My son is back in a boot. No, not a cowboy boot (can you say it’s about rodeo time in Houston?), a medical boot. Seems he has partially torn the Achilles tendon in his left ankle. So the prescription is staying off of the ankle as much as possible along with physical therapy, including laser treatment. Isn’t technology wonderful? A lot of things “tear” or “break”, from the physical, to the spiritual and the relational. I believe we could learn a lot about dealing with spiritual and emotional “tears” and how to bring healing by what we do when a bone or ligament is injured. There is time off involved along with a time to work and rebuild that which has been broken. There are so many things I do not know or pretend to understand, but this I know: God heals. When I sensed God’s call on my life to serve Him as a pastor, the Scripture I could not get away from was this, “"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;”. That phrase “heal the brokenhearted” completely gripped my soul. Is your heart broken? Is your family broken, or a friendship? Maybe it is your relationship with God that is “torn”. Do not continue to leave it as is, it will not heal as it should and perhaps only get worse. Maybe there needs to be a time of taking the pressure off of that which is broken, but not too long. Most likely there will need to be some exercising and work put into rebuilding that which is broken to make it strong again. Whatever it is, whatever it takes, let’s not go around with things all broken in our lives when God is the healer of the heart.

Over 90 times the Apostle Paul used the word “grace” in his writings. Apparently it was an important word to him. Paul had been a recipient of the extravagant grace of God, and in turn he worked hard at sharing that grace with those whom he came in contact with. He began his letter to the church at Corinth, a group of folks blessed in so many ways yet so carnal, with these words, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 1:3) Paul did have some tough things to say to these believers, but he constantly laced his words with grace. And shouldn’t we do the same? People make judgment against us, misunderstandings arise, failures take place…couldn’t we answer these realities with grace? How glad I am that the Lord met my sin with His grace. I pray I can do the same to those who sin against me.

Stay Tuned: We are currently working on a couple of exciting events at CrossBridge. One is a “Disciple Now” weekend for our teens. We will need folks to house teens and some folks to help with providing meals. Details coming soon. Also, we would like to have an outreach event inviting baseball teams and their families to attend with a big meal following the service and maybe an Astros prize or two to be given away. If you have a child on a baseball team this spring, please let us know so we can involve your team in this exciting weekend!

Message Series: The book of Ezekiel has some of the most unusual stories in all of Scripture. This Sunday we will begin to take a look at this fascinating book. Invite a friend to come along and see just how strange it can get!