October 2, 2024
 
Dear friends in Christ,
 
I love October. For some of you who are like me (hopefully, for your sake, that is not many), you can think of what it looks like on the sidelines of a college football game when the third quarter ends as all of the players and coaches raise their hands with four fingers pointing up. It’s the fourth quarter; it’s the most significant part of the game, because whatever happens here will determine the ending.
 
October begins the fourth quarter of our year every year, and begins moving us a little more rapidly toward the conclusion. In our part of the world, it is usually accompanied by a fairly significant change in weather and temperature which, to people like me, is very refreshing. And, with the amount of sunlight each day continually decreasing along with the much cooler weather, I always get the sense that things are slowing down a little bit.
 
In the little universe of my head, I have always appreciated being able to take some time every once-in-a-while to slow down, to evaluate, to reassess, to refocus, and to plan for what is to come. October begins to put me in that mode, knowing that fairly soon a year is coming to the end and a new one is beginning.
 
Helpful to me during times like these are the words that the Holy Spirit delivered through the writer to the Hebrews. In chapter 12, verses 1-3, we read the following: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw of everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
 
It is easy for me to “grow weary and lose heart” after everything from the last 3/4ths of the year has piled up on me. But . . . when I consider all those who have gone before me in faith, and also focus on the One who gave everything for me, I am able to put all of that stuff in the past in perspective, and run with perseverance the race marked out for me.
 
I invite you to join me this October as we enter into the 4^th quarter . . . “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.”
 
In Christ,
Pastor John

(next Weekly Note: October 16)