How do we fulfill our mission to love God, love people, and pass it on? Well, let’s begin with loving God. In the Bible love and obedience are synonymous. It isn't that we show love by obeying (because you can obey outwardly and have a hard heart), but rather, it is out of our deep love for God that we listen and obey, believing his ways are not only good but strategic. Loving God flows from the church in a number of ways but includes authentic, heartfelt worship. God is worthy of our worship--not just in song--Romans 12.1 says we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice as our act of worship. This means our whole life is devoted to God. Of course really loving anyone also means loving whom he or she loves. We should love the world because God loved the world enough to send his son (John 3:16). Therefore a church on mission is a church who worships and obeys God and loves the people he sent his son to redeem. At Vineyard we are intentional about worship, both in the assembly and with our lives. It is our desire to create assemblies that honor God and build up the body of believers. It means we give to God our offerings, not out of compulsion, but out of a heart like his to see the world reached, the church strengthened, and servants of God cared for.
Next week I will focus on loving people, and passing it on.
Grace and peace,
Hal
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