As I sit here getting ready to write I am overcome with emotion about the number of people who want to keep the Martinwood Christian Church Facebook page open. We have decided to keep the page open and will support it as best as we can.
That’s the first announcement. The second is the 2024 Christ Theme. Christ’s theme did not come to us as soon as usual this year. For the last seven years we’ve announced it at the Christmas Eve Service, but this year was somehow different. Christ waited until I could understand His Christ theme, not mine.
The Christ Theme for 2024 is
2024; The Season to Restore
2024 is the season to restore hopes.
2024 is the season to restore dreams.
2024 is the season to restore love.
2024 is the season to restore peace.
2024 is the season to restore your health.
2024 is the season to restore your attitude.
It’s the season to restore your relationship with God!
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This year’s theme is based upon Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: there is time for everything, and 2024 is The Season to Restore.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
1There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Look closely at this year’s Christ Theme and you’ll see a pattern. The pattern involves you, not others. This is not meant to offend anyone or sound mean, but I did not mention, nor does Ecclesiastes, restoring relationships. It is intentionally left out because there are some relationships YOU cannot restore. They will only bring you down. Christ is the only one who can restore THOSE types of relationships, but we must restore ourselves first! We cannot restore something we don’t have control over, but we do have control over ourselves and what we can do for us.
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It’s the season to restore hopes and dreams.
Remember those hopes and dreams you had as a kid. Remember how much love you had in your teen years and how much you love you had when you got married or had an equally special event happen in your life?
That is what we will restore in 2024. You will restore you to the person who will reap the benefits of the Lord’s fruits called the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.