Sunday’s sermon, The Not So Secret Ingredient, was on faith. This Sunday was All Saint’s Sunday, which had my Father in Law in it. My wife lost her father this year, and he was included in the sermon.
Pastor Kristin Lee had one of our congregation join her up front for the message. She is a baker, and Pastor Lee’s message started out comparing our faith as an active response akin to how yeast helps flour turn into bread.
"* Gingerbread Man *" by pareeerica is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
The baker mentioned she had been baking gingerbread for over forty-five years. As we entered, we each received a 2oz souffle cup with two tiny gingerbread men. They were yummy. As the sermon went along, the point was that we should all share love and faith out of our gifts and abilities. That got me thinking about my lesson for this week and how the two might connect.
The scripture for the Sermon was from Hebrews 11:1-3.
1Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2For by it the men of old gained approval.
3By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
Hebrews 11:1–3 (NASB95)
The baker was sharing from her gifts: baking. Where does that put me? What are my skills and gifts? Well, I write, and I write a variety of different materials. I write my own Sunday school material. I write this Monday Morning with Jesus series. What is my secret ingredient? It’s my writing along the lines of the baker’s gift of cookies. However, along the lines of my Sunday school lesson, how do I grow that “secret ingredient” if I’m already using it?
1“Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
2“For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you.
3“Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
4“Lift up your eyes round about and see; They all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, And your daughters will be carried in the arms.
Isaiah 60:1–4 (NASB95)
That was the scripture from Sunday’s lesson. How does that mesh with the Hebrews scripture? For me, I think it means I’m to grow my actions as centered around the leadership of my Sunday school class. I have several ideas on this front, all of which I will implement in 2023. However, from the standpoint of my “secret ingredient” and writing, this Substack account, coupled with Pateron, will be central to my growth.
First, I’ll announce it here but will put it out in a more focused path again, too: any free accounts on Substack will be converted to a complimentary, lifetime “paid” account on 12/25 as my Christmas present to those who follow what I write. For those of you who have friends who might find value in what I write here, please share this with them so they can be on the list and converted to a complimentary account. My commitment to 2023 is to post the Monday Morning with Jesus material, but only over the paywall on Substack and Patreon. Substack’s minimum for the paywall is $5/month, which is too steep for most people. Patreon allows me more flexibility on what I post, but their minimum is just $1/month. If you find value in my writing, I encourage you to subscribe on Patreon, as I will be doing some exclusive PDF stuff you can get only over there. I’ll make more announcements on this later too, but this is the first.
From the standpoint of my Sunday school class, I intend to become more of the point of contact with email and organization for the class. This helps me be more connected with my class members and serve them better. I hope I can implement that one successfully.
I’ll close out with this question. How will you grow with others to share your gifts for Jesus? Answer that question for yourself. Plan how to make that change, and then implement that plan bringing that change to fruition. May God bless you and Godspeed.