Welcome to Gaia! ::

Greetings brothers and sisters in the most glorious name of Jesus!

We all know that "The Church" is comprised of many people, none of whom are perfect.
You and I, with all of our flaws and blemishes are "The Church".
We comprise the body of Christ here on Earth.
We are saved and called, not to be served within the sanctuary walls,
as some believe.
We are, rather, called to serve others.

The Apostle Paul, writing in Romans 15:1-2, had this to say;
"We then that are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification".

What Paul is saying, freely translated, our place in the body of Christ is to serve others around us who are in need of being ministered to.
If we are stronger in our faith, we are called to help guide others and bear their burdens.

Some burdens are physical, some are financial (especially during these tough economic times) and some are spiritual burdens.
Rather than being fed constantly, we who are able to minister to others are called to do the feeding.


What was it that Jesus told Peter?
If you truly love me, feed my sheep.

This might not be grammatically proper, but the sheep are us.
The truth of the matter is that no pastor, Sunday school teacher, deacon, or music minister can feed all of the sheep in our local flock.
It's the job of each one of us to lay aside our differences (and we have a lot of differences), and all be like minded in our service for our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
We may get our feelings hurt.
We may think that we are being ignored or even mocked by some of the other sheep in our flock.
Our job is to give it all over to God and let Him handle it.
We must forgive, honestly forget, and move on in serving Christ.

Romans 15:6-7 exhorts us.
"That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore recieve ye one another, as Christ also recieved us to the glory of God".

Many of us have gone through the spiritual doldrums and have experianced hurt, frustration, and some perceived insult or injury.
Jesus went through much worse in hurts, insults, and persecution.
Jesus never quit in His sacrificial mission.
Even on the cross, Christ forgave His tormentors.

Are our hurts as outrageous as those suffered by Christ?

Probably not.
Let us love one another, minister to one another, be forgiving of one another and fufill the law.

Church, to use an old clich'e is not church, without the u.

Let us pray for each other and be obedient to God's will and purpose in our lives and start feeding His sheep.
It's a lot more satisfying and the results of our labors are blessings for us and for others.

May God continue to minister to each of our needs and to lead, guide, and direct all of our steeps in serving Him by ministering to others.
May we always bring honor, praise, and glory to God.

Your sister in Christ with Christian hugs,
~Lyn~