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Love God, Love People

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.  One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “’ 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.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:34-40

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating.  Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked Him, “of all the commandments, which is the most important?”  “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear o Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There are no commandments greater than these.”

Mark 12:28-31

When I was growing up, we always lived in neighborhoods and we knew literally everyone that lived there.  We knew them well and they knew us.  We were in their homes and they were in ours.  All of us kids would play together and knew that when it got dark, we would go home. If Mom needed an egg to fix dinner, then she sent one of us over to borrow an egg.  Now, this was 50 or 60 years ago, and I know that things are different today.  Neighbors are not close like they used to be.  I live in a neighborhood now and I know a few of my neighbors but not many. Yes, things are different.

In these two passages of scripture, Jesus shows us what is important.  First, we are to love the Lord our God with everything about us.  That is the most important commitment that we make. A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of seeing my Son baptize my Granddaughter.  I expressed to her, concerning the decision that she made, that this was the most important decision that she would ever make.  Jesus went on to say that it is also important to love others.  If we love Christ and commit our lives to Him then we will love His children, our neighbors.

During the next several weeks we will be having some very special services at our church.  The Easter season is a time when people are more receptive to the Gospel of Christ than any other time.  As we celebrate the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ, let’s show our love for others and include them in the activities at our church.  You know people that need to have a relationship with the Lord, you know people that are not walking with the Lord.  Use this time and these special services to include others that need Christ.  They may be just waiting on an invite from you.  

Pastor Dan

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FOCUSED

One of the casualties of aging to which I find myself a victim is the dimming of the eyes.  Ecclesiastes 12 counsels the young person to remember God, their Creator, in their youth before the aging process takes over and various faculties, as listed in verses 1-7, are diminished.

Clear eyesight when we are young may be something we take for granted. However, as we age the realization that our vision is not as sharp as it once was takes hold. “Readers” become standard fare for all intricate tasks. Our once keen laser sharp focus is now blurry and in need of help to restore its youthfulness. That restoration is found through glasses or some sort of rejuvenating surgery. Especially in the early stages of this degenerative eye problem we may be able to fake it and get by, but eventually we must relent and do something to correct the problem.

There is a parallel between physical and spiritual vision. “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” was written in the early 20th century. The hymn writer, Helen Lemmel, was strongly influenced by the artist and later little-known missionary, Lilias Trotter. Miss Trotter started off as an aspiring artist but early on felt a call from God to reach the lost. She began her ministry by rescuing prostitutes from the streets of London. Later she went to Africa, without missionary funding, and served for over forty years. While there she penned a poem that would greatly influence the writing of the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  The poem was entitled “Focused: A Story and Song.” 

The poem centers around focusing one’s attentions fully and completely upon God. She writes that Satan knows that if a person uses all their powers of concentration on being led by God’s Spirit, they will have a great intensity and impact upon those to whom they are called to minister. Lilias Trotter, writing in a more formal use of the English language than we are accustomed, shares some timeless insights which could very easily have been written today but with a different accent. She writes: “Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once—art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the ‘good’ hiding the ‘best’ even more effectually than it could be hidden downright frivolity with its smothered heartache at its own emptiness.”

The “good” hiding the “best” leads us to emptiness.  Could this be true of us today especially as American Christians? Have we sought the “good” while missing the “best”? The chorus of the hymn, which we will be singing in worship this Sunday, says it best.

                Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,                                                                                                                                        And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Keith Pate

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