Hello ICC Family!
The week that Laurel and I spent in the mountains in Italy was truly refreshing and wonderful. I mentioned last Sunday that we ate very well, and we did not think at all about the calories. And so, we even usually had dessert! Laurel prefers all things chocolate when it comes to sweets, so it was quite a turn when after a few days she announced she was boycotting chocolate in Italy. The problem was that while she kept ordering chocolate things… and they would arrive to the table looking chocolaty and delicious… they kept turning out not to be chocolate at all. Because they were Nutella!
We are an international church, so most of you will know that Nutella is a chocolate-looking hazelnut and cocoa spread that is popular all over the world, and increasingly so even here in America. But for chocolate connoisseurs like Laurel, it is not the same at all. I confess, I don’t care for it much either. And if I was as much of a chocolate lover as Laurel, I would probably think it was downright evil for somebody to try to pass it off as chocolate.
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:14
Satan is a good deceiver and liar. He knows that the best temptations are built with a good portion of truth. And it is only after indulging that the fraud is revealed. That chocolate croissant looks good, but it’s not filled with chocolate at all, but a pale imitation called Nutella that does not satisfy. That is how Satan works as well - distracting us from what will bring eternal good and pleasure with a pale imitation that will quickly be unfulfilling. Distracting us from what will truly help us grow in our walk with the Lord by tickling our ears or dazzling us with short-lived distractions. Once again… we must be good students of our own lives in order to be aware of the areas of our lives through which the enemy can most easily work. And then we need to be committed to live in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ’s grace and truth, instead of the false light from the one masquerading as an angel. Temporary denial that leads to eternal glory is so much better than temporary pleasure that leads to eternal punishment!
I hope to see you this evening at our prayer and discipleship time. We will look at a couple of more things regarding temptation and also catch up on our hymn singing! Make sure you are planning to come to movie night a week from Friday on the 7th. If you want to see the trailer of the film, you can view it here:
I am pretty sure that it will not be like any movie that you have ever watched in church before! And hopefully it will challenge and encourage your faith!
Blessings to you all. And know that I’m praying for you!
Pastor Aaron
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