Ouch 1 John 3:16-21 June 28, 1998

Olga, our Russian pastor visited last week.......ouch!!!!!!
-Smart Americans through they could train Russian pastors to run a church
-Leading pastors were assigned to teach them how to be pastors
-gifts of love and support were to be exchanged


Results???
-Olga trained in raising money, evangelism, church growth strategy
it was all irrelevant
-Olga was listened to by this pastor, and I struggled with how to help
-gifts were exchanged
we paid for half of her plane fare.... sent $1,000 to help start new Russian churches
hats, shirts, pen & pencil set, other misc items given
she....told some of us her story ......... one small bell

Story.... never seen a golf course before...
never seen a personal lawnmower.... people grow food if they have land
trouble with paying for epidurals on medicare? not available there
trouble with deciding on which car to buy...she has no car
2 hours to her appointment
sister a biologist w PHD. makes $250/month
most people share in order to afford a place to live.
church struggle vs the government, corruption and the Russian Orthodox Church

Read Scripture 1 John 3:16-21

My heart condemns me.....what to do?
Mobilize the church for mission this time? why? why not?
So many chances to do good in the name of the Lord
Can we do them all.....no. Can we do more than we are......

I am struggling here....struggle....the answers are not easy....pat answers only go so far

I challenge you to see the world not as a place to play
but as a place where God's people hurt
I challenge you to see your resources not as earned or owned by you
but as gifts of God to be used for his bidding

I've named the bell.....it;'s the thinking bell
as I consider the gifts shared last weekend, I wonder if it isn't time for us to think
when I consider the blessings God has given us, I wonder if it isn't time to think
when I consider the words of this scripture, I know it is time to think

Table of the Lord is a place where God speaks
Where we hear his voice, and move from point a to point b