Crossroads Community Church

August 6, 2015 · 0 Comments

Sunday August 2, 2015
We joyfully congregated in God’s presence at the 3rd Annual “Cowboy Church” Open Air Service and rejoiced together in music worship, were blessed with the spiritual nourishment of the sermon and enjoyed the entertainment, fellowship and luncheon which followed.
Pastor Don welcomed all gathered and prayed, “Dear Father God, we pray for Your Blessings to rain down upon each and every one of us here today. We praise you for showing us the way to freedom and eternal life through your Son Jesus Christ. I pray that today, we may draw closer to Him. I pray Dear Lord Jesus for your will to be done in our lives as we take these steps to a closer relationship with you. I pray all this in Jesus Glorious name. Amen.”
Have you ever felt out of place, mis-judged or shunned?
This story is of an old cowboy that entered a church just before service was to begin.
Although the cowboy and his clothes were spotlessly clean, he wore jeans, a denim shirt and boots that were very worn and ragged. In his hand he carried a worn out old hat and an equally worn out Bible.
The Church he entered was in a very upscale and exclusive part of the city. It was the largest and most beautiful church the old cowboy had ever seen. The people of the congregation were all dressed in expensive clothes.
As the cowboy took a seat, the others moved away from him. No one greeted, spoke to, nor welcomed him.
The preacher gave a long sermon about Hellfire and brimstone and a stern lecture on how much money the church needed to do God’s work.
As the old cowboy was leaving the church, the preacher approached him and asked the cowboy to do him a favor. “Be-fore you come back in here again, have a talk with God and ask him what He thinks would be appropriate attire for worship.” The old cowboy assured the preacher he would.
The next Sunday, he showed up for the service wearing the same ragged outfit. Once again he was neither greeted nor welcomed.
The preacher approached the man and said, “I thought I asked you to speak to God before you came back to our church.”
“I did”, replied the old cowboy.
“If you spoke to God, what did he tell you to wear here?” asked the preacher.
“Well, sir, God told me that He didn’t know what I should wear. He says He’s never been in your church.”
Have you ever judged someone by what they wore, how they “looked”, where they lived or what they “did”?
This morning, Pastor Don’s message spoke about something that could change the world!
Found in the Bible, preached in God’s Church and available, by God’s Grace, to all who ask the Lord to help them apply it to every relationship and situation they face in their life.
That “something” is “The Golden Rule”. Matthew 7:12 (NLT) states “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”
Jesus urges us to live by the Golden Rule in every situation and with everyone.
In Luke 6:27-28, Jesus says, “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who
When Jesus said love your enemies, he wasn’t talking about a physical act of affection, he was talking about a spiritual, conscious effort. You can’t “fall” into this kind of love.
Loving our enemies, as Jesus instructs, is independent of being in their presence.
Prayer has a way of cleansing our mind, will and emotions from anger, envy and resentment.
Romans 12:19 says “never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God.” And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28-29)
Jesus actively lived by the Golden Rule, laid down his life, in accordance with God’s will, to save us all and He prayed for his enemies, as we read, Jesus says as he is placed on the Cross – Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.
Jesus blazed the trail.
May we, in choosing to follow Him, and by God’s Grace and Mercy, do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
We pray all this in Jesus name. Amen.