Love requires sacrifice. We are looking at three examples as we consider what it looks like to love sacrificially: mothers, Ruth and Jesus.

Sometimes love comes very easily. But what about loving when it isn’t easy? The fact is that showing love all the time requires selflessness and intentionality.

This week we are starting a new series called Messy: Loving Others Isn’t Easy. Over the next five weeks, we will be taking a close look at 1 Corinthians 13 to discover what love really is and what it looks like to relate to others in love, even when feelings tell you otherwise.

God tends to call us to do difficult things, beyond our abilities, which stretch us. Simply follow God is itself a disruption.

When we face disruptions it is important to be gracious toward others.

Not all disruptions are bad. As we celebrate Jesus's victory over death, we experience a great disruption that brought new life and renewal.

When life is disrupted, we are flooded with emotions. Often we make the mistake of ignoring our emotions or pretending they do not exist. Jesus showed us it is important to embrace our emotions.

When we experience disruptions, it is important to keep your focus on Jesus.

All of us are going through a storm of some type. It is important to remember that Jesus is with us in the midst of the storms of life.

Jesus went against his culture and baffled his closest followers by welcoming children. We want to be a church that loves and serves children.

The Old Testament contained 613 laws, some positive, others negative. Most of these were designed to keep us safe and help us live justly. Jesus was continually frustrated with our tendency to traditions into laws.