Caring for Others Archives - Faith Lutheran Church, Wesley Chapel

Kurt Steinbrueck July 10, 2021

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Some Have Entertained Angels Unaware

“Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” – Hebrews 13:1-2

Can you tell what someone is like just by looking at them?

“Look at that guy. You can just tell by looking at him that he’s no good.”

All too often we judge people based on nothing other than how they look.

Instead of taking the time to get to know them, we look, judge, and move on.

Consider this:
If you saw a bunch of Harley riding bikers coming down the road, what would you think? Would you think they are were out to go protect a child who was abused? Yet, that’s exactly what these bikers do on a regular basis:

We are called to love each other and to show hospitality to others. This isn’t just something we should do for our friends or the people who look like us.

We are to love everyone.

Why?

Because God loves everyone.

Jesus died for them just like He died for you. In fact, Jesus didn’t just not judge us by appearances, He knew exactly who we would be and how we would rebel against God by our sin. Yet, He still died for us so that we could be forgiven. So great is His love for us!

As followers of Jesus, we are to love like He does and be hospitable to everyone.

And you never know…you may be entertaining an angel.

Dear Jesus,

I confess that I have judged people just by looking at them. I have deemed people unworthy of my hospitality before I ever even met them. Please forgive me and help me to love others as You have loved me.

Amen

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck June 5, 2021

Blog Caring for Others, compassion, love

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Loving Others In A Time Of Need

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” – Philippians 2:3-4

How do you respond to someone when they need something?

What if it inconveniences you?

I saw a video the other day on Facebook. A mother of a 4-month-old was taking a class at Baylor University. At the last minute, her babysitter canceled on her. In desperation, Katy Humphrey did the only thing she could think of…she took her baby, Millie, to class with her.

What would the professor do?

He had several options…

I’m sure children aren’t supposed to be brought to class, so he could have told her, “rules are rules,” and asked her to leave.
He could have even gotten upset with her and berated her for interrupting his class like that.
He also could have just ignored it and went on with his class hoping the baby wouldn’t be too disruptive.

He did none of those things.

Instead, when the baby started fussing (as babies do), he walked over and pick up Millie gently in his arms and soothed her, and then continued to hold Millie while going on with his lecture for the class. He did this for the rest of the class.

“I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable about the whole situation.”

Dr. Darryn Willoughby said.

“Taking care of others in a time of need…even in not a time a need…just loving and caring about others, that’s God’s purpose.”

Dr. Darryn Willoughby showed Katy and Millie love.

He didn’t see himself as the most significant person in that classroom that day, but rather, in humility, he counted Katy and Millie as more significant and set aside his own interests for theirs.

Jesus did this for us.

He had every right to cast us out, to condemn us for our sins. Instead, He humbled Himself and gave Himself as a sacrifice for us. He loved us. No greater love has anyone shown than what Jesus showed us on the cross.

That’s how much Jesus loves you.

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for not treating us as we deserve. Thank you for humbling Yourself and dying for us to save us. Help me humbly treat others as more significant and look out for their interests over my own.

Amen

PS – You can watch the video about Katy, Millie, and Dr. Willoughby here. (Man, that guys arms are huge! …almost as big as his heart.)

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Kurt Steinbrueck February 22, 2021

Blog Caring for Others, compassion, Justice

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No Sidelines

“Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.” – Isaiah 1:17

What do you do when you see injustice?

Are you familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan? If not, you can read it really quickly in Luke 10:25-37. The point of the Good Samaritan is that we are to love our neighbor and we should be a neighbor to the people we encounter who are in need.

In other words, we’re not given the option to sit on the sidelines.

We see the same thing in our passage from Isaiah 1:17, though, it takes more of a political perspective. God loves justice and He hates injustice and oppression. We are to be the same. We should love justice and hate injustice and oppression.

We shouldn’t just hate injustice and oppression when we face injustice or are oppressed, but at all times and for all people. When we see injustice or oppression around us, we are not to just sit on the sidelines.

How do we get off the sidelines?

That’s not usually a simple question to answer. However, I think there are some guidelines we can follow to move in the right direction. (Note: These are my thoughts. I think they fit what we find in the Bible, but just to be clear, these guidelines aren’t straight out of the Scriptures.)

Pray – Seek God’s wisdom and courage. (Prayer can be the first step to just about everything we do.)
Investigate – Things are rarely as they seem on the surface and there are always 3 sides to every story (person A’s side, person B’s side, and the truth). You need the truth. Sometimes you may find that there really isn’t injustice or that the person you thought was being mistreated is actually doing the mistreatment.
Figure out if this battle is for you – In a sense, yes, everyone is your neighbor, but you can’t be a neighbor to everyone. There is so much injustice in the world, you simply can’t fight all the battles. You can, however, fight a few.
Help in a way that’s helpful – One of the complaints some people have about how Christians serve is that we often serve in a way that feels good to us, but doesn’t actually help. Sometimes it even hurts the very people we are trying to help. Pray, research, and pray some more and find a way to help that is truly helpful.
Act – Once you know the truth, decide you need to help, and figure out a way to be truly helpful, get to it. It may be scary, but just take a few steps at a time and do it.
Keep praying – God never sends us onto the field alone. He goes with us. Keep praying. Keep seeking wisdom, discernment, strength, and courage. Keep asking God to bring justice.

Is it time to get off the sideline?

Take a few minutes to pray. Ask God if there is someone or some people you need to be helping. Then wait. Be still and wait. If God lays something on your heart, start praying about it and praying about how you can help. If God doesn’t lay anything on your heart, then ask Him to let you know when He does have something for you. Keep your eyes and ears open and keep praying.

God bless!

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Caring for Others

Some Have Entertained Angels Unaware

Some Have Entertained Angels Unaware

Loving Others In A Time Of Need

Loving Others In A Time Of Need

No Sidelines

No Sidelines

Faith Lutheran Church in Wesley Chapel, FL serving Lutz, Zephyrhills, Land O’ Lakes, and New Tampa, FL