January 25th, 2023

Day 25
Mark 12:40
40 Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be more severely punished.”
Well, this has taken a darker turn! I included this text in the week because I want to make sure we understand the importance of never allowing ourselves to forget what our job as a faith community and as a people of faith really is.
This text begins with Jesus making clear that he is not the “son of David,” rather, he is the son of God, as David used that nomenclature when he spoke of the Messiah. (Mark 12:35-37). Then he turns his attention to the teachers of religious law who teach great things and say they believe, yet they continue to ignore those who are most in need. Great words are empty without great action to back them up.
We have to make sure that we are not a community that sounds like we know how to lovewell, but fall short of the mark by not actually loving well. I know this sounds obvious, but it is the reality. We must always, all of our campuses, strive for ways to make sure that the love we espouse is really happening in our communities, and particularly for those who are not only less fortunate, but those who are underserved.
Jesus also said; “the poor will always be with us. . .” and at times that has been taken to mean that we shouldn’t have an urgency in helping those that need our help. I challenge that idea. We have to always reach out, to serve, and to show love in ways that are tangible if we are to say that we are involved in the mission of God as a church.
It is not enough to teach love, you have to express love and you have to show love, and these will always be tangible. Food, clothing, service, health and healing, all of these things are ways that we can show that love has skin on it, and that skin gets dirty sometimes.
I remember when the showers rolled up for the first time behind our church. I was a little skeptical that anyone would take us up on these showers. I was also super surprised at how nice they were.
What caught my attention was how many people were waiting in line to take showers. I felt silly for not having sorted it out earlier. While we had been giving dinner and medical care for a long time, their needs were even more basic than those. They were in simple need of a way to stay clean.
We cannot underestimate the power of the simple things that we can offer. And as you can see from the text, it is an imperative that God gives us.
40 Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be more severely punished.”
Well, this has taken a darker turn! I included this text in the week because I want to make sure we understand the importance of never allowing ourselves to forget what our job as a faith community and as a people of faith really is.
This text begins with Jesus making clear that he is not the “son of David,” rather, he is the son of God, as David used that nomenclature when he spoke of the Messiah. (Mark 12:35-37). Then he turns his attention to the teachers of religious law who teach great things and say they believe, yet they continue to ignore those who are most in need. Great words are empty without great action to back them up.
We have to make sure that we are not a community that sounds like we know how to lovewell, but fall short of the mark by not actually loving well. I know this sounds obvious, but it is the reality. We must always, all of our campuses, strive for ways to make sure that the love we espouse is really happening in our communities, and particularly for those who are not only less fortunate, but those who are underserved.
Jesus also said; “the poor will always be with us. . .” and at times that has been taken to mean that we shouldn’t have an urgency in helping those that need our help. I challenge that idea. We have to always reach out, to serve, and to show love in ways that are tangible if we are to say that we are involved in the mission of God as a church.
It is not enough to teach love, you have to express love and you have to show love, and these will always be tangible. Food, clothing, service, health and healing, all of these things are ways that we can show that love has skin on it, and that skin gets dirty sometimes.
I remember when the showers rolled up for the first time behind our church. I was a little skeptical that anyone would take us up on these showers. I was also super surprised at how nice they were.
What caught my attention was how many people were waiting in line to take showers. I felt silly for not having sorted it out earlier. While we had been giving dinner and medical care for a long time, their needs were even more basic than those. They were in simple need of a way to stay clean.
We cannot underestimate the power of the simple things that we can offer. And as you can see from the text, it is an imperative that God gives us.
- What have you done today to tangibly make someone's life better?
- Have you ever been involved in a ministry of compassion and mercy?
- What was it and how did it make you feel?
- How did it make those you served feel?
