Pithy and Profound – Love 1

Love

Looking at the Christian & Missionary alliance’s Mission

Love, Proclaim, Reach, and Launch

The essence of our calling is summed up in a single word: Love. In a world that has romanticized and sexualized love, the church has a beautiful opportunity to show the love of God Himself. Yet, each local church must ask, “Have we confused being ‘nice’ or ‘neighborly’ for being truly loving? Do the people of our community see us as a loving people? Are we dependent upon the Spirit to live His loving fruit through us?”

What does Love in our lives look like? What if it looked like a Starbucks coffee shop?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I

Did you see the love of Christ here?

Here are the scriptures I will be looking at for the next few blogs.

Matt. 22:34–40; Luke 6:27–36; John 13:34–35, 15:9–17; Rom. 5:5–8, 13:8–10; Gal. 5:6, 13–14, 22; Eph. 3:14–19

But hearing that He had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees were gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked, tempting Him and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the Law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:34-40 MKJV)

Here is our starting point. The religious leaders had the corner on God’s word, the 613 commands which you had to keep or you would transgress God’s commandments, they were righteous, but did they have love?

Jesus was giving them an example. Remember it is love. Jesus was reminding them of the “Great Shema” Shema is Hebrew for listen or hear (sometimes we can listen without hearing, understanding). “Hear, O, Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:4-6 MKJV).

The starting point is Love and love is vulnerable. Are you vulnerable or are you like the Starbucks marketing like a church video?

Vulnerability does not come easy. We might think of it as a weakness but truly it is meekness. It is courageous. Courage comes from the Latin word cor; which means heart. To be vulnerable then is to tell it with your whole heart.

In Christ,

Greg