Tonight, August 7, 2014, was amazing.  I was given an opportunity very few pastors, let alone Christians in general are ever afforded.  We hosted over 40 of the most incredible young adults in our home.  We ate together, laughed together, sang together, and spent time in The Word together.  I stood in my kitchen and watched my living room come alive with praises to God.  It was truly one of the most humbling experiences of my life.  Right on the heels of this awesome time of singing, a thought occurred to me.  God knew the day we moved into our home in July of 2009, this night would come.  He had prepared the living room specifically for this night.  He has brought hundreds of people through our home over the last 5 years, and every one of them has left their unique impression.  However, tonight was special!  The loud voices, the raised hands, and the genuine hearts lifting praise to the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of us, left an indelible impression on me.

We began a new series tonight.  I love teaching series.  I feel like I get more accomplished in the methodical study of a specific passage or topic.  We are talking about relationships over the coming weeks.  I usually don’t put a time limit on a series.  I don’t want to force it too long because that’s a waste of people’s time.  I don’t want to cut it short because I want to say what God wants said.  I’m guessing this will be about 8 weeks total.  

Tonight’s study allowed us some time of introduction to the idea of “relationships”.  I don’t intend to spend much time discussing the ins and outs of each type of relationship in our lives.  Instead, I plan to go through the essential components of any Christian relationship – friend, parent, sibling, classmate, teammate, student, boyfriend/girlfriend, acquaintance, etc.  The core values God intended to be present in any relationship do not change.  

We will look at the following pieces: Peace, Forgiveness, Trust, Loyalty, Compassion, Service, and more.

We ended tonight by spending some time in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  We looked at the most basic, comprehensive list given in scripture of what Christian love should look like.  The last phrase in the list says, “and love never fails”.  A more powerful statement has never been written.  “And love never fails”, says to me if my love follows the example set before me in the preceding verses, then it can not fail to accomplish God’s purpose.  People today want big, bold guarantees.  Well, that’s a guarantee the whole world needs to know.  When we love people with the genuine, sincere love of Christ, it WILL NOT fail!  It will do what God intends for it to do in that life.

God, help me today to love people you bring into my life the way you want me to.  Help me to focus on you and your purpose for my life instead of my selfish desires.  Give me the ability to see my world and its occupants the way you see them.  May I love those who love me and those who do not equally.  

WG