| January 2023! This month at ZION Weekly Opportunities: Sunday Morning Bible Study – 10 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship 11 a.m. Sunday Connect Join us after morning service for refreshments Zion City Church since 1994! |
“Happy New Year!” is an expression we have been hearing a lot lately. I pray that 2023 will be a year of growth for us at Zion as we continue to be a light in our neighborhood. Many people put up lights around the outside of their house during the month of December called “Christmas lights. “ They even put up a tree and decorate it with all kinds of ornaments and especially lights on the inside of their house. They will usually put it in a window so all can see it when they drive by their house. Well let’s light up our world this month and throughout this year with the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ!
To spread the gospel with our neighbors we must actually cross the street and knock on their doors and introduce ourselves to them – unlike the couple I saw the other day at the coffee shop. They had come in together and they greeted one another with a hug at the front door of the coffee shop. They got in line together and began to talk with each other when all of a sudden one of them got a text on their phone. That ended their time together for I watched both of them sit down at their table and engage with others on their phones while sitting less than three feet from each other! How often do we live just yards away from someone and never take the time to reach out to them? We go about our day and never take the time to share the light of the gospel with our closest neighbors. And worse, how often do we allow the pull of this world to take us from our time with our Savior? He sits every morning waiting to love us, waiting to talk with us through His love letter he left with us, the Bible; and we just continue to text away with our so-called friends. Before we can share His love with our neighbor, we must spend time with the one who gave His life for us. Start your mornings this year with Jesus – you won’t be disappointed.
As I drank my coffee that morning, I continued to watch them text away on their phones, ignoring each other. They didn’t seem to realize as each second passed they lost the chance they had to talk and to be together. Soon it was time to say good-by and the only thing they had shared with each other was the table where they sat. May we never be guilty of wasting the time we have ignoring our neighbor and more important, ignoring our Savior who walks with us and talks with us every day.
Listening to my Savior, and sharing with my neighbor. Pastor Rick