This week I had the pleasure of being a guest of the Community Assistance Center on the occasion of the CAC receiving a brand new Sprinter van from Mercedes-Benz. The van will greatly assist the CAC in taking people and goods to where they need to go, allowing the CAC to serve 15% more people than they do currently. Mercedes- Benz USA is new to metro Atlanta, currently being housed in an office park in Dunwoody. They will be moving in 2017 to a brand new development in Sandy Springs, about a mile and a half from the church, which is great news for us in terms of new people to reach.

During the ceremony, the mayors of Sandy Springs and Dunwoody offered a few words. The mayor of Sandy Springs went first, glowing about the long term partnership the city would have with MBUSA. The mayor of Dunwoody went next. His speech was not quite as glowing, more of a lament that Dunwoody was not the long term home of MBUSA. You could hear the envy in his words.

We all do this. We compare our marriage, our salaries, our houses, our grades, our families, our careers among many other things. Not only are we unhappy because of what we don’t’ have, we are unhappy because of what someone else has.

The writer of the book of James has a warning to us regarding envy. If one has bitter envy and selfish ambition in their heart, they can never receive true spiritual transformation. Friends, the problem of envy is that serious. If you are envious, you will never become who God created you to be.

Join us Sunday as we conclude Real People, Real Problems, Real Help by looking at our struggles with envy. This promises to be an excellent Sunday to invite someone to church with you.

I would also like to offer thoughts and prayers to the families of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, the two television reporters shot and killed by a former station employee. We should be shocked to see a story like this, however we have seen stories of tragic gun violence far too often, so much so that we hardly notice anymore. I pray that we can find a way forward where violence towards another is not the answer that far too many seek.

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday at Sandy Springs Christian Church

Grace and peace,

Danny