As I’ve been preparing for this Sunday’s teaching, I have continually been coming back to Philippians 2:14-15. These verses say, “In every thing you do, stay away from complaining and arguing, so that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. Let your lives shine brightly before them.”

These are powerful words that have a lot to say to us. I will explore these words in greater detail on Sunday morning. I’m wondering what thoughts come to your mind when you hear these words???

For me, I’ve come to find that too often the things we complain and argue about are often the small things. We let our minor differences create major problems. Rather than humble ourselves and realize that we’re majoring on the minors, we take minor things and blow them up. These small things end up causing division, quarrels, controversies, and an unhealthy environment. For an example, I know a person who left his church because of a fight about the color of paint used in a Sunday school room. And, when he shared this with me, I think he thought I was going to tell him he was right!

What do you complain and argue about? Why?

Now, I’m not promising to go with the results…However, I truly would like your input.

This Sunday, I’ll be following up our message on seeking out God’s healing. There are a couple of directions I’m thinking about heading.

One is to talk about how as healed and forgiven followers of Christ, we are not supposed to let the triumphs of the wicked weigh us down. Instead, we are called on to do the good that God has called us to…without grumbling and complaining. I’m thinking a good sermon title would be “No Whiners.”

The second path is to talk about how as healed and forgiven followers of Christ, we are called to pursue unity, peace, humility, love, and compassion. We are called to focus on doing good and avoiding evil. And, we are called to always be prepared to give an answer for why we have hope. A potential title for the message is “Unity…Peace…Compassion…Humility…Love…Are You Kidding Me?”

So, what do you think? “No Whiners” or “Are You Kidding Me?” What do you think we need to wrestle with?

In order to find out the direction I go, you will have to join us for worship at Center Chapel on Sunday morning (or simply check out the website and watch the video).

Who are the people you avoid? Who are the people that if you see them on the street you attempt to avoid any kind of contact (verbal, physical, eye)? Why do we avoid these people?

In Jesus’ day, he seemed to spend a great deal of time with the people the religious folks avoided. Sinners…unclean folks…this is who Jesus would hang out with. Yet, I spend most of my time with “good, clean religious folks.” There’s a big gap in who Jesus was/is and who I am.

I’ve been dealing with a couple of texts this week that have me thinking about the people I avoid. Why do I avoid them? Is it my own fear and insecurities? Am I too concerned about what the church would think if they heard I was spending time with the outcasts of our day?

Jesus called His followers to go into the world and make disciples of all people…not just the clean folks…not just the people who are “just like me”…not just the people I’m comfortable with…the call was to share the Good News with everyone…even the people that we desire to avoid. Sometimes, the people I most desire to avoid are the very people who desperately need to hear the Good News. And, that’s a tough word to receive.