On the last day of the festival,… Jesus…cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38). A man named Sadhu Sundar Singh, who wrote in the early 1920’s, shares two reflections related to these verses from John. The first has to do with prayer. Singh writes: “In a certain desert, where there was no sign of water, there was a tree with green leaves bearing fruit. The reason was that the long roots of the tree found a secret spring of water deep under the ground and thus were nourished by it. Prayer is the hidden root which goes to the hidden spring which is God. Through prayer we receive life from God and strength to bear fruit.”  What an image to keep in mind in a world that can often feel much like a desert (even if it is of the snowy variety!). What an image of hope, just like in Isaiah: “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (12:3).  Yet, Singh’s second reflection gives us even more to think about: “In Palestine, I was standing near the River Jordan and thought: ‘This water, this fresh, sweet water is flowing all the time into the Dead Sea, but that sea still remains dead, because it is not sending out streams.’ So there are some Christian churches which are dead. The fresh water from Jesus Christ is flowing into them all the time, and still they are dead. “Why? Because they are not giving out to others.”  This, indeed, is worth thinking about! After all, the gifts of the Spirit, and really, every blessing, are not given to us only for ourselves. Our mission is always to the world for which Christ lived and died, and we as a church forget this to our own peril. In 2010, we as a congregation were able to do some wonderful things in our community and in our world. We adopted a room at Charis Centre – a women’s addiction recovery program through Union Gospel Mission. We provided a well, two cows and a plough and a flock of chickens to a community overseas. We supported the work of Lutheran Urban Ministry, our food bank, and the Christmas hampers. We encouraged children and youth both in our congregation and community through hiring a director of youth ministry and through enabling them to attend Luther Village camp. And I know that many individuals did even more!  In 2011, the opportunity is before us to see what we can do this year. How can we best make a difference in our community and in our world? How can we best share the love of God in Christ Jesus with a thirsty and hurting world? I believe that Sadhu Sundar Singh is right in his assessment. The rivers of living water promised by Jesus do continue to flow into God’s church, an image that was used both by Jesus and Isaiah to describe the Holy Spirit. The key words in Isaiah are water, streams, spirit and blessing (Isa. 44:3) – all marvellous images to keep in our minds as we come to God in prayer. Of course, these same things are intended to be passed on to others, in an ever-growing cycle of giving. For, as God’s blessings flow out from us to others, we will be amazed at how much comes back to us!