1 Corinthians
1 John
1 Peter
1 Samuel
2 John
3 John
Acts
Belonging
Campus Week
Certainty
Church
Clarity
Colossians
Community
Compassion
Connect Group
Crosswalk
Daily Study
Dave Ferguson
Deconstruction
Easter Week
Easter
Ecclesiastes
End of Series
End of the Week
Faith
Galatians
Galations
Gathering
Genesis
Group Study
Hebrews
Holy Wednesday
Hosea
Isaiah
James
Jeremiah
Job
John
Jonah
Joshua
Light
Lovewell: A Theology
Lovewell
Love
Luke
Mark
Matthew
Mike Rhynus
Paddy McCoy
Philippians
Proverbs
Psalms
Revelation
Romans
Sabbath
Service
Small Group Guide
Small Group Study
Small Group
The Little Letters
Timothy Gillespie
Uncomfortable
William Johnsson
Witness
Zechariah
choices
patience
rules
small group guides
Watch Sermons from this Series
Week 5 | Lovewell: A Theology
Feb 4, 2023 • Tim Gillespie
William Johnson Interview - Lovewell: A Theology
Feb 4, 2023 • William Johnson, Tim Gillespie
Week 4 | Lovewell: A Theology
Jan 28, 2023
Week 3 | Lovewell: A Theology
Jan 21, 2023 • Tim Gillespie
Week 2 | Lovewell: A Theology
Jan 14, 2023 • Tim Gillespie
Week 1 | Lovewell: A Theology
Jan 7, 2023 • Tim Gillespie
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2023
January
Lovewell: A Theology - Day 1Lovewell: A Theology - Day 2Lovewell: A Theology - Day 3Lovewell: A Theology - Day 4Lovewell: A Theology - Day 5Lovewell: A Theology - Day 6Lovewell: A Theology - Day 7Lovewell: A Theology - Day 8Lovewell: A Theology - Day 9Lovewell: A Theology - Day 10Lovewell: A Theology - Day 11Lovewell: A Theology - Day 12Lovewell: A Theology - Day 13Lovewell: A Theology - Day 14Lovewell: A Theology - Day 15Lovewell: A Theology - Day 16Lovewell: A Theology - Day 17Lovewell: A Theology - Day 18Lovewell: A Theology - Day 19Lovewell: A Theology - Day 20Lovewell: A Theology - Day 21Lovewell: A Theology - Day 22Lovewell: A Theology - Day 24Lovewell: A Theology - Day 23Lovewell: A Theology - Day 25Lovewell: A Theology - Day 26Lovewell: A Theology - Day 27Lovewell: A Theology - Day 28Lovewell: A Theology - Day 29Lovewell: A Theology - Day 30Lovewell: A Theology - Day 31
February
Lovewell: A Theology - Day 32Lovewell: A Theology - Day 33Lovewell: A Theology - Day 34Lovewell: A Theology - Day 35Season 1 - IntroductionUncomfortable (S1) - Day 1Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 2Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 3Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 4Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 5Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 6Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 7Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 8Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 9Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 10Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 11Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 12Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 13Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 14Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 15Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 16Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 17
March
Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 18Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 19Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 20Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 21Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 22Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 23Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 24Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 25Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 26Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 27Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 28Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 29Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 30Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 31Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 32Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 33Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 34Uncomfortable (S1) - Day 35Campus WeekAfter - Day 1After - Day 2After - Day 3After - Day 4After - Day 5After - Day 6
April
After - Day 7After - Day 8After - Day 9After - Day 10After - Day 11After - Day 12After - Day 13After - Day 14After - Day 15After - Day 16After - Day 17After - Day 18After - Day 19After - Day 20After - Day 21After - Day 22After - Day 23After - Day 24After - Day 25After - Day 26After - Day 27After - Day 28
Categories
Tags
1 Corinthians
1 John
1 Peter
1 Samuel
2 John
3 John
Acts
Belonging
Campus Week
Certainty
Church
Clarity
Colossians
Community
Compassion
Connect Group
Crosswalk
Daily Study
Dave Ferguson
Deconstruction
Easter Week
Easter
Ecclesiastes
End of Series
End of the Week
Faith
Galatians
Galations
Gathering
Genesis
Group Study
Hebrews
Holy Wednesday
Hosea
Isaiah
James
Jeremiah
Job
John
Jonah
Joshua
Light
Lovewell: A Theology
Lovewell
Love
Luke
Mark
Matthew
Mike Rhynus
Paddy McCoy
Philippians
Proverbs
Psalms
Revelation
Romans
Sabbath
Service
Small Group Guide
Small Group Study
Small Group
The Little Letters
Timothy Gillespie
Uncomfortable
William Johnsson
Witness
Zechariah
choices
patience
rules
small group guides
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