Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
There's nothing you can do that can't be done
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy
Nothing you can make that can't be made
No one you can save that can't be saved
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time
It's easy
All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
Love, love, love
All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
"All You Need Is Love" (John Lennon and Paul McCartney)
John Lennon and Paul McCartney had a way with music and words. When they joined the two all the pieces of the puzzle of life seemed to come together. A quick glance at the lyrics of the song “All You Need Is Love” without the melodious voices of the Beatles in the background, however, focuses our attention on the meaning of the words. As we soak in the message we suddenly realize that there isn’t much of a message at all. Of course someone might say, “It’s all about love.” But therein lies the problem. What exactly is the love which the Beatles are describing?
No matter how one defines human love, it is rarely easy, it is never “all you need” and often it appears to be ineffective.
In one of the most famous love passages in the Bible, the Apostle John describes love far more specifically and effectively than the Beatles. Love that actually does something, love that can change peoples’ lives is love that originates from the source of all love – God. In the person of Jesus Christ we have a living definition of love which we not only can understand in practical terms but are able to experience personally and then reflect in the way we live on a daily basis.
Love is far more than a cliché or concept. Love is a Person, the Person who changed everything.
Saturday evening worship: 6:00 pm
Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am
Friday, October 10, 2014
Friday, October 3, 2014
When There Is No Place for Gray
We’re told over and over that life is so complicated, that no one can know for sure what is true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong. We live in what people would call a “gray world” in which things are neither black or white. They say we can have no certainty about anything.
At times it is very convenient to live in a gray world. We can rationalize just about any behavior even though we know deep down it is wrong. We just tell ourselves, “For me, it’s okay to do that kind of thing because it makes me happy.”
Some wonder why even today certain people have such a violent reaction to the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. They ask “He talked about love and helping one another. Who could possibly react negatively to those ideas?”
The answer to that question is, “Those who understand how strongly and specifically Jesus insisted on those characteristics.” He didn’t just say, “Be nice when it fits your schedule.” He said, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
When people said, “Your teaching is too hard!” Jesus replied, “Is it worth it to go easy on yourself and lose your soul in eternity?” He didn’t back down. He didn’t make his teaching gray just to accommodate people. He came to bring certainty and in doing so he drew a line in the sand for all people. He claimed to be the Son of God, the Savior all people need. He demanded a life of total commitment by those who follow him. He left no doubt about truth and error, right and wrong.
The Apostle John, in describing the lifestyle of a follower of Jesus, said the way we live demonstrates which side of the line we are on which Jesus drew in the sand of humanity. He challenges us to go beyond the gray of moral compromise and strive to live in the black and white truth of himself.
Saturday evening worship: 6:00 pm
Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am
At times it is very convenient to live in a gray world. We can rationalize just about any behavior even though we know deep down it is wrong. We just tell ourselves, “For me, it’s okay to do that kind of thing because it makes me happy.”
Some wonder why even today certain people have such a violent reaction to the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. They ask “He talked about love and helping one another. Who could possibly react negatively to those ideas?”
The answer to that question is, “Those who understand how strongly and specifically Jesus insisted on those characteristics.” He didn’t just say, “Be nice when it fits your schedule.” He said, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
When people said, “Your teaching is too hard!” Jesus replied, “Is it worth it to go easy on yourself and lose your soul in eternity?” He didn’t back down. He didn’t make his teaching gray just to accommodate people. He came to bring certainty and in doing so he drew a line in the sand for all people. He claimed to be the Son of God, the Savior all people need. He demanded a life of total commitment by those who follow him. He left no doubt about truth and error, right and wrong.
The Apostle John, in describing the lifestyle of a follower of Jesus, said the way we live demonstrates which side of the line we are on which Jesus drew in the sand of humanity. He challenges us to go beyond the gray of moral compromise and strive to live in the black and white truth of himself.
Saturday evening worship: 6:00 pm
Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am
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Hawaii Lutheran Church (WELS)
- Community Lutheran Church
- Honolulu, HI
- Community Lutheran Church holds protestant chapel services in Honolulu, Hawaii near Pearl Harbor, HI. We are next to the USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hickam Air Force Base, and Fort Shafter Hawaii. Look for us directly behind the Salt Lake, Hawaii, Target.