Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Shalom!
On this Lord’s Day, we celebrate Circuit Missions. As Methodists, we know that Methodism was raised up to ‘spread scriptural holiness throughout the land’. By way of knowledge and conviction, it is through the proclamation of the evangelical faith, the Methodist Church remains true to its divinely appointed mission (MCCA Mission Statement 2012).
As I watched the moon on Wednesday evening, being revealed now and then being hidden by the clouds in a short space of time, I could not help to think how wonderful it is to know that we have a God who is the great Creator. It was amazing to see the moon doing its simple duty at the time by shining beyond the clouds onto the earth, and onto the manse’s veranda. Sometimes we may feel special, but was the moon shining only on the manse’s veranda, or were there people thinking the same thing that the moon was shining on something important to them? The moon was on a mission, as it is every month, and it gave no special attention to just one part of the earth, but to every corner of the earth. The moon’s main mission is to give light in the time of darkness, that is in the night.
Brothers and sisters, sometimes we are called to shine in the darkest areas of this world, sometimes we are called to shine in the brightest areas. The clouds may sometimes cover us to distract us, but once we stay where we are in the right places, the clouds will move out of our way, so that we may move to brighten a corner of this world. As we focus on Missions in our Church and as a Circuit, where are the clouds gathered? Are you stuck behind the clouds, feeling unmotivated, lackadaisical, stifled, drained, or tired? Are you reluctant to be released or are you taking every advantage when the clouds are removed? Are you ready to give up on your mission and your role in the church because the clouds have covered you just for a moment, or are you ready to say the clouds are gone and it is my time to shine? What is your ‘called’ mission? Whenever the clouds are removed, we must always grasp at every opportunity in telling others that Jesus is the Saviour of the world. Sometimes we just have to move the clouds ourselves if we are to grow. We must stick to the mission, stick to serving God to the fullest, be committed and dedicated to the work in which we have said yes to and fulfil our ‘Mission’.
The Rev. Otto Wade, Past Secretary and Past President of the MCCA penned in the Constitution and Discipline of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (2006),
“Moved by the love of Christ constraining us, as we sail as a Church under the aegis of Christ our head and Methodism our heritage into the cardinal points to fulfil our mission.”
Shine for Jesus and fulfil your God given mission. Serve your church with humility and tell all the world that Jesus is Lord. Brothers and sisters, let us shine like the moon in every corner of the earth!
Your sister in Christ,
Rev. Stacia