1 John 4:7-11
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 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. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Love is complicated and in many instances has become somewhat cliche in today’s day and age. We use the word love to describe everything from our affection to our romantic partners to our intense passion for a sports franchise to the more hyperbolic “love” of a certain band, movie, or song.
One thing that distinguished the earliest church was how they loved. It was commanded by Christ himself to love God and love people with a radical ‘God-like’ love. And as John reminds us in his Gospel (13:35) that Christ stated that people will know that we follow Him if we love one another with that Godly and radical love.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that love is taking a back-seat to other emotions. Spend a few moments on social media or watch the news and there will be countless examples of the very lack of love and grace. If there was ever a moment in history where love needs to triumph over hate, it’s today.
At Grassroots we believe that the Church is the continuation and physical representation of Christ’s work in the world and that means that we love the hurting, we care for the poor, we embrace the abused, and we free those who are bound. We stand for those who cannot stand, we speak for those who cannot muster up the words, and we show grace and mercy for all.
1 John 4:7-11 shows us that if we are to be on the side of God’s righteousness then we are required to love everyone we come into contact with. We share our faith through how we love our neighbor. Therefore, We believe in the unconditional and relentless love of God for humanity. Therefore, we Value the truth that we are commanded to love our neighbor without condition.
Join us in being a community that loves without condition.
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