In this blog, we'll focus on the working being done at Sligo Presbyterian Church, Sligo, Pennsylvania. We'll also look at what's happening in Sligo, Rimersburg, Clarion, and all the other communities served by our congregation.
Showing posts with label Our Gifts to God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Our Gifts to God. Show all posts
During the season of Advent, we talked about how we might unwrap some of the gifts given to us by God through Jesus Christ. Well, now that Christmas is over, we've shifted gears and considered the gifts we might offer God. Beginning on Sunday, December 28, we started to focus on the following:
During the season of Advent, we talked about how we might unwrap some of the gifts given to us by God through Jesus Christ. Well, now that Christmas is over, we've shifted gears and considered the gifts we might offer God. Beginning on Sunday, December 28, we started to focus on the following:
PTL. Yesterday, the sun was out. The temperature was in the upper 40s. And according to the forecast, by Thursday, we may be in the mid-50s. In your face, Punxsutawney Phil. Six more weeks of winter, I don’t think so. You had your fun, but now it’s our turn, right? Of course, since we’re still in February and there’s a reason people say “March comes in like a lion, out like a lamb,” well, we’d probably be wise not to be too emotional at the movement.
And you know, when you think about it, that’s really an interesting thing to say immediately after the one day a year that’s all about emotion, and I’m talking about Valentine’s Day, a time of love and affection and joy for everyone in any kind of relationship, unless you forget about it or fail to buy your wife, let’s call her Debbie, those gifts that Jordan has been reminding me to get for the last three weeks: flowers and chocolate. Of course, if you do blow it, as I’ve done a few times, there’ll still be plenty of emotion, but they’re more like the kind you see on 48 Hours than a Hallmark movie. Fortunately, though, for me, this year, man, I thought I had it nailed. Now, y’all may not know this, but Debbie absolutely loves Snoopy, you know, from Peanuts. And so, instead of flowers and candy and a card, I bought her a Snoopy Valentine’s Day shirt. Pretty cute, right? I think so. In fact, I was so confident that I’d nailed it, when I placed the order, I could just imagine how happy she was going to be, when I handed her a little wrapped box with her favorite cartoon character hugging his very best friend with hearts popping out all over the place. Let’s just say, I was expecting to see a large deposit made to my account in the Rudiger “Love Bank,” which would be great because, to be honest, not only has my balance been pretty low for a while, I’ve been bouncing more than a few checks lately. But that was going to change, because thanks to my profound insight and incredible sensitivity, love was going to be in the air on February 14.
And you know, it’s also in the air today, because we’ve reached the last topic in the series we started right after Christmas entitled Our Gifts to God: Offering Ourselves to Our Heavenly Father. Now, as y’all know, for the last seven weeks, we’ve been talking about some of the gifts we can offer God. And during that time, we’ve considered why and how we might offer him our praise and our attention, our time and our talents, our treasures and our energy. And last week we focused on how we might give to God some of our enthusiasm and some of our passion and some of our emotions. And this morning, we’re going to tie it up by talking about offering God our love, something that, when push comes to shove, we might be better discussing and promising than actually accomplishing. And to do that, we’ll be answering two questions I know y’all have seen before: why should we offer to God our love and how might we actually do it. Now that’s the plan. And by the time we leave here, we should have a better idea about why and how we might channel our love toward the one who already loves us.
Of course, before we can talk about the method, I think it’s important to consider the reasons. In other words, why should we offer to God our gift of love? I mean, why should we offer to him our affection and our devotion? And why should we approach him with compassion and respect? Simply put, why should giving God our love be a big deal? Now, that’s the question. And I’ll tell you, based on what it says in Scripture, I think we have two excellent reasons.
You see, in my opinion, on one hand we should offer God our love, because it’s important to God. In other words, this is something that he really wants us to do. I mean, just listen to this exchange between a Pharisee and Jesus right near the end of his time here on earth, as recorded by the Evangelist Matthew.
After Jesus had made the Sadducees look foolish, the Pharisees heard about it and got together. One of them was an expert in the Jewish Law. So he tried to test Jesus by asking, “Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?”
Jesus answered:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. [Matthew 22:34-38, CEV]
Now that’s what Jesus said; therefore, I think it’s safe to say that our love is important to God.
