Pastor’s Page | November 26th, 2025
Sermon Prep (Read Philippians 2:12-18)
Do you remember that children’s song, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine”? It is a wonderful song that reminds us that since Jesus is the light of the world, and since He lives in me, then His light ought to be shining through me. So, how does your light shine? Does your light help others see Christ? Let me give you an example. I have an old truck. The lights on my truck, even at their brightest, are yellow and dim. They are covered by years of sadness and decrepitness. I have had people ask me if my lights worked when they were driving with me. I once got pulled over for having a headlight out, but I was so accustomed to them being dull, that I didn’t even notice. So they do shine, but just not that bright.
My daughter, on the other hand, has a newer car that she loves and her lights are bright! When she has her lights on, she can see clearly what is in front of her and the people coming in the other direction are blinded by her light and tend to get their retinas burned to a crisp. No one ever doubts if her lights are on.
Still others have lights on their car, but for one reason or another, they can’t find the switch to turn it on. They decide to just drive around in the dark, ignoring their need for the light and the need of others to have their light. When people do see them, they ask them if they have lights on their car and when they say they do, they just laugh and doubt what they have said because they are in the dark just like everybody else.
Paul says in our text for us to shine like the stars. Think about how bright a star is. You can see from billions of miles away. We need to shine. Why? Because people need to see Jesus. People need to see Jesus living in His people. In this dark world, it is our high calling as Christians do shine bright for Him.
But shining your light is not the same as tooting your own horn. This is not about you holding an oversized bible for everyone to see. This is not about you telling everyone how holy you are and all the things you have avoided. It is not even telling everyone how bright you shine for Jesus. When he says this, it is in the context of everything else he has been saying in these verses. So, shining for Jesus involves us making the most of our faith. It involves us following Jesus in obedience and living in awe of God. It involves (get ready for this, because this is hard!) our refusal to grumble and argue. In other words, we let our light shine when we are living like Christ, in Christ, for Christ, and through Christ.
This week is Thanksgiving, so I want you to consider how you will let your light shine around your family and friends? Maybe that means not arguing over politics with your crazy uncle (or maybe you are that crazy uncle!). Maybe it means that you let go of decades of family division and choose instead to let the love of Christ shine through you. Maybe it means you don’t smack your nephew when he stands in front of the TV during the football game and he refuses to move even after you have told him a dozen times that no one wants to see his little fancy dance (whew…that one will be hard!). This Thanksgiving, remind yourself that you are going to shine for Jesus. Sing that song over and over and let it be your prayer. Let others see Jesus in you.
Some verses to help you in study: 1 John 3:24, Matthew 5:14-16, Isaiah 60:1, Proverbs 4:18: 2 Corinthians 4:6, Ephesians 5:8, 1 Peter 2:9, Daniel 12:3, Colossians 1:27.
Sermon Series “Discipleship Together A Study of Philippians”
12/07 - Together For The Gospel
12/14 - Knowing Jesus Together
12/21 - Following Jesus Together
12/24 - Christmas Eve - Joy Has Dawned
12/28 - SOUND OF PRAISE: MUSIC FOR HEAVEN & TESTIMONIES FOR THE SOUL
Updates, Thoughts and More
Are you excited about Thanksgiving? I am. I will be heading to visit my family this Wednesday and will be back on Saturday night. It’s always great to be surrounded by your loved ones. One of the traditions we have in our family (besides gluttony and football) is that prior to saying grace, we each go around and mention one thing we are thankful for. It’s a great way to remind us of how blessed we are and to direct our attention back to God. So, I want to encourage you and your family to do the same. You will be shocked at the impact this will have on some of your non-religious family members.
Christmas is almost here. This past week, we sent out an email for the Christmas love offering for our staff. We have a wonderful staff, and this is something that we do for them each year. I ask that you prayerfully consider donating to this as a way to thank them for all they do. We will include the letter in this weekly update.
This weekend is often known as rivalry weekend in college football. This is where you throw records out the window and just hope for the best slobber knocker of a game possible. So here are some of my predictions for this weekend: On Friday, Ole Miss will squeak by Mississippi State. State has a decent team; they just don’t know how to win close games. Georgia will run all over Georgia State. The big one on Friday is the Texas and A&M game. I think A&M has been licking their chops for this one. I think they win and they win big.
On Saturday, Kentucky must win against Louisville. I am manifesting this!!! We need to become bowl eligible and plus, I really just don’t like Louisville. So, Kentucky pulls off the upset (please, please). Vanderbilt is a legit team, so is Tennessee. I think this is the year that Vandy wins and has a small chance of making the college playoffs. Alabama and Auburn is always a fun game, but let’s face it: Auburn stinks. Bama wins big.
As for the NFL, on Thanksgiving Day, as I lay in a turkey induced coma, I will be watching Detroit pull out a close one against Green Bay. Dallas played great against Philly, but Kansas City is just too good of a team. And then I will be falling asleep as the Bengals give up sack after sack to the Ravens. On Sunday, the only good game I see is Buffalo and Pittsburgh, and I think Buffalo wins big.
What’s Going On This Week
Sunday (11/30)
Combined Service (Advent Begins) - 10am
Monday (12/01)
Stitching Angels - 1:30pm
Tuesday (12/02)
Men’s Prayer Breakfast - 7:30am
Wednesday (12/03)
Prayer Warriors - 9am
Sip And Share - 10am
Table Talk - 5pm
Youth and Kids - 5pm
Bell Choir - 6pm
Choir - 7pm
Sunday (12/07)
Children’s Christmas Play - 9am/10:30am
Women’s Connection Tea (Leanne Spark’s House) - 12pm
Christmas Caroling - 3pm
Joke of the Week
A woman got a pet parrot, but she was horrified to discover that all it did was say mean things and insult her. It was one bad thing after the other. She threatened it, but it still said mean things. She put a blanket over its cage, but it still said mean things. Nothing she did could stop it.
She was especially worried about this because her whole family was coming over for Thanksgiving. What if the parrot said something offensive to her mother, or worse, to her grandchildren. In desperation, she grabbed the bird and said, “I have had enough of you” and then shoved him in the freezer! She left him there for about 15 minutes and then pulled him out. The bird didn’t say a word.
When the Thanksgiving dinner had finally came, the parrot didn’t say a word the entire time. It was the most well-behaved parrot you have ever seen. After the meal, the Parrot turned to its owner and said, “Please forgive my behavior from before. I was entirely out of line.” “Wow,” the woman said, “glad to hear it.” “If I may ask,” said the Parrot, “what on Earth did that turkey say to you?”
Memory Verse of the Week
“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.”
~Philippians 2:14-16 (NIV84)
Quote of the Week
An unthankful and complaining spirit is an abiding sin against God, and a cause of almost continual unhappiness; and yet how common such a spirit is. How prone we seem to be to forget the good that life knows and remember and brood over its evil – to forget its joys and think only of its sorrows – to forget thankfulness, and remember only to complain.
~John Broadus
