When Life Gives You Lemons then Make Lemonade.
We hear this phrase all the time, “When you have a lemon, make lemonade.” Where did that phrase come from? The phrase comes from Chapter 17 in Dale Carnegies’ Book, “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living”. Here is the excerpt. “While writing this book, I dropped in one day at the University of Chicago and asked the Chancellor, Robert Maynard Hutchins, how he kept from worrying. He replied, “I have always tried to follow a bit of advice given to me by the late Julius Rosenwald, President of Sears, Roebuck and Company: “When you have a lemon, make a lemonade.”
In September of 2014, I became the Interim Pastor of a church in Alvarado, Texas. This church had gone through an awful scandal. Attendance had dropped from almost 400 to 150 overnight. Each Sunday, I would drive up to that church, preach and have meetings with the leaders. A year later we were back up to 300 and they called a new pastor. In July of this year one of the Elders of this church contacted me and told that they had lost their building. Since July, myself and others have been consulting with this church. This church had gone down in attendance below 50 but now they are averaging 80. In the meantime, a church eight miles away from them was down to 2 families but they had a very nice building. These two churches have now worked out a merger and today they are celebrating their first Sunday together as a church. ( The merger of Cedar Cross Country & the Happy Hills Baptist Church) This merged church has asked me to preach on their first Sunday as they celebrate their new start together. They truly are an example of, “When life gives you lemons then make lemonade.” Thanks L.D. for filling in for me today.
Next Sunday we will begin the Advent Season with the lighting of the Advent Wreath. On Christmas Eve we will have joint service with the Aldersgate Methodist Church. There will be no Friday Bible Study this Friday.
Love & Blessings & Happy Thanksgiving!
Pastor Charles looking for Lemonade! – Galatians 6:9