QUOTES OF THE WEEK!

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. - Albert Einstein
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Romans 12:3-5 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

And that's why your part in this body is critical for the success of the body of Christ. If you're part of our hearing and you don't function- we won't hear well. If you're part of our sight and you won't see- we won't see well. And so we have all of these parts that are critical and important to the functioning of the church.

Think of the choir- if all we had was a choir full of altos. Man, we would miss the tenor part, the bass part, the soprano part- you wouldn't see that harmony, you wouldn't see that blending of all of that coming together. And throughout this church God makes some beautiful music, if His people, gifted by Him, do that which God has called them to do.

{illustrates with a football team center deciding he doesn't won't to do his part anymore so he can catch the ball and you lose the team}

And when you don't have a team you don't have a chance to win. And if we don't function as the body we cannot win! That's God's way, that's God's plan. And we'll lose as a body, a church, and you'll lose as a gifted Christian. But if all of us will say, "I'll seek God's will for me and I'll give God glory, have no will of my own, I'm going to honor God the very best that I can in the place that God has put me- I am going to try to be an All-American in my spot- and I'm going to do my maximum- He'll help the team to win. And when the team wins, the team rejoices. Who's the team? It's the body, it's the church. And when the team wins the Coach is glorified isn't He? Who's the Coach? Jesus. That's right.

Now we all have to give our best. Every single member of Highland Park Baptist Church must do their best in your area for the glory of God, the body of Christ, the church.

{illustrates with when a quarterback gets hit a fan might yell} "Put the boy out the game! All he does is fumble!" It's easy to sit up in that stand, eating your popcorn, and drinking your Coke and holler "Pull the boy out." Right? Let's put you in the game!... you get hit and you won't care where the ball is. You want back in the stands with your popcorn and Coke. You have a new attitude. You see what I am saying? It's easy to sit out there and say why did he fumble the ball?
It's easy to be the pastor when you not the pastor, you know? I've been doing this for 27 years and I've found a whole lot of folks who never pastored even a 5 member class knows how to do it better than I do. You know, years of training, education, everything else, serving the Lord, experience- some good experience- some bad experience- and they know more about pastoring than the pastor does.

It's easy to sit out there and direct the choir when you're not in it. Isn't it? Here's what I think you ought to do... and you couldn't carry a note if your head was... had it in a bucket- amen? Discuss Sunday School teachers, or the bus ministry and you ain't even been near a bus. It's easy to discuss the ushers... if you won't usher. Right? It's easy to discuss Sunday School teachers when you won't teach. It's easy to discuss meals if you won't cook. It's easy to say, "We ought to win this community to Christ" if you don't go visit.

-David Bouler, January 22, 1992

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Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement. - Henry Ford
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It's discouraging to make a mistake, but it's humiliating when you find out you're so unimportant that nobody noticed it. - Chuck Daly
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Today's plans produce tomorrow's results. - J.R. Faulkner

Live by faith today. Can't live yesterday over, can't live tomorrow yet. - J. Don Jennings