The Reverend Barbara Brown was our guest proclaimer, and Minister Larry Taylor also led us in musical worship on his electronic saxophone. It was a beautiful morning to be in God's house today!
The sermon text was from John 13; even with the cross looming, Jesus was concerned about his disciples and stressed: "34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (ESV).
Several times we were confronted with the question: "Are you committed to love?" "Are we committed to loving like Christ does?"
When we just speak the words and don't really mean it, we're just ugly noise -- some obnoxious gong or clashing cymbal. We live in a messed up world and what the world desperately needs is love -- real, Christian love.
Dionne Warwick's song from the late 1960's sums it up nicely: we don't need another mountain or meadow, i.e. some excuse or hurdle not to love -- we just need to love. That's the answer.
(Here's Warwick with some visuals someone added...)
