Love One Another

1 John 3:11 states, "For this is the message that  you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."

It seems that the theme of my week has been about love.  It started in the beginning of the week when I went to my first meeting with a group I joined.  Since I was one of the "new people," I really didn't know anyone there.  I arrived probably 10-15 minutes before the meeting began.  Everyone seemed to be having a great time while I sat there waiting for the meeting to begin.  I must admit that I felt quite awkward.  I was hoping that someone would come up and start talking to me, but it didn't happen.  Maybe I should have been bold enough to interrupt conversations and introduce myself, but that is really not my personality... so I didn't.   As I went home, I had a sense that I was unloved at this place.  Now I am NOT trying to have a pity party here!  I realized very quickly that these feelings were not the truth.  I know that God will place the right people in my life there if I am supposed to stay in this group because that is my prayer.  I tell you this story to remind us that we ALL have had similar feelings like this at some stage of our lives.  

So... what are we to do?  We should realize that there are people coming into our church each and every week that may get these feelings if we do not reach out in love.  There are also many new volunteers that come to us throughout the year within our own ministry.  Have you EVER once introduced yourself to a new volunteer in our ministry and tried to keep a connection with them each time you see them?  If not, this is the challenge that we want to throw your way over the coming weeks/months/years!!!  We are a huge group of volunteers and there is no way Pastor Jorge, Rob, and Juan can minister individually to all 600 of us.  We truly desire for the children's ministry to feel like family (since we ARE)!!  This cannot happen unless all of us participate and take action.  Use your smile, your touch, and your attention to warmly welcome the new (or old) team of volunteers!

If you think you have mastered having love for God and people, I encourage you to buy the CD  from this past Wednesday night and listen to Pastor Doug's teaching.  It's truly a great message for those of us who desire to grow in the area of love.   

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 states, "And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."