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Adult | Teens | Children

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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 2006

Grace Church of Burlington July 2, 2006 “If the choice of a marriage partner still lies before you, settle it in your mind right now never to marry anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus with all his or her heart.”   John Piper                                                 This past Monday was a Hawthorne family reunion, for the dead and the living. Some forty descendants of Nathaniel Hawthorne gathered in Concord, New Hampshire to watch as the remains of his wife and daughter, buried for more than a century in England, were interred in the family plot at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery alongside the author. "It's greatly significant to see the family reunited," said Alison Hawthorne Deming, 59, of Tucson, Hawthorne's great-great-granddaughter.             Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables, died in New Hampshire in 1864. His wife, Sophia Peabody Hawthorne, then moved to England with their three children and died there six years later. She and their daughter Una were buried at Kensal Green cemetery in London. Hawthorne's other daughter, Rose, returned to the United States and started a Catholic order dedicated to caring for cancer patients. The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, based in Hawthorne, N.Y., paid to maintain the Hawthorne graves in England. When cemetery officials in England told the nuns that the grave site needed costly repairs, the order arranged to have the remains reburied in Concord instead. And on Monday, one modern casket containing the remains of mother and daughter was put on a horse-drawn 1860 wooden hearse and carried from a local funeral home to a church for the memorial service. Family members and a group of nuns from the order followed. The procession, which traced the path of Nathaniel Hawthorne's funeral procession, then moved back through town to the cemetery, about a quarter-mile away. "It was a great love story," said Philip McFarland, 76, who wrote a book called Hawthorne in Concord and watched the procession with his wife, Patricia, from the Concord common. "It's a misfortune that they were separated in death," he said.             Today Jane and I are celebrating twenty-three years of marriage. It’s hard to believe that so much time has already past. One thing that we both know, though, is that if the Lord were to call one of us Home, no matter where we might be buried, we would not be “separated in death.”             I would not have married Jane and I know that she would not have married me if we had not known that the other had committed their life to Christ. Neither of us would have knowingly married an unbeliever.             Now obviously, our relationship will be different in Heaven. Yet, based on God’s promises,  we know that we will not separated at death but will spend eternity in Heaven together. Tragically, not every couple at Grace has that assurance. We have several couples where one of the partners is an unbeliever. It’s a continual burden and heartache for the saved partner. Some foolishly and in disobedience to Scripture married an unbeliever. Others came to Christ after they were married but their spouse has not.             Often those of us who are married to believers forget how heavy a burden having a lost spouse can be. So many things that we take for granted, common values, worldview, spiritual power, etc., they do not share with their spouse. They can’t even ask their spouse to pray with them or for them.             Then, at Grace we also have several single adults, many of them have gone through the heartbreak of a divorce. Some are also single parents trying to be both Dad and Mom while seeking to juggle the rest of the many responsibilities.             I’m so thankful that Grace is a place where people from all walks of life and situations are welcomed and can feel comfortable. But sometimes those of us who are not carrying this burden need to be reminded of others who are and to be more attentive.             So how can you and I help them? Let me encourage you to first of all pray for them. If they are married to an unbeliever, pray that their mate’s eyes will be opened and that they will come to Christ. Then, make sure that you seek to include them when you get with other couples and families. Also, if we have a church event, make sure that they feel included. If they have kids, make sure that you give them a little extra patience and understanding. It’s hard growing up in a single parent home. And continually seek to be an encouragement to them! It’s can be hard to stay married to an unbeliever and our culture makes it easy to bail. They need to know that we have their back and are supporting them both here and before the throne of grace.