Rev. Reed Lee Pedersen's
As much as I love warm and hot weather, it is hard to beat the beauty of fall. Fall is the time of transition and the time for change. It is the time where life still abounds, but plants begin to wither away. I love fall for many reasons. The colors, cool weather, and football are just three of a long list of reasons for loving fall. So what can fall say about our faith life as Christians? Changing colors: As much as we may resist it, change always happens. (Just like Mondays will always happen whether we like it or not) The cool thing about the changing of the leaves is how beautiful they become in the process. Our faith when we are young is “green”. It needs to be fed and nourished so that we can learn more about God and how to serve God. As we get older we change and so does our faith. It may be through joyous times and harsh time, but either way, our outlook on God changes. As we witness to these changes, it is my hope that you can recognize the new beauty and meaning and can bring to you. For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 Cool weather: That feeling of needing a sweatshirt or light jacket in the morning while fully knowing you won’t need it when the heat of the sun comes in the afternoon is my favorite type of fall weather. Cool but not cold. A reminder that while the Holy Spirit burns within us and provides us our faith in God, perhaps it can melt away some of the cold relationships we share with others. No matter how fractured and cold they may be, cool weather reminds us of the importance to thaw out some of our hardships with others. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25 Football: Playing football is what I miss most about the season of fall. It’s hard to look at the harvesting going on in front of me and not think of weekday practices and football games. Sure we can watch it from the stands on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, but it just isn’t the same when you have that view from the sidelines. Football has changed for me since my last game in college, but if I spent every football game today thinking about how much I miss it then I would never get to enjoy what is being played now. We cannot serve God and our communities and God the way we could have in the past, but if I dwell on the past then I can’t move forward. Faith pushes us to look around instead of behind so that we do not miss out on the blessings of today. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7 Points to Ponder:
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AuthorPastor Reed is a first call pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Andover, Illinois. Archives
July 2019
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