Topic: Love

We know that God’s grace and love are given freely to everyone, but sometimes we might wonder if everybody really deserves it. In the lost and found parables of Luke 15, Jesus makes it clear that there is great joy in God’s kingdom when anyone comes home to God–no matter what. That is cause for all of us to give praise and thanks to God for them, for our salvation and for the all-inclusive love of Jesus.

Luke 13:31-35 is a short passage packed with multi-layered meaning. Fr. Scott opens up this Gospel to reveal how Jesus overcomes evil with love in his day as well as in ours.

God sent Jesus to bring light and hope and love to those who need it most; not to the powerful and mighty, but to the poor in heart, the lonely and the downcast. And that love is revealed in our hearts when we least expect it.

From the Garden of Eden to the Rose Garden, there’s ample evidence that human beings are far from perfect. We tend to inflate our self-worth but amplify the shortcomings of others. But recognizing our own faults helps us more easily accept the imperfections of others. God, through the working of the Spirit, helps us grow in acceptance, forgiveness and love of others—and ourselves.

Pentecost isn’t the birthday of the Church, it’s the first day of school. The Holy Spirit was given to be our guide, our advocate and our teacher to learn the will of God and help us better understand the lessons taught by Jesus. Like a loving parent, our heavenly Father wants us to learn, grow and thrive in our faith, and in our love for God and one another.

God’s love for us is wild, boundless and — well — just plain crazy. Despite our brokenness, recalcitrance and just plain bad behavior, God loves us whole-heartedly and unreservedly. God loves us so much that he lived, died and rose for us. And God loves us so much that he wants to be together with us forever.

Fr. Scott explores Philippians 2 to help us understand why Jesus had to die for us. And the answer is love.

From before the world began, God’s logos–God’s Word–has been with us. The Word became flesh so that we might begin to know the mind of God, the will of God, the love of God from the Son of God. ~ Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.”  John 1:6-9