Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Love God, Part One - Discussion for January 6th Service

Well, today is the first day of the new year and the day that we officially launch "INTAKE."  INTAKE is our online study community designed to help you better prepare for the upcoming service by studying and discussing the scripture and/or the competency for that particular Sunday.  This coming weekend is our first regular worship gathering.  We are beginning a series of messages entitled "SIMPLEfaith."  Sunday, Cameron will be teaching on the first of what Christians commonly refer to as the Great Commandment.  Jesus quotes the Torah (Jewish Scriptures) when asked what the most important commandment was (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27).  His response comes directly from Deuteronomy 6:4-8, which is known as the shema:

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." - Deuteronomy 6:4-5

The core competency Cameron will focus on for his teaching, as well as our kids, is our belief that God is a personal God.  We believe that God is involved in and cares about our daily lives.

In order to launch our online study community, here are some questions for you to ponder and offer your thoughts to the community.  

What do you think it means to "love God"?  What are some things that make loving God difficult for you?  How do churches help you in your pursuit of loving God?  How do they hinder?  How does believing God is a personal God impact your ability to love Him?

For our first service, this blog will be our preparation, but starting Sunday, January 6th, we will add to INTAKE the personal study guides.  The step after that will be adding family resources to help parents teach their children.  So, bookmark this page, or subscribe to the RSS or Atom feed.  If you'd like to receive the initial start-up for discussion by email, you can email Brad Gartman at bgartman@the-springs.org to request the email.  If you get the email, you will still need to come to the blog to post comments.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousFriday, January 04, 2008 4:51:00 PM

    Loving God is natural when I consider the fact that He prepares me to know Him. I am not trying to embrace an ethereal complex or a huge conglomeration. My focus is in God; the one and only; tried and true. He loves me and He makes loving Him a singular pursuit. FWF

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  2. BradFriday, January 04, 2008 10:10:00 PM

    Great comments, wfair345. It sounds a lot like the apostle John when he said that "we love because he first loved us." In most cases it's easier to love someone who has shown us love first. How do YOU maintain a focus on God? I sometimes find it difficult to keep my focus. Even though God is not "ethereal" He doesn't sit across the table from me at Starbucks and enjoy an upside-down-carmel-frappucino-with-an-equal-and-sweet-n-low and a good conversation. What things do you use to help you stay focused?

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