If you're looking for the perfect church, you're in the wrong place!

 

“You don't manage the truth. You tell the truth.” John M. Barry

 

One of the most amazing facets of the Bible is the lack of spin. Scripture is truly a “no spin zone.” Name nearly any hero or heroine in God’s Word and as you check the biblical records, you’re shocked that their history is never sanitized. The good, the bad, and the ugly are recorded. 

  The Bible is much like a true story from the life of Oliver Cromwell. When the Lord Protector was presented with his official portrait in 1656, he angrily rejected it. Thinking it would please him, the court painter had omitted Cromwell’s unsightly facial warts. “Take it away,” Cromwell demanded, “and paint me as I am, warts and all.” 

  Today we’re celebrating our 3^rd anniversary in this building. It’s an event that we believe is important to celebrate each year. God has been so good to us! It’s important that we remember and review God’s hand on our church and His blessings! What has happened here is truly of God and He deserves all of the glory. 

  Periodically, someone will say something foolish like, “I wish our church was like the early church” or “the New Testament church” (a lot of pastors say this) as if that was some perfect ideal. Read the New Testament and you will find back then, what we find today in the local church – failures, fights, disagreements, division, etc. Take for example the church at Corinth. There was division, problems with immorality, abuse of the Lord’s Table, misunderstanding the spiritual gifts, distorted view of marriage, squabbles over minute issues, etc. 

  Every church, even the best ones, has “history.” Ours does. We serve a perfect Savior yet our church is composed of redeemed sinners. With the power of God and transformation of the gospel, the “redeemed” side needs to shine, but sometimes it’s the “sinner” side that’s more predominant. 

  Sometimes it’s a sin problem. Sometimes it’s a matter of perspective or personal tastes. Every church though has some “warts.” Every church if they want to grow spiritually must work through biblical problem-solving. This is so vital to us that you can’t be a member of Grace unless you take the New Member’s class and there is an entire lesson on working through biblical problem-solving. Biblical problem-solving is part of our DNA. 

  Satan is the great divider. He first divided Adam and Eve from God, then from each other and the creation. His strategy has not changed. He loves to divide Christians and churches. 

  Shortly after I became the pastor of our church, I began looking back over the church’s history. Our church was started in 1955. I had the privilege of meeting the founding pastor, Dr. Reuben Kile and his wife, Sandy, and had him preach at my installation service in 1988. He was a godly man who loved the Lord. There was great commitment and excitement during those early days. Yet, no doubt there were issues when Dr. Kile was the pastor because people are people and sinners are sinners. 

  Dr. Kile moved on to pastor another church. But during the time with the pastor who followed him, a division flared up and people left the church. Who was at fault? I don’t know. If we could talk to those who were in the church, there, there would be various perspectives. When it comes to division, there are no innocent parties. That pastor was also a friend of mine and I greatly respected him (he’s now Home with the Lord). No doubt, he looked back with regret at decisions that he’d made. Probably, some of those involved who were so angry with him that they left the church also looked back later with regret at decisions that they made. Time has a way of healing wounds and giving us greater perspective. 

  Why am I sharing this? We all need to understand that while we’re so blessed and it’s exciting to see what God is doing in our church, we have problems and will have more in the future. When God works, Satan attacks. Our Enemy doesn’t put dead churches in his crosshairs but he loves churchianity. He loves it when a church is more interested in being a religious social club than a beachhead for the Kingdom. He hates churches who love Jesus and are serious about the gospel. 

  While I believe that we have great days ahead, we would be naïve if we were not on the alert for Satan’s attacks. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 we’re admonished to “not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” Like a married couple who finds that they can squabble about the silliest things, that’s often Satan’s strategy and attack of the church. How can we have victory and protect ourselves and our church? 

  We must first be humbly dependent. The Bible is clear that anything good in us is of God and the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. If we begin to think that we have spiritually arrived or get comfortable with a spiritual status quo, we’re foolish and setting ourselves up for failure. 

  When there’s a disagreement, suspect first the sinner that you know best. In 1 Timothy 1:15 the Apostle Paul wrote, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” So am I…so are you. I’m continually shocked by the wickedness of my own heart, yet we shouldn’t be surprised at sin in our hearts or in our brothers and sisters. We must commit to showing grace to other sinners as our Savior has shown to us. 

  We must commit to biblical problem-solving. Two processes should never be started prematurely, embalming and church division. Most are committed to fighting for our families. We must be committed to fighting for our spiritual family, and its unity and health. The Bible compares a local church to a body. You don’t start amputating parts haphazardly. 
  We must thank God for church problems. Problems, confronting sin in our lives and in our church are opportunities for spiritual growth. God uses the fire to melt away the dross. It’s in the trials, that as we submit to Him and His Word, we become more like Jesus. 

