Sermon: Learning to love

As Christians, we struggle daily with how to live in this world and how to treat each other. Thank goodness that we have words to read in the bible that were spoken by Christ 2,000 years ago that help us manage the world around us.

We, as a nation, seem terrified by everything that we see happening. Things in Korea, Las Vegas New York City, the White House and at a Wal-Mart in Thornton.

It seems we are spinning out of control! Where is the loving God that we know in all of this?

Every journey begins with the first step. In our case the first step is on our knees, conversing with God and sharing with him anything that falls on our heart. He welcomes that, even if you have not done so previously.

Christ tells us He will never leave us nor forsake us. You may not realize it until you are on your knees, but He is with us!

God/Christ is the foundation of love. Christ gives us two commandments to follow: 1) Love God with your heart, spirit, soul and mind; and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself. What a difficult task they both are!

The farther we move away from those two commandments, the darker the world around us becomes. We cannot continue to treat others with contempt. When we do, how else should we expect to be treated?

Our country is known as a “melting pot” meaning people are welcome here, no matter where they come from. Most all of us in the United States today are here because of ancestors that moved here from somewhere else.

Pilgrims came to this land to escape religious persecution. They wanted their freedom to practice their religion and our nation is founded on that freedom.

It’s time we examine ourselves as a “Christian nation” and evaluate how far we are from those two commandments.

Christ teaches us, whoever does the will of the one who sent Him is his brother. So, today, I encourage us all to love one another above ourselves and love God with all your heart, spirit, soul, mind and strength.

Love, Paul teaches, covers a multitude of sins. In other words, if we but love, then sin could be no more.

I finish with a scripture from Romans 13:8-10: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘you shall not murder,’ ‘you shall not steal,’ ‘you shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be are summed up in this one command: ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does not harm a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

God bless

Dr. Steve Sussex, First Christian Church