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What is the Point?

                “What am I supposed to be doing?”  I get asked that question a lot.  Oddly, it is most often asked by long time, faithful church members.  It seems that we have been good about teaching people what to believe, but not as good about helping them figure out what God wants them to do.  He did not take us home immediately after our baptism, so we must be here for a reason.
What, then, is your job? 
                If someone uses a hammer every day, you could probably guess that he or she is a carpenter.  If they use a stethoscope, they could be a doctor or a nurse.  A calculator is likely used by an accountant and, if your tool is an airplane, you might be a pilot or a flight attendant. 
Therefore, if we look at our spiritual toolbox, we will be able to figure out what we are supposed to be doing too.  So, what do we have for tools?
                One necessity, mentioned several times from the start of the Bible to the end, is that God’s people are to have soft hearts!   In fact, three times in nineteen verses, the inspired writer of Hebrews says, “Do not harden your hearts!” (Hebrews 3:8; 3:15; 4:7). 
Why does God want us to have soft hearts? 
                We need soft hearts because it is our job to love something. 
What are we to love?  
Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and… Love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). 
                Most find the “love God” part easy enough.  However, from my observation, the church has a struggle with the “have a soft heart toward your neighbour” part. 
Interestingly, in Luke’s gospel, these words are followed by Jesus’ parable about “The Good Samaritan”.  In that story, two people with hearts that are soft toward God, a Priest and Levite, are shown to have hard and uncaring hearts toward the man who was robbed.  By contrast, the hero of the story is the soft-hearted Samaritan who goes out of his way to help.  Jesus ends this passage by saying, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).
                When we have a soft heart that responds both to God and to those around us, connections are made, bridges are built, and people find their way home.
                  That is why we are here!

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