Flamebearers

North American Theme for 2026

A “flamebearer” can be defined as someone or something that carries a flame or light, a leader, inspirer, or someone who carries on a movement, tradition, or idea from one generation to the next. As followers of Christ we are invited into this movement of God all around the earth. We have been entrusted with this charge: Make His way known on the earth, and his salvation to all nations. At first this can seem like a huge task, but the good news is it’s not up to us to do alone. 

Imagine this….it’s moring, a little cold, and the sun is rising., It’s rays stretch out and shine upon you. There is something special about basking in the warmth of the sun shining down on us. That feeling doesn’t compare to the joy of the Father’s face shining down on us. Imagine when you were young and the face of someone you loved looking down on you in pure joy. The warmth it brought, the joy you felt, maybe even the sense of safety and peace. This is how God looks at you, His son or daughter, and his face lights up with joy. In this Psalm, the writer is making a petition to God to be gracious to us and to be blessed by Him. God is someone who is gracious and compassionate (Ex 34:5-7) He is someone who delights in blessing us and showing us mercy. As we experience this grace and blessing, we are called to share it amongst all the Earth! As we feel the Lord’s face shining upon us, we experience true joy and peace. This is something we can’t help but share with others. 

In the bible there is a famous story about a woman at a well. (John 4:5-42) In this story she is literally face to face, experiencing God’s grace and his face shining on her. Right after experiencing Him, she went out and shared the testimony and many believed. Just like this woman, when we experience God’s face shining on us our natural response is to then go and share that to those around us. In Psalm 67 the author is asking to experience God not from a selfish desire, but a desire to then go and share with the Nations. They wanted to experience the Lord so that the Lord could be known throughout that earth, amongst all nations. 

This week we will learn more about how God is gracious and what that means to experience and live in his grace. Once we experience this we can’t help but go and share it to the ends of the Earth. The only way we will accomplish the great commission is if we all have our flame set ablaze by experiencing God’s face shining upon us and then taking that flame to those who have yet to experience it so that the Salvation of the Lord will be known among all the nations.