Sunday, March 10, 2013

"Sympathy is no substitute for action."


“The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not ‘What a lovely sermon,’ but ‘I will do something!’” ~ St. Francis de Sales

(Scripture text: 2 COR 5:17-21)
Brothers and sisters:
Whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.
And all this is from God,
who has reconciled us to himself through Christ
and given us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting their trespasses against them
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
So we are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

During a high school trip around the world, William Borden, the heir of the Borden Dairy Company, felt a strong call to become a missionary for the Lord. He had seen so much poverty in his travels, and he wanted to dedicate himself to reaching out to all those who were suffering. When he made that decision, Borden wrote these words in his Bible: No reserve.

After graduating from college, Borden turned down a number of lucrative job offers. All he wanted was to be an overseas missionary. When he made that decision, Borden wrote these words in his Bible: No retreat.

Shortly after having completed his ministry training, Borden traveled to Egypt. There he was struck with a fatal case of spinal meningitis and died at the age of twenty-five. When he learned of his condition, Borden wrote these words in his Bible: No regrets.

“No reserve, no retreat, no regret.”

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