Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105
(262) 763-3021
“The experience of authentic community is one of the purposes God intends to be fulfilled by the church. The writings of Scripture lead one to conclude that God intends the church, not to be one more bolt on the wheel of activity in our lives, but the very hub at the center of one’s life.” Randy Frazee
May I encourage you to do something that you probably don’t hear often enough? Bother us!! One of the phrases that I hear periodically from folk in our church is: “Well, I just didn’t want to be a bother...” That just happened again recently. I think that a lot of it is because so many in our church family are either 1st generation Christians or are new to our church family. Thus, they’re not sure what are appropriate times to call either me, as your Pastor, Mike Cote or even our church office.
Please, please always call if you have an emergency. After hours obviously you’ll need
to call me at home. And I am used to emergency phone calls, even in the middle of the night. As the Police Chaplain and a hospital chaplain, emergency phone calls are just part of the ministry. Please call if you’re going into the hospital for surgery, even if it is “minor” or routine. As the old saying goes, “every surgery is major surgery, if it’s my surgery.” We want to be praying for you. If the surgery is going to incapacitate you to some degree, we have a meal ministry set up where folk in your church family provide meals for you and your family. Now some of you are already thinking, “my spouse can take care of that.” While that’s often true, this is one of those things that we, as your church family, can do to show that we care. And it blesses us to minister to you. This is something that we can do to demonstrate that we love you and care.
Also, if you learn that someone else in the church family is in the hospital or having surgery, please let us know. There’s a saying among pastors – “the pastor is always the last to know.” Folk often assume that the pastor knows that someone is sick or in the hospital. Frequently, that’s just not the case. I know that I’d rather receive a dozen phone calls letting me know that someone is in the hospital, rather than not knowing.
Please also let us know if you have a birth or death in your family. God’s Word commands us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). Add to that, please call if you’ve been laid off or lost your job. We want to be praying for you. Through the years as someone has shared that they lost their job, and we shared that with the Grace Family, someone else knew of a position that was available.
Please call if you need counsel on a major decision. Scripture says, “in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14, KJV). If it is serious enough to be praying about, if it is serious enough to get the input of your friends, then it’s probably important enough to seek Biblical counsel. In many situations there is no “right” or “wrong,” there are, however, often side issues to consider. For example, if you are considering taking another job or relocating, someone functioning from a Biblical worldview can often assist you in considering concerns that you might not have thought of. It might be a great job with great pay, yet if it is going to put a strain on your family or marriage, it might not be the best choice. Please call if you need some objectivity on a marriage or family issue. It helps to have someone with fresh eyes look at a situation. Sometimes it’s something as basic as dealing with a strong willed child and looking for other options.
Please call us before you call the police. Sometimes when tempers flair, someone goes over the line and starts getting out of control (I’m not talking about where there is imminent danger. Please call the police if someone is going to get hurt). What folk don’t realize is that nearly every time that law enforcement is called out, they’re usually going to arrest someone. And what might have been a much smaller situation now is a major situation. Please call us before you get in serious trouble. Over the years I’ve made this open ended offer to our church’s young people: If you are in a situation that has great potential of compromising your moral convictions, or there is alcohol or drugs at a party and you didn’t know that they were going to be there. If you call me, I will come pick you up and take you home...no questions asked. That offer is also open to adults with a couple of qualifiers. Our church has folk who struggle with addictions like every other church. If you find that you’ve gotten yourself into a bad situation, we will come and take you home. To be very candid, I’d rather come and pick you up if you are intoxicated, rather than risk having you drive and hurt someone, or risk getting arrested and hurting your testimony. Now if you’re an adult, I will have some questions and will no doubt talk to you about what Scripture says because I love you. But believe me; you’d rather deal with a loving pastor than law enforcement.
One more thing, if you need to share something important with me where you need a chunk of time, as well as my undivided attention, Sunday morning or other church events are probably not the best time. At those times, as much as I try to pay close attention, I’m also preoccupied with other details that I’m responsible for. So if I ask you to call me later or send me an e-mail, I truly am not blowing you off. I just know my giant 6th grade brain can only handle so many details, and I don’t want to forget your situation. I want to be able to focus on your concerns. That’s why I’m asking you to take this extra step, so that I can truly be focused and minister to you with all of my faculties.