Sunday, June 13, 2004
| Vs. 13
“Trust steadily in
God, (The Message Translation) “And now these
three remain: |
|
When people find out that I am pastor I am often asked, “What church are you pastor of? When I have answered St. Paul’s Church in Milltown I have gotten a number of different responses.
While it is nice that we are known for certain things or events it is very disheartening to me that I have never had anyone say, “Your church is where the love of God and neighbor is real.” Why is that? The
Christian Band, Casting Crowns sings a song entitled,
Jesus is the way Scripture declares that, “We will be known by our fruits.” Why is the love for God and love for neighbor not a fruit that is evident? When the lawyer asked Jesus, “What is the greatest commandment?" Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And there is a second just like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The lawyer then asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus told him the story of the Good Samaritan. Jew, gentile, black, white, heterosexual, homosexual we are called to love everyone. There should be no greater evidence of love for one another than within the church. Jesus said, “Your strong love
for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” Peter said, “Show special love
for God’s people.” Paul said, “We should give
special attention to those who are in the family of believers.” God doesn’t care how good the roast beef is. God cares for only one thing how good is the love that you and I have for Him and each other? “Trust steadily in
God, I realize that we are all busy making a living, doing our own work, paying bills, accomplishing goals. All these everyday necessities seem to squeeze out time for loving God and neighbor. What does it say about our love for God when we don’t make time for God? When I did pastoral care for the Staten Island University Hospital Hospice. I sat with many people in the final weeks of life. I never heard anyone express any regrets about not having more money or more possessions or spending too much time in worship or loving God and neighbor. I did, sadly, listen to many regrets about not spending enough time with God and with family. “Trust steadily in
God, It has been over a year now that we adopted as our mission statement the following words, “Bringing God’s love to the heart of the community.” How are we doing? Are His arms reaching? Are His hands healing? Are His Words teaching? Are His feet going? Is His love showing? It really doesn’t matter what the church’s mission statement is, if you and I don’t make it our own personal mission statement. It doesn’t matter what the church’s mission statement is, if we don’t make it a priority to love God and neighbor. Rick Warren suggests in his book, The Purpose Driven Life that we daily pray the following, “God, whether I
get anything else done today. “The only thing
that counts is faith “Trust steadily in
God, The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now.
|
Reverend Richard Hayes Weyer
Drink From Our Cup
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Our thanks to
the
My
Gospel Midi Page
for the Hymn
"Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus"
hat
is St. Paul’s church known for?
“Your
church is the church with the sign with the clever saying.”