Friends and fishing

This Sunday was brilliant. As we began the long trek home late in the afternoon, I was exhausted but also feeling the weight of Christ's joy. What a day it was. During service, the ladies certainly sang beautifully, and our new band additions have been great; also, the new furniture was nice to see, but this Sunday was significant for more reasons than that.

2 things happened Sunday after service that really set the day off in a beautiful way.

#1. My family and I were invited to a Grace member's house after the service. When we arrived, we were welcomed with open arms, great food and a true sense of hospitality. Not only was the host family wonderful, but we were given the opportunity to meet many people from Grace with whom we had not yet talked. The weather held out; our kids cried minimally, and we departed in the late afternoon. Charity and I were both were saying the same thing as we drove away, "These people are great. What a blessing it is to be part of this family." What a joy it is to serve with all of you.

#2 The other thing that happened Sunday was that I was informed that one of the people who has been attending Grace in recent weeks accepted Christ as his savior. It was something for which a number of us had been praying. And it just about brings tears of joy to my eyes, to think that GBC in a small way has been part of this man's faith journey. I could not have been happier than to hear of our new brother's decision. Can you think of anything better to be part of as church family... but that the grace of Christ covered and won another precious soul? This is kingdom work, and I pray that week after week, we begin hearing of more people who are responding to the call of God in this way.

My encouragement to you is this... while the work can be difficult at times, the greatest sense of satisfaction and joy are reserved for those who have tirelessly prayed and worked to bring about God's purposes for His glory. Those that share their home and share their faith show Christ's love in a tangible way. We each have the opportunity to be part of God's process in changing people's eternity. Remember... followers fish. That is what we do.

What keeps us from landing?

We have kicked off our "Spectator Sport?" series at GBC, and we are going to spend time looking at how to be a church family or team rather than simply a spectator. Immediately following the sermon, I was struck with the fact that there are many reasons why people may have difficulty joining the team.

1. It is a losing team... there always seem to be money issues; no one new is joining; few adult baptisms are taking place; the people seem bored.

2. The team has bad chemistry... there doesn't seem to be cohesion on the team... too much fighting.

3. People can't understand the coach or the plays... no one knows what they are trying to accomplish.

4. Don't think the team is important... attitude that says, "its just about God and me- not other Christians."

5. There are other teams vying for someone's time... simply too busy for this team.

While I know that no church is perfect, it certainly seems to matter to Christ. So, it matters to me. Even if I am busy, frustrated by certain people, confused sometimes, I want to love what Christ loves, and that is the church.

All the other things I wanted to say

Yesterday, I had the privilege of talking about forgiveness. And essentially, from Matthew 18 we saw that forgiveness is primarily about remembering rather than simply forgiving. Remembering Christ's work on our behalf is the key. It was certainly a challenge to preach with the elementary kids in the room, but it was great to see their faces. Well, as I looked at this subject, the whole concept of forgiveness grew and grew to the point that I had to delete probably 5 pages of stuff from the sermon. There were definitely many other things that I wanted to say but didn't have the time. Pastor Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill in Seattle in a recent sermon had these 10 things to say about what forgiveness is not. If you are confused by simply seeing these as a list, check out the fuller explanation on blog.marshillchurch.org

1. Forgiveness is not approving or diminishing sin.

2. Forgiveness is not enabling sin.

3. Forgiveness is not denying a wrongdoing.

4. Forgiveness is not waiting for an apology.

5. Forgiveness is not forgetting... Looks like he stole one from me ;)

6. Forgiveness is not ceasing to feel the pain.

7. Forgiveness is not a onetime event.

8. Forgiveness is not neglecting justice.

9. Forgiveness is not trusting.

10. Forgiveness is not reconciliation.