On the night before Jesus died, he taught his disciples: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (John 13:34) 

Every Christian is a disciple of Jesus – someone who seeks to learn from Jesus. It’s what we do when we come to our Master: we say, ‘not my will but yours be done’. The heart of being a Christian is to seek to live, and so to love, like him. To be Christ-like in our attitudes towards him as God and towards each other. 

Our bodies grow weaker when we do not get enough exercise. Our minds grow weaker when we don’t keep using them, whether by reading or engaging in thoughtful conversation with others. In a similar way, our relationships in our church family will not be the same if we don't keep meeting regularly (Hebrews 10:24-25) This isn’t to criticize anyone, but it is to be aware of the reality of life. 

What motivates us to keep meeting up is not just the welcoming church family we find at St Michael's, the mix of different ages and backgrounds, the commitment to include anyone and everyone as we seek to worship God together:  no, all these are important, but not the most important thing.

The most important thing that should motivate us to keep gathering and growing together as a church family is the love God has shown us uniquely in his Son Jesus Christ, who gave up the glory of heaven to come and life and die for us, that we might be forgiven for all we've done that has angered God and made perfect through Jesus' righteousness (spoiler alert:  these are words full of meaning ... they will take time to enjoy and appreciate ... but we say them with no shame).

So .. whoever you where, whether someone who has never been to church before in their life, or an old-timer who has been part of the church family for decades, please know you're welcome, as we seek to grow together in a knowledge and love of God, as he has made clear in the living word, Jesus, whom we meet in the written word, the Bible.

With love in Christ, as always, CARL