1 John 4:15-19 

 ¹⁵ God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. ¹⁶ So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. ¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us.

Our devotion for this week comes from a book that Carrie and I received as a gift before we were married. The book, “God’s Word for Couples” (Tony Sortor and Pamela McQuade), really focuses on the different situations that couples face in their life together. I find that the devotion below, entitled “Work as a Team”, not only applies to couples, but could be applied to our church family. I invite you to ponder the message below, and how it fits in with your daily life, your friends, and your congregation. I hope you find it as thought provoking as Carrie and I have.

“Since none of us is going to reach perfection during this lifetime, on occasion we will experience some fear in our relationships.  For most, these fears will be minor: spending a little too much for an unnecessary luxury, gaining a little too much weight, making a decision without consulting the other, and so on.  Actually, we don’t fear our spouses’ reactions as much as we wonder what they will think of us. Will they trust us as much as before?

Learning to work as a team and trusting the other member takes time. As the years go by, we become more attuned to our partners. We discover what bugs them and what doesn’t, and out of love—not fear—we adjust our actions. In time, there will be no fear between us, only patience and understanding.”

As a church family, we live in fear and in love. We fear and love God all at the same time. It is God who gives us the strength to be able to accomplish the tasks set before us. In the congregation, we are accustomed to working together to get things done. Every now and then though, we need to give each other a pep talk, to make sure that 10% of the people are not doing 90% of the work. As a team, we are successful, and we are showing that. Let’s encourage each other to continue with the team work, as we still have much ahead of us.

In our prayers this week: Alma, Richard Van Wagoner, Chaplain Deborah Steed (Rosecrest Chaplain, she fell and broke her back), Michael and Chris.

God's Peace,

 Pastor Judson