In One Church from the Fence, Wes Seelinger writes:
I have spent long hours in the intensive care waiting room ... watching with anguished people ... listening to urgent questions: Will my husband make it? Will my child walk again? How do you live without your companion of thirty years?
The intensive care waiting room is different from any other place in the world. And the people who wait are different. They can’t do enough for each other. No one is rude. The distinctions of race and class melt away. A person is a father first, a black man second. The garbage man loves his wife as much as the university professor loves his, and everyone understands this. Each person pulls for everyone else.
In the intensive care waiting room, the world changes. Vanity and pretense vanish. The universe is focused on the doctor’s next report. If only it will show improvement. Everyone knows that loving someone else is what life is all about.
What a beautiful truth: “loving someone else is what life is all about.” This Sunday is Valentine’s Day and much of the world’s attention turns to romantic love. But no love between couples, no matter how sweet, can ever compare to the incomparable love of Jesus Christ.
You probably know John 3:16 by heart. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
What about 1 John 3:16? “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (and sisters). This verse sums up the Gospel: Jesus demonstrated His incomprehensible love for us by giving His life upon the cross. And we are to receive that incredible love and pass it along to others.
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us” (1 John 3:1). His love for us is without limits and without conditions. There is nothing you can do and no where you can go to escape the reach of the Father’s love. You can reject His love, but you can’t hide from it. His love goes beyond our understanding.
So receive His love. Revel in it. Be amazed by it. Be overwhelmed by it. Then pass it on to someone else – someone in need, someone who is hurting, who is far from the Father. His love can reach them through you.
This Sunday, February 14, will feature our annual “State of the Church” address. As a church, are we staying on track with our vision? If you are not able to join us in person in the building at 10:35am for worship, please join us online for the Live broadcast on Facebook (Search: Honolulu AG). It will also be uploaded later that day to our website (honoluluag.org) and YouTube channel (Search: Honolulu Assembly of God).
This Sunday also includes the Annual Meeting of the congregation. After the 10:35am worship service, we will share in a Fellowship Lunch. The main dish, rice and meatballs (BBQ as well as teriyaki & pineapple), will be provided. Please bring your favorite side dishes – salads and/or desserts, etc – to add to the table. Everyone is invited to stay for the lunch. Members are encouraged to be part of the Annual Meeting which will begin with Holy Communion. Let’s rejoice over what the Lord has done here at Honolulu AG in 2020!
Chris and Lindsey Carter, missionaries to Japan, will be with us on Sunday, March 14, in both the 9:30am Adult Bible class plus the 10:35am worship service. You won’t want to miss their exciting report of what the Lord is doing in that wonderful nation.
Aloha and Aloha ke Akua!
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