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Unity

My wife and I have been married for almost 17 years now and we are very different.  Before we were married we took a personality survey to see where the strengths and weaknesses might be in our marriage.  The person who was working with us actually asked if we were sure that we wanted to get married.  Our results were about as opposite as they could be.  We have laughed about that many times over the years.  Our differences sometimes make life difficult, but after 17 years I can honestly say that we are better together than we would be apart.  And I know my wife would say the same thing.

The key is that because we have chosen to love each other, even in the midst of our differences we come together in unity.  Of course, that doesn’t always happen the way it should, but overall it does.  And so instead of being a weakness, our differences actually have become a strength in our marriage.

Love and unity are connected.  It is only when we choose to love one another that we can really experience unity.  And that is what we will be talking about this week at The River.  We will be looking at Jesus’ prayer for His Church from John 17:20-26.  Come on out this Sunday and join us.

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The Paraclete

Apparently Greek soldiers fought in pairs.  They would stand back to back so that they could protect one another’s backs as they fought off the enemy troops.  The other soldier was a trusted wingman, an advocate, a helper.  And he was called a paraclete.

What a great concept.  We all need a paraclete.  We could all use an advocate, a helper, a friend who has our back.  In this world, facing the things we face, it would be nice to have someone like that along with us to help us face the journey and fight the battles we have to fight.

In the passage we will be looking at this Sunday, Jesus is getting ready to leave His disciples, but He promises to send them a helper, an advocate, a paraclete.  He promises to send them the Holy Spirit.  Check out the passage in John 14:15-31 and come on out to The River this Sunday to find out more about the paraclete that the Lord promised.

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Have You Been Hurt by Church?

Spending time working out of the local Dunn Bros. coffee shop gives me a different perspective on the church than I would have if I spent most of my time working out of a church office.  It allows me the opportunity to hear, firsthand, what unchurched people think about the church.  Unfortunately, the picture is often not very flattering.

I have had way too many conversations with people who are disillusioned with the church.  They have previously been hurt in the church or have found church people to be judgmental, hypocritical, and unloving.  Others have expressed their concerns over the fractured picture they get of the church.  It seems to them like we can’t even get along with each other, and so if we can’t get our own act together how are we supposed to help anyone else?  Good question.

Now I know that just because we follow Christ does not mean that we are perfect, but this is an area where we need to do better.  Jesus reminds us in John 14 that the world will know we are His followers by the way that we love one another.  If that is the measuring stick, then the conversations I have been hearing are not a good sign.  We need to work on this.  And at The River this Sunday, this passage from John 14 will be our focus.  It is called “Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial,” but I think it is really more about loving one another.  Check it out at John 14:31-38 or come on out to The River this Sunday to find out more.

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What Other People Think

Do you like it when people say nice things about you?  Like, “your hair looks nice today” or “I like that outfit,” or (my personal favorite) “are you losing weight?”

Or how about at work, when your boss, or a coworker recognizes you for the job you are doing?  Or when a friend let’s you know how much they appreciate you?  Or a neighbor compliments your lawn, your home, or (even better) your children.  It is always nice to get complimented or praised.

On the flip side, it is not so nice to get criticized.  Like, when you make a mistake at work and your boss points it out.  Or when a neighbor complains about how your lawn looks, or that your house is bringing down the property values.  Or when you hear from a teacher at your kid’s school about something your child has done wrong and you feel like a bad parent.  Or when you get a few choice words or hand gestures from another driver on the road.

We don’t like those kind of comments as much, do we?  We want to be praised.  We want to be liked.  We want to be loved.  We want to be valued.  We want people to think, and say, nice things about us.

But does it really matter so much what other people think about us?  To some extent it does.  I mean we want to have a good name and be a good testimony.  But sometimes maybe we are a little bit too concerned with what others think.  This Sunday we are going to look at some people who were a little bit too concerned about what other people thought, and it really got in the way of them following God.  You can read about it in John 12:37-43, or come on out to The River this Sunday to find out more.