Sermon Notes “Love Lifted Me (so I could pass it on)”
This week I have been looking at pictures some friends of mine have been posting on Facebook about their trip to the Holy Land. It’s definitely on my “to do” list to go there some day! So today they posted pictures floating in the Dead Sea. Apparently, it is super easy to float there….even a big ol’ boy like me can’t really sink. Why? Because of the saline content.
The Dead Sea is a very interesting place. It is the Earth’s lowest elevation on land. It’s about 997 feet deep – the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water (9.6 times more than the ocean). This saltiness makes for a harsh environment for plants and animals…hence the name “Dead” Sea.
Another reason the “Dead Sea” is dead is that it is a terminus. That means water flows in, but none flows out. It’s trapped there. The only way out is to evaporate.
As interesting a place as the Dead Sea is, I don’t want my spiritual life to be like that place. (OK – I do want to be the “salt of the earth” but I don’t want to be “dead” salty). I think of how much of God’s grace, mercy and comfort flows “into” my life. But I don’t need to be the terminus. I’ve got to let that same grace, mercy and comfort flow out of my life and into someone else’s life if I am going to live and thrive spiritually. We all are blessed in order to BE a blessing. Listen to how Paul describes it in 2 Cor. 1: 3-5…
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. (2 Cor. 1: 3-5 NIV)
Let’s be thankful for the wonderful comfort that we receive in all our troubles… but let’s also remember that love lifts us SO THAT we can pass it on!
See you Sunday,
Pastor Sam