Building Us

Jesus, in John 17 while he was deep in prayer to his Father, prayed that his followers (you and I) would all be “one”. That we would bury pride and ego and live lives of service to each other… true humility. 1 Corinthians 12:26 adds further instruction to that concept. When one of the members is sad… all are sad. When one is happy… all are happy. We all understand these concepts but how should they be applied? In 1998, when my father died, fourteen from Parkway made the three hour drive to attend his funeral. I was impressed with that then and I’m still impressed. I understand the sacrifice that is made for such an effort and I’ll never forget it. I also understand that I’m a pretty high profile member at Parkway. Let me urge this… when one of our members, perhaps of a lesser profile, loses a loved one… attend that funeral. If there is a sacrifice in time that needs to be made then to the best of your ability make that sacrifice. At funerals, all the façade of self- control is stripped away and you see people in their purest form with all their raw emotions exposed. It is an experience that is huge in developing compassion and love for each other. Through those and other experiences we become a congregation that is a true family not just an assembly of casual acquaintances. Sometimes people will say, “Well I didn’t know the deceased”. No, but you do know your fellow Christian. Parkway is a great congregation but we can make it better. It becomes better when every member decides to live a life of service, expressed in deeds, to every other member in the congregation.