GBC Community Update: The character traits of Jesus

​Good morning.  I hope you had a pleasant Family Day.  With my family starting to scatter as they grow older, it was a joy and blessing to have them all together this weekend. For a long time I would sneak in some work on days like this to be more ‘efficient’ but now I’m trying (emphasis on ‘trying’) to seize moments like this for refreshment and family growth. Praise God for these opportunities.
 
 
Changes to Oasis@Midweek Schedule for March/April
Due to some unforeseen events and travel schedules, there’s been a need to change up the schedule a bit for Oasis@Midweek for March.  Here is the schedule for the next two months:
Wednesday March 15
…led by Youth@GBC
Wednesday March 29
…led by Kid’s Church
Wednesday April 12
…led by Youth@GBC
Wednesday April 26
…led by Kid’s Church
And it is still happening, as scheduled, tomorrow night though this one will now be led by the Kid’s Church team. Hope to see all kids JK to grade 6 out tomorrow night at 6:30pm as we celebrate how ‘Monumental’ God is!
 
 
Thought for the Day: The Character Traits of Jesus
I had the opportunity to speak recently to a group about character.  Afterwards, in speaking to some of the participants, the topic of the impact of high-profile ministry leaders who’ve fallen of late came up.  So, the idea of character, and what it means to be a person of character as a follower of Jesus, has been on my mind.  Where do we look when those who we admire fall?  Christians, and even many non-Christians, agree that Jesus is a great role model to have. From His faith, perseverance, generosity, and even His intelligence, people see the best qualities that mankind can possess.
The Bible teaches everyone to become more like Jesus each and every day, so it’s helpful to learn about some of the character traits he had. So, over the course of the next number of updates, I’m going to give a brief overview of some of the character traits of Jesus that we all should be looking to emulate.
Compassion
Jesus never looked away from people; He always looked at them, seeing them for who they were and had compassion on them.  We see this in the story of the man with leprosy in Matthew 8. Compassion is an awareness of the suffering of others along with the accompanying desire to do something about it.  Whenever people were around him, Jesus understood what their real needs were and sought to address them. For some, physical healing was necessary, for others the root issue was spiritual. In all cases though, Jesus took the time to actually notice that people were hurting—and His compassion drove Him to help them.  It takes a person of character to stop, look, listen and then take the time to show compassion in the distracted and stressful world we live.  With this in mind, I’ll leave you with this question:  how can you show compassion today and to whom?
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris