06/12/2022
Summertime Season
This Sunday, we are unplugging so that our pastors and board can take a short summer break. We will be back and refreshed next Sunday, we look forward to seeing you then.
Today, lets talk about Summer and rest.
As I look back at past summers, I see a trail of beautiful and bittersweet memories. There have been summers that overflowed with joy and summers filled with deep sadness and pain. The common thread is that every summer was unique and had its own tale to tell.
Just as every natural summer has a story, so does every spiritual summer. We will each walk through the spiritual seasons many times. Autumn is a time of change. Winter is a time of barrenness and preparation. Spring is a time of rebirth. And summer is a time for bearing fruit and embracing the abundant life that surrounds us.
The key to embracing our spiritual summer, no matter what time of year it is in the natural, is to remember to seize the joy of the season. This is a time to feel the heavenly warmth on our face and revel in the beauty that surrounds us. Relax, have fun, celebrate, and abide in gratitude for the blessings that surround. Fall and winter will come, but don’t let thoughts of the unknown rob you of the joy of the moment.
Summer is a season known for cultivating and bearing good fruit. Oh goodness, there is just nothing like a sweet, sun-ripened, summer strawberry. It is like a taste of heaven on earth! Our spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control must also be cultivated and ripened so it can taste even sweeter than the best summer strawberry. There is one sure way to do this, and that is to remember who our spiritual gardener is and to remain in him always.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 NIV)
Let’s celebrate our summers, both the natural and the spiritual, and embrace every story being written, because God’s hand is in each one.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV)
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV)
