to parents and grandparents with all the feeling I have in my heart. You can give your children cashmere sweaters or ski trips to Colorado or sports cars if you want. But let me tell you something. Without question, the best gift you can give them is Jesus Christ and his church. If you want to do something good for your children, if you want to give them the gift that keeps on giving, if you want to give them a gift that shows them how much you love them, then introduce them to Jesus Christ and his church. Get them completely involved in serving Christ through his church. It's the best gift you can give them, the most valuable thing that you can do for them.
Now, of course, we can't make that decision for them. Ultimately, it is a personal decision. But we can strongly encourage them in that direction, and that is our calling: to show them with words and actions how important the church is. I am so proud of our church and the incredible things we do that so powerfully touch the lives of people in the name of Christ.
Recently I went to a small civic committee luncheon at the Houston Club downtown. Just ten people were there. Only one person at that meeting was a member of St. Luke's, the church I pastored, but every single person there was being touched in some significant way by St. Luke's.
One woman was an educator, and she thanked me for St. Luke's because she said all of her in-service training was held there and our church always welcomed them so warmly and so graciously.
Another said her son attended our day school and loved it.
Another said her daughter came to St. Luke's to take piano lessons regularly.
On and on it went, all these people being touched by our church. I felt so grateful and so gratified and so fortunate to be a part of our great church.
Recently, we had a new member party to rewelcome the new members who had joined the church in recent weeks. We asked the people there to tell us about themselves and what brought them to our church.
One young couple there that night fascinated me with what they said. The young wife's name is Dalia and she is from Mexico. Her husband's name is Christolf and he is from Germany. They come from different backgrounds, different countries, different cultures, and different denominations. They had been looking and looking for a church that was right for them. Dalia said, "When we walked into St. Luke's, the people were so kind, so gracious, the sanctuary so beautiful, the worship service so wonderful, and I knew," she said, "that God resides in this place. I could feel his presence, and it just felt like home." Christolf said, "That's right. When we came here we knew we were at home."
Isn't that beautiful? I was so proud of the church that I wanted to go get another commitment card and make another pledge to support it. As Christians, we are "rich in the things that count the most" because, first, we have faith. Second, we have the church.
Third and Finally, There Is Love
Zacchaeus became "rich" in a new way that day in Jericho because he learned from Jesus the power of love.
Some weeks ago, Mitzi Scott, who works with our children's choir program, Sunday Sing, told the children that her sister-in-law—who is a nurse and a major in the Air Force—had been sent to Iraq to work with a medical field unit in that dangerous war-torn area.
The children wanted to help, so first they sent cards to Mitzi's sister-in-law. She wrote thank-you notes and spoke of their needs there. The children responded. They started bringing candy, gum, tea, coffee, and hot chocolate mix to choir practice on Sunday night, and these items were sent to the medical mission station in Iraq. Then they sent plastic pillowcases and phone cards and cookies.
The major mentioned that in addition to helping those wounded in action there, they helped heal a nine-year-old girl who had been bitten by a viper. Word spread about that, and now mothers with tiny babies who need bottles and formula and diapers were showing up at the mission station. The major asked her supply officer to order supplies to set up a pediatric clinic. The supply officer said: "I can do it, Major, but it will take ninety days." The major said: "St. Luke's can beat that!" And we did!
She sent an e-mail, and the children of our church responded. Word spread through our church family about what the children were doing and others stepped up to help. The St. Cecilia Choir, the Chancel Choir, a Bible study group, the ushers—all came forward to help. And today there is a pediatric unit in a medical mission station in Iraq because our children are being taught in our church the beauty and power of Christlike service, Christlike compassion, and Christlike love.
The major has ordered a special flag that will soon be flown in Iraq. The flag has these words: "Thank you, St. Luke's United Methodist Church, Operation Iraqi Freedom."
Let me ask you something: Do you feel blessed? Do you feel rich— rich in the things that really matter, rich in the things that last?
As Christians, we are rich beyond measure because we have faith, we have the church, and we have love. Those are the things that count the most.
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Rich in the Scriptures
What the Bible Teaches Us
Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:14-17
On november 4, 1879, in Oologah Indian Territory (what is now Oklahoma), a baby boy was born. He was the youngest of eight children. His name was Will Rogers (www.willrogers.org).
While growing up on the family ranch, Will Rogers worked with the cattle and learned to ride and lasso from a young age. He became so talented with a rope that he was placed in the Guinness Book of World Records for throwing three lassos at the same time: one went around the horse's neck, another circled the rider, and the third flew under the horse, looping all four legs together.
Will Rogers dropped out of school in the tenth grade and became a show business performer, first with a wild west show, then a circus, then vaudeville, and then the Ziegfeld Follies.
Will Rogers loved talking to people and reading; and these two interests groomed him to become a humorist. His intelligent and amusing observations about people, life, the country, and the government, expressed in simple down-home language that his audience could understand and relate to, caused people to love his humor even more than his roping tricks. He became a movie star, appeared in seventy-one films and several Broadway productions, and in 1934 was voted the most popular male actor in Hollywood. Then, Will Rogers's career took a different turn that endeared him to even more people. He became a writer. He wrote four thousand syndicated columns and six books and became a radio broadcaster and a political commentator. His folksy humor and honest, intelligent observations about life, the government, and America earned the respect of the nation.
Will Rogers died in a plane crash in 1935. And to this day, he is still regarded as the greatest political sage and humorist our country has ever known. Here are some of his famous quotes:
