Welcome
to St. Timothy Lutheran Church in Tarpon Springs, Florida! On behalf of the over
430 members of the congregation and staff of St. Timothy, I thank you for checking
out our Internet web site and invite you to learn more about our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
September 2008 Precious parts of the same
body in Christ:
We love, because God first loved us. Even when we were dead
to God, through our sin, Christ died to save us. Therefore, Paul teaches us, we
were called into a ministry of reconciliation. Just as our physical body
gets bumps, bruises, and breaks, so the community of Christ experiences it’s
share of conflict and hurt. This is nothing new. In the early church Paul is grieved
over the quarreling and division among the followers of Jesus and appeals to the
congregation in Corinth to be reconciled. Even the church leaders had their share
of conflict, as we read in Acts 15 for example. Though sin would continue
to separate us from God and each other, the Bible clearly highlights God’s
design that we would live in community and bear witness to his love, like parts
of a body that are interdependent for the sake of one whole body. My heart
often breaks when I witness a beloved brother or sister in Christ, who has been
hurt through a personality conflict, walk away in a huff from the congregation.
Sometimes they walk away from the church at large, and sometimes, even from God.
Fear, sin and pride soon imprison us, and we all feel the loss. If only we could
keep, the love of Christ before personalities. Maybe the Lord is providing
an opportunity for us to grow, trying to teach something to our hearts in the
conflict. There is nothing like prayer, humble honest communication, and the work
of the Holy Spirit, to bring reconciliation, healing, strength in community, and
the work of Christ. Dear people of God, if you are hurt by personalities
or conflict, I appeal to you to; Pray about everything. Talk and listen to each
other in truth and Spirit. As Jesus would teach us, if that still doesn’t
help, consult other brothers and sisters to help you both. I’d like
to share part of the devotion from our executive team meeting.
“Then Peter
came and said to him, ‘Lord, if a member of the church sins against me, how
often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not
seven times, but I tell you, seventy-seven times.’” Because of
the emphasis on forgiveness, Christians have been called the people of the second
chance. Jesus takes it a bit farther. Not people of the second chance – people
of the seventy – seventh chance. Startling? Certainly it was to Peter. But
God has always been almost unbelievably ready to restore the fallen and needy
ones. Peter failed. And yet Jesus gently restores him in love and entrusts him
with a ministry to God’s “Lambs and sheep.” We still live
in a broken world. The world’s brokenness invades the church. We know that
even in the church relationships are broken over what may seem like unimportant
things. How often have we heard phrases like: “Unless she apologizes…”
or “I did all I could and no one even…” or even “I’m
never coming back.” Left to our own devices, even in the community of believers,
broken relationships certainly bring us into conflict. But we are the people
of the seventy – seventh chance.
We are the restored restorers. Charged
by Jesus to forgive that absurd number of times, we do not rest until those separated
by sin and hurt are brought back together again. And we begin by remembering
that each of us, like Peter, has stumbled and fallen, and has denied him by word
or action. Jesus might well have turned away from any of us. And yet he comes
to us again and again, seeking to restore us to heal our spirit, to put our relationship
with God back together again. May God continue to make of us, a people who
live by the power of the Holy Spirit, who restore, renew, rebuild, and recreate
the relationships God has given us as gifts.
Still, in One Peace
Pastor Curt
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