Expectation. Revelation. Formation. Advent: A season of waiting; an opportunity for formation; a time of longing and desire for freedom; a chance to name the thirst for light in a time of darkness, and reach forward to the glimmer on the horizon; a trembling anticipation of God’s goodness revealed, and of the joy of beholding the face of Christ.

This enduring love is only possible because God first loved us. This enduring love is not manufactured out of a vacuum. It is received as a free gift from God himself to us. As we have freely received, we freely give. So do not grow weary. Do not lose faith. Remain hopeful. Through the love of God and Jesus Christ, we will endure through every circumstance.

The challenge and the promise in this moment is to imagine the possibilities for our church family. We must reach out to share the love of God. The freedom of love is that we are free to love EVERYONE. And there is a desperate need for that love to be poured out in as many ways as possible.

The first thing that anyone or anything encounters when coming into contact with me should be love. There is nothing more powerful than that.

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. Romans 13:8

Love your neighbor. It’s bound to be inconvenient, and maybe risky, and even surprising. But this is the life! This is the vibrant, abundant, heart-full, soul-full, mind-full, strength-full, love-your-neighbor-full way to live!

Love Breaks. Love breaks down walls. We really can’t say we love God, yet hate our brother or sister. Even if they happen to live on the other side of a wall - a racial wall, a cultural wall, a generational wall, a political wall, an economic wall - there’s so many ways we build up walls and funnel ourselves into people corrals and divide up the who’s in and who’s out. But if you find yourself despising others, that is a wall that God desires to see broken. Jesus broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.

TEXT: Romans 5:1-8. The scripture helps us more fully understand love in all its forms. The purest and most foundational love is that which is defined by God, which has its source in God, which is manifest to us through God’s initiation, which is in fact God.

The Greatest Commandment (Mark 12:28-34). If this isn’t the grid by which we evaluate life, if this isn’t the line upon which we lay the tracks, if this isn’t the foundation upon which we build, then we are not obeying the greatest commandment.

Gleaning insight from 1 Corinthians 13 as we launch into our focus on the greatest of these, love. Love is the solution to every situation and need that we face.