Rekindle

When the problems around us seem to big, I am grateful for the words of Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6-7 -

I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

This whole first day at General Assembly had this feel.  It had a feel of "It is time to go to work" and "no more sititng on the sideines."  But we don't do that in our power but in the power of the Holy Spirit working through us.  The Spirit that is not cowed by fear but has the power to overcome the structures and the opporessions that are present and at work.  The picture for today was of the opening worship which was inspiring and moving in so many ways, but especially so in the deep sense of the power of God and the calling upon us all.  But it could speak to just about any time of today through until our final vote for the co-moderators of the assembly for the gathering and for the next two years.

As we look at the world, it is so easy to think that we cannot overcome what is there. The problems seem so big, but God is bigger, more powerful, more loving, more gracious, more everything.  That God is lighting the fire and rekindling the gifts within us.  God did not give us a spirit of cowardice (fear) but instead a spirit of power, a spirit of love, and a spirit of self-discipline.  Amen.