February 3, 2019

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for February 3rd: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30. Theme: Love is the greatest and hardest commandment 1 Corinthians: It is fitting that the chapter on love comes up during the week before Valentines Day. It is important to realize that Paul is not talking about romantic love between two people in this text. As a matter of fact, Paul is talking to a congregation that is divided and cannot cooperate in order to get anything done. So Paul tells them the love bears all things, love is not self serving, love learns to bear all things. In other words Paul is teaching us to be patient with one another. It is a prescription to get along with anyone. It is a prescription to put the overall mission before whether we really like people. It tells us how to treat other people, whomever they are. The most important verse to remember, that we treat all people with hope, faith, peace and most importantly love. Afterall – God is pure love for all people. Luke: Last week Jesus talked about his calling and he preached to the congregation about what it means to be called by God to fulfill a task. As the congregation listened, they were amazed at what he had to say. Luke like to point out that whenever he spoke, people were amazed at his ability to expound on the things of God. He had a gift for explaining things in a very clear way. Ultimately, it was this gift that got him kicked out in the street. He was a little too comfortable with God. He had an understanding that others did not have. Jesus continued to teach, but out in the streets where the people were. He went throughout the countryside performing miracles and healing people. But he was never able to do much of any of that in his own hometown. The people there refused to take him seriously. But he was able to transform the rest of the world, with his gift of bringing God to the people. Questions: How seriously do you take Jesus? Can Jesus still perform miracles in our world today? Do you show God’s love to all people or just the ones you like?