s radical.  “Come follow me” he says.  He means that things will never be the same. Their lives belong to Christ.

Jesus calls each of us as well.  Like His call to His first disciples, he calls us by name.  Darcia, come follow me.  Cindy, come follow me.  Barbara, come follow me.  (pause)  Do you believe that Jesus called you?  Do you believe that He still calls you?

Well, I do!  We belong to Christ.  He says, “Come follow me.”  Jesus called your name. He put a yearning in your heart; and He brought you here.  (pause)  Christ calls every one of us- at different times; in different seasons; to different things.  And when he does, our life is never the same again.

How do I know this?   Well…. I’m here, aren’t I?!  When God calls us we have no idea what wonderful plans he has for us.  Perhaps when He calls us it’s a test of faith and obedience.  Or, perhaps it has nothing to do with us – but everything for God’s bigger plan.  It doesn’t really matter.  Because I know with certainty God calls each and  every one of us.  You see, he doesn’t just call us to ministry.  Janel, I believe God called you to teach and work with young children.  Look at how many lives you’ve touched.  Scott, God called you to work with the elderly; to show them love and compassion. Sandy, I think about the lives you touch greeting people at the dentist and making their days better.  Those of you that stayed home and cared for children and are now caring for grandchildren – pricelessly impacting their lives forever.   Joe & Patti – there’s no doubt that God called you to foster young children and love on them and plant seeds that will be with them forever. I think about Breanna and Molly and the friends they impact with their kind hearts and loving spirits.  Gene, your years in law enforcement and how you treated your fellow officers and the people you came across work.  These are all callings, friends.  I bet many of you have a story when like Samuel, you finally figured out it was God calling you and you said, (without realizing it perhaps) “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

So here we are – you and me – called to this place in this time because God has plans for us and plans for His church here in Fairfield.  We are here because God called us HERE.  He called you…. and you… and you… and me here; to this place, at this time. He called us to part of His body right here in this community.  He called us to be leaders of His Church.  He called us to be His instruments in His ministry. 

God has called you here –because this is where you belong.  He calls you by name.  He loves you.  He wants you.  He invites you in.  “Come follow me,” he says.  And take my word for it, when God calls, our lives are never the same again.

How will you respond?  Listen.  Do you hear his voice?  Amen.                              

Shine Your Star Bright

Rev. Debbie Cato
Fairfield Community Church
Matthew 2:1-12
Epiphany Sunday January 7, 2024

Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find wisdom, and in your will discover your peace,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Shine Your Star Bright

 

Epiphany reminds us of how the light of Jesus Christ continues to guide our lives every day —even after we put away the bright and cheery Christmas lights. Epiphany is a Christian holiday celebrated in the West on January 6. The word “Epiphany” originates from the Greek word epiphaneia, meaning “manifestation” or “appearance.”[1]

The Western church celebrates the visit of the three Magi to the newly-born Jesus in Bethlehem that is detailed in Matthew 2:1-12. More broadly, the day of Epiphany commemorates the revelation of Christ as the eternal Savior of all humankind. Not only did Christ reveal himself as the Son of God to the three Magi, but also through his baptism as well as through his first miracle in the turning of the water to wine at Cana. The liturgical season of Epiphany officially ends the 12 Days of Christmas and stretches from January 6 through Ash Wednesday.  It highlights all these “epiphanies” or appearances of Christ’s divinity to the world.[2]

Within the New Testament, the story of the wise men is found only in the Gospel of Matthew. It spans 12 short verses. The wise men arrive in Jerusalem from an unnamed location “in the East,” led by a star and in search of a new king. They make their way to Bethlehem, where they bow before Jesus and offer gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Then, they return home by a different route.[3]

One of the keys to understanding them lies in what Matthew calls them: “magi.” “Magi” is a Greek word that is difficult to translate. Some versions of the New Testament render it as “wise men” and others say “astrologers.” But neither of these captures the full sense of the term.[4]

“Magi” is where the English word “magic” derives from, and just as magic can have both positive and negative connotations today, so too did magi have a range of meanings and uses in the ancient world. Some ancient authors speak positively of individuals they describe as magi, while others consider the label to be more of an insult.[5]

Who, then, are the magi who visit Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew? The answer, it turns out, is complicated. Matthew doesn’t tell his readers exactly what he means when he refers to his visitors in this way, and so it is up to us to figure it out.

