2nd February 2025 

Tiny Joys

The sun came out this morning (I'm writing on Saturday this week!) and, after the dull grey of many recent days, to see a blue sky and bright colours on my morning walk filled me with renewed hope. On social media, one of the threads I follow is the hashtag Tiny Joys. Contributors to the thread note a small thing that has given them joy during the day - a good cup of coffee, an unexpected phone call, an evening in with a book, a beautiful sunset... I haven't contributed, but since following the thread, I have become more aware of those little moments in each day that bring me joy.

In our sermons at 10.30am starting on February 9th, we are going to be thinking again about God's heart of generosity and our response. If we truly believe that life is a gift from our generous God, then we will receive those tiny joys as a gift. As we do so, we will become more aware of the generosity of God, the giver. So, living joyfully becomes a starting point for living generously. We are not called to be a people who coldly calculate the cost-benefit analysis of every moment, every gesture. We are invited to be a people who rejoice in the joys, tiny and larger, that God generously pours out on us, and who live generously out of that rejoicing.

Psalm 100 reminds us of God's invitation to joy:

"O be joyful in the Lord, all the earth;
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with a song."

What might God be saying to us about our response to his generosity during this month? For some of us, there may be a call to new areas of service - in the church or outside. For some of us, there may be an invitation to notice within our areas of service the "tiny joys" that enable us to do so with gladness. For some of us, there may be a call to lay down something that has lost its joy and step into something new.

I was overwhelmed by the generous giving to our charity appeal during December, and I know how generous members of HTSJ are both in and outside church - with your time, your talents and your money. May each of us notice those tiny joys and serve our generous God with gladness this week and throughout 2025.