Your Church’s Heart

I heard an outstanding sermon yesterday at Gonzalez United Methodist Church. I really enjoy the opportunity to report positive things from churches that I visit. This one is only about five minutes from my home.

The key quote that I wrote down in my bulletin was this: The heart of any church is seen in its response to hurting humanity. The pastor used Mark 2:1-12, the story of the paralytic let down through the roof, to illustrate how we need to be diligent in helping others, and not to let the nay-sayers stop us. He was able to point to specific projects that had been started, and the effort that was required, including teamwork.

If more of our churches would judge themselves in this way, rather than by doctrinal purity, what an amazing impact we could have on our communities, our nation, and the world!

The hard part comes when we have to respond to some example of hurting humanity that we don’t like. Jesus had a few words to say about that too.