LOVED
Augustine, a great Christian man, thinker, and teacher from the 300s, tells a story about his mom. She was crying, sobbing, begging and pleading with God over her son. Augustine was not a “good” kid. He liked to have a good time, slept with anyone he could, and even though his mom raised him, made her life terrible. But she begged and cried to God anyway, and he came and answered her.
Augustine says she had a dream. In that dream, she saw herself standing on some kind of a narrow path - perhaps like a balance beam. A man approached her and asked her why she was crying. She said she was crying over her son’s life and his destructive habits. The man replied that she should pay attention and see that where she was, there her son would be. She looked up and saw her son, Augustine. She woke up comforted.
Augustine credits God with the dream saying, “how else did this dream come about, except that your ears were up against her heart, O Almighty Good, who care for each of us as if we were your only concern and for all of us just as you care for each of us? (Augustine. Confessions Book 3 chapter 11, paragraph 19)
Or as many people like to paraphrase, “how else did this happen, except that God loves each of us as if there were only one of us and loves all of us just as he loves one of us”.
What a thought. God doesn’t just love each one of us. He loves each of us as if we were the only one. I bet you have experienced that at times. I remember listening to a sermon one morning before service on God’s forgiveness and just sobbing. I watched the story of CS Lewis and was moved to imagine that God would pursue him (and my own kids) like that. He loves each one of us like he loves all of us.
That includes you.
God loves you and me more than you can imagine. That’s a love and a care each one of us needs - more than we know.
“We now know that love is, in actuality, the most compelling survival mechanism of the human species. Not because it induces us to mate and reproduce. We do manage to mate without love! But because love drives us to bond emotionally with a precious few others who offer us safe haven from the storms of life. Love is our bulwark, designed to provide emotional protection so we can cope with the ups and downs of existence. As Mozart noted, “Love guards the heart from the abyss.” We are relational beings. God created us for relationship with Himself and with others. We are created for connection.” (Sue Johnson, Created for Connection, pg 22)
Look, it isn’t weak, or silly, or foolish to talk about love. It is the most basic thing we need to have healthy, functioning, good lives. It’s what I want you and me to have this fall around Peace.
Let’s kick off our fall with godly love. See you Sunday September 15 @ 9:30 am. We’ll build up our congregation, start classes for students and adults, and have some fun.
September 15th 9:30 am Fall kick off/Welcome Home
September 19th 6:30 pm Kzoo study group starts
September 19th 12:00 pm Senior lunch
September 20th 11:00 am Ladies Guild
September 20th 6:30 pm Bunco
September 22nd 9:30 Regular classes for kids start!; Volunteer recognition and celebration
September 27th 7:30 Campfire
September 28th 9:30 am Christian Theology #4
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Peace Lutheran Church 805 S Wilmott St Otsego, MI 49078
269-694-6104 https://peaceotsego.org