Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”
Our Bible verse for today: “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but instead they held everything in common … This was then distributed to each person as anyone had a need.” Acts 4:32; 35 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Focus on taking care of each other.”
This past Sunday at Oak Hill Baptist Church we celebrated our annual Homecoming Day. Homecoming is a special Sunday at the beginning of the new church year when we round up those who have drifted away, invite former members who have moved away to visit with us, and we invite lots of friends, family members, and neighbors to join us. It’s a day of worship, fellowship, and feasting. It was great fun.
In my sermon that day (www.oakhillbaptist.net. Click on “listen” and then select the sermon for 9/17/19) I made reference to the fact that as a church family we are very intentional about taking good care of each other. The Great Commandment from Jesus to love one another (John 13:34-35) is a major focus of our fellowship. That being the case, and in my opinion, our fellowship at Oak Hill Baptist looks and feels a lot like what we read about in the early church in Jerusalem as described in Acts chapters 2-4.
The only way that kind of fellowship is possible is if people are generous with their time, energy, money, and other resources. Your love for each other has to be strong enough to overcome your fear of not having enough for yourself. Rather than clinging to what you have, you willingly use some of what you have to meet a need in the life of someone you care about. But that can only happen when people have learned to stop fearing and to start loving, trusting God to work it all out.
It’s important for us as followers of Jesus to see ourselves as conduits through which the Lord wants to bless others and to meet their needs. God will place into our hands the resources required to meet the need (skills, talents, time, money, etc) and then He calls upon you and me to become the conduit through which the blessings are delivered to those in need. The great Christian writer Walter Brueggeman once described this as “the needs of people being matched by the generosity of God” but it happens with you and me acting as the go-betweens.
I want to encourage you to focus on taking care of others. Be willing for God to use you to be a conduit through whom His blessings can flow. When you do that you will discover that your own fear of not having enough will melt away.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 