Sunday Reflections

Another great Sunday at MH!! This was the conclusion of our 40 Days of Love study. It's been a great study for our church. Intense, but worth it! If you're a smaller church interested in doing the study, let me know (russ@mauryhills.com). We'd like to share our resources...

To wrap up the study I asked couples who'd been married 25 yrs or more to give us the "secret of lasting love." We passed out index cards and I read them at the end of the message. Wow! Years of wisdom packed in those answers.

I'm now trying to figure out some way to share all the answers with the church. For example, if you were in the 2nd service you missed all the 1st service answers and vice versa.

As one of our members wisely noted afterwards, longevity doesn't automatically equal health. Very true. Still, there's something to be learned from those who've stayed together for that long.

Most common answers...commitment, forgiveness, laughter, humility.

My favorite answer...endurance (from a couple married 57 yrs)

Answer that got the most crowd reaction...great sex!

Most of the comments about the message were about what I said at the conclusion. It was only about two minutes and unscripted. Just a word of encouragement to those whose relationship didn't last. Many churches have beat them up and I wanted them to know that they are loved and accepted here.

Went to the Lawrence small group after our own small group (we've been doing two groups during this study). Their group was awesome! So many powerful comments about how love had affected their marriages, friendships and spirituality.

One said, "I've been in church all my life, but I'd never felt forgiven until Maury Hills." Incredible!

This afternoon somebody asked me, "What's next?" I said, "I have no idea!" I really don't. Monday will be busy.