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Sermon Series:
Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2003

Grace Church of Burlington June 8, 2003 Two often neglected essentials to a healthy marriage are commitment and selflessness. "We rent wedding rings." Four tragic words in the window of a Hollywood jewelry store said it all. While a wedding in Hollywood makes all the grocery store magazines, when was the last time you saw a fiftieth anniversary on the same covers? Marriage has turned into a one-day event rather than a lifelong commitment. If there is anything on the critic's list today, it's marriage. Talk about bad press. Talk about a joke in the office. Marriage today is under fire. Do you doubt that? Listen carefully the next time someone in your office announces his or her future plans for matrimony. Just listen. Don't say anything. Listen for words of affirmation and then compare those with the snide remarks and the sarcastic jabs.  You would think that the person had just announced plans to buy a 20-foot pet python when they tell you their plans are to get married this summer.             Today solid and happy homes are an endangered species. Stop and think of some couples you know who were happily married five years ago – as far as you could tell, solid as a rock – who today are no longer married or now live separate lives, emotionally divorced, though, not legally divorced. If you want to add a bit of insult to injury, limit your list to Christian couples.             According to Dr. George Macer of the University of Southern California, "The decline of modern marriage has reached a point where a happily married couple seems to be an oddity." And if staying married today is rare, staying happily married today is peculiar, and, dare I say, abnormal. It's almost to the place where some may think that God's early words to Adam were, "It is not good to be married," when in fact He said, "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18).             Because marriage is under siege, it's natural for us to forget that strong families grow from strong marriages. We must make building strong families the end-all goal. To forget this is like building a beautiful home on a bed of quicksand. Marriage is the foundation of family life.             Marriage is also one of God's greatest tools for ministry. It’s one of the best places to demonstrate Christlike selflessness. As believers, our goal isn't just to build stronger marriages. It's to build stronger marriages for a purpose – ministry. One of my favorite Biblical couples is found in Acts 18. This chapter is filled with the extraordinary actions of an ordinary couple. Let me highlight two. They gave up a room for 18 months, and they invited a roaming preacher to dinner. Doesn't sound too difficult, does it?  Somewhere in the streets of Corinth, Priscilla and Aquila stumbled across a man down on his luck. Paul, destitute, homeless, and fresh off a demoralizing trip in Athens, needed a place to stay. They cleared out a room. Not for one night or a week, but until Paul was called to move on. Then an up-and-coming young evangelist breezed into town. After his eloquent sermon, Priscilla and Aquila invited him over for dinner. Acts 18 states that Apollos was gifted and passionate. Though he was accurate in his teaching, he was incomplete in his theology. This couple corrected him of his doctrine without quenching his passion.             A blue collar family with an extra room and a devotion to applying Scripture correctly. They hadn't been to seminary, and weren't vocational pastors. They simply opened up a room for Paul and a seat at the table for Apollos. Through their hospitality and instruction, they impacted two of the greatest early church leaders. What about us? Who could we impact that may in turn impact the world? Do you want to have a happy and fulfilled marriage? Spend as much time reaching out as reaching in. Please don't get me wrong, serving others is not a quick fix to every marital difficulty. Solid marriages depend on honesty, communication, and sacrifice. Time spent reaching in is essential. You should strive to meet your spouse's needs before meeting the needs of others. Yet if you want to develop a strong marriage and build into your marriage a purpose–ministry, you must take risks. Will it be uncomfortable? At times. Is it rewarding? Absolutely. There’s nothing better. So what does it take?             I'm gonna get really gutsy here. Find an individual in need. Just look around (you won’t have to look far.)  How about a struggling single parent or a couple with marital issues? How about an unwed mother or an emotionally hurting friend? Now, they may mess up your life a little. They may get your carpet dirty, but you'll turn their life around. And if you're not really careful, it may just revolutionize your marriage and strengthen the very foundation of your family. Most marriages with serious issues have one or both partners with a selfishness problems. Perhaps by learning to share with others outside of our marriage, we might learn better to share with each other within it.