To Help or Not to Help

by John Eiselt

We have all been there.

You pull up to a stoplight and there is someone asking for help.

You are approached while walking on the street and asked if you have any change to spare.

You see a young family holding a sign requesting help in the form of gas for their car, and food for their children.

Maybe you see a humanitarian issue or need that is in another part of our country or world.

Your heart goes out to the people affected, while your brain begins to calculate a common internal dilemma.

First. it's a question of whether you should help. Next is a question of how. Finally is the question of whether or not the help you could provide will really help those who are in need.

Jesus has a lot to say about helping people in need.

Showing mercy to others with our actions is an integral part of living as his followers. He showed us what this looks like through his own actions and he told us what this looks like using stories to help us better understand how to bring this to our own lives and the world around us. 

The story of the Good Samaritan is one such story. It's a story is about asking the right question, living in a bigger story, and making margin to show mercy.

Join us this weekend as we experience God together and uncover why Jesus told this story and what it means for us today.

How to Forgive the Unforgivable

I don’t know how many times I’ve been in a conversation with someone who is recounting something horrible they’ve gone through at the hands of another person.

The other person is evil. And I get totally drawn in.

I want justice. I want that other person to experience pain for what they’re doing.

Then the person I’m talking to asks me, “How am I supposed to forgive him (or her)?”

I’m so into their story, that I can’t forgive this person, and I didn’t even experience it!

Pat answers simply won’t come to me. 

I had one of these conversations recently. I said, “I don’t know. But I’ll be preaching on it in a couple of weeks.” 

That's this weekend, and I'm eager to share it with you. 

Do you have someone you can’t forgive?

Photo by Sabine van Straaten on Unsplash