Pastor’s Message for December 2022

Blessed Advent, Friends!

     When I was a youngster, there was nothing that I wanted more for Christmas than a Nintendo Entertainment System. I begged. I pleaded. I even pouted a time or two. Oh how I longed to squash Koopa Troops with Mario and slay evil monsters with Link from the Legend of Zelda. I couldn’t think of anything in life that I wanted more than that Nintendo.

     You can imagine my delight when I found my brand-new Nintendo Entertainment System (with Super Mario and Duck Hunt included) under the Christmas tree. Oh, it was the best Christmas ever! I spent hours playing those video games. I squashed Koopa Troops with Mario. I slayed evil monsters with Link. I couldn’t have been happier. What a perfect Christmas gift!

     But then, about a year later the Super Nintendo Entertainment System came out. It had a 16-bit processor! It had Super graphics and stereo sound! Forget Super Mario Brothers; it had Super Mario World (with Yoshi)! It had Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past! Suddenly, my Nintendo Entertainment System wasn’t good enough. Now I had to have a Super Nintendo!

     You can imagine my delight when I found it under my Christmas tree, just two years after I’d received my old Nintendo. Of course my happiness only lasted until the Nintendo 64 came along…

     And so it goes. We’re always looking for the next big thing. Those things which seem so important now will eventually become yesterday’s news. Something better will come along, and we will never be satisfied with what we have.

     Jesus knows this about us. Only Jesus has the ability to satisfy our longings sufficiently. Whatever material thing it is that we want, whether it be the latest toy, the biggest house, the fastest car, or even the most friends on social media, those things are unable to satisfy the desires of our heart. We will always be looking for the shiny and new.

     As Christmas approaches, my prayer for you is that you find your heart filled to overflowing, not by the material goods which you might find under your tree, but by the only One who can satisfy your soul.

God loves you, and so do I,
Pastor Jim