 Labor of Love
God is so good to us. Our common confession is that we are saved by glorious grace. Saved by grace means that it is an unmerited favor from God. This means that there is NOTHING you could have done to deserve it or earn it and there is NOTHING you can do to lose it. With this fact firmly established, the Bible does talk about our effort (2 Peter 1:5;15) and striving (Hebrews 4:11) in our life for the Lord. Therefore, Jesus says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light Matthew 11:25-30). Jesus is not saying that our lives as Christians will be easy, for certainly all who seek to live godly lives will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus is saying that in comparison to the glory that is coming these present struggles are light and temporary (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Because this is the way that Christ has revealed Himself to us in the church then we ought to recognize that loving Him means serving Him. And this is a delightful duty! We get to serve God through what Paul called a labor of love (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3). In this passage, Paul commends the Thessalonians, telling them how thankful he is to God for their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfast hope! God has made us to work and serve. Ironically, the world seeks to be served, but the Lord Jesus Himself said that he came to serve rather than be served (Mark 10:45). So for us, as the body of Christ, our path to fullness and joy is not the path of consumption and entertainment but rather humility and service. Servants So, on this last Friday of November, I want to express my gratitude for our deacons and their wives. As a pastor, when I am with other pastors it is common for them to joke about trouble with the deacons. I can say with all honesty and sincerity that I have never seen a group of deacons be more supportive of a pastor than what Bob King, David Branscum, and Bob Blair have been for me. These men have served, not only me, but our church well and I am thankful for them. Also Bronwyn, Judy, and Debbie are faithful servants to the church. I am not the best planner and these ladies often get asked to handle things on short notice and do so beautifully. Saints I also want to extend this thanksgiving to the entire church. You all are wonderful to jump in and serve the needs of the community and especially our body. I will refrain from attempting to list all the ways that you all serve, for this blog isn’t intended to be a book. However, I want you to know that your labor and service does not go unnoticed. I will highlight one person because this is sort of comical and she deserves it. I have a bad habit of locking myself out of the church and Leada has made countless trips from her house just to let me in the door. Leada is a tireless and gracious worker for the Lord. Staff I have a couple of more people I would like to extend my personal and public gratitude to as well. Of course, only Lucy is staff, but Dustin and Lucy do so much behind the scenes that almost no one including myself sometimes ever sees. Much of the labor they are involved in doesn't get noticed because they do it so well. Dustin comes and checks the heat and air system, monitors the facility and even gets the lights all on in the mornings before church. I am thankful for this humble brother and his hard work for the Lord. Thank you Dustin! And if you enjoy reading this blog you should thank Lucy. This blog 100 percent wouldn’t happen with her. Lucy also deals graciously with my unique style of last minute ideas. She makes things much easier for me to do the ministry that God has given me here in our church. Thank you Lucy! Thank you Lord, for the blessing and privilege of not only being a part of this church family, but of being able to serve them as well!
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