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Upcoming Services
Pastor Randy Roberts
Worship Service
Date/Time:
Sat, 12/24/2011 - 11:15am
Speaker:
Pastor Charles A. Tapp
Church:
Location:
Sligo Church
7700 Carroll Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912
7700 Carroll Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912
Each Monday I share a thought by email with the Sligo office personnel and other members of the Sligo community under the title, "Start the Week." One of my colleagues suggested that my "Start the Week" message this week should be shared with a wider readership. So here goes:
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4-8 year olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. Love through the eyes of innocence:
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore so my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8.
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4
"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6
"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4
"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay." Danny - age 7
"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss." Emily - age 8
"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate." Nikka - age 6
"There are two kinds of love: Our love; God's love. But God makes both kinds of them." Jenny - age 8
"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." Lauren - age 5
In the same way, we know that God loves us because when we rebelled against Him and decided to have our own way He did not give us up, as He could have done. Instead He sent His Son at the risk of eternal separation to save us from our sins. Christmas then is essentially a celebration of love, God's love. How could our Creator become a human being and be born in the most humbling of circumstances? Theologians
have written millions of pages in an effort to answer this question but the short and simple answer is He did it because He loves us.
Unlike Lauren, we know God loves us because He takes away our old clothes and gives us new clothes. As a result of Jesus coming into our world our old clothes of sin can be replaced by the new clothes of His righteousness. That's the good tidings!
"The heart of the human father yearns over his son. He looks into the face of his little child, and trembles at the thought of life's peril. He longs to shield his dear one from Satan's power, to hold him back from temptation and conflict. To meet a bitterer conflict and a more fearful risk, God gave His only-begotten Son, that the path of life might be made sure for our little ones. "Herein is love." Wonder, O heavens! and be astonished, O earth!" E.G. White, Desire Of Ages, p 49
1 John 4:10: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10 (NIV).
Don McFarlane
Administrative Pastor
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