If you can accept it...

For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it." 

Matt 19:12  NKJV

 

After Jesus taught on divorce, some of His disciples thought “wow, maybe its better not to get married!” (my paraphrase!).  Jesus then goes on to talk a little about celibacy.  Celibacy??  Who would want to consider something like that?  In reality… not many.  But some will. Yet the conversation can go much deeper, with questions such as “What if my husband is not a believer?”  “What if my wife leaves me?” What if I never find that perfect mate, should I settle for “almost perfect?”

 

Join us Sunday as we continue our discussion about marriage, and singleness.

 

 

Till the whole world hears...

 

Pastor Clay

 

Divorce, and the Heart of God

The latest statistics report that roughly 60% of marriages end in divorce. Second or third marriages fare even worse, with about 20% of couples remaining happily married:  meaning that a full eighty percent of repeat marriages end in divorce. What’s even more concerning is that these statistics include the church.

 

In Matthew chapter 19, a group of religious rulers come to Jesus and ask Him about divorce.  Basically there were two opinions about divorce among the Rabbi’s, and they wanted to know which camp Jesus fell into.  A “gotcha” question if there ever was one!

 

But Jesus response what not what they expected.  Jesus wasn’t going to fall into either camp, but rather Jesus was going to fall into “God’s camp” when it came to that sensitive issue. 

 

So, what is “God’s Camp?”  How does God see divorce? Are there some situations where it is OK? Are there some marriages that just “aren’t meant to be?”  Are some people just “incompatible?” 

 

Join us Sunday, September 20^th, at 9 & 11 am, as we discover God’s heart regarding divorce.

 

Till the whole world hears...

 

Pastor Clay

 

The Grace of Forgiveness

Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"  Matt 18:21

 

In the last installment of our “Model Citizen” series we talked about dealing with the person that sins against us, and how we handle that situation personally, and as a church.  But there is one mroe very important aspect of our handling of that situation:  For the relationship to be fully restored not only does the offending party need to confess and ask forgiveness, but the offended party must actually extend forgiveness!  What a novel concept!

 

I have found that it is one thing to accept an apology, and quite another to extend true forgiveness to that person.  See for me to extend true forgiveness requires me to put myself out there and become vulnerable once again.  It requires me to move beyond tolerating that person, but actually embracing them once again.  It requires that I extend to that person something called “grace.”  See, the grace of forgiveness is to care more about the person than what they have done.

 

Join us Sunday for our conclusion of “The Model Citizen”.

 

 

Till the whole world hears...

 

Pastor Clay