This time of year can feel gloomy after the clocks have gone back and the days grow shorter and the nights longer.
But the good news is that we can experience ‘light’ all year round, 24/7!
Jesus tells us that he is the light of the world and that whoever follows him, will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (you can find this in the Bible, the book of John, chapter 8, verse 12).
Jesus is with us, shining his light and bringing us his love, all of the time, day by day, in every situation.
Once we hear about Jesus and decide to follow him, we are then called to share that Good News of Jesus day by day, Sunday to Saturday. As we follow Jesus more closely, we begin our journey with Him and we live out our faith day by day. By doing this we shine as a light for Christ in all we do and say, in every place and with all people.
The wonderful thing about being a light for Christ, is that we reflect the Light of Christ and the world becomes a brighter place.
In the Diocese of Sheffield, we have some resources to help us with this (often tricky!) challenge to be a light for Christ, it’s originally called “Lights for Christ”!
If you’d like to find out more click here.
Church leaders across the Diocese are using these resources to help and support their congregations and communities find out more about being a light for Christ, Sunday to Saturday in a range of different ways.
Rev Marie Raffay, priest in charge of Holy Trinity Wentworth and Harley Mission, has recently been chatting to the Diocese’s Lights for Christ Enabler, Chrissy Moorey, about how she and her team have been using the Lights for Christ materials in their context.
Rev Marie explains how the materials have helped them in a number of ways, from their Mission Action Planning and informing their mission, vision and identity statements to helping parishioners understand more about what being a Light for Christ might look like, through a series of sermons. She comments how people are now seeing the connection between daily actions and being a light for Christ. Rev Marie encourages other church leaders and parishioners to use the Lights for Christ materials, commenting that they “provide us with such a valuable tool to make sure we’re prioritising helping people grow as disciples and sharing our faith…..do go for it….I’m sure you’ll find them useful”.
To hear more from Rev Marie, have a look at this short video:
If you are a church leader and would like to have a chat over a coffee about how Lights for Christ could work in your church context, please contact our Lights for Christ Enabler, Chrissy Moorey: christine.moorey@sheffield.anglican.org