Do You Really Care?

Tell a story of when you did help someone in need.

[Romans 12:9-11] Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them.

(What do people answer when asked, “How are you doing?” When we ask the question do we really care?) Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. {10} Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. (Do we really do this?) {11} Never be lazy in your work, (Are we lazy?) but serve the Lord enthusiastically.

Karl Menninger was one of the most famous psychiatrists in the 1930’s. He worked for almost 70 years. He wrote several books and received several honors. I believe he was a devout Christian.

Years ago, Dr. Karl Menninger of the Menninger Clinic was asked, "If someone felt a nervous breakdown coming on, what would you suggest that he do?"

"If you feel a nervous breakdown coming on, I would urge you to find somebody else with a problem -- a serious one -- and get involved with that individual, helping him solve his problem." In helping him to solve his problem, then in reality your own problem is going to disappear. You’re no longer thinking internally. You’re no longer letting things gnaw at your stomach. You’re no longer getting disturbed about yourself because you’re not thinking about yourself. You’re thinking about others. I don’t know what your objective in life might be, but this is something each one of us can do.

I’ve seen this too. If you are tied down with problems, stop looking internally, look externally, and help someone in need!

“To feel sorry for the needy is not the mark of a Christian--to help them is.”

[Galatians 5:13-15] For you, dear friends, have been called to live in freedom--not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. {14} For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." ([Matthew 22:36-40] The great Commandment. We’ve all heard this before, but have we really applied it?) {15} But if instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. (We often say that we are loving when in fact we are biting and devouring one another.)

Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good actions; try to use ordinary situations. ~Johann Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825)

Have you ever raced someone to the checkout line. It’s like playing shopping cart "Chicken!"

“It’s amazing how selfish we can be at times!”

VIDEO: “Extreme Days.”

I used the scene where they are fighting over the campsite and used it to illustrate how selfish we can be thinking of ourselves as better than others. It is a really funny clip, it is done like a cheesy Martial Arts film.

[1 Timothy 6:18-19] Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. {19} By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of real life.

Do you want REAL LIFE? Do you want a treasure that will last forever?

This is why we have small groups.

How would our world be different if we really loved others as much as we love ourselves?

[1 Corinthians 10:24] Don’t think only of your own good. Think of other Christians and what is best for them.

I don’t know whether I’m allowed to quote Buddha, but I guess I will. He once said that if one person conquers in battle a thousand times a thousand and another conquers himself, he who conquers himself is the greatest of all conquerors.

Love is balanced by self-control. Because love is self-giving, and self-giving and self-control are complementary, the one to the other. How can we give ourselves in love until we’ve learned to control ourselves? Our self has to be mastered before it can be offered in the service of others.

Jesus loved others. He wasn’t afraid to touch them.

[Luke 5:12-13] In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he fell to the ground, face down in the dust, begging to be healed. "Lord," he said, "if you want to, you can make me well again." {13} Jesus reached out and touched the man. "I want to," he said. "Be healed!" And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

Other religious leaders wouldn’t touch him because it would make them ceremonially unclean. Jesus didn’t care!

[Luke 4:40-41] As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. {41} Some were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, "You are the Son of God." But because they knew he was the Messiah, he stopped them and told them to be silent.