Steve's "Sermon"

Steve and I have a friend who is a pastor of a local church. He called Steve several months ago and asked him if he would be willing to speak at the 9:30 and 11:00 services on this particular Sunday since he would be out of town. Knowing that our friend considers everything with much prayer, he knew this was something God was leading him to do.

During all of the pre-election "hype", Steve found some scripture in Romans that really spoke to him and, long story short, this led him to Acts 10. God sent Peter, a Jew, to share the Gospel with Gentiles, an almost unheard of association.

Over the next few weeks, God revealed this scripture to both of us on more than one occasion. Because of this, Steve felt affirmed that God had chosen this for his message.

On Sunday, he spoke about prejudice...not racially, but more "prejudging" others when their views, opinions, personalities, or even appearances are different from ours. Obviously, this is not our job but is to be left to God. He said God had really convicted him (and me too through his message) about seeing people the way God sees them, which is so difficult to do sometimes. After all, aren't we called to be a witness to EVERYONE...not just to those with whom we relate? Finally, he talked about walls that we build when we judge people and the only way these walls can be broken down is through Christ. We have to ask Him for help.

I am thankful that God chose to use Steve in this small way and for the way he used this opportunity to humble both of us. I pray that I will be able to view people as who they are...children of God created in His image. Because I am human, I know I will fall. But by His grace, I can get back up and start again.