Blessed are the Peacemakers, For They Shall be Called the Children of God

1Peter3:8: To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;
9:not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
10: For, The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.
11: he must turn away from evil and do that which is good; he must seek peace and pursue it.
12: for the eyes of the lord are toward the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the lord is against those who do evil.
13: Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?

Have you ever had an experience with a group of people that you became so angry that you refused to speak with them and you decided to abandon and leave them. I had that experience with my local church I am now attending. At the time I left I was just plain angry, and several people tried to stop at my house or try to call me on the phone, but I refused to talk to anyone. I started attending a church in Meadville, and was going there about a year and a half. I enjoyed going there at the time, but I felt like an alien in a strange land, because I knew where I belonged. But one thing I learned there was that God makes a covenant between Himself and those He has chosen, and they taught me the importance of loving my brothers and sisters in Christ.

On Wednesday nights it was my day off from work and I would spend my evenings walking around the town and I would walk past the Christian and Missionary Alliance where I have now returned. For a long time I would walk past and my thoughts were bitter toward several of the people there. During the summer as I was waiting for my ride to Meadville, I would look around my neighborhood, and I saw all these school aged children playing in their yards, and God started placing a burden on my heart, because I knew these families were not attending church. One day as I was riding to Meadville the pastor of the church saw tears running down my cheeks and he asked me what was wrong, and I asked him if he saw all those children and they were not able to hear the message of the gospel. As time went on that summer, some of the people from the CMA church had asked if I would begin taking care of the lawn again, and later on I was asked to do the janitor work again. So I began doing those things again. In the meantime, after I started thinking about these young people, as I walked by my church in Cambridge Springs the bitterness began to turn into forgiveness, and I found myself praying that Christ would give them a vision and He would begin to give them leadership and guidance, and several times I would pass and see cars and people gathering there as more of them were coming to prayer meeting. I sometimes saw them meeting and planning on Sunday nights. Someone invited me to the Missionary meetings in October and I decided to come. I ended up coming to it all week, and I tried to leave, but everyone was happy to see me back and wanted me to stay for the fellowship time. Later that month was the annual meeting, so I thought I should come to that to see how things were going. I saw all the people who were elected to the various positions and all those who were willing to serve in other areas, and right away I knew that something happened here and I wanted to be a part of it, and I haven't missed since unless I was sick or some other reason. It is so good to be back home again.

In the fall, Pastor Cliff arrived, and I was out working in the yard and I decided to go in his office and talk to him about the children and how I had a burden for them. As always, he suggests that if you pray about a situation, be willing to be part of the solution. When I first started back, there were several babies and very young children, but hardly any children probably between the ages of 4 through 13 or so. Gradually they began coming, and as time went on some people began seeing the need to expand the Sunday school program and people began serving in that area. As more children began coming we saw the need to minister to them during the week. Now we have a kid's club that is well staffed and many times we have between 15 or 20 kids coming and some of those kids are the same ones that I had a burden for. And as Pastor,Cliff suggested, don't just pray about the solution, but become part of it. I find myself now working in children,s ministries and I love it

Another ministry that I enjoy doing, is encouraging others, and doing those things that build others up and spurring others and trying to get them involved in sharing their spiritual gifts. It is almost as though I am doing the exact opposite of those things that I was doing before I left. I desire to cultivate peace among the family of God and we are growing and discipling each other and are giving God the glory. We are excited and zealous and enthusiastic as we stay focused on Christ the author and finisher of our faith. Part of a praise song I am thinking about right now goes like this: He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it in you. That means all of us and may Christ continue to give us a missionary-minded burden for the lost in our surrounding communities. I am so glad to be a part of the family of God.