Loading...Dear Friends in Christ,
Easter is over and Spring is here. We look forward to warmer weather and getting outdoors. Hopefully we can forget the cold of winter. Hopefully, we won’t forget Easter. Easter is what we are as Christians, what Jesus sacrificed for us, and what we are asked to sacrifice for others. I will say it again. To be a Christian means to be like Christ, that we strive with our whole being to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and to love others as we love ourselves. It is probably the hardest thing we ever try to do. Even Jesus asked God to remove the cup from him, meaning His dying for OUR sins, but He also prayed God’s will be done.
If we do not strive to be Christ-like, then we crucify Him again and again. To be Christ-like does not mean we can’t be happy, that we can’t have fun, that we can’t party, or that we can’t wear whatever we want. Some people think that. I think I told you the story of a retreat in New Mexico that had a large picture of Jesus in the dining room. It showed Jesus leaning back in a huge belly laugh, the kind we love to see and to do. However, a woman in the group said she hated that picture because her Lord did not do that sort of thing. He was quiet and serious all the time. Well, my Lord loves a good laugh and a good joke. His first miracle was at a wedding party where He helped the people enjoy themselves. We was always going to dinner parties. He loved people. Jesus had a wonderful sense of humor and used word play a lot in his parables.
God wants us to enjoy life, but He doesn’t want us to enjoy it at the expense of others. He never turned away anyone who needed help. He fed them, He healed them, and He partied with them. He wants us to do likewise.
There are some wonderful opportunities to strive to be Christ-like in the next several months. Of course, there are the meals the Cluster provides for the people in need in our area at the Union Mission. God thanks those of you who are able to help. The Abingdon Spring Convocation Meeting will be held at Grace House on April 24. Anyone can attend, but it is especially important for the delegates and alternates to Council to attend. This is part of doing God’s work.
Coming up in May will be an opportunity to serve. A group of about 12 people will be traveling to Tazewell to visit family members at the prisons in our area. Our deacon, Preston Mitchell, received a letter from a man who hadn’t seen his twin brother for over 30 years until the churches in Wise County started this program. He was so thankful to those who provided this opportunity. We will be serving the group coming in May breakfast and dinner. They will be blessed, but not nearly as much as we will be.
In June we will provide a meal for a group from Jacksonville, FL who will be coming to Grace House on a missionary trip. We have done this the past couple of years.
I thank all of you who have participated in these outreach programs and to those of you who practice what you believe in your everyday life. I am proud to be part of your Christianity. God bless each and every one of you.
In Christ’s Love,
Father Russ
