One thing that is vastly underestimated is the power of our words. What we say can make or trash someone’s day. You may have noticed in the news lately that people have even taken their lives because of what people were saying about them. As we begin this series we must know that God wants us to use our words to communicate His truth and grace to others. Consider the following study,
In order to uncover the processes that destroy unions, marital researchers study couples over the course of years, and even decades, and retrace the star-crossed steps of those who have split up back to their wedding day. What they are discovering is unsettling.
None of the factors one would guess might predict a couple's durability actually does: not how in love a newlywed couple say they are; how much affection they exchange; how much they fight or what they fight about. In fact, couples who will endure and those who won't look remarkably similar in the early days. Yet when psychologists Cliff Notarius of Catholic University and Howard Markman of the University of Denver studied newlyweds over the first decade of marriage, they found a very subtle but telling difference at the beginning of the relationships. Among couples who would ultimately stay together, 5 out of every 100 comments made about each other were putdowns. Among couples who would later split, 10 of every 100 comments were insults. That gap magnified over the following decade, until couples heading downhill were flinging five times as many cruel and invalidating comments at each other as happy couples. "Hostile putdowns act as cancerous cells that, if unchecked, erode the relationship over time," says Notarius, who with Markman co-authored the new book We Can Work It Out. "In the end, relentless unremitting negativity takes control and the couple can't get through a week without major blowups."
U.S. News & World Report
Speaking Aptly,
Some people would see serving others as an obligation or a burden at best and as a curse at worst. Jesus demonstrated and taught that the opportunity to serve others is a privilege and a gift. In fact, Jesus saw serving others as His life’s mission and considered service as one of the top priorities of His life. Jesus built a life of service; one act of service built upon another until serving others became a way of life. How do you characterize your life? How do others characterize you? Spend the next weeks considering and then building a life of service. Consider the following as you do.
Franklin Roosevelt's closest adviser during much of his presidency was a man named Harry Hopkins. During World War II, when his influence with Roosevelt was at its peak, Hopkins held no official Cabinet position. Moreover, Hopkins's closeness to Roosevelt caused many to regard him as a shadowy, sinister figure. As a result he was a major political liability to the President. Apolitical foe once asked Roosevelt, "Why do you keep Hopkins so close to you? You surely realize that people distrust him and resent his influence." Roosevelt replied, "Someday you may well be sitting here where I am now as President of the United States. And when you are, you'll be looking at that door over there and knowing that practically everybody who walks through it wants something out of you. You'll learn what a lonely job this is, and you'll discover the need for somebody like Harry Hopkins, who asks for nothing except to serve you." Winston Churchill rated Hopkins as one of the half-dozen most powerful men in the world in the early 1940s. And the sole source of Hopkins's power was his willingness to serve.
Discipleship Journal, Issue 39 (1987), p. 5.
Called to Serve,
Teamwork—a cooperative effort by a group or team. Notice the word cooperative. That means working together, cooperating, having a common goal. As followers of Christ we have the best of all common interests—our relationship with Jesus! As we conclude this sermon series (but not the emphasis), think about how you will partner with others to be better equipped to serve our Lord. As we work together in this common cause we will bring light into darkness, flavor to blandness and life to a place tainted by death. Let’s allow God to use us to bring life to our city and community!
The following story illustrates the principle of life that comes from teamwork. It is our distinct privilege and responsibility to bring spiritual life as we work together to serve God. Think about how God can use you to accomplish this.
Every year in Alaska, a 1000-mile dogsled race, a run for prize money and prestige, commemorates an original "race" run to save lives. Back in January of 1926, six-year-old Richard Stanley showed symptoms of diphtheria, signaling the possibility of an outbreak in the small town of Nome. When the boy passed away a day later, Dr. Curtis Welch began immunizing children and adults with an experimental but effective anti-dipheheria serum. But it wasn't long before Dr. Welch's supply ran out, and the nearest serum was in Nenana, Alaska--1000 miles of frozen wilderness away. Amazingly, a group of trappers and prospectors volunteered to cover the distance with their dog teams! Operating in relays from trading post to trapping station and beyond, one sled started out from Nome while another, carrying the serum, started from Nenana. Oblivious to frostbite, fatigue, and exhaustion, the teamsters mushed relentlessly until, after 144 hours in minus 50-degree winds, the serum was delivered to Nome. As a result, only one other life was lost to the potential epidemic. Their sacrifice had given an entire town the gift of life.