And you know, that just makes sense. I mean, our love for God shows that we really value the relationship into which we’ve been called and that we truly appreciate the love that he’s already shown us. And maybe that’s why, according to scripture, it’s the most important duty for all Christians. In other words, our most important responsibility isn’t accepting him and it’s not believing in him and it’s not even obeying him, although all those things are important. No, for God, our first and foremost obligation is to love him, because it’s through our love, we enter into a deep and intimate relationship with our creator, in other words, the kind of relationship he wants us to have. And it’s through our love that we ultimately have fellowship with Jesus, something I believe God also desires. I mean, remember Christ himself said, “If anyone loves me, they will obey me. Then my Father will love them, and we will come to them and live in them.” [John 14:23, CEV] You know, as I learned from some painful experience in my own life, it really doesn’t matter how much you love a person, if that person doesn’t love you back, you don’t have a relationship. And brothers and sisters, God wants to be in a relationship with us. And I’ll tell you, on one hand, that’s why I believe our love is so important to God.
But you know, on the other hand, our willingness to love God, man, I think it’s good for us. I mean, it’s good for us as we try to live the best lives we can live. You see, our love for God makes doing that easier and less painful. And I think that’s what the Psalmist was getting at when he wrote this:
Our Lord, everything you do is kind and thoughtful, and you are near to everyone whose prayers are sincere. You satisfy the desires of all your worshipers, and you come to save them when they ask for help. You take care of everyone who loves you, but you destroy the wicked.
I will praise you, Lord, and everyone will respect your holy name forever. [Psalm 14:17-21, CEV]
You see, when we decide to love God, I think it connects us to him, and I’m talking about the one who already loves us. In other words, it completes that relationship circle, in which he loves us and we love him back. And I’ll tell you, when that happens, I believe we can experience peace, peace as we look at ourselves and our own weaknesses, trusting that God’s mercy is eternal and his grace is irresistible. And we can find comfort, comfort as we live our lives and face our fears, trusting that the one who loves us is in control and that he’s working behind the scenes for his children, just like Paul said when he wrote to the Romans, “We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose” [Romans 8:28, CEV] And we can feel confidence, confidence as we move forward into the future, trusting that regardless of where we go or what we face, regardless of the difficulties we endure or the disappointments we experience, God is with us and he’s on our side and he will never, and I mean, never let us go, something that I think Paul understood when he wrote to the Corinthians, “But it is just as the Scriptures say, ‘What God has planned for people who love him is more than eyes have seen or ears have heard. It has never even entered our minds!’” [1 Corinthians 2:9, CEV] I’m telling you, when we respond to God’s love for us by loving him back, man, that’s going to be really good for us. And along with it being important to God, in my opinion, that’s why we should offer him our gift of love.
And how can we do it? How can we give back to God what he’s already given to us? In other words, what are some things we might do to show that his love for us is not one-sided? How can we offer God our love? Now, in my book, that’s a pretty important the question. And I think we can get a pretty good answer by going back to what Jesus said when he offered what he believed was the most important commandment of all, you know, to love God. Let me explain.
You see, first, we can decide to love God with all our heart. In other words, we can choose to look past the distractions and make him and his will a priority in our lives. As a matter of fact, I think it’s simply taking a step back and relaxing and allowing the one who already loves us to work within us, sort of like Paul described to the Romans, when he wrote,
Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That's the most sensible way to serve God. Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him. [Romans 12:1-2, CEV]
You see, according to the Bible, our hearts aren’t just about one particular organ or one particular feeling. Instead, the heart represents our entire inner being. And so, when we’re loving God with our entire heart, I think we’re offering him our affection, the deepest emotions that we have and those aspects of our life that we cherish most. We’re also recognizing that he’s the Lord of our disappointments and our fears and our doubt, that all that’s part of us, and yet, he still loves us. Our affection belong to him. But that’s not all, because we’re also offering him our will, our intentions and our choices and our decisions. They now belong to the one who loved us before his laid the foundation of the universe. It’s sort of like that old saying, “If Christ is your copilot, change seats.” Our will belongs to God. And so do our thoughts, and I’m talking about our inner dialogue and those things on which we focus when we’re all alone. Of course, since we’re not perfect, I think we’re more of a work in progress rather than a finished product; therefore, we might want to show the same kind of patience to ourselves that God has shown to us. You see, for me, that’s part of loving God with all our heart.
