REJOICE WITH ME- Chapter Nine

 (Copied from our Contagious Study Book in Chapter Nine)

How can we love God with everything and our neighbor as ourselves if we do not sacrificially give of ourselves with joy? In looking for the big opportunities to “perform” as a Christian, how many small God-given opportunities to love with depth do we miss?  Shelia Walsh

I’m a part of a caring little community. We’re from all over the place, yet we all consider ourselves friends. Not a day goes by that we don’t check in with each other. We’re a chatty bunch on the whole. We crack jokes and laugh together. We ask questions that pose riddles to get one another thinking. We’re unstinting in our compliments, shameless in our flattery, generous to a fault. We love to use our creativity to surprise each other. We keep each other’s mailboxes filled with little delights. We encourage one another, inspire one another, trust one another, and rejoice with each other.

This is a good picture of what the Lord wants for Christians to  experience within the Church. We’re to form a strong community caring, encouraging, trusting. Have you formed a circle of friends from within your congregation-a Sunday school class, Bible study group, ministry team? Do you find excuses  to surprise and encourage one another regularly? It’s amazing how joy can flourish when joy is shared?

Marily Meberg