Blog | Life Church St Louis

Being An Encourager

Family, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / May 14, 2007

Being a mother is an awesome privilege and a great responsibility. NIV Psalm 113:9 He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD. God wants Moms to be happy mothers of children. To be a happy mother, you’ve got to have a sense of humor. We don’t live in a perfect world, and even if we did, the kids would mess it up in short order.

Some elementary school children were asked the following questions about Moms: Why did God make mothers? She’s the only one who knows where the Scotch tape is. Mostly to clean the house. To help us out of there when we were getting born. How did God make mothers? He used dirt, just like for the rest of us. Magic, plus superpowers and a lot of stirring. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts. What ingredients are mothers made of? God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean. They had to get their start from men’s bones. Then they mostly use string, I think. Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom? We’re related. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s moms like me.

If you’re a mother here today, God wants you to be happy. One of the great things about how God made mothers, is that He made them to be encouragers. Mothers are great encouragers of their children. So today I’ve entitled my message “Being An Encourager.” I’d like to talk about how mothers can become even better encouragers and how they can encourage themselves. But I’m not just talking to mothers this morning. I hope that all the Dads will also put these principles into practice and learn how to be better encouragers of their wives. Rather than criticize and pinpoint other’s faults, each of us can learn to be an encourager.

And do you know who the greatest encourager is? It’s God Himself. We can learn from God how to bring out the best in others, how to be an encourager. Today we’re going to look at how God encouraged a new leader in Israel named Joshua. From this passage I’m going to draw out some ways to encourage others and bring out the best in them. And if you’re feeling discouraged this morning, you can apply them to your own life first and then share them with someone else.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my May 13, 2007 message entitled Being An Encourager

Forgiving When It’s Hard

Family, Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 30, 2007

Currently we’re in a message series called “God’s Power For Your Relationships.” In the last weeks I’ve talked about the importance of love and patience. This week, I want to tackle a somewhat more difficult topic. What do we do when a relationship has problems? When a relationship becomes damaged? When someone we care about hurts us? Some people hold a grudge and become bitter. Others try to pretend that nothing has happened. Neither response is God’s way to deal with problems in a relationship. The way to bring healing to a relationship that has been damaged is through forgiveness.

Today my topic is “Forgiving When It’s Hard.” Some forgiveness is easy, when the hurt is small, when the other person seems truly sorry. However, forgiving is hard in other situations. Forgiving is hard when the hurt is big. Forgiving is hard when you are hurt repeatedly. Forgiving is hard when the other person does not seem to be sorry. Sometimes we may feel that we just can’t forgive what someone has done to us.

Take a quick inventory of your life this morning. Is there anyone in your life who you hold a grudge against? Is there someone who has hurt you and you feel bitterness, resentment or anger toward them? If there is, keep that person in your mind as listen this morning. God wants to release your mind and emotions from the pain of what someone else has done. And in many cases the relationship can be restored. What is the key? The key is forgiveness.

NLT Colossians 3:13 You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. There is a word in that verse that occurs two times that I would like you to circle, the word is must. It is repeated twice for emphasis, you must forgive. Those are commands from God for every believer. Forgive, even when it’s hard. Why must we forgive when it’s difficult? Because the Lord forgave us. Each one of us has been forgiven by Jesus for our wrongs. When we truly understand how much we have been forgiven for, we can forgive others, even when it’s hard.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 29, 2007 message entitled Forgiving When It’s Hard

Practicing Patience

Family, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 23, 2007

Today I am going to talk about “Practicing Patience.” Patience is an essential character trait that you need to develop in order to have healthy relationships. You can’t talk about patience without talking about anger, because the word patience means “slow to get angry.” The Greek word for patience is “macrothumos” where macro means “long or slow” and thumos means “anger or wrath.” So patience means you have a long fuse, you don’t blow up easily, you manage your anger.

