Today we honor those who have given their lives in the service of their country. Memorial Day gives us an opportunity to thank God for the freedom we have and for all those brave people who have sacrificed to preserve it for us. We have our American Flag displayed prominently this morning in order to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in their honor. Those who have served in the branches of the Armed Forces will be asked to stand and be given a token of our appreciation for their service. We will call on our Chairman of Deacons, Richard McLawhorn to pray and give thanks for our service men and women who currently stand a post keeping vigilant watch all over the world for the interests and well being of our nation. We thank God today for those who serve and have served to keep us safe and our country strong.
 
While visiting in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) our team was asked by that government to place a wreath at the memorial of their first Great Leader, Kim IL-sung. We agreed to go to his memorial and place a wreath recognizing that he was the country’s first leader. Officials asked us to bow before his statue after placing the wreath. We refused to do so. Those observing our demonstration asked why we would not bow in respect for their leader. Our response was, “We bow before no one person but Jesus Christ.” We did agree to step back from the wreath, after placing it, and stand silently out of respect for their country and its leader. That’s what we did, and our demonstration seemed to satisfy our hosts.
 
As citizens of this great land of ours, we proudly proclaim that we are “One Nation under God, Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” America is still a nation that honors God. We honor our military’s soldiers, our government officials, our first responders and law enforcement personnel, but we worship God, and Him alone. Praise God that we live in a country in which our freedom to worship and gather in fellowship before Him is preserved. Today, we worship together in Jesus’ name while, at the same time, paying tribute to those who have made it possible.
 
George W. Bush said, “We ask a lot of those who wear our uniform. We ask them to leave their loved ones, to travel great distances, to risk injury, and to even be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. They are dedicated. They are honorable. They represent the best of our country, and we are grateful.” AMEN!

God has been at work in a mighty way at Grace throughout the month of April. We have seen Him do amazing things in our church. We unveiled our first attempt to hold dual services beginning Easter Sunday and on Mother’s Day. This decision was initiated to test whether two morning services would be a way to increase attendance and provide adequate parking for everyone. We had employed police officers in both instances to manage the flow of traffic between services for those coming and leaving our parking lot onto Mundy Mill Road. Over this three-week period, God increased attendance, averaging 215 each week. Up until then, attendance ranged from 130 to 150 per week. Record attendance was reached on Easter Sunday with 285 attending three services. Mother’s Day totaled 190 with 170 sandwiched in between on May 5th. In all, God blessed our church during the month of April with attendance increasing by at least 65 per week over the last three Sundays of the month.
 
We saw the highest single Sunday offering given this year on the first this month. The offering received that Sunday amounted to more than $7,200. God is blessing our church family and all our ministries by providing financially. Our church budget has received from the generous giving of our people over $14,000 above what our budget calls for per week. These funds provide the resources we need to perform the TeamKid ministry, meet our mortgage, insurance, utility and upkeep obligations, fully fund our staff salaries, with a balance that may be applied to the construction and renovation needs for our future. Additionally, the “One Mile” Capital Campaign continues to grow. In the last 4 months, following the completion of the $150,000 Campaign goal, we have received in excess of $5,000 above what has been received in tithes and offerings.
 
One of the most impressive indicators of God’s blessings upon us is the continued presence of guests and new-comers in our services. We are seeing multiple new faces each week because our members are inviting family members and friends to join them in worship. It is becoming more difficult to follow-up through sending cards, making calls and visiting those who come because the pace of guests each week is growing.
 
Notice what is taking place in the altar during the invitation period in our worship. The number of people who are responding to God’s presence and work in their lives is increasing. There are numbers of people who come forward to pray, restore their walk with God, join the church and recommit themselves to Christ. Lives are changing. We praise God for His personal call and spiritual touch in the hearts of our people every Sunday.
 
Finally, God has opened a new door through the live streaming of our services online. People viewing the services each week has increased to an average of 600 hits per week. Also, the number of contacts each week though our church web site has grown to over 1,500. Some people watch a portion of the service on Sunday and then return to the web site during the week to watch more. This increased attendance and participation in our ministry requires that we begin to assess what God is doing in their lives:

• Where do they live?
• What decisions are they making for Christ?
• How do we connect with them and attend to their needs?

