By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

If there’s anything that this past year has shown us, it’s the vast impact that just one person can have. The emergence of the virus has made visible how much influence we have over our surroundings. 

Whenever someone tests positive, they attempt to trace everyone they had been around. One person with the virus can spread it to hundreds of others just by going through their weekly routine–the grocery store, the post office, work. Anyone they were in contact with is now at risk of catching the virus.

I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. And I’m sure at this point, the last thing you want to do is read more about the virus. But I think the pandemic presents for us the perfect illustration for the impact of our church. 

Think about it. Every week, we gather–both online and in-person–at church on Sunday. We fellowship with one another, sharpen one another, and encourage one another. We sing songs of praise to God, thanking Him for all He’s done. We give our tithes and offerings, a way of showing that our material possessions do not belong to us, rather they are a gift from God. We sit and we listen to a sermon that challenges us and provokes us to action.

And then we scatter.

Once the service concludes, everyone goes their separate ways–different workplaces, different schools, different homes. Each of us encounters different people and have influence over different individuals. 

The hope and grace that we experience on Sunday morning should not remain in the sanctuary. Instead, as the church scatters, God’s grace goes with them, to be shared and displayed.

Just as a virus can be spread as we go about our daily routine, so can the Gospel we sing and preach of on Sunday. As you shop and do your errands, you encounter people who may need to be encouraged by what you heard on Sunday. Someone may be hungering for the grace that fed you earlier in the week.

This Christmas season, may we be reminded of the impact and the reach of God’s church, if everyone does their part. If each of us were passionate about sharing the love of God with everyone we encounter, the entire city would be covered in a matter of weeks. 

During the holidays, we encounter family we’ve not seen in a long while and travel distances to see loved ones. In this time especially, our church’s influence is extended. May we not let this opportunity go to waste. Let us pray, “Father, use us know to spread your love to everyone we encounter.”

Read more of this Advent Devotional and other Daily Pursuits at www.dailypursuits.blog