Job 19:21

Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!

From Background Notes [BN] for November 9^th & 10^th  written by Pastor Bob Brown:

So we come back to the Core Value of Friendship in the life of the church. People come through our doors all the time, and we don’t have the permission or the freedom to decide in advance what Job-like experiences they will bring with them.

If we are genuine with them, they will tell us their stories, disclosing perhaps their deepest fears and hurts, along with the highest joys and victories. Everybody has a story, and some stories are like Job’s. These new acquaintances that we make may very well challenge our closely held world in the highly protected confines of the familiar church community to which we belong. It may not be easy to listen to their stories or their fears or their pain. We might be inclined to think to ourselves, “Well, if only they had followed the rules or been more religious, all these terrible things wouldn’t have happened to them.” But if that’s our silent reaction, what kind of friends will we be for them? Will our prejudice about their situation open the doors of understanding, comfort, and support, or will we simply be content to place a label on them?. [BN,4]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am