Dear Brothers and Sisters of Faith Community Church,
This Sunday, we’ll be exploring the famous passage wherein the Apostle John writes, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). There are few passages of Scripture more often pulled out of context than this! As a congregation seeking to submit to the authority of Scripture, when we say, “God is love,” we don’t have a vague, open-to-interpretation understanding of what “love” might mean. We’ve already noted through our study in 1 John that God’s definition of love is uniquely cross-shaped; articulated through the Gospel and his specific revelation in Scripture. As we seek to embrace the truth of this text, let’s make sure that our definition of “love” lines up with God’s, rather than seeking to have God fit into our conceptions of love. Our understanding of love can be easily influenced by what John would call worldly sources (be they blogs, social media, romantic comedies, or trending topics). But God has given us Jesus, his Son, along with the Scriptures to provide us with a clear (and frequently countercultural) vision of what it looks like to love others God’s way. Our sermon text for this Sunday is 1 John 4:7-12.
A few things for you to keep in mind this week:
The next Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit class meets Sunday, September 27
A reminder to those of you participating in the Fruit of the Spirit adult Sunday school series that this class will meet every other week. We’ll see you after the second service September 27!
Church workday Saturday, October 10 (9:00am-noon)
Some of you have already heard from Mark Wissing and Phyl Holt regarding our next all-hands-on-deck workday, scheduled for October 10 at 9 am. We encourage you to come and pitch in to help prepare our church property for the winter by focusing on landscaping cleanup. Snacks will be provided!
Prayer Requests
Karen Snowden: Karen Snowden’s sister, Ramona, passed away last week. Please keep Karen and her family in your prayers as they grieve this loss.
I look forward to worshipping our Lord with you this Sunday.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)
In Him,
Pastor Rhett