*drum roll* Ta-da! You’re the star of a 60 Minutes episode. You have 60 minutes to let the world hear your story. What will you do?

I’m talking about the 60 minutes that you’re going to receive as a gift this weekend. This is the weekend we change our clocks back, and get an extra 60 minutes on Sunday morning.

I know what you’re thinking. “The pastor is going to tell me to show up at church for 60 minutes.” Nope. I mean, that’s not a bad idea, but I’ve got a better idea. How about using some or all of those 60 minutes to live out your faith IRL (in real life, for my generation).

In particular, as we’ve been journeying thru this pesky little book of James in the New Testament, one of the phrases that jumped out is this:

Religion that God our Father accepts is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress… James 1:27

BTW, did you know that scholars now believe that in the ancient world, if you lost one parent, you were considered to be an “orphan”?

So what if you took those extra 60 minutes and used them to help out a single mom, a widow, or someone who was clearly in need. You won’t have to look far. And then if you want to come celebrate the God who has called you to this amazing revolution, by all means join us at 8:30, 10:00, or 11:30. But if the most you do this weekend is to actually live out your faith for 60 minutes in your community, that’s a win. And it’s a great way to embrace another phrase from James’ letter:

Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

I can’t think of a better way to invest those 60 minutes. And even though I said it was about 60 minutes starring YOU, it’s really about 60 minutes starring your Heavenly Father, who, as James says, “gives generously to all without finding fault.”

Oh, and if you’re willing to share your story here, that would be awesome. We’d love to “binge watch” the 60 Minutes episodes God is writing in our community.

-Pastor Mark

P.S. If you want to hear some of the stories of how God has been recently working, join us at 4:00 pm this Sunday, November 4^th, for our next Baptism Celebration. Light refreshments provided afterwards.