Lake Louisa State Park, Clermont, Florida
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ~ I Cor. 13:4-7
Church this morning was at the Family Christian Center in Clermont. The first thing we noticed? How many churches do you know that have their very own Sky Zone? Well, technically it’s a separate corporation, but it’s on church property – attached to their building. And for those who don’t know, Sky Zone is a trampoline park.
They have an 8:30am worship service, as well as 9:45 and 11:15, and since we didn’t get out of the 8:30 one until 9:30, that leaves very little turn around time, which is probably why there were a bunch of people sitting around in the atrium when we left.
In addition to the Sky Zone, we noticed the diversity of this church family. Just like the Sunday School song we learned as children – red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world . . . This is the way God loves His children. This family sees people, not race or status. And evidently, the people see each other that way, otherwise, they’d be worshiping with “their own kind”. Even the worship team was diverse, sporting young, old, black, hispanic, white. It was sooo wonderful to see!
When it was time for the message – a series called “What does love have to do with it” – the Pastor sat in a chair with a table beside him for his ipad to sit on.
The one thing we didn’t care for was that he rattled off verses without taking the time to actually allow people to look them up. He’d occasionally say, “This is in your notes”, meaning the insert in the bulletin that was only printed out verses with no room to take notes.
But the message was good.
Loving God and loving people. That pretty much sums up the Bible in very simplistic form. God is love. ~ I John 4:8
In Luke 10:27 Jesus says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and Love your neighbor as yourself. Loving God is important. Loving God will help you love people. And you can grow your love for God. The Pastor shared four ways we can do that.
1. Forgive others – – all others. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. ~ Matthew 24:12; If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. ~ I John 4:20; And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. ~ Mark 11:25; Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written; “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. And then, Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. ~ Ephesians 4:32
2. Learn to be grateful. This is a huge key to loving Jesus! We must be grateful. We need to stop focusing on what we don’t have and focus on what we do have. Especially Christians. For we have the great and generous gift of salvation! Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. ~ I Thessalonians 5:16-18; We love because He first loved us. ~ I John 4:19; For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~ Romans 8:38. And then the Pastor shared the story of Jesus and the sinful woman who wept on and then anointed His feet with expensive perfume right in the middle of a Pharisee’s house. When the Pharisee questioned how Jesus could allow that, Jesus said, Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he cancelled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more? To which the Pharisee replied, ‘I suppose the one who had the bigger debt cancelled.’ And Jesus told him he was right and then turned to the woman and told her that her sins had been forgiven. And he pointed out to the Pharisee that while this ‘sinful’ woman had wiped His feet with her tears and poured perfume on Him, the Pharisee hadn’t even greeted him with a kiss when He arrived. Showing that she had been forgiven of more sin (in the eyes of the Pharisee) than the Pharisee believed he was.
3. Join a local church. It’s a place where believers can connect with each other and learn. Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. ~ Romans 10:17; Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household. ~ Ephesians 2:19; Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching. ~ Hebrews 10:25; I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” ~ Psalm 122:1 Another reason it’s important to meet together is to serve together. The reason there are more and more government programs is because the Church isn’t meeting the needs of the people like we’re supposed to. The Pastor gave this analogy – How does a team roster work? You don’t just show up whenever you feel like it. Or when you do show up, you don’t just decide not to do your part. God endows every believer with gifts to use to serve others. We’re meant to use them.
4. Get involved with a small group. Your associations with others will help you grow. And there’s a saying, “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared. ~ Proverbs 22:24-25; Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character. ~ I Corinthians 15:33 But that doesn’t mean that you isolate yourself from ‘non-believers’ or ‘sinners’. You just are not to let them influence you in a negative way. You need to influence them in a positive way. On a personal note – – Many years ago, when I was still a fledgling Christ, I knew a Christian man who actually told me that as Christians we weren’t to socialize or spend any time with non-believers. I remember wondering at the time, “Well then how will they become believers? And didn’t Jesus Himself spend more time with those society considered ‘sinners’? Didn’t He say, ‘It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” (Luke 5:31)? Being involved with other Christians on a more personal level lends us support and encouragement when we need it and allows us to support and encourage others.
Love God. Love others. All others.
It was stinkin’ hot today! 86 and sunny! I know that rankles some of you up north, especially if I’m sorta complaining about it. 😊
We walked a different trail today. Most of it was at least partly shaded which was great, since it was stinkin’ hot. And although we enjoyed our time in God’s creation, there wasn’t much of interest to see. Therefore, there’s not much to write about.
Another day of looking at the western sky and saying, “Don’t think there’ll be much of a sunset …” and then having God Himself prove us wrong! Again . . .
