Pastor’s Message – August 4, 2020

Blessing The People Without the Crowd

On Sunday we heard Matthew’s account of Jesus’ healing and feeding many people. It is a “miracle story” familiar to many of us. There is the miracle of healing. There is the miracle of five loaves and two fish feeding over five thousand people. There is also the miracle that somehow twelve disciples managed to organize the people and distribute food with no planning!

None of us planned to be living through a pandemic this year any more than the disciples had planned to manage a pop-up restaurant in a deserted place. Sometimes when our human planning halts, God’s divine planning surprises us with miracles. It’s true that we cannot gather in a crowd of “5000 men, in addition to many women and children” (the Bible has some odd ways of measuring attendance, doesn’t it?). But we can still bless each other with our love and feed each other with encouragement.

What if we each found ways to reach out to five people this week with a word of love and encouragement? Here is an example:

1. Using our Back-to-School Prayer Challenge as a guide, contact one teacher to let him/her know you are praying for them.
2. Send a handwritten note to a fellow church member to say you miss seeing them.
3. When you talk to a family member, whether in person or on the phone, speak a word of encouragement.
4. On social media, go one step further than the “like” button. Leave a comment on someone’s photo or post about how valuable they are.
5. Send a text or call someone simply to say how much you appreciate them.

If each of us could bless five people this week, what a crowd of encouraged, beloved folks we would all know by this time next week!

all good things to each of you,
Dr. Darian

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