NIV Proverbs 14:29 A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly. It’s wise to learn how to develop patience, but it’s foolish to be quick-tempered. An angry person seems powerful but he doesn’t accomplish anything constructive. In fact anger weakens and destroys relationships. On the other hand a person who is patient overlooks wrongs in others. NLT Proverbs 19:11 People with good sense restrain their anger; they earn esteem by overlooking wrongs. People with good sense work at being patient. They learn to restrain their anger. They don’t blow up over every wrong another person does, they have a long fuse.

Who is the most patient person around? Well it is God Himself. God has incredible patience to put up with people like me and you. If God was not patient with us, we would be long gone. We have insulted Him, done wrong countless times, yet He loves us and has patience with us. NLT Numbers 14:18 The LORD is slow to anger and rich in unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. God wants us to be like Him slow to anger, patient, full of love and forgiveness. In every relationship there are times when we have to choose, will I get angry or be patient? How can we learn to practice patience?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 22, 2007 message entitled Practicing Patience

Lessons From The Virginia Tech Massacre

World / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 19, 2007

The tragic events at Virginia Tech have riveted the eyes of the nation for the past week. We have been appalled at the cold-blooded killer’s plot to take so many innocent lives. Some may be feeling depressed, helpless, fearful, angry or just numb from this tragedy. One thing that we all can do is to pray for the families of the victims. Pray that God would comfort them, draw them closer to Himself and give them hope for the future.

Beyond prayer, what lessons can we learn from the Virginia Tech massacre? What would Jesus say if someone told Him about it? Actually, we have an account where Jesus was told of a similar massacre and Jesus gave an answer. NLT Luke 13:1 About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were sacrificing at the Temple in Jerusalem. 2 “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee?” he asked. “Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God. In this case, some innocent Jews were offering sacrifices to God in the Temple at Jerusalem when the governor had them murdered. Murder in a public place of innocent victims, not so different from what happened at Virginia Tech. The first thing that Jesus says is that the victims were not any worse sinners than those who were not killed. The violence of evil does not discriminate between levels of sin.

What Jesus says next contains the lessons that we should be reminded of in the face of any tragedy, whether created by man or by nature. Jesus says, “And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God.” When we contemplate the Virginia Tech massacre, we should first of all come face to face with our own mortality. None of us knows how much time we have left on this planet. Our lives may end with an auto accident, a heart attack, old age or a murderer’s bullet. When life is over, we will either perish in a place called hell or live forever with God in heaven. So these events should compel us to examine our own lives to make sure that we have turned from our evil ways and put our faith in Jesus Christ to forgive our sins. The temptation is to look at a psychopath like the murderer Cho and think we are not so bad after all. Jesus calls us to look inside the darkness of our own hearts and seek God’s forgiveness and presence in our lives.

The corollary lesson concerns our neighbors, who we are to love as ourselves. Our neighbors, the people within the circle of our lives will also perish, unless they turn from their evil ways and turn to God. If we love our neighbors, we must do whatever we can to open their eyes to the reality of God’s love, before it is too late, before they perish.

In America, we tend to live with the delusion that death is distant and we don’t have to worry about it. Jesus tells us we’d better prepare for it today. At Virginia Tech, 32 innocent victims perished. Every day in the United States, 6800 people die. Death comes to the young through the elderly. Are you ready? Is your family ready? Is your neighbor ready? Eternal destinies lie in the balance. Jesus calls us to learn from the Virginia Teach massacre. Be prepared for death before it’s too late. Get right with God.

For more information, read my article .

Learning To Love

Family, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 17, 2007

Today we begin a new message series which I’ve entitled “God’s Power For Your Relationships.” We’re going to look at how God’s power can help you with your relationships. Quite frankly, relationships are what life is all about. Relationships with family, with relatives, with neighbors, with co-workers, with people at church. Relationships can make life wonderful or miserable. We need God’s power to help our relationships be everything that God intended.

