Be a Luke, not a Karen or a Donald

(No harm meant)

 How much do you know about Luke, the author of the third gospel in the New Testament and the book of Acts? We know something of Peter, Paul, and even Mary, (Jesus’ mother), but Luke – not so much. His writings comprise a large portion of the New Testament, so where did he come from, what is his background, and is he a credible witness for the life and story of Jesus? In our Impact series on the book of Acts, this Sunday, I would like to delve deeper into this man who gave us so much of the life of Christ and early history of the Church. Interestingly, Luke wrote more pages of the New Testament than any other writer.

Luke fascinates me. He is one who could encourage us all. He was not one of the apostles, he did not have a prominent role in the spreading of the gospel, and many are convinced he was a Gentile, a Greek if you will. (This last point is debateable, but non-biblical evidence seems to suggest he was not Jewish.)

Luke is another great example of ordinary people making a huge difference.

Truth is, not everyone is a superstar. But superstars are superstars only because of the supporting cast around them. We celebrate superstars and want them on our team, but the real heroes are the ones that give them the puck, pass them the ball, or drive them to the rink at five in the morning.

You, reading this blog, probably are never going to be a superstar. But you can be a Luke. You can be someone who does their best to make a church have an impact, a company do extraordinary things, a community leader make a real difference.  A Luke is someone who identifies a leader and supports them in their passion, helping them to achieve their goals, and thus fulfilling the purposes of God for the church and in the community.

Luke was faithful to his friend Paul. (Luke voluntarily accompanied Paul to prison, in order to take care of his needs.) Luke worked hard, was willing to suffer, and accurately represented the one to whom he hitched his wagon to.

I think of the words of Jesus, “the least will be the greatest.”  In this world, the masses celebrate the superstars, but in God’s world it is different. The one who seems to be invisible, often forgotten, and working in the background will one day receives those immortal words:  “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!” (Matthew 25:21)

I want to encourage you to take to heart the words of Peter, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10) If you do, you will too experience pleasure of sharing in the “Masters Happiness.”

This week we will be going deeper into the life of Luke and how important the “Lukes” of this world are.

Sunday Celebration

We are meeting personally at the church Sundays at 10:30am. The delta variant has become prevalent in the region including Nelson and the mandate from the Provincial Government is that if you are in a building to wear a mask, so we are asking everyone to wear them until this subsides. Moving forward until further notice Masks are Mandatory again as well as physical distancing and sanitizing remains. We are so glad that we are gathering again, your presence is so important. The usual online options (Facebook and KCF.Online.Church) will also be available.

Baptism

We are excited to be having baptisms this coming Sunday, September 5^th at Lakeside Park (meet at the Flagpole). We anticipate starting at 12:30pm – after our Sunday Church Celebration. Come with a picnic lunch and let’s enjoy together afterwards.

Baptism is an important step in our growth as disciples of Jesus. A changed life will be your experience as you submit to the Holy Spirit in your dedication to God.

If you have not been immersed as a believer, this would be a good time to talk to Pastor Jim or Pastor Alex and find out more about this.

Pastor Jim Reimer

September 2, 2021