Fox Valley Church

God cares and rather just saying it, He shows it in the works of His Son. The story is familiar to many, but familiarity has a way of shielding more probing questions. Jesus didn’t just accidentally find Himself at a well in Samaria with people His people loathed. It was intentional, decisive, on mission. There was a message to carry to people far from God to a people who were actually worshipping falsely. Why care? We care because God acts in the person of His Son to show the way to true worship of a God who can be known.

Why Care? God Cares.

Why Care actually backs into a deeper, more foundational question—why believe? There is a God in heaven who created everything in heaven and on earth. He owns it all. Yet, people have turned away from Him. However, when we rightly order our lives around Him and His ways, it changes everything about us. We see, most importantly, He is rescuing people from loving “what is worthless” and seeking false gods. We care because He cares and has taken action.

 

Passage: Romans 13 

Theme:  As the gospel shapes us, it changes all of our relationships.  In chapter 13, the gospel changes our relationship to the government (1-7), the Law (8-10) and the Lord’s return (11-14).  The government has authority and an important role, but we are called to love our neighbors as the fulfillment of the law even as we know the Day of Jesus’ return is near. 

Passage: Romans 12:17-21 

Theme: As we look at another relationship the gospel changes, our relationship to our enemies is taken head on with four negatives.  Interestingly, all four are tightly related by reminding gospel-oriented Christ Followers that retaliation and revenge are forbidden.  Yes, the law courts play a role in punishment, but Christians live differently.  We are told how to live—with respect, in peace with all people, leave room for God to work and to overcome evil with good.   

Passage: Romans 12:9-16 

Theme: As we are initially changed by the gospel, and we are committed to presenting ourselves to God, we now need to relate to others in the church with the supernatural love God provides (5:5).  This section brings a comprehensive picture of Christian love towards one another. Love should control and shape our relationships in the church. 

Passage: Romans 12:1-8 

Theme: If the Gospel is true (and it is!) and Romans 1-11 accurately captures the human problem and God’s solution with the life-giving Spirit (and it does!), then we ought to be a certain kind of people (“dead to sin and alive to God,” 6:11).   

Passage: Matthew 22:34-40

Theme:  Jesus had numerous encounters with the religious leaders.  In this context, the animosity grows as Jesus aligns Himself with the Father by laying out the things that matter most in the Mosaic Law: Love God and Love People.  Light for the Future, our 5-year campaign, stands aligned with Jesus’ words, which are consistent with Isaiah’s words in 58:10.

 

Passage: John 20:19-23

Theme:  Some of Jesus’s last conversations with His disciples were to align them with God: “as the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”  Jesus was sent by the Father and in turn, Jesus sends us.  Jesus will give us what we need, to do what He asks us to do.  And so, we go!  We pour out ourselves for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, for then our light will shine in the darkness and our night will become like the noonday (Isaiah 58:10).

We all want to be loved, accepted and moved towards something bigger than ourselves. Jesus was the answer in the first century, and is still the answer today.