Biblical scholars often argue that Matthew intended for the magi in his Gospel to be understood as gentiles or non-Jews who come to Bethlehem to worship Jesus. They surmise that this story is meant to foreshadow the fact that Christianity would eventually become a gentile religious movement instead of a Jewish one.[6]

The argument that the magi are meant to be understood as gentiles is based in part on the fact that they come to Jerusalem and Bethlehem “from the East,” which could suggest that they are “outsiders.”

One of the spiritual rituals we practice on Epiphany is receiving star words.  Passing out “star words” has been a practice in Protestant churches for nearly a decade and continues to flourish in congregations. The annual ritual derives from the story of the brilliant star that led the three Magi to the Christ Child. It was the new star in the sky that drew the Magi’s attention and it was the star they followed until they found the Christ child.

“Star words” are intention words that are printed or written out on paper stars. Each year, during Epiphany worship, members of churches – both small and large, are invited to take a paper star. Without knowing the word written on their paper star ahead of time, worshippers are invited to place their trust in the word they have drawn and to allow that word to reflectively guide them. The word we choose helps us prayerfully set our intentions for the coming year. Star words are a lovely liturgical practice that encapsulates so well the spirit of Epiphany: our ever-present hope that God is an illuminating presence in our daily lives, calling us, loving us, and leading us forth into our world together.

When you choose your star word, you will likely have an immediate reaction to the word.  But don’t settle there.  That is not God speaking to you yet.  Take the word and pray over it.  Listen.  Mull it over.  The word may very well mean much more than you think.  Watch for it to show up unexpectedly in your life in the days and months ahead.  Put it somewhere you will see it on a regular basis. How is God using  your star word in your life?  It could change the year ahead for you.  This small, ordinary word could have life-changing implications when God gets a hold of it.  You don’t dare put limits on God!

I encourage you to talk about your star words.  Listen to what other people say.  Listen to what they see in your life.  Hear how they understand the word.  Allow the  word to be an active part of your year ahead.

 Take a chance that like the brilliant star that led the magi to the Christ child, your simple star word will lead you closer to Christ.  That like the magi, your understanding of who Christ is and how he manifests himself in your life will grow deeper and richer throughout the year. 

God chose unlikely characters to reveal the Christ child to.  Motely shepherds and strange men from the East.  They all left praising God and worshiping the newborn King.  They left changed.  Surely God can and will use these simple words to change us.  To deepen our relationship with him.  A relationship that he treasures and desires.  Let’s make this a year of growth and adventure as we allow God to use our star words in our lives. 

 

Like the star shining bright over the new born Christ, lighting the way for

the Magi, let’s let our stars shine bright during 2024.  Whether we are at

work, at appointments, eating out or celebrating somewhere, or out in the

community, let your star shine.  Whether things are going well or you are in 

crises, let your star shine. Give people a reason to say, “What is that light

about? I want to follow it and see where it leads.”  Let’s be the song, “This

Little Light of Mine, I’m going to let it shine.”  The world needs it.  And so

 do we.  Amen.

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[1] What is Epiphany?  Presbyterian Outlook.  Katy Sheval.  January 6, 2023.  Updated December 23, 2023.
[2] What is Epiphany?  Presbyterian Outlook.  Katy Sheval.  January 6, 2023.  Updated December 23, 2023
[3] Who were the Three Wisemen that Visited Jesus? Presbyterian Outlook.  Eric Vanden Eykel, associate professor of religious studies, Ferrum College.  January 2, 2023.  Updated janaruy 9, 2023.
[4] Who were the Three Wisemen that Visited Jesus? Presbyterian Outlook.  Eric Vanden Eykel, associate professor of religious studies, Ferrum College.  January 2, 2023.  Updated janaruy 9, 2023
[5] Who were the Three Wisemen that Visited Jesus? Presbyterian Outlook.  Eric Vanden Eykel, associate professor of religious studies, Ferrum College.  January 2, 2023.  Updated janaruy 9, 2023
[6] Who were the Three Wisemen that Visited Jesus? Presbyterian Outlook.  Eric Vanden Eykel, associate professor of religious studies, Ferrum College.  January 2, 2023.  Updated janaruy 9, 2023