Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Attitude”
Our Bible verse for today: “Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him.” Acts 10:34 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “We must welcome those who are different from us.”
Do you know that most Christians are not like you? It’s true, they’re not. First of all, most Christians do not live in the USA. I don’t have the exact figures in front of me but approximately 90% of all the Christians in the world today live somewhere other than the USA. So that means that most Christians do not look like you, they speak a different language than you do, and they do not read the King James Version of the Bible.
Even within our own country most Christians are not like you. Christians come in all shapes and sizes. They are big and tall, heavy and thin, red and yellow, black and white. They are rich and poor, young and old, they come from the north and south, the east and west, and they belong to dozens of different denominations.
Why am I telling you this? So that each of us can check our attitudes regarding how we really feel about those who are different from us; and, whether or not they are really welcome in our churches. It’s often been said that the most segregated hour of the week in the United States of America is 11:00 on Sunday morning. That is so because that’s when we gather in our churches. Sadly, most of our churches are segregated; maybe not intentionally, but segregated none-the-less. But the Kingdom of God is not segregated. It’s not supposed to be segregated here on earth and it definitely is not in heaven.
In Galatians 3:28 the Apostle Paul wrote, “There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” He means of course that in the eyes of God there are only Christians and non-Christians. There are no other distinctions that matter.
In Revelation 7:9 we read about a great worship service in heaven. Note the diversity: “After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”
What if, on this Sunday morning, two homeless men visit in your church? They are dirty, disheveled, and stinky. Will they be welcome? Really welcome? How about if an immigrant family comes in and quietly sits in the back. Will everyone turn and stare for a moment, and then turn back around to face the front? Or will many people get up and give them a warm and friendly greeting – and really mean it?
Church is the place where all the distinctions between us should fade into the background. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. There we’re all the same, just a bunch of sinners forgiven and redeemed by the blood of Christ and the grace of God.
What’s your attitude about those who are different from you, and how welcome are they in your church?
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 