When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother, Lazarus, would not have died.'... Jesus wept. ~ John 11:32, 35
I will never forget when my pastoral mentor told me that my ministry would be much less stressful and more effective if I could only realize that I was a failure. A failure?! I was hurt and surprised to hear this pastor that I looked up to and came to for support tell me that I was a failure. Her point was not that we cannot accomplish anything or that all our efforts are in vain, but that we all fail, even when we succeed. We disappoint those around us. We succeed, but not the extent we want to. We have success in one area of our lives only to let another suffer. In short we are not perfect, but God loves imperfection: Abraham the adulterer, Noah the drunkard, Moses the studderer, Jacob the liar, David the murderer, Matthew the tax collector, Saul the Christian killer, prostitutes, lepers, and on and on. The key is grace. Grace means that even though we fail at times, we are never defined by our failure. Grace means it is ok to fail, because we know failure does not have the final word. Grace recognizes that we are not perfect - so cut yourself a break. Grace recognizes that what the world calls failure, being beaten, stripped, mocked and crucified, may be God's greatest achievement.
~Pastor Eric
Join us at 10am on Sunday for Worship!
I will never forget when my pastoral mentor told me that my ministry would be much less stressful and more effective if I could only realize that I was a failure. A failure?! I was hurt and surprised to hear this pastor that I looked up to and came to for support tell me that I was a failure. Her point was not that we cannot accomplish anything or that all our efforts are in vain, but that we all fail, even when we succeed. We disappoint those around us. We succeed, but not the extent we want to. We have success in one area of our lives only to let another suffer. In short we are not perfect, but God loves imperfection: Abraham the adulterer, Noah the drunkard, Moses the studderer, Jacob the liar, David the murderer, Matthew the tax collector, Saul the Christian killer, prostitutes, lepers, and on and on. The key is grace. Grace means that even though we fail at times, we are never defined by our failure. Grace means it is ok to fail, because we know failure does not have the final word. Grace recognizes that we are not perfect - so cut yourself a break. Grace recognizes that what the world calls failure, being beaten, stripped, mocked and crucified, may be God's greatest achievement.
~Pastor Eric
Join us at 10am on Sunday for Worship!
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