Healing Relationships
1 John 4:7-21
I don't know if any of you who have been on our property these past two weeks have noticed, but we have been busy at Lakewood United Methodist Church. Since September we have:
Hosted "Beautitful Junk," the largest rummage sale for a cause that is a fundraiser for the Action Center.
Raised $800 for our ministry in our neighborhood by selling lemonade!
Began serving locally roasted and ethically sourced coffee on Sundays: Wagon Coffee. A portion of all of their profits go to programs that assist in addiction recovery work for women and girls.
Hosted the 2021 Worship Design Studio Planning Retreat. A hybrid in-person & online event that brings pastors from churches from across the country to engage in long-range worship planning with renowned expert in worship and liturgy, Dr. Marcia McFee. Our church will be a part of the inspiration that leads to experiences of God people will have for the next year across the US and Canada!
And, in light of the scripture passage that we will proclaim this Sunday, I am looking at what we have done, how tired I feel, how grateful I feel, and can't help but see how these things are all little ways that our love here at LUMC can become action.
We love the Action Center because we lovingly claim them as ours. As a non-profit fighting poverty just down the street from us today, they started in a quantas hut in our parking lot due to the combined efforts of UMWs around local Methodist churches including ours. It feels right that things come full circle that we can provide the space for one of their most crucial fundraisers of the year in the same place where there work began. This was but one way that our love can be generous like the love that the author of 1 John describes.
During the beautiful junk sale, our inimitable Director of Community Engagement Lori Schneider decided we should not only put out a table but that we should sell lemonade and coffee and helped us raise ~$900 for our grocery card ministry. WOW. A simple idea transforming into surprising abundance can become a resource for us to extend love to our neighbors who need help that we encounter.
We're talking about love this Sunday as we dive into a very recognizable passage in 1 John where we hear, among other things, that "God is love." That's a huge statement because there are so many ways we could define or describe love in our world today. What does it mean to say that the direct source of all things known and unknown, that "that than which nothing greater can be conceived," or that the one who seemingly created all life including phenomenon that brings death is love?
I think love is a verb as well as a feeling. Love is a posture. Love is a way of life that is not easy or simple to define. I hope you will join me this sunday as we explore useful ways to talk about love, and how we can live lives full of love--and why that might just be the way that we save our own planet. Love leads us to relationships that bring about healing. Join us as we go deeper this Sunday!