 
The apostle Paul said, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more” (1 Corinthians 9:19). Think what Paul could have done if he had the advantage of the internet. God is working at Grace. The ministry of our church is expanding. We must rejoice and be ready, obedient and faithful to join Him in all that He does.

Mothers! I heard someone say in jest the other day, “Mothers, we wouldn’t be here without them.” Its true, mothers are the instruments through which God brings all of us into this world. The Bible says, “Can a mother forget her nursing child and have no compassion for the child she has borne?” In another scripture, the Bible affirms motherhood, “Listen my son to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck” (Proverbs 1:8-9). There is no question that our mothers have sacrificed greatly for us. Without them, we would not be where we are, and we would not have become what we are without their love and sacrifices for us. They deserve garlands of praise and necklaces of thanksgiving for all they have done for their children.
 
Edgar Allen Poe wrote of mothers:

 
A mother’s love is a spiritual quality. The apostle Paul describes it this way, “…Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, its is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres…love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a). Most of what we know about love we learned from watching our mothers. Mothers are walking examples of love that make their mark upon the lives of countless people every day. Can you imagine what our world would be like without them.
 
When Thomas Edison was a boy, his teacher sent him home from school with a note attached to him which read, “Your child is dumb. We can’t do anything for him.” Mrs. Edison wrote back, “You do not understand my boy. I will teach him myself.” And we all know the rest of the story. Abraham Lincoln said, “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” So, when someone says, “…we wouldn’t be here without them,” we not only would not be here, but we would be something far different than what we are without their love and devotion to us.
 
We honor our mothers today. Each one is a gift from God not only to their children, but also to the health and spiritual quality of our world. God knew what He was doing when He created Eve to be the mother of mankind.
 
Martin Luther said of her, “When Eve was brought unto Adam, he became filled with the Holy Spirit, and gave her the most sanctified, the most glorious of appellations. He called her Eve, that is to say the Mother of All. He did not style her as wife, but simply mother, mother of all living creatures. In this consists the glory and the most precious ornament of woman.” So today, let’s all celebrate the fact that every mother in our church has made it to the top of God’s Hall of Fame. There is no higher place in God’s honor roll than what a woman achieves when she becomes a mother.
 

We used to sing a hymn when I was growing up entitled “Higher Ground.” The lyrics go like this:
 

I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I’m homeward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
 
Lord, lift me up and let me stand;
By faith, on heaven’s tableland,
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

 
Once we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus with our souls firmly established in heaven with Him, we are no longer to live by the standards of the world. We are to live according to the values of Christ, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1)
 
The apostle Paul gives us nine qualities that define this kind of UPWARD LIVING:

• Compassion
• Kindness
• Humility
• Gentleness
• Patience
• Bearing With One Another
• Forgiving One Another
• Love
• Peace (Colossians 3:15)

 
I’m adding one other quality to Paul’s list that is implied in verses 16 and 17 of Colossians, chapter 3, ENCOURAGEMENT. These 10 things offer convincing proof that we belong to Jesus and that we have determined to live like He wants us to live. We are Upward Thinking--Upward Acting people who belong to an Upward Savior. We are no longer content with the ways of the world. Old things have passed away and all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have set our feet on Higher Ground.
 
These ten qualities of the Upward Life will constitute the next sermon series I plan to preach in the  weeks ahead. There will be Sundays that I will vary from this schedule like Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, but I will return to pick up the series until we have completed it. The series will be entitled, UPWARD LIVING. It will be based on the premise that each quality is expressed perfectly by the character and life of Jesus.
 
Each sermon will be entitled, “Doing _____ Like Jesus.” So, today’s sermon is, “Doing Compassion Like Jesus.” It is all about living my life with compassion like Jesus lived His life.
 
This series of sermons should help all of us live more like Jesus every day. I look forward to preaching and pointing to the Upward Way of Living for Jesus. Let’s press on to Higher Ground.