ON THE BULLETIN BOARD

• February 5 th

• February 18 th

 Mardi Gras

 Jesus, forever

 To pray

  To pray is to seek communion with the very spirit of a holy God. To pray is not primarily to ask for things, but reverently to receive a Presence. To pray is to open our innermost self to the royal entry of the eternal Lord. To pray is to expose one's secret being to the purifying fires of God's holy grace and love.

     God says, "Yes!"

St. Paul told the Corinthian church that God's message to us in Christ is not "Yes and No," but is always 'Yes." "For in him,' Paul wrote, "every one of God's promises is a "yes" ( 2 Corinthians 1:18-20, NRSV).

The unspeakable horrors we see in today's turbulent world bear witness that a great many are saying "No!" to goodness and love and peace on Earth. Even so, God says "Yes!" to the world, the proof being the promise of God fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Christ came bearing love and mercy and salvation for the entire world. Christ is God's way of saying "Yes" there is a way out of the morass of sin and destruction and death. It is through the one who came that we might have life and have it abundantly ( see John 10:10).

The love of Christ controls us

Giving to God depends on only one thing love. God so loved the world the He gave His Son. The Christian gives too because He loves.

We give to God  not out of a sense of duty. We give out of something higher than duty. We give because we love. "The love of Christ controls us", writes St. Paul. When the love of Christ is the controlling force in our lives, it is easy to give sacrificially, to pray daily, to come to church every Sunday, to witness, to help our neighbor. But when the love of Christ is not the motivating force in our lives, then all these actions become unpleasant duties. as love makes it easy for a mother to watch over a sick child, so love counts it joy for us to labor, to suffer, to give for our blessed Master. Whoever has a heart full of love always has something to give.

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