Perhaps moderation is the wrong word but it communicates our need to choose wisely when it comes to our food. It’s about have the proper quantity of food, but also the proper quality (or variety) that matters as well. We need to understand the importance of our choices and then choose well. The old adage, “You are what you eat” is essentially true. In today’s fast food, prepared meal culture it is easy to choose convenient over quality. Today, decide that you will make better choices and include a variety of foods which includes fruit and vegetables (preferably fresh).
Consider the following story (well, part of it anyway):
A fly was buzzing along one morning when he saw a lawn mower someone had left out in their front yard. He flew over and sat on the handle, watching the children going down the sidewalk on their way to school. One little boy tripped on a crack and fell, spilling his lunch on the sidewalk. He picked himself up, put his lunch back in the bag and went on. But he missed a piece of bologna. The fly had not eaten that morning and he sure was hungry. So he flew down and started eating the bologna. In fact he ate so much that he could not fly, so he waddled across the sidewalk, across the lawn, up the wheel of the lawn mower, up the handle, and sat there resting and watching the children. There was still some bologna laying there on the sidewalk. He was really stuffed, but that baloney sure did look good. Finally temptation got the best of him and he jumped off the handle of the lawn mower to fly over to the baloney. But alas he was too full to fly and he went splat!!, killing him instantly. The moral of the story: Don’t fly off the handle when you are full of baloney.
Or better yet, don’t be full of baloney! Choose well this week!
Hope week one was good for you. Keep taking those baby steps toward becoming Fit2Serve. Find some inspirational person to challenge you and/or partner with you so you can keep going strong!
Inspiration— the quality of being stimulated to creative thought or activity, or the manifestation of this. We all need to be inspired. As God divinely inspires us, we should also be challenged to inspire others to greater efforts for God’s kingdom.
This week begin to read and study and pray about how you can serve Christ by serving others. As they say, “Go whole hog” meaning commit yourself completely to this effort! You WILL feel at times like you are not making much progress but don’t quit and don’t give up! As we make small, incremental changes we will make progress. There may be setbacks but keep pressing on. Don’t give up hope because God did not give up on you. Consider the following story, laugh, and be hopeful! We will make a difference!
Two men went camping in the wilderness and got hopelessly lost. For two days they tried to find their way out, but with no success. Finally they sat down and began to get very depressed.
"It's hopeless," said one. "Hopeless, hopeless."
The other was about to agree with him, when suddenly he had a flash of inspiration. With a quick smile, he declared, "No, it's not! We're going to be rescued!"
The first man looked at him, puzzled, and said, "That's ridiculous."
The second man said, "No, you don't understand. I'm a church member!"
The first man shook his head, and said, "That doesn't make any difference."
The second said, "No, you still don't understand. I make over two hundred thousand dollars a year!" The first man was still not moved. "It's still hopeless. . ."
"No, you REALLY don't understand. I'm a church member, I make over two hundred thousand dollars a year, and I TITHE on that two hundred thousand dollars. MY PASTOR will find me!!" Source: Zeke Moore
Nuff Said!
As we begin a new Sermon Series - Fit2Serve I want to challenge you to be involved in the fitness emphasis that began last Sunday. I am attempting to lose 30-35 pounds over the next 12-15 weeks and perhaps more importantly to raise my fitness level to a place where I can serve Christ most effectively. The emphasis revolves around the acrostic D.I.E.T. coined by Steve Reynolds, pastor of Capitol Baptist Church, just outside Washington, D.C. The first letter is D for Dedication. Here is my take on that.
Dedication—the quality of being devoted or committed to something. We give our time, energy, talents, and money to things that we VALUE. We invest our lives into those things we consider to be important and of worth. But dedication to something, by its very nature, means the neglect of other things. We have to choose what is ultimately important to us and funnel our efforts toward the object of our dedication. Jesus has called us and set us apart for His purposes. We belong to Him!
Consider the following story and give God your best, Bertoldo de Giovanni is a name even the most enthusiastic lover of art is unlikely to recognize. He was the pupil of Donatello, the greatest sculptor of his time, and he was the teacher of Michelangelo, the greatest sculptor of all time. Michelangelo was only 14 years old when he came to Bertoldo, but it was already obvious that he was enormously gifted. Bertoldo was wise enough to realize that gifted people are often tempted to coast rather than to grow, and therefore he kept trying to pressure his young prodigy to work seriously at his art. One day he came into the studio to find Michelangelo toying with a piece of sculpture far beneath his abilities.Bertoldo grabbed a hammer, stomped across the room, and smashed the work into tiny pieces, shouting this unforgettable message, "Michelangelo, talent is cheap; dedication is costly!" Gary Inrig, A Call to Excellence.