  God has great things ahead for Grace Church! Know this though that where there are mountains, there will be valleys. It’s why we must be committed to Him and to each other! 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Learning from the Greatest Generation

“Who escapes a duty, avoids a gain.”  Theodore Parker  

  Each Saturday, though now 94, retired U.S. Senator Bob Dole sets off on his latest mission. A blue oxford is maneuvered over the dead right arm and the shoulder that was blown away on an Italian hillside, pressed khakis over the scarred thigh. He’s driven to a spot just outside the main entrance to the National World War II Memorial in D.C. And then they come, bus after bus, wheelchair after wheelchair, battalions of his bent brothers, stooped with years, veterans coming to see their country’s monument to their sacrifice and to be welcomed by of one of their country’s icons. Over and over again, Dole says, “Good to see you. Where you from?” as they roll close, sometimes one on each side. New York, Tennessee, Nevada, the old roll-call once again. “Let's get a picture.” “Thank you for your service.”

  Sometimes Dole will do that all day, staying until the last one goes by to see the grand columns and fountains behind him. They pump his left hand or squeeze his shoulders. Sometimes he gets home, not just tired but gently battered by humanity. He’s been coming for years now, weather and health permitting, to greet aging vets, brought at no cost from throughout the country by the Honor Flight Network. As the many missions of a mission-driven life fade into history - combat hero, champion for the disabled, Senate majority leader, presidential candidate - this final calling has remained, down to just Saturdays, sometimes derailed by the doctors, still a duty to be fulfilled. “It’s just about the one public service left that I’m doing. We don’t have many of the World War II vets left. It’s important to me. I tell them it doesn't matter where you're from, what war you served in, whether you were wounded or not wounded…We’re all in this together.”

  This past Wednesday we celebrated America’s birthday. The reason that we’re here today, the reason we still have the many freedoms we have, including the freedom of religion, is because young Americans jumped out of planes, stormed beaches, waded through swamps on foreign soils – willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice. We must never forget that responsibility always proceeds freedom, we serve first out of duty, not personal benefit, and freedom is always costly. Yet, our American freedom isn’t comparable to the eternal freedom born-again believers have in Christ.

  Tom Brokaw dubbed those World War II vets, The Greatest Generation. I’m not sure. Our country has had a long history of generations of heroes. I do know though that the Bible teaches that every believer can be part of “The Greatest Church.” How can we do that?

  Take Personal Responsibility for Yourself. One son of a WWII Medal of Honor winner remembers of his dad and his peers, “For them, responsibility was their juice. They loved responsibility…anytime they could get a task and be responsible, that was what really got em’ going.”  When those from the Greatest Generation accepted responsibility, they also accepted all the consequences of that decision. They weren’t whiners or excuse makers. They took personal accountability seriously.

  Taking personal responsibility is essential to being a healthy Christian. Every believer is responsible for their own personal walk with the Lord. They’re responsible to make spending time in His Word, prayer and worship a top priority. They’re responsible to serve and step up when others sit down. Early Christians turned their world upside down because they didn’t rationalize, “I’m too busy” or “someone else will do it.”

  Be habitually humble. Typical of the Greatest Generation is the story of an adult child finding some war medal stashed in the attic after Dad passes away, having never told them about it. Even if their exploits were heroic, the Greatest Generation rarely talked about the war, both because of the difficulty in remembering such carnage, but also from some sense that they were merely fulfilling their duty with no reason to brag. Because our Savior was obedient unto death on the cross for us, there’s great joy found in being obedient to Him. The motive for our obedience isn’t self-glory. We’re motivated to serve out of love and gratitude for all He’s done for us. After Jesus’ great sacrifice, it’s our delight to humbly serve and obey Him.  

  Reach for greater challenges. The Greatest Generation wasn’t great despite the challenges they faced, but because of them. Too many dodge difficulties, erroneously believing the easier life is, the happier they’ll be. Our grandfathers knew better. Fulfillment comes from overcoming great challenges that build character and refine the soul. The challenges they faced made their joy more sweet because it was tinged with the gratitude of knowing how easily it could all have been taken away.

  A Christian can’t afford to play it safe. Eternity hangs in the balance. We must pray for boldness as the Apostle Paul continually did and take great risks for the gospel. The world is headed toward a Christless eternity. We’ve been given the mission of sharing with it hope – that God loves this world, that there’s forgiveness, new life and eternity in heaven.

    Endure. The Greatest Generation wouldn’t give up until the mission was accomplished. Coming home, they carried that same commitment over to the world of work. They didn’t look for personal fulfillment; they labored for a bigger purpose: to give their families the financial security they hadn’t enjoyed growing up.

  Serving the Lord is even more fulfilling. Anything ultimately fulfilling is usually difficult. The rewards for serving the Lord are eternal. What a blessing it will be if we faithfully serve to hear, “Well, done, good and faithful servant” from the lips of the Captain of our souls who paid the ultimate price for us, so we could be forgiven and free forever!  

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.