Little Flatrock Christian Church

A young graduate longed for a certain sports car and knew his dad could afford it. So on the big day, he was infuriated to receive instead a leather-bound, embossed Bible. He threw it down and left for good.

Years later, after his father died, the son entered his father’s study with sorrow and regret. Sorting through belongings, he found the gift and this highlighted verse: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11, ESV). Suddenly something dropped from the back of the Bible: a key with a tag from the dealer of the car he’d wanted long ago. On the tag was his graduation date and the words “Paid in Full.”

How often we miss out on God’s generous gifts because they come “packaged” differently than we expect! At graduation — and throughout life — may we be open to every gift God bestows on us with a Father’s deep love.

Loren Eiseley, an anthropologist who died in 1977, requested this epitaph for his wife and himself: “We loved the earth but could not stay.” No one can stay, of course. We’re all moving toward that final day when “the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed and the fever of life is over, and our work is done” (The Book of Common Prayer).

On Memorial Day, we remember people who have perished in war, making the ultimate sacrifice to protect others. May God hasten the day when humans can solve disputes peacefully. We also remember loved ones whose stay on earth is over.

A memorial stone at Ohio’s College of Wooster, placed by a class years ago, reads: “United in time / Divided in time / To be reunited / When time shall be no more.” Christians believe that death does not end all. When our earthly life is over, we have the promise of eternal life — and joyful reunions — in heaven.

When Winston Churchill once dined at a prestigious London restaurant, he tasted his soup and promptly sent it back to the kitchen. “It has no theme,” he complained.

A good soup, he insisted, should have a theme. The same can be said of many things that matter: a good book, a meaningful concert, a memorable film, a powerful sermon, a beautiful work of art.

It is also true of a good life.

Joan of Arc, the French martyr, declared, “God must be served first.” That was her theme. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he desired to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 2:2). That was his theme. Again and again, we see that every truly devoted Christian lives with a central, guiding focus — an overriding theme.

That realization invites a personal question: What is ours?

Pastor and psychologist Dr. Curtis Nigh offers this challenge: “If the heart does not have a noble or goodly theme, then it develops an anti-theme.” In other words, if we do not intentionally shape our lives around what is good and holy, something lesser will quietly take its place.

To be a Christian is to embrace a compelling, Christ-centered theme. It shapes our priorities, our decisions, our relationships and our hope. It is not simply an idea we admire — it is the heartbeat of a life lived for God.

Friends, consider yourself invited to any and all of our Holy Week services and activities starting Sunday!

We kick off with Palm Sunday service at 10:15am on March 29.

The church will be open from 5-7pm on Thursday, April 2, to come in with your family or friends, and at your pace, take communion together to remember Jesus’ last supper.

On Friday, April 3, Mike Hedrick will lead a service at 7pm.

On Saturday, April 4, we invite all young children (up to junior high age) to hunt for eggs at 2pm.

On Sunday, April 5, New Salem UMC is hosting the Sunrise Service at 7am, followed by breakfast. Then we invite you over to LFCC for our Easter service at 10:15am.

During the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday (February 18 this year), Christians figuratively follow Jesus into the desert. Just as our Savior spent 40 days fasting and facing temptation, we focus on self-reflection and contrition.

In an 1873 hymn, Claudia Hernaman wrote, “O Lord, throughout these forty days, you prayed and kept the fast. Inspire repentance for our sin, and free us from our past.”

The desert experience of Lent serves a clear purpose, filling us up rather than depleting us. “This is what Lent is meant to be,” writes theologian Ron Rolheiser. “Time in the desert to courageously face the chaos and the demons within us and to let God do battle with them through us. The result is that we are purified, made ready, so the intoxicating joy of Easter might then bind us more closely to God and each other.”

God’s love is never meant to stop with us; it’s meant to flow through us. When we love others, we reflect his very heart. As 1 John 4:12 (NIV) reminds us, “If we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

This is the true mark of a Christian — love that reaches beyond comfort zones, opinions and differences. Jesus said in John 13:35 (NIV), “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The world is watching, not to see how loudly we profess our faith but how deeply we practice it. Every act of compassion, every gentle word and every moment of grace reveals something divine — God’s love at work in us. The more we give that love away, the more it grows within us, mirroring the heart of Christ, who gave Himself for all.

So ask yourself: Does the world recognize you as his disciple by the way you love?

Long before the manger in Bethlehem, the prophet Isaiah pointed God’s people to the promise of a Savior. In Isaiah 9:6 (NIV) we read: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Even before Jesus’ birth, His names revealed who He is and what He would bring. Each title carries a promise that still impacts our lives today.

• Wonderful Counselor. Jesus brings wisdom and guidance for every situation. In moments of confusion, we can lean on him to direct our steps with love and truth.
• Mighty God. He is strong enough to carry our burdens and powerful enough to overcome sin, fear and death itself.
• Everlasting Father. Jesus reflects the heart of God the Father, offering care that is constant and unchanging. His love doesn’t fade with time or circumstance.
• Prince of Peace. In a world filled with turmoil, Jesus offers a peace that goes deeper than circumstances, a peace that guards our hearts and minds.

These revelations about Jesus occurred long before He was born and remain true long after His birth and resurrection. We can, in the words of Scrooge, “honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year” as we head into 2026. The promises of Isaiah aren’t just to repeat at Christmas, but to carry with us all the year and to share with others as we go.

From the Bible Project:

Joy

We often think about joy as an experience of happiness based on favorable circumstances: a stroke of good luck, a personal achievement, or a long-held desire finally being satisfied. But when joy depends on circumstances, it fades fast when the good times end. 

Advent joy is not about general happiness stemming from good times. It’s a deep sense of safety and freedom people feel because of God’s loving character, which remains constant through all circumstances, and because God can be trusted to ultimately bless and heal creation as he promised. Similar to the joy a friend’s presence brings on good days and bad, we experience joy as God walks with us through the fluctuations of life’s positive and painful circumstances. 

In the Bible, people express joy both when God delivers them from situations of oppression and while still in the middle of exile, persecution, and pain. As people remember God’s loving, rescuing actions throughout history, they wait in joyful hope for him to act in the future, even when that waiting requires patient suffering. 

This kind of joy is about being united with the God who walks with us and trusting that he will one day wipe away every tear. It looks to the future but also takes root in our present reality. The season of Advent invites us to experience joy not because everything is perfect but because God is with us and his joy is already breaking into the world.

For more like this visit The Bible Project: Advent

Luke 1:39-45