Ministries:
Adult | Teens | Children

Pastor's Pen's:
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001

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 2006

Grace Church of Burlington April 23, 2006 "Hard work and togetherness. They go hand in hand. You need the hard work because it's such a tough atmosphere...to win week in and week out. You need togetherness because you don't always win, and you gotta hang tough together."     Tony Dungy             Recently, I dealt with one of the less attractive parts of ministry...talking about money. It’s one of my least favorite responsibilities as pastor. I know that as the pastor, I’m to teach what the Bible says about every aspect of our lives – but that’s one that I just don’t enjoy. So I wasn’t exactly excited about sending out a letter for Easter to encourage our church family to pick up the slack. But I was thrilled at the way our church family responded!!  Obviously, we have a ways to go if we are going to meet our budget and move forward with our building program. I just want to let you know how encouraged I was that we had such a great response. And we can do this! If each of us will get serious about stewardship, in a very short time, we will have the land paid off and be in our new building. It’s going to take teamwork and commitment though. And each of us have an essential part. It was just such a blessing to see how so many of you have already responded.             In the New Testament believers in a local church are commanded to work as a body, a family and even a building. The underlying focus behind all of these Biblical analogies is teamwork. Team work is almost un-American. Be honest, do you enjoy being of a team or do you prefer to work alone? Most of us prefer to work alone. Yet teamwork is not only important, it’s commanded in Scripture.             Unfortunately, most contemporary Christians prefer not to be a part of the team. They’ll rationalize, “I’m just not a team player.” And there could be a lot of reasons for this. You might enjoy working on a project from start to finish or, you might be a creative person who gets satisfaction out of seeing one part unfold, and then moving on to another. What we fail to realize though is that the work of God is just too big for a one person to do alone. The resources are not there for an individual to make the necessary impact. We tend to be so goal oriented that we totally miss that it is just as important to the Lord how we reach the goal as it is in reaching the goal. Team is a critical part of reaching the goal and team builds body life.             In his letters to those early churches, the Apostle Paul continually emphasized cooperation toward mutual goals. For example, he told the Corinthians, “I laid the foundation and someone else is building on it.” Healthy cooperative effort continues far into the future. A church must stick together in order to realize the finished product. That means too that we must look for ways we can help one another to use their gifts and also make room for the “new kid” on the block.             But sometimes God has a difficult time helping us with teamwork because we are so individualistic and have so many personal agendas that we have a hard time “sticking together” as a team. We must always remember that God’s work in the local church involves many different individuals with a variety of gifts and abilities. There are no superstars, only team members performing their own special roles. We become useful members of God’s team by setting aside our desire to receive glory and praise for what we do. We become useful members of God’s team by setting aside our own preferences and personal agendas. And we become useful members of God’s team by being willing to sacrifice for the greater cause of God’s plan and glory.                Vince Lombardi was once asked what it takes to have a winning team. He said “There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don’t win the game. If you’re going to play together as a team, you’ve got to care for one another. You’ve got to love each other. Each player has to be thinking about the next guy and saying to  himself ‘If I don’t block that man, Al is going to get his legs broken. I have to do my job well in order that he can do his.’”  The difference between mediocrity and greatness, Lombardi said is the loyalty and commitment players have for each other. That’s makes for a great football team but we have a much greater cause...those traits also make for a great church!             In a healthy church, it’s more than just working together, it’s about caring for each other. It’s about the body! It’s about the family! It’s about the team! It’s great to see so many who are committed to the “Grace Team.” But how about you, are you committed to the team? It’s our “Coach’s” plan. Do you need to “sign up?”