You Be the Judge (5 of 5)
Series: Belief Barriers
James Merritt
Matthew 7:1-5
Introduction
1. Let me tell you about a man named David. He and his family became just like family to me and Teresa when we were young, I was in seminary and just had our first child, James. I had just been called to pastor my second church. It was quite a step up from my first church. My first church ran about fifty and this church ran about a hundred and twenty. We didn't know anybody at this church and Teresa was going to be a stay-at-home mom with our first little baby boy. Frankly, we needed help, but didn't know where to find it.
2. I had just been voted in by the church and was meeting some of the new people. A big bellied, barrel chested man came walking toward me and immediately my antenna went up. He had a crew cut, a big gap in his teeth, his belly was hanging over his belt buckle and his shirt was unbuttoned at the bottom and I could see his bellybutton. He had on some old wrinkled trousers that barely came to the top of his ankles and to top it off he was wearing white socks. I remember growing up my dad used to always tell me, ''beware of men that wore white socks.'' It usually meant they were cheapskates.
3. I braced myself and when he got up to me, he said, ''pastor, I want to welcome you to our church. I don't have a lot of money, but my wife, carol and I have four daughters and we would love to help you watch that little baby and take care of that baby any time you want us to.'' Frankly, I blew him off. I remember as we were leaving, I got in the car and said to Teresa, ''I met my number one troublemaker.'' She said, ''who?'' I said, ''David Roark. I am going to keep my eye on him.'' To cut a long story short, David and carol Roark became our second set of parents. They became a second set of grandparents to my son, James and later to Jonathan. Though David is in heaven, his family is still just like family to us.
4. I almost blew one of the sweetest ...
Series: Belief Barriers
James Merritt
Matthew 7:1-5
Introduction
1. Let me tell you about a man named David. He and his family became just like family to me and Teresa when we were young, I was in seminary and just had our first child, James. I had just been called to pastor my second church. It was quite a step up from my first church. My first church ran about fifty and this church ran about a hundred and twenty. We didn't know anybody at this church and Teresa was going to be a stay-at-home mom with our first little baby boy. Frankly, we needed help, but didn't know where to find it.
2. I had just been voted in by the church and was meeting some of the new people. A big bellied, barrel chested man came walking toward me and immediately my antenna went up. He had a crew cut, a big gap in his teeth, his belly was hanging over his belt buckle and his shirt was unbuttoned at the bottom and I could see his bellybutton. He had on some old wrinkled trousers that barely came to the top of his ankles and to top it off he was wearing white socks. I remember growing up my dad used to always tell me, ''beware of men that wore white socks.'' It usually meant they were cheapskates.
3. I braced myself and when he got up to me, he said, ''pastor, I want to welcome you to our church. I don't have a lot of money, but my wife, carol and I have four daughters and we would love to help you watch that little baby and take care of that baby any time you want us to.'' Frankly, I blew him off. I remember as we were leaving, I got in the car and said to Teresa, ''I met my number one troublemaker.'' She said, ''who?'' I said, ''David Roark. I am going to keep my eye on him.'' To cut a long story short, David and carol Roark became our second set of parents. They became a second set of grandparents to my son, James and later to Jonathan. Though David is in heaven, his family is still just like family to us.
4. I almost blew one of the sweetest ...
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