St. Luke's Blogs

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

One of the places we visited was the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.  This historic church was the first black church in Birmingham. In the early 1960s, the church was place where many civil rights meetings took place.

Each Wednesday morning, I lead Chapel time for the children at the Childcare Center in Edmond. During this time, we come together to sing songs, praise God, and learn stories from the Bible. This year we’ve started off with a series about the Fruits of the Spirit, beginning with the fruit of Love! The first morning, I asked the general question, “Who does God tell us we’re supposed to love?”

The Sermon On the Mount is found in the Gospel of Matthew. It is a powerful teaching on how to live a life of faith. Specifically, much of what is taught by Jesus in this powerful collection of wisdom is how our thoughts and our actions should reflect the nature of God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches about a difficult but necessary action that we need to be reminded of, from time to time…

When my oldest granddaughter was about 8, she got angry with me about something (I don’t remember what it was), and yelled, “Nini, I hate you!”  While my feelings were hurt and we had to visit about her behavior, my love for her never wavered.  I really love my grandkids and would do anything good for them.  They could break the most expensive item in my house, and while I’d be disappointed, I’d forgive them.  If one of them was about to be hit by a truck, I’d jump in front of them without thinking twice.  If we were starving and there wasn’t enough food for everyone to eat, my grandkids would eat first.  You get the idea; there’s nothing they could ever do to stop me from loving them.

There are two wonderful things I enjoy. One is missions and the other is pizza. The only way for these two things to be better would be to combine them. Now, that would be great! In March of 2019, when the nationwide lockdown began, Ben Berman found a way to do just that.

It is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.

So, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The story of Paul’s conversion is a pivotal story in the life of Christianity. Paul was a young Jewish leader who was focused on combating the growing number of people who were following Jesus.  Paul decided to expand his persecution of Christians to Damascus. While on the road to Damascus, Paul is knocked off his horse and blinded. At the same moment, he hears the voice of Jesus.  From this moment on, Paul, who once persecuted the Church, now works to spread the news of Christ around the world.