Today's lessons are in essence a continuation of last Sunday's when we talked about the relationship between God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and we his mortal believers. We live in him and he in us and today the emphasis shifts to the nature of that loving relationship.
Faith, as we have learned in the past is a gift of the Holy Spirit. To receive that gift we have to be open to allow that love into our lives.
The irony in this relationship is that in submission we find freedom, in giving we receive, in loving we are overwhelmed with love, in abandoning anger and resentment we receive joy, in dying we receive life.
Once more we learn in the first lesson from Acts that the Gospel is for all people, Jew and Gentile.
Psalm 98 reminds us that it is good for the soul to give God thanks and praise. All creation praises the God of its creation.
God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son are one. In baptism we are claimed by the triune God.
The central tenet of the Good News is that God loves us and we respond to that love in love not because we fear punishment if we disobey but in joyful response to that love. Jesus was made man to make manifest God's love. We respond to that love by loving the God of our creation and salvation and our neighbour as ourselves. Let us not forget the corollary of that equation. To truly love others we must believe ourselves worthy of that love in return. To love others we must love ourselves. We are made lovable by God's forgiving love.
Faith, as we have learned in the past is a gift of the Holy Spirit. To receive that gift we have to be open to allow that love into our lives.
The irony in this relationship is that in submission we find freedom, in giving we receive, in loving we are overwhelmed with love, in abandoning anger and resentment we receive joy, in dying we receive life.
Once more we learn in the first lesson from Acts that the Gospel is for all people, Jew and Gentile.
Psalm 98 reminds us that it is good for the soul to give God thanks and praise. All creation praises the God of its creation.
God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son are one. In baptism we are claimed by the triune God.
The central tenet of the Good News is that God loves us and we respond to that love in love not because we fear punishment if we disobey but in joyful response to that love. Jesus was made man to make manifest God's love. We respond to that love by loving the God of our creation and salvation and our neighbour as ourselves. Let us not forget the corollary of that equation. To truly love others we must believe ourselves worthy of that love in return. To love others we must love ourselves. We are made lovable by God's forgiving love.
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