Ministries:
Adult | Teens | Children

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

Sermon Series:
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
carson@gracechurchwi.org

Secretary Patti Hall
pattihall@gracechurchwi.org

PASTOR'S PENS 2007

Grace Church of Burlington February 11, 2007 “Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor but rather act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”                                                                                         C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity             In the Church of Jesus Christ we talk a lot about love yet I’m not sure that we really have a clue of what love is. One man decided to show his wife how much he loved her. Before going home from work, he showered, shaved, put on some choice cologne, and then bought her a bouquet of flowers. He went to the front door and knocked. His wife answered the door and exclaimed, "Oh no! This has been a terrible day! First I had to take Billy to the emergency room and get stitches in his leg. Then your mother called and said she’s coming to visit for two weeks. Then the washing machine broke, and now this! You come home drunk!"  But at least that spouse tried. And most of us try, we just don’t always know how to express love. I also doubt that today I’m going to tell you anything new...these are just reminders that most of us need. So let me share some basic reminders about demonstrating love.             1) Avoid being offensive. A college professor said to his students, "If there are any dumbbells in the room, please stand up.” There was a pause and a lone freshman stood up at the back of the room. The professor said, "What? Do you consider yourself a dumbbell?" The student replied, "Well, not exactly, but I hate to see you standing all alone." Calling someone a dumbbell or a dummy or some other derogatory name is offensive. Avoid being critical and particularly avoid being petty. Watch your words! Try to hear them from the other person’s perspective. Does what you are saying build up or tear down? Does it encourage or discourage? Love is sensitive and seeks to avoid offending others. Many of us are offensive with our words because we just talk too much. Proverbs 10:19 warns us, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” When a young couple gets married, it doesn’t take long before they find out things about one another that are offensive and obstacles to their love. Such as: "Don’t talk with your mouth full." "Don’t pick at your toenails." "Don’t leave clutter lying around.” “Don’t talk so much.” If we love our mate we will avoid being offensive and avoid doing offensive things that harm the marriage relationship. And the same thing applies to the church. If we want to encourage one another in the faith, there may be times when we should stop doing certain things that are a stumbling block to others, things that offend.             2) Be thoughtful of others. In 2 Corinthians 6:6 Paul speaks of understanding, patience, and kindness. When we are understanding, patient and kind, we are generally thoughtful of other people. Sadly, we live in a very self-centered society. A Sunday School teacher, after reading the story of the Good Samaritan, asked her  class  what  they  learned.  One  little  boy  piped  up and  said, "I  have  learned  that whenever  I  get  into trouble someone should help me out." Most of us look out for number one. The fact is that we  tend to be selfish, self-centered, thinking of ourselves before we think of others. But that’s a sin and the opposite of what our Lord is. Philippians 2:3-4 commands us, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”             3) Verbalize your love. Early on in their marriage, one husband told his wife that he loved her. Several decades passed and he never again told her again that he loved her. Finally, one day she asked him about this. He replied, "Look, I told you a long time ago that I loved you and that if I ever changed my mind I would tell you!" Proverbs 10:21 says, “The lips of the righteous nourish many.” Are you nourishing people with your lips, with your speaking? I believe that too many people are heartsick because they never hear those words from anyone: "I LOVE YOU!" They hope to hear those words of love, but never do. Or they too seldom do. Now not everyone is good at expressing their love in their speaking, but we all need to work at it. There is a time to be silent, but there is also a time to speak. Those around us need to hear us verbalize our love. And not only should we express our love for (and to) our mates and our family members (which should be the easiest to do), we should also express our love to our other family members as well. By that, I mean our church family. A genuine expression of love is expressing your love vocally. And we learn to love by practicing love. The fact is that we’re all amateurs when it comes to love but this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t stop demonstrating love. Practice makes perfect. Practicing love makes us all better at loving.             So how’s your love life? Are you letting Christ’s love shine through you? Would those closest to you say that you’re a loving person? Remember that Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Do others know that you’re a Christian because you are so loving?