If the church has hurt you

For those whom the church has hurt. I don't necessarily mean that Woods Chapel Church has hurt you. I hope it hasn't but maybe it has. I don't necessarily mean that the Methodist Church has hurt you. I hope that it hasn't but maybe it has. I mean the big "C" Church has hurt you. Somewhere else, in another time and place, the church hurt you. I run into people all the time who have been hurt by the big C Church.

A pastor or staff person said something. Or worse, they did something. The institution crushed you. The doctrine brought you pain. The delivery of truth fell like a hammer. Grace was absent.

If you have been hurt by the church, join a million others. We wonder why some people stay away from church. The truth is, people grow tired of institutions and people that hurt them.

So what will we do? We will try to be a church that is different. We will not simply talk about love, we will model it. And forgiveness, don't forget that. We will be very careful about how we speak to one another. We will put the interest of Jesus Christ before our own. We will think about helping others instead of taking for ourselves.

Love will come before doctrine. Love will come before all else. If God is love, that is the cornerstone of our doctrine. It is the more excellent way. If God is love, then love must be present in His church. If love is not present, we just play religious games.

Dear Woods Chapel friends, you are a people of love. But lets us remember, for the sake of those who have been wounded, that we must model the love of God. It is all we have, but if we hold it up, the love of God is enough.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.