S2 E55 - Thank God for God's People

I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is: my wife, who is 32 weeks pregnant, contracted covid & has been really miserable. The good news? God's people have overwhelmed us with love. I don't know how people make it in this life without the church, I know I sure couldn't. And it's not just us, our church family does this for so many time and time again. Well...that's the way it should be. God has designed his people to be those that have been changed from the inside out by the love of God. They should love, not to receive anything in return, but because they cannot help to share what they've received themselves from God - compassion, mercy, and grace. Thank God for God's people! 

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Transcript

Hey everybody, and welcome back to the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! I’m your host BJ Sipe – I’m a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. In this podcast we take everyday, ordinary events and explore how they can teach us extraordinary, eternal truths. I’m so glad that you joined me for this episode. Now, let’s open up our minds, our hearts, and our Bible’s together. 

Well, I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news. Which one would you like to hear first? If you said the bad news, you’re in luck, because that’s the only way this story will make any sense lol. It’s kind of like ripping off a band-aid anyway, right? Just get the bad news over with so we can end on some good news. Well, here’s the bad news: I was out golfing this past Saturday when I got a text from my wife saying she was feeling miserably. Now, given that my wife is 32 weeks pregnant, I kind of chalked it up to that she was having a bad day with symptoms all related to third trimester stuff and made an effort to get home as fast as I could. But as the day progressed, it became apparent by what she was telling me that this was more than pregnancy stuff. I got home around 3 pm and she tried to get some rest for a few hours. When she couldn’t rest and her symptoms worsened, I insisted that she head into the hospital to go see the OBGYN nurses. They got her on fluids right away and started running tests. Around 10:30 I got a text from my wife: she had tested positive for covid. My heart just sunk for my wife. It’s already been a hard pregnancy for her, and as we draw very close to the due date it's only gotten more complicated. Add covid on top of that? Brutal. Naturally, we cancelled all of our plans and will be hunkered down here at home for the rest of this week as she recovers. I would love to request the prayers of our listeners, that my wife make a full recovery, that this adds not serious complications to the pregnancy, and that the rest of us stay healthy (which thankfully we have so far). So, that’s the bad news – what about the good news? Okay, the good news is very simply this: God’s people are absolutely amazing. I promise you I am not exaggerating when I say this – we have had over 20 different families call, text, or check in on us in one way or another since the church here in Danville became aware this past Sunday. It has been overwhelming in the most wonderful sense, in that every hour of each day I have had someone checking in to see if they can do anything. Early Sunday morning before services even started, we had medicine dropped off at our door along with some other supplies, and even more things dropped off afterwards. We had dinner delivered both last night and tonight, as well as cookies left on our door step this morning and cash to use for a door dash. We didn’t ask for any of these things aside from the medicine right at the beginning, that was our only need, but the church stepped up anyway. It’s in moments like this that I am reminded how blessed we are to be a part of this church family, as they have demonstrated once again this incredible outpouring of love. But here is the most encouraging part: this is a regular occurrence for God’s people here to treat others in this way. Over the past months, folks have volunteered daily to drive those in need up to Lexington hospitals and back. They have supplied groceries for those in need. They have collected resources and funds to deliver to victims of severe flooding out in Eastern Kentucky. And all of these things came out of their own pockets, their own time, and their own hearts. We have just been one of many recipients of their great love. All I can say is this: thank God for his people! 

I have often sat back and wondered the following: how would I have ever been able to make it in this life, were it not for the love and care I received from God’s people? I am not being condescending or belittling when I say that I really don’t understand how others make it through life without a church family, I know I sure couldn’t! As you listened to these words, perhaps there are some of you that have made that decision to stay as far away from the church as possible because you had been through a bad experience. Perhaps what you were greeted with was the furthest thing from love, but merciless judgment and apathy. If that was your experience, let me say two things. First – wherever that was, please don’t allow the failings of one group of people to be the lens through which you see all of God’s people. If you do, you will miss the wonderful blessing the church is designed to be. Second – the church as designed by God is not a place of merciless judgment, but it was designed to be a place of pure, righteous, and selfless love. I am reminded of the words of Hebrews 13:1-3, “Let brotherly love continue. Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it. Remember those in prison, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily.” This is the image of God’s people: a people that have been changed from the inside out by the love of God. A people that selflessly puts the needs of others first above their own. A people that are not cemented by apathy, but motivated through empathy – putting themselves in the place of others. Is this not how Jesus described the kind of love Kingdom people ought to have, when he said, “Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12) This week, we have been served in love by our church family as they have done for us what they would hope we would do for them if they were in our shoes. It is my prayer that God gives us the opportunity to return that same love time and time again in the years to come. But allow me to clarify a point – this is not why we love one another. We do not love others with the expectation of something in return, we love others simply because the love of God lives in us. We know what God has done for us, how can we not turn and share that same love in the same manner with others who have been made in his image? The love of God thereby is not confined only among those of like faith, but God’s people are to be busy selflessly serving all – even going as far as loving their very own enemies. In fact, you might even say we owe it to them. Romans 13:8-10 says, “Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.” At the end of the day, it’s all about love – and it always has been. God is love, and if we truly know God, God’s people will be filled with it. I want to invite you, if you’re in our area of Danville, Kentucky – please, come experience the love of God through these people. I promise you that while you might come as you are, you will absolutely leave changed. As I said earlier, and I say again, thank God for God’s people! 

Thank you for tuning in for this week’s episode, and I would invite you back every Tuesday for a brand-new episode each week. If you haven’t already, be sure to find us on Facebook for occasional announcements and special video sessions. If you have benefited from this podcast, please if you’re able to be sure to share it with someone else that you think could benefit from it as well. Until next time, know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each & every day set our minds above.