--CAREGIVING, TEAMWORK~~

--LOVE ONE ANOTHER+

LEE Iacocca once asked legendary football coach Vince Lombardi what it took to make a winning team. The book 'Iacocca' records Lombardi's answer:

There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don't win the game. Then you come to the third ingredient: If you're going to play together as a team, you've got to care for one another. You've got to love each other. Each player has to be thinking about the next guy and saying to himself: 'If I don't block that man, Paul is going to get his legs broken. I have to do my job well in order that he can do his.'

"The difference between mediocrity and greatness," Lombardi said that night, "is the feeling these guys have for each other."

'In the healthy church, each Christian learns to care for others. As we take seriously Jesus' command to love one another, we contribute to a winning team.'

--Christopher Stinnett

--JESUS WEPT~
-John 11:35
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--When Jesus saw Mary and Martha and their friends weeping over the death of Lazarus, "He groaned in the spirit and was troubled" (John 11:33). He loved Lazarus and his sisters. Even though He knew that He would soon be raising Lazarus from the dead, He wept with them (v.35). Some Bible scholars think that part of Jesus' weeping also may have been over death itself and the pain and sadness it causes in people's hearts.

Loss is a part of life. But because Jesus is "the resurrection and the life" (v.25), those who believe in Him will one day experience an end of all death and sorrow. In the meantime, He weeps with us over our losses and asks us to "weep with those who weep" (Rom. 12:15).
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--COMPASSION HELPS TO HEAL THE HURTS OF OTHERS. ~~

--We should always care....

--GOD LOVES US STILL~

--His love knows no exceptions,
so never feel excluded---

No matter who or what you are,
your name has been included...

And no matter what your past has been
trust God to understand,

And no matter what your problem is,
just place it in His hand...

For in all our unloveliness this great
God loves us still---

He loved us since the world began,
and what's more, He always will! --
~~~~~~~~

--We Should Always Care...

--ON HELPING OTHERS...
-"By serving others, we serve God."

--We read in Leviticus 19, a principle set forth by God long ago. Moses instructed Israel's farmers and vintners to leave portions of their crops so the poor and the stranger could have something to eat (vv.9-10).

We too can serve as caretakers to the weak and weary. Whether we're teachers coaxing quiet students to open up, workers coming alongside a struggling co-worker, prisoners looking out for new arrivals, or parents showing attention to their children, we have ways to honor God.

As we seek to serve those in need, may the grace of God that reached us in our need move us to reach out to others in theirs.~~
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--GOD PROVIDES,
-BUT HOW?
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He who tills his
land will be satisfied
with bread.
--Proverbs 12:11
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OUTSIDE my office window, the squirrels are in a race against winter to bury their acorns in a safe, accessible place. Their commotion amuses me. An entire herd of deed can go through our back yard and not make a sound, but one squirrel sounds like an invasion.

The two creatures are different in another way as well. Deer do not prepare for winter. When the snow comes they eat whatever they can find along the way (including ornamental shrubs in our yard.) But squirrels would starve if they followed that example. They would be unable to find suitable food.

The deer and the squirrel represent ways that God cares for us. He enables us to work and save for the future, and He meets our need when resources are scarce. As the wisdom literature teaches, God gives us seasons of plenty so that we can prepare for seasons of need (Prov. 12:11). And as Psalm 23 says, the Lord leads us through perilous places to pleasant pastures.

Another way that God provides is by instructing those with plenty to share with those in need (Deut. 24:19.) So when it comes to provision, the message of the Bible is this: Work while you can, save what we can, share what we can, and trust God to meet our needs.
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--Our needs will never exhaust God's supply. ~~

--ODB/JAL