BY MARK WILBANKS
The Irresistible Force
We begin a new emphasis this weekend in worship. Gathering at the table of the Lord, we reflect on the power of love: The story of God contains this inescapable truth: We are objects of His affection. His heart burns with a passionate desire to love His creatures. He loves all of them like He loves each of them. What does that love seek in return? He who pursues us with compassion, concern, mercy, and grace invites us not only to receive His love, but also to share it. How can we bask in His affection and not love what and whom He loves?

Scotty Smith wrote a beautiful book: Objects of His Affection: Coming Alive to the Compelling Love of God. Here’s an excerpt: “We’ve become acclimated to a condition we should never have gotten used to – a stagnant pool of religious forms and sentimentality along with buckets full of cultural legalisms. Inoculated with enough ‘god-speak’ to immunize our consciences, we can’t hear the thunderous river of God’s grace roaring invitingly in the Bible we read and the hymns we sing – a grace that beckons us to enter, be washed, and set free.”

Love is action, not just sentiment. Love changes things, turning dark to bright … bringing hope to the hopeless … offering dignity and acceptance… opening doors, not closing them. Love compels us to give what we haven’t earned but gladly receive. Jesus didn’t just suggest that we love others; He commanded it.

This is an important month at Wieuca – a season of prayer, discernment, discussion, and action. Behind it all is our motivation – a deep desire to see our church become radically committed to sharing the Gospel in word and deed.

Let’s begin together this Sunday by sharing the Lord’s Supper. Let’s be reminded of the ultimate expression of love that offers us salvation. Let’s contemplate how God might want us to reach the world Christ died to save.
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CLICK HERE to meet the Mauney family – Josh, Kim, Jake, Lilly, Annabelle, and Vivienne.