Orange You Still Glad? Summer is again gone too quickly. It’s already Fall and getting colder. And in just a few weeks, on Saturday, October 18th, from 2pm to 4pm, we plan to have our 3rd Fall Festival. It’s a great alternative for parents when there is a concern for the safety of children going door to door for candy. I’m not sure if the children have more fun coming in costume, playing the games in the fellowship hall or collecting candy from the members who hand it out during the festival from the trunks of their cars. I understand there will be some of the favorite games from last year as well as some new games this year.
Orange is perhaps THE color of Fall. The leaves turn yellow and orange before turning brown. Round, orange pumpkins appear everywhere as decorations. Some have their insides scooped out and are carved and a candle is lit inside to make the carvings visible in the dark, especially on Halloween.
Halloween is short for All Hallow evening, the evening before All Saints Day. At one time, Christians kept a vigil of prayer on All Hallow evening. While we no longer keep this religious vigil, we continue to observe All Saints Day. This is a time to celebrate that as Christians we are ‘hallowed’ or holy by faith, through the blood of Christ. It is also a time to remember the Christians who have died in faith and are now sealed in Christ’s holiness and blessed to be in the joy and peace of His presence for eternity.
What wonderful transformation God the Father works in us. An e-mail I received compared it to how we transform a pumpkin into a Halloween decoration. Like we take a pumpkin filled with yukky, stringy stuff, our Heavenly Father takes us as His even though we are filled with yukkiness of our pride, stubbornness, doubt and all our sins, as well as, the despair of separation from God. He opens us up to show us that no matter how pretty we are on the outside, on the inside we’re filled with the yuk of sin. Then through the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross, He makes a way for us to be free of all that yuk and His Holy Spirit scoops all that sinful stuff out of us and carves a new smiling face of joy, peace and hope on us, putting Himself in us to light our path to heaven and to be a light to show His love, grace and power to the rest of the world.
Orange you glad God does all that for you? I know I am. May we remember this transformation God has worked in us every time we carve a pumpkin.
God’s blessings throughout this season,
Pastor O’Dea
October/November, 2008
