Sunday at 10:00am.   

     

 

                      

 

 

Liturgist:   

Mike Newcomb                             

There will not be regular office hours next week.  Carrie will be in the church office during varying hours until the secretary position is filled.  She will continue to regularly check Zion's email and phone messages.

 

1st & 3rd Mondays from 11:30am-2:00pm

Eagles Lodge, 127 E. William St., Delaware

January 7, January 21, February 4

 

 

This week, as many of you know, Melissa and I were blessed to be able to celebrate twenty years of marriage.  We treated ourselves to dinner at our favorite local restaurant, 1808 American Bistro.  It was just a wonderful evening.

With one of our modern technologies, I took a picture of Melissa at our restaurant table and posted it to the ubiquitous Facebook.  Within moments I noticed friends began to "Like" the picture of Melissa and the sentiments expressed in my caption.  As I write this column, I see the posting has received 113 "Likes".  As a Facebook observer, I will suggest that is more than usually received on the average post.

Now, this is a a totally non-scientific and anecdotal conclusion, but I believe there is good news here.  It has been my observation that the Facebook postings which receive the strongest response are those which convey some good news.  Some happy news. Something special and important in one's life.  A special photograph. A birth announcement.  A graduation.  A special accomplishment.  If I gauge the response simply in the form of assessing the comments and the volume of "Likes", it appears as if people are making a special connection upon receipt of a posting of this nature.  They seem to connect to another person's joy and blessing.

Postings, on the other hand, which convey critical or judgmental content, do not appear to be as well received. They generate, in turn, judgmental and negative comments and are not "Liked" as frequently.  

What might this tell us?  Well, we might find a clue in Galatians 5:22-23, verses familiar to many of us.  Here, Paul identifies the fruit of the Spirit.  "By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control." Perhaps, sensing someone's joy in a simple Facebook posting, we connect with them through the power of God's Spirit.  We feel the power of God's presence in so many ways, there is certainly no reason to suspect God doesn't use Facebook to bring us the fruits of God's Spirit!

Possible?  "For God, all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26).

In Christ

Pastor Pete