And second, if we’re serious about offering to God our love, we can also decide to love him with all our soul. In other words, we can dedicate to him our entire being: our passions and our personalities and our priorities. In a real way, it’s anchoring our identity in God’s truth, using our talents for his purpose, and making choices that reflect his values and not the nonsense promoted by the world. As a matter of fact, I think it’s adopting the perspective of the Psalmist when he wrote this:
You are my God. I worship you. In my heart, I long for you, as I would long for a stream in a scorching desert.
I have seen your power and your glory in the place of worship. Your love means more than life to me, and I praise you. As long as I live, I will pray to you. I will sing joyful praises and be filled with excitement like a guest at a banquet.
I think about you, God, before I go to sleep, and my thoughts turn to you during the night. You have helped me, and I sing happy songs in the shadow of your wings. I stay close to you, and your powerful arm supports me. [Psalm 63:1-8, CEV]
Now, I think this is what loving with our soul is all about. You see, for me, it’s about surrendering, surrendering our identity to God and allowing him to shape our worth and our interests and our personalities rather than letting the world conform us to its mold. And it’s about following, following the example left by Jesus and to do it in a way that’s a whole lot more active and engaged than just talking about it or promising to do it. I mean, remember Jesus said, “If you love me, you will do what I have said, and my Father will love you. I will also love you and show you what I am like.” [John 14:21, CEV] And I think it’s also about resting, resting in God’s love. And even though that may sound a whole lot easier than surrendering and following, actually I think it’s a lot more challenging, because it means giving up some of the control that we value and some of the comfort that we crave and simply finding our security and peace and hope in God’s love and grace and mercy. Now, for me, this is how we can love God with all our souls.
And third, as it relates to our minds, I mean, as it relates to our thoughts and our imagination and reasoning, well, I think love is shown when we intentionally focus our attention on God, not unlike the people described by the writer of the first Psalm. He said,
God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won't follow sinners or join in sneering at God. Instead, they find happiness in the Teaching of the Lord, and they think about it day and night.
They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce fruit in season and always have leaves. Those people succeed in everything they do. [Psalm 1:1-3, CEV]
You see, if we want to love God with our minds, I mean, if we want to be like trees growing beside a stream, we might need to study and to learn, to study scripture and to learn more about the faith we claim and to move beyond just feeling God’s presence to actually understanding his nature. And we might need to seek out and to open up, to seek out ideas that might challenge some of our assumptions and to open up our perspectives so that we might understand more than we do right now and to shift from mindless distractions to intentional, focused thought. And finally, we might need to allow ourselves to change and to grow, to change when some of the stuff we’ve always thought no longer makes sense and to grow into the men and women God created us to be and to integrate what we know about God with our vision of ourselves and our world so that what we believe is in harmony with what we see. I’m telling you, we can love God with all our minds. And when you combine that with all our hearts and all our souls, for me, that’s how we can offer God our gift of love.
Of course, I sincerely hope this works out better for us than my Valentine gift did for me. I guess, you could say that I ran into a couple of potholes on the way to the Love Bank. You see, instead of having the shirt sent to the church, I had it delivered to the house. And since Debbie orders things from Amazon using my account (something I already knew), when it came on Tuesday, she opened it up, assuming it was one of those yard flags she’d ordered. Both the little wrapped box and the surprise were gone. But I’ll tell you, that really wasn’t the worst. You see, when she took it out of the package to show me, it looked kind of small, because that’s exactly what it was. For reasons I can’t even comprehend, I’d ordered a man’s small. No deposit for me, just another bounced checked. My gift to her wasn’t exactly the expression of love I’d hoped.
But you know, that doesn’t have to be the case with us, not as we make our own loving gift to God. You see, because we know it’s important to him and good for us, we can obey the command of Christ and offer God all our heart and all our soul and all our mind. This we can do. And I’ll tell you, when we do, I think we’ll be giving to God our gift of love.
