“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
God’s love moves outward. That’s its nature. It exists for the benefit of the other, whoever the other happens to be. If we think we have love for someone else, but that love is not primarily oriented toward seeing them advanced in the direction of who God made them to be regardless of any benefits such a commitment might have for us, what we have is something other than love. It might be strong, positive feelings, but it isn’t love. Read the rest…
In this third part of our conversation about who God made us to be as a church, we talked about the fact that connecting and growing, while necessary, are not sufficient in and of themselves. Thank you for taking part in this conversation with us and reflecting on God’s design for your own community. Don’t miss next week as we put everything together and celebrate the thing that gives it all substance: The resurrection.
Reaching Further
Have you ever had a secret that was simply too good to keep to yourself? It was news that you just weren’t going to be able not to share; you were just going to have to deal with the consequences later? Or perhaps make this more personal: Have you ever gotten a bit of good news that you couldn’t possibly have not shared with the world? In our social media-crazed world, some days it seems like most folks think everything is worth sharing. “I got a promotion!” “I ran a marathon!” “My kid is on the honor roll!” “My dog really like its new bed!” “I woke up this morning!” “I’m asleep now (my fingers are set on auto-post)!” What starts to happen is that as everything gets shared, it can begin to seem like really, nothing is worth sharing. I submit to you, though, that some things really are worth sharing. What’s more, some places are designed to help us do that. And I’m not talking about Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Read the rest…
The Nexus 