Let's Make the Church Together
June 22, 2022
Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
Galatians 5:22-23, John 13:35
Galatians 5:22-23 lists 9 characteristics of a Christ follower walking in the power of the Holy Spirit; “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”.
Paul uses the term “fruit of the Spirit” to indicate these are grown from a connection with God’s Holy Spirit. God sent his son into the world, the son sends the Holy Spirit to comfort and to guide all who follow him. This relationship is one marked by ever increasing “fruitfulness” in expanding the kingdom of God, and in the fruit of “love”, we are told by Jesus in the Gospel of John chapter 13:35; “By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another”.
I found a sweet illustration of this type of love in a story I found in the little devotionals I have been using; Nine Fruits of the Spirit by Robert Strand. He writes; “A pastor relates the following true story: During vacation Bible School my wife had an experience with her primary class that she says she will never forget. Her class was interrupted on Wednesday about an hour before dismissal when a new student was brought in. This little boy had one arm missing and since the class was almost over she had no opportunity to learn any of the details about the cause, or his state of adjustment. She was very nervous and afraid that one of the other children would comment on his handicap and embarrass him. There was no opportunity to caution them, so she proceeded as carefully as possible.
As the class time came to a close she began to relax. She asked the class to join her in their usual closing ceremony. ‘Let’s make our churches,’ she said, clasping her hands together, fingers interlocked. ‘Here’s the church and here’s the steeple, open the doors and there’s…’ The awful truth of her own actions struck her. The very thing she had feared the children would do, she had done! As she stood there speechless, the little girl sitting next to the boy reached over her left hand and placed it up to his right hand and said, ‘Davey, let’s make the church together’.
Not a lot is going to happen for the good in this world until we can team up with God and other people to make life what it ought to be, church what it ought to be, society what it should be, and homes what they should be”.
AMEN
“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy…”, a song that is running through my head this morning as I anticipate the arrival of my beautiful 5-year old grandchild who will entertain and challenge me again today. I am blessed beyond measure to be so close to our grandchildren and perhaps the greatest blessing is how they remind me to stay close to God and his word daily. Monday morning our little Miss brought her new book bag she received from her preschool graduation. She parked it on the table where I had my bible open and proceeded to open up her new bible. She said it would make me smile and that I would need to read it to her. Before I got past the first page of the creation story, she pulled it back and began to tell me the stories page by page from memory. She asked me some of the names of the characters, but for the most part, accurately retold the stories her preschool teacher shared with the students from the same bible each student received for graduation. Proud, pleased and just praising the Lord for a marvelous beginning of the week.
My mommy was a great example of the love of Christ for me and all who knew her. I was pretty young when she was diagnosed with kidney disease, yet she made good use of the days she felt well enough to be out of bed. She would be invited to share about her homeland, The Netherlands, with church groups and schools. I have a sweet picture that a dear friend cut out of a newspaper article that shows my mother in her full Dutch costume dancing in a circle with kids from a local church kindergarten. She became my Brownie Scout leader because I was afraid to leave her to go to meetings and functions. She even made a pattern for all the scouts and leaders to have our own costume, and sent away to Holland Michigan for each of us to have our own wooden shoes. We were the hit of the school for that year’s Mother’s Day program as we dance to a traditional Dutch song about mothers.