Sermon Leftovers

Here's something new for the blog. Maybe it will happen once, maybe it will happen weekly. What follows is yesterday's sermon in 10 statements... 1. Jesus provided three primary commands for those who wished to follow him. They were: 2. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind & strength. "All" is the key word. 3. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Here is the foundational principle for what would someday become the golden rule. 4. Love one another as I have loved you. Jesus' love for his followers was a sacrificial love. He said the greatest love of all is a man who lays down his life for his friends. Then He laid down his life for His friends. 5. Prioritizing these commands in our life requires us to DEMONSTRATE our love through ACTION. 6. Our love for God is demonstrated when we obey ALL his commands. If we choose to ignore certain of His expectations, we are demonstrating self-love rather than love for God. 7. Our love for our neigh

My heart is full tonight. And not just because I’m hanging out on the couch with my honey watching a BeeGees tribute band (although that would usually be enough). Two years ago, Marianne and I moved as far back in the auditorium as we could. We simply wanted to watch our daughter perform in the band and remain as anonymous as possible. We didn’t really know anyone around us, and that was okay. For several years, we had struggled to move our children out of a dysfunctional school that was not good for them. Now they had started at a new school and were transitioning well, but we were yet a bit numb. We had lost friends; for integrity’s sake, I had left my job; we were making ends meet but had no idea what was around the corner. That night, we just wanted to get in, hear the music and get out. Tonight was so different. Tonight we sat with close friends and laughed with the people around us, the parents of our children’s classmates. We watched our daughter do something she loves