I just returned home (about an hour ago) from my Life Group with my fellow singles. Together we all brought it up a few notches as we shared deeply personal Life stories with each other relating to tonight’s topic of discussion. It was all about ‘Words Of Affirmation’ – the first of ‘The Five Love Languages For Singles‘. (That’s the book that we’re reading together as a group during this Fall semester.)
As usual I failed to do my homework during the two weeks leading up to tonight’s Life Group, and our leader – Patricia – made me pay for that. But it was all good, and I deserved the extra bit of attention for the night. ‘Say what ?’ We had a little exercise that we did during tonight’s session where we each wrote an affirming handwritten note to someone else in our group (we each picked a random name out of a glass). Due to a suspicious clerical error Patricia made me write two handwritten notes to two people in my group. The joke was on Patricia. I enjoyed it immensely, and I sincerely meant everything that I wrote in those two notes over the course of about 15 minutes.
Our Life Groups at Life Pointe Church are all about living Life together on His fantastic journey for us. Our ‘church’ is not the movie theatre. It’s not the office suites in Downtown Homestead. It’s not the 70-minute service or the 5-hour experience on Sunday morning. Our ‘church’ is us – we – the living breathing body that lives Life together and loves and worships Jesus Christ with reckless abandon. It never stops. It’s a 24/7 commitment. Anything less than that would be cheating our Lord and Saviour. He gave it all up for us on that bloody hunk of wood.
So that’s what I’ve got to offer for tonight’s edition of the ‘Bedtime Stories’. We’re all on this journey together, and sometimes we physically meet at strategic intersections of Life. Until we meet again at a junction – REMEMBER THIS:
Proverbs 18:21
The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.
Luke 6:38
Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full — pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”
1 John 4:19
We love each other because He loved us first.
Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.
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