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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 October 1, 2006  “Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.”    Demosthenes             In the last few weeks the Lord has blessed me with some opportunities to witness to people with whom I might otherwise have never had a chance to share the Gospel. On two different occasions folk from Grace families asked if I would do a funeral for a family member that did not have a church home. It was a great opportunity to minister to folk who were hurting and to share the good news that, as believers, we know there is so much more beyond the grave.  We know and can share that Jesus Christ came to give us forgiveness from our sins and eternal life.             As American culture is increasingly unchurched and since many people in our Grace family also did not grow up in a Bible-believing church (the majority of our church family were saved in adulthood), I thought I would take some time and share part of our ministry philosophy at Grace. Add to that the fact that the average person only deals with death of a loved one every fifteen to twenty years, it’s just not familiar turf for most of us and certainly not something that we look forward to contemplating.             Now some pastors will have a different approach from mine so these are “Carsonisms.” First of all, if I can fit it into my schedule, I am always available to conduct a funeral. To me there is probably no better time to share the Gospel than when people are very, very aware of the shortness and frailty of life. So if you have a loved one that does not have a church home and they need a pastor to minister, please feel free to call on me.             Secondly, I never charge for funerals and do not want any compensation. Now I want to be very careful here because this is definitely a “Carsonism.” Many pastors use the honorariums for funerals and weddings to meet extra needs. In fact, I was taught in Bible college to use them for my book fund. And the Bible teaches that pastors should be compensated for their time and ministry. The Bible, speaking of pastors, says that “The worker deserves his wages” (1 Tim. 5:18). But I do not ever want to be compensated for a wedding or a funeral.             Years ago I used to accept honorariums for funerals but had an eye-opening moment that made me start refusing them. I had just preached a funeral for a family that I did not know and was chatting with someone in the lobby of the funeral home, when a lady who was obviously hard of hearing saw me and asked, “Is the minister still here? Didn’t we pay him yet?” It was at that point that I realized that unsaved people see a pastor as a hired hand. Because God’s grace is free and could never be purchased, I want to clearly communicate that as His messenger, my “services” are free as well. I don’t want to do anything that might muddy the water and cause them to miss the message of God’s free gift of salvation. So I am willing to conduct any funeral that I can but do not want to be paid.             But I am very careful about what weddings I will perform. Periodically, I get calls from a couple that I have never met who is working their way through the Yellow Pages, wondering if I will perform their wedding. The answer is always “No.” I will not do a wedding for someone that I do not know and more importantly, do not know their spiritual condition. In a wedding ceremony that couple is making a covenant to God to be faithful to one another until death. A lost person cannot understand the seriousness of the marriage covenant. I also require several sessions of pre-marital counseling. Marriage is not about passion but about commitment. And I only conduct weddings for believers that I am also confident are believers. As a pastor, I am seeking to help establish Christian homes. If one or both partners do not know the Lord, they will have great difficulty keeping their marriage covenant. Marriage is hard work. It takes God’s power to enable us to live out the fruits of the Spirit in our marriage. But if someone does not know the Lord, they cannot receive God’s power that they so desperately need to have a healthy marriage.             And again, I do not want compensation for a wedding. Most couples are just starting out and money is not something that they have a lot of. But I do require them to go out on a nice date in the first six months after they are married and send me the receipt. I know that the tendency is to date before we are married and stop afterwards. And if they don’t, I threaten to bill them (I’ve yet to have to send one...though one came close ☺).              So, in a nutshell, that’s where we’re coming from at Grace in regards to funerals and weddings. These are areas that we don’t often talk about, yet are so important. And if you have any questions, please give me a call.