October 3, 2013
Dear Eastridge Family,
One of my all-time favorite C. S. Lewis quotes is found in a
sermon he gave called “The Weight of Glory.” He preached this sermon in 1942. The Englishman C. S. Lewis is an intellectual
and sometimes a bit difficult to understand but well worth the work to do
so.
It may be possible for each to
think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for
him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or
weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid on my back, a load so
heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be
broken.
It is a serious thing to live in
a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most
uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you
saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a
corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.
All day long we are, in some
degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the
light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the
circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one
another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.
There are no ordinary people.
You have never met a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations—these
are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is
immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal
horrors or everlasting splendours.
Our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling
for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner---no mere tolerance or
indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment.
Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the
holiest object presented to your senses.
“There are no ordinary people.” Everyone you meet, every one you work with,
go to school with, live next door to is a person created to live with God for
all of eternity. Unfortunately some
refuse to submit to God and will spend eternity separated from God in a place
called hell.
Let us spend our days with this understanding before us. Let us make the most of every opportunity to
point people to Jesus. Every word we
speak and every action we take may they all glorify God and “nudge” people a
little closer to Jesus.
I pray that our 40 Days Campaign will give you an opportunity
to do just that, point people to Jesus and to “nudge” them a little
closer. All of eternity is at stake.
·
Saturday
Morning Prayer Service
Each
Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. here at the church Pastor Daniel will lead our
prayer service. Everyone is invited to
attend.
·
Purpose
Driven Life Campaign
I
am excited about a spiritual growth Campaign we are planning to do soon, called
40 Days of Purpose. This Campaign is designed to answer life’s
most important question: “What on earth am I here for?” I am excited as I
consider our entire congregation living in alignment with God’s purposes for
their lives, and the impact this could have on our church and our community!
The 40 Days of Purpose Campaign will
run for six weeks.
This
Sunday we will be asking for commitment from people to come together for this
church campaign. We will ask for
individual commitment to the campaign; we are looking for “Host Homes” that
will host a small group study during the 40 Days; we are looking for 6 small
group leaders, 3 to lead in English and 3 to lead in Spanish; and finally we
are going to order the books and need to know how many to purchase. If you have invited a co-worker or a neighbor
to join you for the 40 Days Campaign let us know how many books you plan to
need so we can get the order as soon as possible.
·
Missionary
Books
Our
Missionary President Muriel Murray has the missionary reading books. If you would like to learn about what is
going on in Nazarene Missions check out one of these books. We also have the books on CD so you can
listen as you drive if you would prefer to listen instead of reading.
·
Children’s
Christmas Program
It
is hard to believe but Stephanie has already started working with the children
on the Christmas program. They will need
help with costumes, back drops and cookies for the day of the program which has
yet to be determined. If you are
interested in helping please contact Stephanie Heer.
·
Board
Meeting
Sunday
afternoon at 4:30pm we will be meeting in the Fellowship Hall.
·
Church
Website
We
recently added a page on our church website to include the Sunday morning
sermons. Some of you have to work on
Sunday morning or maybe you have been helping with the children on Sunday
morning and missed the sermon. This will
give you an opportunity to go back and listen to the message. www.eastridgenazarene.org
Sunday
morning I plan to preach from Haggai chapter 1, where the prophet ask the
people of God to “Consider their ways.” You
may want to look that chapter over before Sunday and see if God will speak to
you through His living Word. I’m looking
forward to worshiping with you Sunday.
Pastor
Andy
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