For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you
will be judged.
At the core of our church’s DNA and desire is to
accept everyone we come in contact with.
That in no way means we agree with a person’s choice to live in sin, but
we wholeheartedly want to demonstrate God’s love for every person we can.
This is not the easiest thing to do and has been proven
for centuries by the people who are part of the church as we draw lines,
separate ourselves and look down on people who are not like us. It might be that we sin differently
(believing we are all sinners) or that we simply agree on a person’s choices
(we are all entitled to our opinions).
The final judge is God. His truth/word to us is the Bible. The only way we are to communicate this
difference is to share in love (Ephesians 4:15) when we believe someone is
living in sin. That is why I have chosen
to take a few minutes to give you and I a reminder about something I seek to
live by. That is … if I’m going to err,
it will be my choice to err on the side of grace.
So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace
and kindness toward us, as shown in
all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
God has dealt with us in grace. We must deal with others in grace. That means that we choose not to judge. It is an awesome opportunity to show grace
and love to people who rarely have someone show them grace or love. That could be true for many different
reasons.
Facts are still facts. God loves people. God sent His son to die for people. God’s grace is rich and free to any one who
will accept that gift.
Those who don’t understand how to treat people with
grace often bother me. I am excited when
I get a chance to share grace and remind anyone that they have God given
potential that is far greater than any one knows. It pains me a great deal when someone chooses
to cut off grace to another person.
We are not God.
That is another fact. We are neither
the judge nor the jury. The people
around you and I will be more drawn to the love of God by our love than by our
condemnation. I pray that our love will
be greater. I pray that we will be able
to show more grace and give second chances.
Not everyone will agree with or understand you or
me. The one I answer to is God, and
staying close to God personally is the most important part of this
relationship. Are we willing to give up
our opinion so His love is seen more? Are
we willing to stop judging others so the grace of God can be shown to more
people? That means less of me and more
of Him.
Father, how will my life, my words and actions, point
more people to you? Please make this a
reality in my life. Thank you for your
love and your grace. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
He must increase,
but I must decrease.
PERSONAL
CLOSING NOTE
It
is almost time to celebrate the beginning of a brand new year. Hard to
believe that 2015 is gone. There are many opportunities ahead for you and
me. Sunday I will share with our church
family a challenge that will help us move in to The Community's new campus
quicker. Please pray for this to become a reality and let me share
something close to my heart.
I'd
like to invite you to give to the work we are so passionate about. If you
would like to get the benefit of a tax deductible gift for 2015, your gift
would need to be given before the end of the day Thursday.
Here
are some of the ways you may want to give: 1. ministry of The Community
Fellowship (general fund), 2. completion of our new campus (vision fund), 3.
Homeless, feeding or benevolent work of The Community (mission offering).
Mail your check to The Community, PO Box 388, Collinsville, VA 24078, or you can
give online HERE or at https://tcf.ccbchurch.com/w_give_online.php.
Thank
you for demonstrating the love of God to our community and beyond by
giving out of your blessings and by serving God through volunteering in a
ministry near to you. Please let me know if I can help you further by
sending me an email to mharrison@thecommunityfellowship.org, and may God make your 2016 incredible
and change many lives through His incredible grace.
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