Christ s Love Compels?: A thought from 2 Corinthians 5

Transcription

1 Christ s Love Compels?: A thought from 2 Corinthians 5 For a while, he had not been feeling all that well, so he and his wife decided it was time to go to the doctor. The doctor examined the man and ran multiple tests while his wife waited in the reception area. When the doctor emerged with a concerned look on his face, the wife, understandably, became anxious. Doctor, will my husband be okay? she inquired. I m afraid your husband is very ill, the doctor replied. He has a very rare form of anemia, and if left untreated, he will continue to become sicker and it will be fatal. There is, however, a very successful and proven treatment that has had an almost 100% cure rate. With great attention, the wife began to ask all kinds of questions about this seemingly miracle cure for her beloved husband. The doctor began to lay it all out for her. He said, with rest and proper nutrition, the disease will go into remission and your husband should live for many more years. Here is what you MUST do for the treatment to be successful: Take your husband home and treat him like a king. Fix him 3 healthy, home cooked meals daily, wait on him hand and foot; he is not to be doing anything strenuous. Don t allow him to do anything that you can do for him. Every morning and every evening, he will need a full body massage, and because his immune system is weak, you will need to keep the house spotless at all times. Do you have any questions? The wife sat in the chair staring at the doctor with a very bewildered look on her face. Again the doctor asked if she had any questions and she very quietly and politely said No. The doctor then asked if she would like him to break the news to the husband, but the wife, very calmly and somberly said that she would like to be the one to tell her beloved husband the news. She walked slowly into the examination room where her husband was anxiously awaiting any news as to his condition. As she walked in, he gazed at the face of his lovely wife, and immediately knew something was wrong. So he began to get a bit fidgety on the table and asked: So, how bad is it? Standing, looking her husband straight in his beautiful blue eyes, she told him the news You re gonna die. Let s just be real and state the truth: It is a lot easier to say we love people than it is to actually love them. There are far too many people in the position of the husband, dying from a curable condition: dead in their sins. We, the church, can sometimes be like this wife, who has the cure (salvation), but also has to give the cure (love, justice, service, humility, being last, giving up own rights, etc). Too often the actions of love can become overwhelming. We struggle with our own desires and feelings, and attitudes and so we, like the wife, determine: I just can t their gonna die. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul, through his example admonishes us to make it our goal to pleas him (Jesus) (vs. 9). Paul also in verses gives us this example: For Christ s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. What is it that is compelling you today? Your job, bills, kids, marriage, the things and schedules of life. I am sure the love of God is in there. But what about YOUR personal ministry the one CHRIST has given you? Paul goes on to write in verses that we are NEW creations in Christ, we are made new (even every day), we have been reconciled (made right with God) and He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. That is your ministry RECONCILIATION in whatever form it might take. We are God s ambassadors, his mouth piece, his hands, feet, arms, and heart how are you impacting others TODAY? Remember God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (5:21). Will we choose to become that or are they gonna die? Pastor Terry,

2 March 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 Communion 3 4 Disciples 7p 5 Ash Wed. Ashes Given 5:30-6:30p Lent Begins 6 Meeting Night 7p 7 8 Pancake Breakfast 8-11am Turn clocks ahead 9 Time Change Adult Bojangle s Benefit for Joe & Ruth 1-4p 17 St. Patrick s Day 18 Disciples 7p 19 Adult 20 Spring Begins Dinner Theater Doors open5:30 Dinner 6p 23 Sunday Luncheon Theater Doors open 12:30a Luncheon 1p 24 Margaret s Home Group 6:30p Adult 27 Prayer Evening 6:30p Crane s will be hosting BIRTHDAYS Ed Betts 9 th John Whaley 10 th Frank Thompson 11 th Becki Patrone 11 th Sydni Bowker 11th Doug McLaughin 14 th Cory Dewell 17 th Catherine Betts 18 th Pastor Terry 20 th Dallas Carlisle 22 nd Matthew Colledge 25 th Abigail Whaley 29 th ANNIVERSARIES John & Mendy Whaley 1 st Ed & Catherine Betts 20th "Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" - Robin Williams "Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush." - Doug Larson

3 Why is it called Ash Wednesday? March 5th For Christians, ashes are a symbol of being sorry for things they have done wrong and want to get rid of forever. It is also a reminder to them that we all come from ashes, and to ashes we all will return. Why are ashes marked on the forehead? For Christians, the marking on the forehead with ash marks the commitment to Jesus Christ and God. They wanted to show God that they were sorry for the wrong things they had done in the past year. Christians believe this marks the physical and spiritual beginning of a personal Lent season in which 40 days of repentance will begin leading up to the celebration of Easter Sunday. The actual moment when the forehead is marked initiates the beginning of lent for each individual person. Imposition of Ashes will be given from 5:30 to 6:30 pm before Choir Practice 2014 Dinner Theater Have you ever thought that it would just be easier to text your prayers to God? Too often the words of our prayers go up and then come crashing right back down. Communication with God, PRAYER, is a skill that often takes a lifetime of experience to master the more you do it the better it gets. This year, we will be exploring how prayer is often treated, but also how much of us are already potential experts, we just don t know it. We will also take a humorous look at the church with Dr. D. Liberate Defender, Sir Boddy of Tradition, Madam Bertha B. Cause, as well as Rev. Win D. Raffle, Havanna Luck, Hap Hazzard, and Ida Riskit. Come join us for a fun and entertaining time of laughter, food, and timeless truths about God and about YOU! There will be 2 showings. Saturday evening, with the doors opening at 5:30pm, and Sunday afternoon, with the doors opening as 12:30pm. Tickets are available for each showing and can be purchased from any church member or by contacting the church List of needed items: McDonald's Bags (about 6-7) Cash Register (could be a toy one) Postal worker uniforms (maybe just hats or name tags?) Old fashioned hot water bottle Kid's scooter (for a teenager) Flood lights Couch (like in a psychiatrist's office) Park bench Gavel Music: street traffic, bus sound, applause, and theme from "Jeopardy" PRAYER EVENING The Crane s will be hosting on Thursday, March 27th at 6:30pm Please rsvp to Jane at PANCAKE BREAKFAST Saturday, March 8th from 8-11am Please volunteer to help and let Gary Bacon know asap in order to know if there will be enough people show-up FILL THE ARK ~ HEIFER PROJECT During the Lenten Season, the Sunday School Classes from K-12 will be participating by collecting monies (change) in the Heifer Boxes that will go directly toward that project. The adult classes can drop by those classrooms & drop in their change also.

4 Benefit Dinner for Joe and Ruth Zarnosky This Benefit is being held for Joe and Ruth who lost their house to a fire on Dec.27, Three days later they were in a terrible collision that totaled their car and caused many injuries to Ruth. Not long after Joe took a fall while working on the property and tore his rotator cuff, he just went through surgery on Feb. 12th. Joe and Ruth are always helping in the community and have put on many benefits. Its our turn to help them in this trying time. Joe and Ruth have lost everything they own but that doesn't stop life from happening. We hope to be able to help with the many bills that continue to mount up. They are in the process of setting up a trailer on their property to live in while they rebuild their home. This amazing couple has gone through several hardships in a short amount of time and hopefully we can relieve some of their worries. If you are unable to attend the benefit and wish to send donations, their residence is: 1818 Columbiana Lisbon Rd Columbiana, OH State Route 14 N Waterford, Ohio Phone # Rrussell@bojanglesblues.com $20. Buffet March 16 1pm-4pm

5 New Waterford United Methodist Church South State St. New Waterford, OH "No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn." - Hal Borland