QUOTES FOR REFLECTION “There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.” ~Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), Scottish writer “God’s goodness is a communicative, spreading goodness…. If God had not a communicative, spreading goodness, he would never have created the world. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost were happy in themselves and enjoyed one another before the world was. But that God delights to communicate and spread his goodness, there had never been a creation nor a redemption. God useth his creatures not for defect of power, that he can do nothing without them, but for the spreading of his goodness.” ~Richard Sibbes (1577-1635), Anglican-Puritan theologian “So why did God create? Because God delights to spread His goodness. In other words, He is like a sun of goodness, blazing out with love. God didn’t create because He needed to, because of any lack. He created because He was so happily bursting with goodness. God is so overflowingly, superabundantly full of life in Himself that He delighted to spread His goodness. His innermost Being is a sun of light, life, and warmth, always shining out; radiant and outgoing!” ~Michael Reeves, theology professor and author “God is wonderfully generous by nature; to give is His delight. His gifts are immeasurably precious and are given as freely as the light of the sun. He gives grace to His own because He wills it, to His redeemed because of His covenant, to the called because of His promise, to believers because they seek it, to sinners because they need it. He gives grace abundantly, seasonably, constantly, readily, sovereignly; the value of the blessings is doubled by the manner in which it is given.” ~C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), famed London preacher “You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.” ~Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), Irish writer and missionary to India “The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.” ~Helen Keller (1880-1968), author and activist “Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.” ~Khalil Gibran (1883-1931), Lebanese writer, poet, and artist SERMON PASSAGE Numbers 6 (NASB95) 24 The Lord bless you, and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’ Psalm 67 (NASB95) 1 God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah. 2 That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For You will judge the peoples with uprightness And guide the nations on the earth. Selah. 5 Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. 6 The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us. 7 God blesses us, That all the ends of the earth may fear Him. Revelation 7 9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 22 1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. Matthew 28 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”