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Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
-1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. -Matthew 5:8 NIV
This Sunday's text focuses on encouraging one another in the faith. Paul's letter to the church in Thessalonica includes words that admonish the church members to build one another up. We should all be doing the same for one another, especially during these crazy times! Some people are really (and I mean REALLY) good at this... it's like they have a gift... but maybe it's more of a focused mindset on giving encouragement to others.
I don't know about you, but I often find myself so concerned about my own problems and to-do lists, that I fail to send an encouraging word to someone who might need it. (Here's a secret: Everyone needs it!) Perhaps if we were more intentional about sharing encouragement, we would all be less consumed by our own worries.
And we all need to take our own inventory of how we treat others. Maybe we've been unkind to other brothers and sisters in Christ (or family members) with opposing political views (or pandemic theories). Maybe we've been unkind to others unintentionally while trying to effect change or champion a cause. Maybe we can stop and think before we speak... maybe this could all be turned around with a word and a spirit of encouragement. Yes, sometimes the pot needs to be stirred. But when it's already boiling over, maybe we need to change our minds, turn down the source of heat, and decide how to be peacemakers, for we are all children of God.
The words of this Sunday's anthem are from the very famous prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (better known as the patron saint of Italy, animals, and the natural environment).
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord,
And where there's doubt, true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there's sadness, ever joy.
O, Master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving of ourselves that we receive,
And in dying that we're born to eternal life.
Come worship with us this Sunday, either online or in the parking lot, and be encouraged!! (And bring your pets for the Blessing of the Animals this Sunday night at 6 p.m. in the East parking lot!)
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