During the season of Advent, we talked about how we might unwrap some of the gifts given to us by God through Jesus Christ. Well, now that Christmas is over, we're going to shift gears and consider the gifts we might offer God. Beginning on Sunday, December 28, we've considered the following:
During the season of Advent, we talked about how we might unwrap some of the gifts given to us by God through Jesus Christ. Well, now that Christmas is over, we've shifted gears and considered the gifts we might offer God. Beginning on Sunday, December 28, we started to focus on the following:
During the season of Advent, we talked about how we might unwrap some of the gifts given to us by God through Jesus Christ. Well, now that Christmas is over, we've shifted gears and considered the gifts we might offer God. Beginning on Sunday, December 28, we started to focus on the following:
Well, here we are, on what is for a lot of Christians the third most important date on any church calendar. I mean, after Christmas and Easter (and you can put those two in whatever order you want), today is Super Bowl Sunday. You see, for many very sincere and dedicated believers, right behind the birth and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, come the game, and the commercials and the halftime show, and it doesn’t matter whether you plan to watch Bad Bunny or try to find Kid Rock or, like me, do anything, and I mean, anything else. Still, I know it’s all important. As a matter of fact, in my thirty-eight years of ministry, today is the first annual meeting I’ve moderated on Super Bowl Sunday. Let’s just say it’s a big deal.
But how big a deal, well that depends on the teams involved. I mean, speaking for myself, the amount of enthusiasm I feel going into the game is directly related to the whether the team I follow is playing or not. For example, growing up in eastern Virginia, man, we were Washington Redskins fans, and so I was really fired up in ‘73 and ‘83 and ‘84 and ‘88. I’ll tell you, the ‘80s were pretty good for the burgundy and gold. And then, after moving to Indianapolis, of course, I started bleeding royal blue. And even though they were pretty awful while I actually lived there, (Those were the Jeff George/Gary Hogeboom years), in 2007 and 2010, man, I was glued to my set in Fork Union and Weirton. Of course, I really don’t have to tell y’all about feeling passionate about a football team, not up here in Steeler Country. You see, for most die-hard football fans, if you’ve got a dog in the fight, your enthusiasm level gets turned up to eleven.
And you know, that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about this morning. You see, today we’re getting close to the end of this series we started right after Christmas entitled Our Gifts to God: Offering Ourselves to Our Heavenly Father. And to this point, we’ve talked about giving to God our praise and our attention, our time and our talents, our treasures and our energy. And this morning, on Super Bowl Sunday, we’re going to look at offering God our enthusiasm, and I’m talking about our passion and our desires and our focused emotions. And to do that, we’ll be answering two questions that are remarkably similar to the ones I’ve already asked six times. First, why should we offer God our enthusiasm? And then, second, how can we give this kind of gift to God? Now that’s the plan. And with any luck, before we thaw out the pizza or mix up the Buffalo dip, we’ll have a better idea about how we can offer God something that we often reserve for our favorite team.
And of course, this all starts with the question: why should we offer God our enthusiasm? In other words, why is it important for us to direct toward God some of our passion and our desire? And why should we invest our emotions in the one who’s already given us so much? Now that’s the question. And I’ll tell you, I think the most obvious answer is simply that doing this kind of thing is exactly what God wants us to do. I mean, just listen to what Paul wrote to the Colossians:
Do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself, and not just your earthly master. In fact, the Lord Christ is the one you are really serving, and you know he will reward you. [Colossians 3:23-24, CEV]
And to Timothy he wrote,
So I ask you to make full use of the gift God gave you when I placed my hands on you. Use it well. God’s Spirit doesn’t make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control. [2 Timothy 1:6-7, CEV]
Now that’s what Paul wrote; therefore, I think I’m safe in saying, that’s what God wants. But you know, when you look beneath the surface, well, I think there are three reasons why God wants us to make this kind of offering so badly, reasons that I’ve got to tell you, just make sense.
