Happy New Year St. Lukers!

As we step into the promise of a new decade we pause first to reflect on years past. In 2019, we explored the Kingdom of God through the lens of God’s Neighborhood. This year, it’s all about “Just Love” and we’re starting “simply” with the word love itself.

This month, we will have a spiritual grammar lesson, looking at all the ways we can use love – as a noun, adjective, verb … and we might just discover it’s not so simple after all.

What experiences have made you feel the most loved?

Do you remember the first time someone said “I love you” in a relationship?

What is your favorite way to show love to friends or family?

Who is it in your life that never gets off the phone or leaves a conversation without saying “I love you?”

We use the word “love” to mean all kinds of things. It can be used as multiple parts of speech, applied to people, experiences, places, objects, animals … you name it. It’s a word that can carry the weight of a relationship, and it can be said offhandedly about a good meal. It’s the cornerstone of God’s message to humanity throughout scripture: “I love you,” says God. “Love me, and love one another.” It sounds so simple, and yet, as we know, it never is.

Throughout the rest of the year, we’ll look at how we are beloved, and embrace that belovedness as part of our individual discipleship journey. We’ll hear the call to go and be love to the world. We’ll explore how love is at the center of St. Luke’s Way through the lens of our core values. We’ll hear God’s love letters to us through scripture and through one another.

As you embark on this new year, consider how you are being invited into love in a new way. Do you need to learn to receive love from others? Do you need to learn to love yourself the way God loves you? Do you need to turn your love outward to a world in need of justice?

Whatever your starting point, I invite you to come on this journey of love with us at St. Luke’s in 2020. Really, it’s simple: this year, let’s just … love.

Just Love,
Pastor Melissa

Click here to read the full Weekly Update