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A Gift from Our Family to Yours
June 28, 2026 - For the Church at the St. John Church of Christ
Spiritual Discipline: Secrecy
It is no secret that most of us do not believe in secrecy. Anonymity is not our thing. Recognition, accolades, and the limelight are. We want people to know just how generous, smart, successful, and popular we are; we don’t want to appear to be a braggart, so we come up with subtle and socially approved ways of promoting ourselves and our image. We give money to causes where our name gets out. We name drop about who we know. We let slip how and where we volunteer. Every good deed we do sees the light of day. And every juicy secret we know comes out in our next conversation.
The discipline of secrecy is the desire to follow the simple and often hidden way of Christ. Secrecy is practicing the spirit of Christ reflected in hiddenness, anonymity, lack of display, and the holding of confidences. Jesus valued secrecy. On more than one occasion he told people not to tell others about things concerning him (Mark 1:44; 9:9, Luke 8:56). He also told others to keep their own secrets about good things they did (Matt. 6:3-4). A deed that exists for the sake of recognition is not for God; it’s for you. Deeds designed to create an image or support an appearance can certainly bring about good – but they are not free gifts. They are deeds bound to what “I can get out of it.” God knows the heart of your deeds.
Jesus was totally free. He gave gratuitously and graciously. He did not look for a return. Secrecy stems from the desire to share confidences with God – to play to an audience of One. Secrecy acknowledges that not all good deeds need public recognition, and not everything we know is for public consumption. Through secrecy we create safe spaces where people can freely be who they are without fear of dis-ease. Through secrecy we learn to give freely rather than for kickbacks.
Daily Verse of the Day
Worship Times
We meet together regularly on Sunday mornings. We would love to have you join us!
We have bible classes for all ages at 10:00 a.m. Following classes, we meet together as a church family at 11:00 a.m. for worship services.
On the first Sunday of the month we enjoy a potluck meal together following worship service.
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