The light shines brightest in the darkest places

The opening ceremony for the 2024 Olympics in Paris was a stark reminder that for Christians “This world is not our home; we’re just a passin’ through.” The French Bishops’ Conference wrote that though the ceremony “offered the world wonderful moments of beauty, joy, rich emotions, and universal acclaim” it “unfortunately included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity”. A poll showed that 86% of the population in France held positive views of the ceremony which according to its organizer was designed explicitly to be “a big pagan party”.

Such is the spiritual reality in a post-Christian, post-truth society. Will you continue to pray that God might use us and our congregation as lights that shine before others so that as they see our transformed lives, they may open their hearts to the grace of the Gospel of Jesus (Matt. 5.16).