Dear Friends of Longview Chapel,
On Sunday, we focused on I Peter 1:24-25, 2:1-3. This passage includes:
Isaiah 40:8 – “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of God endures forever.”
It’s essential for us to remember that God never changes and endures forever. How God interacts with us may change (for example God is speaks through a variety of music to touch us), but Who God is does not change. God’s word, God’s essence, is consistent. We can rely on and trust in God’s Presence.
I shared several scriptures in the message that some were wanting to savor a bit more. God’s word, God’s essence is far bigger than any of us can fully comprehend. Here are just a few characteristics and passages:
Psalm 136:26 – “Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever”
Jeremiah 31:3 “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.’”
1 John 4:8,16 – “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God.
Jesus taught us that God loves all people AND expects us to love God and others too.
Matthew 22:37-40 –”You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets”
And he clarified what loving your neighbor means in concrete terms:
Matthew 25:35–40 – Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in… Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
No matter how difficult our circumstances, there is always hope – real hope found in God.
Jeremiah 31:13 – “I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.”
Or the words of:
Romans 8:28 – All things work together for good for those who love God for those who are called according to God’s purpose.
What scriptures have meaning for you? May each of us savor them and live in them.
Blessings and Peace as We Live into the Word,
Pastor Donna