Grac*e-mail for 10/04/10 got grace?

Grac*e-mail for 10/04/10
got grace?

This week at Walmsley Blvd. UMC is the half way point of the eight-week study called “The Peacemaking Church” ( if you want more info go to www.peacemaker.net ) It has been quite a journey so far and we have a long way still to go!

John()_:-) Every time you see this angel, remember that God loves you!

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This is one of the scriptures we have been looking at in the study…

Matthew 7:3-5

And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

NKJV

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Grac*e-mail now has a page on Facebook… so send your friends an invitation to enjoy!

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Here is a mailing I enjoy…

Daily Reflection
by Mark D. Roberts
Laity Lodge Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence

Can Love and Truth Get Along?
READ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Sometimes it seems as if truth and love are enemies. For example, suppose your friend shows up wearing a hideous new shirt. Then he asks you, "What do you think of my shirt?" It seems as if you have to choose between telling the truth ("That shirt is ugly!") and doing the loving thing ("What a great shirt!"). More seriously, I think of families with an alcoholic mother. One of the adult children thinks it's important to confront her mother. But another of the adult children says, "If we tell Mom she's an alcoholic, she'll be hurt and angry. It wouldn't be the loving thing." Truth and love appear to be irreconcilable.

But 1 Corinthians 13 sees love and truth as profoundly connected: "[Love] does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out" (13:6). The Greek phrase behind "rejoices whenever the truth wins out" could be read more literally, "rejoices with the truth." The verb meaning "rejoices with" (synchairo) appears, for example, in Jesus' story of the lost coin. The woman who finds the coin calls her friends and neighbors and calls them to rejoice with her (synchairo, Luke 15:9).

How does love rejoice with the truth? True love desires what is best for another, and the best will always be based on truth. In the case of the alcoholic mother, for example, her healing and freedom, as well as the health of her family, will only come when she confronts the truth of her addiction to alcohol. Keeping her from dealing with the truth might seem nice, but it is not really the loving thing to do.

In many cases, love motivates us to tell happy truths to others. Because I love my wife, for example, I try to tell her things I appreciate about her. Love motivates me to speak the truth. Similarly, love for my colleagues at work encourages me to let them know how much I value them and their partnership with me.

Christians are sometimes criticized for being "unloving" when we speak to others about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To be sure, some believers share this good news in a harsh, insensitive, or arrogant way. But if we truly believe that God loves us and that his love can be experienced through Jesus Christ, who offers the best kind of life, then love for others compels us to share this good news. Love will also shape the way we communicate, calling us to humility, authenticity, and sensitivity as we share the truth of God's love in Christ.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: When you think about love rejoicing in the truth, what comes to mind? Do you sometimes experience tension between truth and love? When? How might true love lead you to speak the truth with others? Are there people in your life who need to hear truth from you because you love them?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, as you know, it's easy for us to think of love and truth as somehow opposed. We can hold back from speaking the truth because we don't want to be unloving. And we fear that if we tell others about your love in Christ, we'll be accused of being unloving.

Forgive us when we settle for something less than real love in our relationships with others. Forgive us when we ignore or deny the truth because we don't want to make anybody else feel uncomfortable.

Teach us, Lord, how to speak the truth in love. Help us to communicate in ways that are respectful and humble, even as they are truthful. Teach us to be more generous in sharing good things with those whom we love. Help us to be judicious and gentle when we need to say hard things to them. In a world that so often separates truth from love, may we be people who keep these two together, for your sake and your glory. Amen.

You can subscribe for this on at http://www.thehighcalling.org/

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Got these from “Pun of the Day”. You can subscribe at
http://www.punoftheday.com/

I thought about studying astronomy for university but I knew I would just be taking up space.

Mimes are determined to remain silent, to say the least.

Today is a kick back and do nothing day. I'm auditioning for American Idle.

The mechanic at the transmission shop seemed a little shifty.

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Haha…
These lists circulate by e-mail all the time, enjoy!
Church Bulletins: Thank God for the church ladies who type them. These sentences actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:
The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "Hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.
Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.


Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.
Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance
The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: "I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours"
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Check out this site for a free Bible app for your smart phone…
http://bible.is/
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Got this from Dan Griffiths…

A small boy stunned his parents when he began to empty his pockets of nickels, dimes and quarters.

His mother asked him, "Where did you get all that money?

"At Sunday school," the boy replied nonchalantly. "They have bowls of it."

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Got this from the “Pearls” mailing list. To receive, just sent Larry Burrows a request at larryb1939@sbcglobal.net

Always be in a state of expectancy, and see that you leave room for God to come in as He likes. --Oswald Chambers

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A visiting minister was very long-winded. Worse, every time he would make a good point during his sermon and a member of the congregation responded with "Amen" or "That's right, preacher" he would get wound up even more and launch into another lengthy discourse.

Finally, the host pastor started responding to every few sentences with "Amen, Pharaoh!"

The guest minister wasn't sure what that meant, but after several more "Amen, Pharaoh"s he finally concluded his very lengthy sermon.

After the service concluded and the congregation had left, the visiting minister turned to his host and asked, "What exactly did you mean when you said "Amen, Pharaoh?"

His host replied, "I was telling you to let my people go!"

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Send good stories and clean funnies to: johnlynnbright@gmail.com

NOTE - All material contained in this mailing is shared as received and is believed, by me, to be anonymous... unless credit is given. Please contact me at the address above if you know the author of any material so that I may give credit where credit is due. Thanks!

Grace & peace –
John A. Bright
Pastor, Walmsley Boulevard UMC in Richmond, Virginia
johnlynnbright@gmail.com
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change..."