Everybody Matters

Everybody Matters

If you REALLY want to obey the scriptures, then love your neighbor as yourself. If you wish to receive mercy without judgement, then show your mercy. That's right, giving someone mercy instead of your judgement is loving your neighbor.

Tall, short, wide, skinny, any color, belief, opinion, or condition is loved by God. All are shown His mercy and so should we. As I listened to this sermon I tried to draw as many kinds of people as time allowed. Do you see yourself here? Pastor Greg taught us that EVERYBODY matters to God.

Sometimes I am saddened by what I see on Facebook. The battle of opinions do not always sound like love.  How can we soften the rhetoric  and show mercy to those that we disagree with? Can we show love and acts of merciful words toward Obama, Bush,  abortion, undocumented aliens, police, races, sexual orientation, guns, budgets, public schools and home schooling parents? Sure. it's okay to have an opinion, but when have we stopped listening to the other side, discussing, and debating, instead of name calling and over the top hateful words?

And that is my sermon for the week. :-)

Zacchaeus The Tax Collector

Zacchaeus The Tax Collector

Okay, we've all heard the story. A short guy climbs a tree to see Jesus. But Pat Dorbin, who spoke to our church a few weeks ago, brought out the underlining meaning of the event. Jesus came to meet with Zacchaeus, one on one. He sought the little Z out, to meet him on a very personal level.  

I don't think Zacchaeus ever expected to get to talk to Jesus. Much less having Jesus declare he was coming to his house that day. I know it sounds like Jesus invited himself over for dinner, but Pat explained that at that time, in that culture, coming to someone's house was a tremendous honor for the host. It meant acceptance, a stamp of approval. No wonder the religious leaders dropped their jaws and stuttered out their condemnation. Tax collectors were not well thought of. They had a reputation of over charging on taxes and keeping the extra for themselves. Then for Jesus to have dinner at the man's house was outrageous. Sort of like Rush Limbaugh taking Hillary Clinton  out to lunch and announcing his backing for her presidency. Or Obama doing a commercial for Fox News.  

The tax collector was also astonished. He was so moved he declared he would give half his money to the poor, and anyone he had cheated he would give them four times the amount back. Now that is repentance! Jesus thought so, too.

Pat reminded us that God has a habit of meeting his creations one on one. He seeks us out. We see it all through the Bible. Moses and the burning bush. Mathew and Peter's call by Jesus. Not to mention Paul's visit from Jesus after he rose again. 

You are not just one of the crowd to God. He is seeking you, on a personal, one-on-one search and rescue. If you know Him rejoice in this. If you haven't yet had this amazing encounter, He is personally waiting to meet  . . . with YOU. 

Cut to the Heart

Cut to the Heart

"What do we do?" the people cried.

My son Todd, now Pastor Todd, preached this sermon on the Pentecost when we visited his church at the beginning of the summer. Peter and the disciples were in Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit came down on them. They began to speak in tongues. Fire appeared on their heads. Peter began to preach to the amazed crowd. 

He knew what they would understand the most. He spoke right from the scriptures. "What was spoken about in Joel is happening, right now!" They understood immediately, and the words did not simply go in one ear and out the other. They cut to the heart. The words spoke of a new way. They tore down the old. But the power of the Holy Spirit gentled their hearts, softened their resolve to the law. Peter went on to remind them that it was they that crucified Jesus. These word cut again deep and brought them to tears. They shouted, "What do we do?" Peter answered with a mighty cry, "Repent. Turn, turn from your wicked ways." And they did! They listened, they repented, and told others of Christ. That was the beginning of the Christian church. 

This topic makes me think of an older generation of Christians that do not want to listen to the younger ones coming along. The ones that are trying to remind us we need to take a look at where the church has been taken these last years. Have many in the church become slaves to laws that make it impossible for the lost to find Jesus? Other churches have walled themselves in. Afraid of a secular world. Or have become complacent on how they represent Christ. Do some of us need to soften our hearts, listen, and repent? Even though it may hurt to change we need to evaluate where we have focused our energies. Is it politics? Ranting about Hollywood? Or seeking out the tender places of peoples hearts and lives that need God's healing. Then rolling up our sleeves, and jumping in with both feet to fight for, not against, the ones that need us most.