Miracle Grow

But You, O Lord,

are a God of compassion and mercy,

Slow to get angry [patient],

and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

- Psalm 86:15

“It is difficult to be a saint in the midst of one’s family.”

- Anatole Francis

A man was looking for a good church home and he happened to enter one just as the congregation and pastor read from the prayer book, “…We have left undone those things we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.” The man dropped into a seat, sighed with relief and said, “Thank goodness, I’ve found my crowd at last!”

If we cannot be patient with ourselves, it will be impossible to be patient with others! Last week in his message, Pastor Jared pointed out that there is a seed called “Patience” that the Spirit of God has planted in us….and that seed is watered and nourished by mercy. If you’re short on Patience today, for yourself or for someone else, consider this Miracle Grow formula:

If you lived in the first century…with all your weirdities, all your odd habits, all your strangeness, your backgrounds, with all the stuff you cannot conquer, with all the things you cannot control, with all your faults and failings…and you bumped into Jesus, He would like you!

You see, it’s not just “God so loved the world,” but He would like you and want to hang out with you!

And if, for whatever reason, you cannot go there because of…

...what you did last night

…or last week

…or last year

...then maybe His mercy is bigger than you ever imagined…His love is more unconditional than you ever dreamed!

Listen, before you were ever born, before you even had the opportunity to do bad or to do good, before you could give a speech about how you messed up and how sorry you were or how good you’ll try to be... before all of that, Jesus Christ came from Heaven to Earth to die on a cross to forgive all your junk so our God in Heaven could live in relationship with you forever! That’s called, “Mercy!”…And when You experience that…

…you will forgive faster

…you will love better

…you will care more deeply

…you will connect more readily

…you will reconcile more quickly

AND…you will be more patient with yourself and with those in your world!

Pastor Harry

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