Aug. 15, 2023
The Bluffton Sun
Page 43A
FAITH
Seeing The World With The Innocence Of A Child By Rev. Christopher L. Thompson CONTRIBUTOR
In the book of Matthew, the 18th chapter verses 2-5 of the (NIV) we find these words, 2 He called a little child to him and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. During a Sunday morning Centering Moment, a reading entitled “STORMS OF LIFE” was shared with the congregation. “A little girl walked to and from school daily. Though the weather that morning was questionable, and clouds were forming, she made her daily trek to the elementary school.
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As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up along with thunder and lightning. The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school, and she herself feared that the electrical storm might harm her child. Following the roar of thunder, lightning, like a flaming sword, would cut through the
sky. Full of concern, the mother quickly got into her car and drove along the route to her child’s school. As she did so, she saw her little girl walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up and smile. Another and another were to follow quickly, and with each, the little girl would look at the streak of light and smile. When the mother’s car drove up beside the child, she lowered the window and called to her. ‘What are you doing? Why do you keep stopping?’ The child answered, ‘I am trying to look
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pretty; God keeps taking my picture.’ May God bless you today as you face the storms that come your way.” There are times in our life when we will have a whole lot going on around us. The way that we survive is through our perception of what is happening. This little girl did not worry about how she looked in the eyes of man during the storm that was going on around her; her only concern was how she looked in God’s eyes as she was pressing forward. There is comfort in knowing that we have the chance to enter the kingdom of heaven if we position ourselves as a child, humble, meek, and innocent. Let us worry less about how we look in everyone else’s eyes and start worrying about how we look to God. Rev. Dr. Christopher L. Thompson is pastor of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Okatie, SC
Connecting to God, Connecting to One Another www.palmsumc.org
Anna Marie Kuether Director of Music and Worship Arts
We are now in-person at 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m on Sundays Live-Streaming the 5:30 and 11 services. August 19/20 August 26/27 September 2/3 Human Theme “Woman, Great Keys of Heaven of Fear is Your Faith” Matthew 16:13-20 Matthew 15: Matthew 14:22-33 Shannon Bullion, Shannon Bullion, Proclaimer
(10-20) 21-28 Shannon Bullion, Proclaimer
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Hwy 170 between River’s End & Oldfield.
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