July 5, 2010 Sharing

Do not share in the sins of others!

Good Monday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is hot here at the Southern Location of the North Pole, and just so you know, there is snow in the forecast. Yes, I am forecasting snow for next December... did that help you cool off a bit? Ok, I am being silly, but the topic for this week that God just gave me is about sharing. Today, please pray for all of those who work to keep us safe and healthy. Yes, our troops and police and all others, and there are a lot of people who work and even volunteer in jobs to keep us safe. Try and think of them all and pray for them.

Also today please pray for Mike (I withheld the last name), admitted to the hospital for schizophrenia. Also please keep praying for Rob who is still fighting depression since being in Iraq. Pray for our other veterans who suffer depression also. Pray for George who had a heart problem and is having or has had a stint put in one of his blood vessels. For Sandy who is in the hospital (kidneys) also pray for Blanch (kidneys) for Pastor Charles (stroke) for Luella (internal) for Elaine (upcoming surgery), Ronald (cancer), Kathleen (cancer), Robert (safety in travel).
Also, a praise report... Baby Allie, who we have prayed for and still do, was at the picnic on Saturday, and she is so beautiful and brings so much blessing to so many. Please keep praying for the Orner family and for a job for the bread winner Jim.

Speaking of the picnic, a good time was had by all. Thanks for those who helped serve our seniors from the Bridges and thanks for those who stayed and helped clean up. All who came seemed to have a great time on a day we were blessed by God with perfect weather to be along side a creek. There was something missing! There were no bugs. I did not see one bee, or one fly, or even an ant. And the food was good and no one got sick...

Sharing 1" Timothy 5:22b - Do not share in the sins of others. (NIV)

I am late this morning and it is because I have been waiting upon the Lord for a subject and a message on that subject. It has been slow coming. I was beginning to think maybe God wanted me to take another day of rest. Anyway, He planted on my mind about sharing and maybe because I was out in the garden this morning and picked some really nice squash. As you know at the end of my message each day and I have been saying this for years, "Please share your blessings". Sometimes I don't say please. Today I want to talk to you about a few things, and there are many, but a few things that we should NOT share. The scripture that God pointed out to me, 1 Timothy 5:22, the second part tells us not to share in the sins of others. If you see others doing things that you know are just wrong, that are sins, in my opinion you should not just not get involved in them but you should also try and stop those sinning from doing just that. Oh, yes, that is called sharing the gospel of Jesus and His word...

When we think of things that we SHOULD NOT SHARE, some things that come to my mind are those illnesses that can be spread, and if we just stayed home for a day if we were sick we might not share that illness. The Bible tells us not to share in the sins of others and we can also turn that one around for we should never ask people to share in our sins. First of all we should not do the sin, but if we do, why should we drag others down with us? If you don't think that happens, think again. Even in churches, some of which now support gay marriages, and the abortion of babies. We need to do all we can to not be involved in sin.

Let me point out one that men might do, yes, we men sin once in a while... Let's say I see this good looking lady walking past in a mini skirt and my mind gets going in a sinful way. That is bad enough for your thinking can be a sin, but then I tap my buddy on the arm and say, wow, look at that... You see where I am coming from. Hold on now, this was not a confession, I was making a point (I already talked to God about that one years ago). Oh, and ladies, you do the same kind of thing. Oh, and what about the way we dress (both men and women) if we are doing it to draw attention to our selves in a sinful way? Is that not sort of sharing your sins or getting others involved? There are a ton of these that could be done. Oh, here is a really big one... You go to the coffee pot or water cooler at work, it is your break time. Others are talking about someone and you are standing there taking it all in (that is getting involved in the sins of others); then you start adding to the gossip and now you are adding more sin to the fire. Oh, I got involved in this one, once. At work a candy machine was not set when the door was locked, meaning it would give candy without money... Someone walked by and just pulled a lever and down dropped the candy. They emptied the one they liked but in fear of someone seeing and telling on them, they told others and soon the machine was milked of all the candy. Now how did I get involved, well someone gave me some of the candy and I ate it. Again, I was forgiven for it long ago and since then even if the candy machine would give me too much change, I would give it back. So you can see today just how simple and easy it is to sin sometimes and also to take others on the sinful ride with us.

We as Christians are to be taking people to the feet of Jesus to be forgiven, we are to share in His love. Trust me when I say that we have plenty of good things to share with others that we do not need to be sharing sins. Tomorrow we will be going into scriptures that tell us to share.

Dear Father in Heaven, help us not to sin and forgive us, forgive me when I do, and moreso, Lord, help me to never try and get someone, get any person to sin with me, and please help me not to sin with them. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Now go forth and share your blessings, share your good things... love ya, Pastor Dan.