Through the month of October, we are rolling out an updated vision statement. This statement is thoroughly grounded in the Holy Spirit and rooted in the example of Jesus. Our statement begins "We desire to be a church empowered and united by the Holy Spirit." This is where we start, empowered and united by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God that Jesus promised to us.
As a community empowered and united by the Holy Spirit, we seek authenticity in our life together. Last week, we explored the first of the core tenets of this relational community- we welcome God and all people. This week, we explore the second of our core tenants - we love God and all people.
In worship today, we focused ourselves on 1 John 4:7-21. We looked at how we are called to love one another and how this love is an intentional action, not simply a feeling or emotion. And we talked about the ways in which fear is the antithesis to mature love. However, I was also inspired this week by 1 Corinthians 13 when it came up in Bible study