ZOOM ONLY CHURCH at 10! Be safe and enjoy being washed white as snow! It's already been snowing here for over an hour and worsening conditions are on the way. Don't forget to check in on neighbors and friends throughout the blizzard.
*** Souper Bowl Brunch and Congregational meeting. All begins with worship at 10:30 in the Fellowship Hall! (Even communion) Invite some friends and let us practice being a true Acts 2:42 church (study, fellowship, eating and praying together)
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Good Morning Loved, Loving, Spirit-Renewed, Servants of the Lord Our God Who Is Love! We love because He first loved us! Amen! That salutation is a mouthful worth meditating on as you prepare your hearts to gather in worship on Zoom. God's given us another sabbath to enjoy before the digging out. Be still and know. refresh and prepare. He has great plans for you and this week. What an awesome God! Meditate on Our Daily Bread and The Upper Room . Open your Bibles and talk to God. It's a great day to worship! Come! Worship. Abide and prepare to thrive! Get ready to live and love more like Jesus and to transform the world around you with love! God is Love! Love created you and lives in you and wants to love through you! Amen! Prepare . Love is patient and kind and not self-serving and surely does not delight in evil and lies. Love is transforming and drives out all fear! Amen! May we be known as LOVE Church! Receive refreshing streams of love and prepare top overflow with streams of living love! Amen
Woody Cooper stood in the loud mob the day Dorothy Counts, a Black girl, enrolled in his all-White high school in North Carolina. Taunting her, some boys yelled racial slurs and threw trash at Dorothy, but Woody didn’t rebuke them, even staying silent when a woman cried out, “Spit on her, girls!” He later asked himself, Why didn’t you at least say something? She was just another student coming to school. Haunted for decades by his sin of omission, especially after seeing himself in a news photo from that day, Woody finally reached out to Dorothy forty-nine years later to apologize.
As Woody learned, showing love and support for another human being isn’t just being brave; it’s also making a choice to be like Jesus. John the apostle taught this lesson to churches burdened by false teaching about Christ and His love.
“We love because He first loved us,” John wrote. “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar” (1 John 4:19-20). John recalled this great command: “Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (v. 21).
Woody and Dorothy reflected that love as they became close friends. They spoke at churches and schools together. On the night before he died, she came to see him. “I loved him,” she said, “and I know that he loved me.” That’s the Jesus way. It can be our way too, as God brings us together in His transforming love.
By Patricia Raybon
REFLECT & PRAY
When did you fail to love like Christ? How can you better show His love?
Please guide me to love like You, Jesus.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Jesus loves us so much He made a way for us to be with Him forever by dying on the cross for our sins (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). All we need to do is believe in Him and come to Him in repentance. Christ says to “love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12; see 1 John 4:11). We exhibit this love by being “devoted to one another” and honoring others “above ourselves” (Romans 12:10), by not harming each other (13:10), and by “[carrying] each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). This love is beautifully described in 1 Corinthians 13 as “patient, . . . kind, . . . not self-seeking, . . . not easily angered” (vv. 4-5). It “does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (v. 6). This love is possible only through the Holy Spirit’s work in us—transforming us to be more like Christ (Romans 5:5; 2 Corinthians 3:18) and enabling us to truly love others.
Alyson Kieda
UR: A New Spirit
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. - Psalm 51:10 (NRSVUE)
During Lent, many Christians embark on a journey of spiritual growth and reflection, echoing Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. This sacred time invites us to deepen our relationship with God and others and prepares our hearts to remember Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection.
The story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness emphasizes the importance of self-control and relying on God’s strength during tough times (see Matt. 4:1-11). In Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus teaches that fasting should be done humbly and without seeking praise from others. This reminds us that Lenten practices are not just outward acts but expressions of inner devotion and repentance. Lent also encourages reflection on Jesus’ teachings about love for God and neighbor. Lent is an opportunity to examine our lives in light of Jesus’ teachings and to seek forgiveness and renewal.
Lent is a path toward spiritual growth and transformation and a deeper understanding of God’s love and grace. Through prayer, fasting, and acts of kindness, we can draw closer to God, allowing the Spirit to shape us into vessels of God’s love.
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's Prayer
Dear God, guide us in our spiritual journey to become more like you, and help us to maintain our focus on you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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Prayer Points
Praise the King for his powerful rule in this world, and that no plan of his can be thwarted (Job 42:2).
Give thanks that this rule is evidenced around us and in us.
Confess any doubts which you may have about God’s kingly power.
Commit yourself to being a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing, as your spiritual worship to God (Rom. 12:1).
Ask that you would “never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (12:11).
Pray that unconditional love will be demonstrated clearly and consistently in your family relationships and friendships. Ask the Lord to give you a fuller appreciation for those whom he has placed in your life.
Prayer Pointer
“Prayer is an end to isolation. It is living our daily life with someone; with him who alone can deliver us from solitude.” —Georges LeFevre
Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayerleader.com. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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