Fulfilled: Love is the Answer
For the next four weeks we will be taking a slightly different approach to the weekly blog. Together with our worship theme: ‘Fulfilled: The Church on Mission’, we will be reflecting on questions relating to the mission of the St. Andrew UMC:
Welcoming all to where Christ is the center, love is the answer, and serving is the mission
We are excited about our future! God has something BIG planned for St. Andrew! Together we need to discern and discover what God wants to do through us. Please consider sharing your feedback after you have prayerfully reflected on the following questions. You can reply on this blog entry, reply on this Facebook post, or you can hand in the devotional card you received during worship this past Sunday.
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not
rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. (1 Corinthians 13:1-8)
Love God, love one another, love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemies… love, love, love, love… but what does it look like? Love is both a feeling and choice. Love is both a blessing and a burden. Love is both a gift and a sacrifice. We are a church that proclaims LOVE IS THE ANSWER for all people… we need to express this answer to real people in tangible ways.
Please prayerfully reflect on these following questions as they relate to St. Andrew UMC and our ministries.
If love is the answer… what is love the answer to?
How can we make that answer tangible and real to people?
How is our answer of love relevant to people in our community and world?
Who do we need to love? Who do we need to love more?