Love Your Neighbor

Wow!  What a tough message to give this past Sunday, but truly a message that is clearly one of God's favorites.  Why?  Because, Jesus summed the Law into two commandments.  The first and greatest command is that humans are to love the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.  The second is like it:  humans are to love their neighbors as they love themselves.

If Jesus stressed the importance of loving our neighbors, should we not take it seriously?  I know that this thing called "faith" is merely expressed in relationship:  a relationship with God that is to be first and foremost in our lives, and then relationships with the no-so-perfect human neighbors God brings into our lives.  And the hard part for us to grasp is this:  How we treat our neighbor is how we treat God.  We can't say we love God, but hate our neighbor.  Instead, by loving our neighbor, we prove and show God we love Him.

So, I personally feel it's much more important for me to show my love through actions than to simply express my love through words.  And the best way to show this love is in how I treat my neighbors, even those who hurt me.

Prayer Support

Hello everyone,

Here's my 2nd go round.  Lost the 1st one minutes ago.  Makes you sick to your stomach when you lose time and there's not a lot of extra to go round.

Hope all are doing well.  Caroline and I can't thank you enough for your prayers and support in this mission of planting a church.

Here are some items to continue praying over.

1.  May 14th (May 21st raindate) - Hedgesville Elementary Parent Teacher Organization Fundraising Carnival - 12 - 3 PM at Hedgesville Elementary 
Met with PTO a week ago.  I told them we would provide the following:  15+ volunteers to serve and man different stations throughout carnival; pay for moon bounces so that they can use extra money to continue doing good for the students; and provide a free gift from the church to all parents attending carnival.  Meet again on March 22nd to discuss more details.  They are completely thrilled to have our help and were taken back by our offer to pay for $700 worth of moon bounce rentals.  This offer led them to thank us by mentioning LHCH in their next newsletter.  You see, you do what's good and right, and God provides free advertising:)

2.  March 27th - Second Informational Meeting on LHCH - 9 AM in Theatre 1.
Will discuss more thoroughly what the service will look like, and begin to develop ministry teams.  Please feel free to invite friends from LHE whom you think would desire to join us on this mission.  Feel free to invite people from your sphere of influence; work, school, neighborhood.
 
3.  March 20th - Message by me at both services
Pray God would go before me to soften hearts to hear a truth on love that is probably one of the most difficult things to do:  Love Your Neighbor.  Ask that God use me to proclaim truth that will inspire those who hear to take action in living out this command.

4.  Continue to pray for laborers.  Ask God to send us persons with humble hearts and whose talents are to be used in connection with this ministry.  The two most visible ministries that are in need are children's ministry and sound/worship, though there's always room for growth in every ministry as we will create teams.

We're not just here to do ministry - to say that it's done.  We're here to do ministry for the Lord, which means well and with our best effort.  Remember, this is not about any of us.  If it is, then we miss our purpose and God's favor.  Our mission is merely to bring honor and glory to God through our words and our actions.  Our mission is to show people what God really looks like.  It's when we do this that we see good overcome evil and find people being attracted to a loving God who wants what is best for them.

Thanks again for your prayers and support.  Looking forward to what God's going to do!!!!!

In Christ,
JD