“We loved you so much
that we were delighted to share with you
not only the gospel of God
but our lives as well.”

In the 60s, the movie Love story defined Love as never having to say you are sorry.  If that is true whoever has wronged you and never said they were sorry, really loves you.

In the 70s a single frame Love is… comic strip daily-defined love, much like what Paul did in Corinth in the 1st century when he wrote, Love is patient, Love is kind, Love is not arrogant or rude… I guess then we can make a check list out of 1 Corinthians 13 and the comic strip and determine someone’s love by how many checks they get.

Teenage boys and their raging hormones have attempted to define love with the words, if you love me.

When Abraham and Sarah entered the kingdom of King Abimelech, Abraham used a very similar line but not to see how far he could get with Sarah.  Instead, he wanted Sarah to prove her love for him by lying to the King and telling him that Abraham was her brother.

‘This is how you can show your love to me:
Everywhere we go, say of me,
“He is my brother.”’

Last night Diane and I embraced Adam and Ashley in Fayetteville airport and we exchanged I love you.   So therefore we must love each other because we said so.

There are numerous other scenarios that I could give, but bottom line How do you know when someone loves you?

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.   This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love God and neighbor, sounds great but in truth and in practice we are very selective.   We choose when and how and where we love God. We choose which neighbor we will love.   It is easy for me to say love your neighbor but then I don’t live next to your neighbor.    I haven’t had to try and love your sibling, but that doesn’t change the truth of God’s Word.   Like it or not, agree or disagree you and I are called to love God and neighbor, not half hearted but with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind.

We are celebrating our 130th anniversary today because we have not tried to change the truth of God’s Word.   We are celebrating our 130th anniversary today because we have attempted to echo, in action and word, what Paul did and said for and to the church in Thessalonica,

“We loved you so much
that we were delighted
to share with you not only the gospel of God
but our lives as well.”

Paul revealed, as you and I ought to, love for God and neighbor by sharing the gospel of God and his life.  Is your love for God and neighbor evident?   How is it evident, by your sharing of the gospel of God, by your sharing of your life?

Throughout the history of humanity God has never hid His love for humanity.  When Adam and Eve got themselves evicted from the Garden of Eden, God provided for them.   God revealed His love by saving Noah and his family from the waters of the flood.   God dramatically demonstrated His love by saving Israel from the bondage of Egypt.   God sustained Israel while he exiled in Babylon.  God completely revealed His love, in that while we were still sinners God sent His is son Jesus into the world to save us from ourselves, from our sins.   Jesus said,

“No greater love has a man,
that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Your love for God, our love for God MUST be personal but our love MUST NOT be private.  When our resurrected Lord met Peter on the beach he asked him three times,

“Do you love me?”

Peter answered all three times,

“Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”

After the first and third response from Peter, Jesus said,

“Feed my sheep.”

After the second,

“Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”

Jesus said,

“Take care of my sheep.”

Jesus does not want from you or me or from His church a superficial answer; He wants practical evidence of our love.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the first and the greatest commandment.
And the second is like it:
Love your neighbor as yourself.”

How are you going to love God and neighbor?