Today, my first message in this series is called “Learning To Love” Do you remember the first time you fell in love? Might have been in middle school or high school, perhaps you noticed someone in class. But it was more than just noticing someone, you had feelings when you looked at them and when you talked to them. You thought, this must be what love is all about, this mysterious feeling that I’ve fallen into.

The fact is that love is not just a feeling. When the Bible talks about love it most often uses a Greek word agape. Agape means to make a choice to appreciate and act in the best interests of someone else. It is used both for loving God and for loving people. Love is much more than a feeling, love is much more than words, love is a choice. Love is a choice to do the right thing for someone else even if the feelings are not there. This God-kind of love applies to everyone of your relationships.

How can we learn about love? The best way is to learn from the person who invented love God Himself. Jesus did a lot of teaching about love. Jesus did a lot of demonstrating what love was all about. Jesus showed us what love is through His life and through His death. We need to learn from Jesus what love is all about. NLT 1 John 4:19 We love each other as a result of His loving us first. Jesus loved us first so we can truly love one another. Not just when we feel like it, but with the kind of love God has for us, agape love. That is the kind of love that will build the strong relationships that God wants us to have in our lives

Today we’re going to look at some of Jesus’ teaching about love. One day an expert in the Jewish law asked Jesus what he had to do to receive eternal life. Jesus asked him what the Bible said? NLT Luke 10:27-28 The man answered, “`You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, `Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” These verses are called the Great Commandment. They have two parts, loving God and loving people. The man asked Jesus who his neighbor was, the neighbor that he was supposed to love as himself and Jesus answered with a story.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 15, 2007 message entitled Learning To Love

Living With Resurrection Power

God, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 9, 2007

Happy Easter! What a great day to worship God together. Welcome to all of our guests. We’re glad that choose to join us on Easter. There’s just something special about Easter. The people that keep track of such things tell us that Easter has the highest church attendance of the year. What is it about Easter? What draws people to church on Easter? It’s not the Easter bunny, Easter eggs or springtime, it’s something else. I think what draws people to church on Easter is related to the true meaning of Easter.

Here’s what Easter is all about. Jesus crucified on the cross, laid to rest in a stone cold tomb rises from the dead on the 3rd day and 40 days later ascends into heaven. Jesus overcomes the greatest enemy, the biggest obstacle anyone could face, death itself. Somehow, people sense that if Jesus could rise from the dead, there’s hope for their lives and their situations. I believe that people come to church on Easter to find hope for their lives. NIV 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Jesus overcame death and lives today. Those who believe in Him can put their past behind them and walk in a new way. Isn’t that what hope is all about? Looking for a fresh start for your life, moving beyond your past, going from the old to the new that God has for you. That’s what Easter is all about.

A Sunday School teacher was attempting to teach her young students the true meaning of Easter. “Why do we celebrate Easter?” she asked. When the children replied ’because of the Easter bunny,’ Easter eggs, candy, spring, etc., she said, “No, those are Easter traditions and symbols, but what is the REASON why we celebrate Easter? What happened at the very first Easter?” A little girl raised her hand and said, “Easter celebrates Jesus coming out of the tomb.” “Yes!” said the teacher, excited and relieved that finally the correct answer had surfaced. Encouraged, she prompted, “Jesus arose from the tomb, and what does He do for us?” The youngster replied, “He looks to see if he can see his shadow, and if He can, he goes back in for another six weeks.” Not quite right, she shouldn’t have asked the second question. But it is an important question, Jesus rose from the tomb, but what does that have to do with us? Sure, Easter is a great day to come to church, but what about tomorrow, the day after Easter and the rest of the year?

Today, I want to talk about “Living With Resurrection Power.” I’m going to answer the question, How can Easter give me power in my life next week? When all the trappings of Easter and the good feelings of the day are gone, how can you tap into some of that power that rose Jesus from the tomb for your own life?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 8, 2007 message entitled Living With Resurrection Power