Much Ado About Love

1/15/12.  That may be just another date, but I left this past Sunday morning in faith that the Lord had met us in a profound way, as we looked together at his encouraging and challenging words to the Ephesian church in Revelation 2:1-7.  I’ve had the opportunity to interact with many of you over email or in person since, and it seems apparent the Spirit of God is at work in our midst, getting our gaze fixed on all the demonstrations of love that served to build Metro Life Church.  A message does not fall on everyone in the same way, nor does it need too.  But what is among some of the greatest expressions of love I see at Metro is how quick this local church is to respond to the Holy Spirit as He engages your hearts.  It is humbling as well!

One thing in particular I’d like to reiterate from Sunday.  Moving on by getting back to the love we had at the first, does not mean that we gloss over or ignore the things that may have adversely affected or undermined our love for one another.  When I say we cannot stay stuck in the past and wax nostalgically about it I have in mind Haggai 2:1-9.  When the Israelites who remembered the former temple saw the new, and in their eyes, less glorious one, it was because they were struggling to see beyond the present.   Challenging times can have that affect.  And so the Lord graciously spoke to them, and revealed to them that the glory to come would be greater than the glory of the past. In other words, we want to be a people marked by faith that our future will be greater than our past.  This is how the love of God works in us.  So, while we don’t want to talk about the past in a way that seems as though we can’t recover, we do engage the past where we need to so that we can get our vision restored.  That would be the heart of every pastor here at Metro. 

So, as we continue in this series, Resolve To Love, please don’t hesitate to connect with one of your pastors about anything from the past you need help with.   By the grace of God we pray no one would feel stuck in the past, but that together, for all whom God has called to Metro, we could engage the past, in all of its splendor, fruit, and failings, in such a way that serves to restore our vision for the future.  The love of God abounds here at our church.  Clearly, it always has, from that first meeting in Danny’s living room, until now.  And God has more of that love for our future!  God bless your week!