A reminder that we are now having our services in an online-only format, live streamed at the regular service time on our YouTube channel.
The Scripture readings this week are:
- Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
- Luke 1:26-38 (We will hear this told through song: To a Maid Whose Name Was Mary -- #14 in Voices United)
The Sermon title is Embracing Love
Early Thoughts: The story of faith is, in the end, a love story. The rule of faith is, in the end, all about love. The actions of God are, Scripture reminds us, signs of God's steadfast love.
Mary is invited to join in the love story. The promised Messiah will come as a sign of God's steadfast love for God's people. And Mary is invited/asked/chosen to be the one through whom this love will become personified.
Mary says yes, "let it be with me according to your word". Mary says yes and the love story continues. The child will be born.
The child will grow into a man. And the man will teach us that we are loved. The man will exhort us to love each other as we have been loved.
We are now invited to join in the story of love. We are now invited to take our place by embracing God's steadfast love and then passing it along.
It is not always easy to take our part in the story. Sometimes it makes us do things that are difficult -- like social distancing at Christmas. Sometimes loving others brings pain -- such as the grief we feel after a loved one dies. Sometimes it means we sacrifice our comforts or our preferences for the service of others -- the examples are uncountable. Still we are invited/urged/commanded to embrace love and take our part in the story.
There are countless songs about love. Some of them are rather trite, some are deep and complex. But there are so many songs because of the importance of love in the functioning of a healthy society.
Will you embrace love? Will you take your place in the story?
--Gord
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