June 8, 2013 - Church at Worship

Sermon: "In the End..."  by Randy Roberts

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERMON
 
Each year, scheduled as close to Memorial Day as we can, there is a special segment in our worship service dedicated to individuals in our congregation who have died in the past year. Today, at the end of the service, we will show their pictures. It is always a time that brings back the memories of these precious souls. As today’s service unfolds, I hope that you will pray for the family members left behind. And even more, pick up the phone this week and spend some time comforting a bereaved friend.
 
Today’s passage, found in John 13, leads us into the last discourse of Jesus recorded in the latter half of John’s gospel. It is a discourse filled with some of the most precious and profound teaching of his life. Today’s verse—which calls on us to join him in creating and maintaining a community of faith that is characterized by love—is both a challenge and a promise. It is a challenge because his words form a command. “Love one another,” in other words, is not a suggestion. It is a promise because “all his biddings are enablings” (Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 333).
 
I have chosen to connect these two realities—our In Memory service and the passage in John’s gospel—because these words of Jesus’ are among his last. They remind us that In the End… what really matters is love.
 
May God’s love be yours.
 
Randy Roberts
Senior Pastor

MEDITATIONS
 
In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals nothing. – Mignon McLaughlin
 
It is by loving and by being loved that one can come nearest to the soul of another. – George MacDonald
 
Immature love says: “I love you because I need you.” Mature love says, “I need you because I love you.” – Erich Fromm
 
To love another person is to see the face of God. – Victor Hugo

other information:

Due to Copyright, this DVD does not include the "Memorial Tibute" by Marvin Ponder and Joshua Tuburan