For example, when we give to God our enthusiasm, it can transform our lives. You see, it can actually alter who we are and how we live. As a matter of fact, I believe it can change how we see virtually everything we do. I mean, remember how Paul wrote, “do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself”? [Colossians 3:23a, CEV] Well, if this is something we choose to accept, all of sudden, the work we do is different, isn’t it? I mean, all of a sudden, the most mundane chores become spiritual signs, signs of faith and devotion and praise. As a matter of fact, in a very real sense, our entire lives become acts of worship, because what we do is directed toward God. But even more than that, our motives and reasons and rationales are now also directed to God. In other words, once I’ve given God my enthusiasm, my passion, my desire, my emotions no longer can I separate my faith from my actions. Instead, I’m going to actively and intentionally serve him with what I think you can call enthusiastic love, and I’m talking about a love that honors the love he has for me, rather than whatever comes from some kind of cold and detached and sterile legal obligation. You see, it’s not because I have to; man, I want to. I’m telling you, when we offer God our enthusiasm, our lives are going to be transformed and that’s a good reason for doing it
And you know, so is how this offering can testify to God. In other words, we’re actually bearing witness to him within the communities in which we live when we allow ourselves to be fired up about God and his love and his mercy and his grace. You see, those around us can begin to understand the one we worship and follow and serve when they see the enthusiasm we have to do it. But even more than that, I also believe that the desire and emotion we’re giving to God are contagious. Man, it draws others to Christ by demonstrating the genuine joy and life-changing power of the Holy Spirit. You see, when others see our passion for God, I believe that creates what you might call a “magnet effect” that draws those who don’t believe toward the faith we claim and encourage fellow believers to keep moving forward. It’s like what Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
I don’t need to write you about the money you plan to give for God’s people. I know how eager you are to give. And I have proudly told the Lord’s followers in Macedonia that you people in Achaia have been ready for a whole year. Now your desire to give has made them want to give. This is why I am sending Titus and the two others to you. I want you to be ready, just as I promised. This will prove we were not wrong to brag about you. [2 Corinthians 9:1-3, CEV]
I’m telling you, along with transforming lives, offering to God our enthusiasm is also a perfect way to bear witness.
But even that’s not all, because I believe it can also sustain us as we go through tough times. In other words, expressing our passion, our desire for God can strengthen us when we’re feeling weak and empower us when we’re feeling tired and encourage us when we’re ready to throw up our hands and to give up. As a matter of fact, it can keep us moving forward when everybody around us is ready to quit. You see, when we tap into this spiritual fervor, this spiritual desire, this spiritual energy, I believe it can provide the kind of fire that we might need to overcome discouragement and setbacks and that apathetic “Sunday-only” kind of Christianity that’s just about as inspiring as a limp dish rag. I’m telling you, enthusiasm can act as fuel that helps us overcome defeats and disappointments, fears and frustrations, and all those other energy-draining battles we have to fight from time to time, because remember, like I said before, when we direct our desire and passion and emotions to God, it transforms routine tasks and mundane moments into missions of eternal importance. I’m telling you, when we offer God our enthusiasm, not only will it result in transformation and testimony, it can sustain us as face problems and challenges. And for me, that’s why it’s important for us to make this gift, the answer to our first question.
And as to the second, how can we actually do it, how can we actually direct some of the desire and passion that we feel toward our heavenly Father, and how can we invest some of our emotions in the one who’s already given us so much? In other words, how can we offer our enthusiasm to God? Well, personally, I think Paul offers us some pretty good direction in his letter to the Romans. Just listen.
God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.
Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. Love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more than you do yourself. Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. Take care of God’s needy people and welcome strangers into your home. [Romans 12:9-13, CEV]
You see, based on what he wrote, I think there are three very clear and specific ways we can offer God our enthusiasm.
For example, first, I think we can do this by working diligently. In other words, we can work with passion and dedication. Simply put, we can work hard, something that the writer of Ecclesiastes certainly had in mind when he said, “Work hard at whatever you do. You will soon go to the world of the dead, where no one works or thinks or reasons or even knows anything.” [Ecclesiastes 9:10] You see, I don’t believe being passionate about God is shown by sitting around, waiting for God to act and looking for God to provide. And it’s sure not shown when we intentionally move slow and gripe and complain while letting everyone know that unfair life is. Instead, it’s about rolling up our sleeves and doing what God has equipped and empowered us to accomplish and to do it with dedication and even joy, and it doesn’t matter whether that involves preaching a sermon, driving a van, or fixing a meal. I mean, it’s about taking seriously everything we do, and I’m talking about whether at home or at school or at work. And it’s about doing the best we can do, because we’re doing it as a result of the excitement we feel about God and not for human approval. You see, in my opinion, we’re offering God our enthusiasm when we’re work diligently. That’s one way.
And second, I think we also do it by worshiping passionately, by worshiping with emotion, by worshiping with desire, by worshiping with enthusiasm. In fact, I’m talking about worshiping with the same attitude the Psalmist told to the people of Israel to have as they approached the Temple: Be joyful and sing as you come in to worship the Lord! [Psalm 100:2, CEV] Of course, I recognize that may be challenging. I mean, it’s really easy to set comfort, not passion, as our highest priority as we worship God, and since I think we’d all prefer comfort to aggravation and stress and possible disappointment, it’s natural for us to like the old favorites and to settle into the familiar patterns and to base what we do on what we’ve already done. That’s really easy to do; I know it is for me. Man, we need to be aware of that. But you know, even though I believe all that’s true, I think the passion we feel as we worship God actually has less to do with the hymns we sing or the order we follow or even the comfort we seek. In other words, I think it’s about the attitude we bring. In other words, I doubt the most dynamic worship service in the world is going to do much for a group that’s already decided to be unhappy and passive and disappointed, that spends its time griping and complaining and reminiscing. You see, to feel passion, I’ve got to be ready and willing to express my love for God and to celebrate the hope we share, regardless of the music and the order and my personal comfort. And if I’m not, no special hymn or structure is going to change anything. But if I am, I’m not sure songs or order will matter that much. As Paul wrote, we really need to “eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord” [Romans 12:11b, CEV] whenever we gather in his name. You see, by doing this, by worshiping with passion, we’re also offering God our enthusiasm.
And finally, if we’re serious about making this gift to God, I think we really need to give generously. In other words, I think we need to be ready to pass on to others some of what we have and to do it as a way to express our faith in God. As a matter of fact, it’s really putting into practice what Paul challenged the Corinthians to do when he wrote, “Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give. But don’t feel sorry that you must give and don’t feel you are forced to give. God loves people who love to give.” [2 Corinthians 9:7, CEV] You see, it may be impossible to offer God much of anything when we’ve made the decision to hold back. But I’ll tell you, when we choose generosity, when we choose to view what we have as tools that we can use to do what God has called us to do, and when we choose to give a portion of what we have to express our love for God and neighbor and to do it with desire and emotion, with excitement and joy, when that’s our attitude, now we’re offering something that’s really important. And just to be clear, this kind of generosity isn’t only about money. It’s also about the time we have and the talents we’ve been given. You see, I seriously doubt that anybody ever gets to the point where they love to give until they’ve made the decision to give generously. And for me, along with working diligently and worshiping passionately, that’s how we can offer God our gift of enthusiasm.
And having said all that, right now, there are now only three things that separate me from Super Bowl: an annual meeting, a meeting of our Worship Team and probably a nap. Of course, since the Colts aren’t involved, I thought I could sort of relax and just enjoy without a lot of tension and frustration. But I’ll tell you, that all changed, when a member of this congregation, a Steeler fan, said to me, and I’m paraphrasing, “Man, you’ve got to be fired up about the game. I mean, you’ve got to be cheering for Seattle and against New England, right?” Now, I must have looked really confused, because he then said to me sort of like he was talking to either a five-year-old or someone suffering from brain damage, “The Patriots already have six; we can’t let them have seven.” PTL, now I understood. And so, with that in mind, right here and now, I make the pledge that I’m going to cheer for Seattle with all kinds of emotions and against New England with all kinds of passion. And in the end, I promise to be either elated or crushed by the result. I mean, that’s the least I can give back to western Pennsylvania.
But you know, regardless of how I approach the game, we can certainly offer the same kind of thing to God. I mean, we can recognize that, because it can transform and testify and sustain, it’s really important to work diligently and to worship passionately and to give generously. And I’ll tell you, by doing those three things, I believe we’ll be offering God our gift of enthusiasm.
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