This is the message that you heard from the beginning: love each other. 1 John 3:11(CEB)

This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. But if a person has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need and that person doesn’t care—how can the love of God remain in him? 1 John 3:16-17(CEB)

Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant.  Whoever wants to be first among you will be the slave of all, for the Human One didn’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give his life to liberate many people.” Mark 10:43-45 (CEB)

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Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding. 2-4 “When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—‘playactors’ I call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get. When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out. Matthew 6:1-4 (MSG)

Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth. This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts in God’s presence. 1 John 3:18-19(CEB)

Justice, Mercy, and Mission Where does the money go? Family Fund, Thanksgiving Offering, Building Use, plus.... Monthly Local: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Monthly National: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Monthly International: One-time gifts and Justice Organization Memberships:

Courage Connection (Women in Transition) Empty tomb (Prescription Fund) Champaign County Christian Health Center Community Garden, After-School, Food Ministry NCF Eastern IL Foodbank account Griot Arts Inc (Emily W & Josue) Spring Initiative  (Anja & Joe, Bianca, Valerie, Matt S.) SAT-7 USA (gospel TV in primarily Muslim countries) English Language Learning in Asia (Alice Houston) YWAM (Lobos) Bridges of Peace International  (Evelyne Accad)

My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.   1 John 3:18-20 (MSG)

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE MATERIAL POSSESSIONS

(How) do we love each other, brothers and sisters, and our neighbors with -WORDS of affirmation - (acts of) SERVICE -MONEY/MATERIAL POSSESSIONS - (quality) TIME -TOUCH

Doing Justice Giving Freely Biblical Relational Intergenerational Embracing Diversity

And friends, once that’s taken care of and we’re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we’re bold and free before God! We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God’s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus the Messiah. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us. 1 John 3:21-24 The Message

Communion: Jesus invites everyone to the Lord’s Table To participate, gather around a nearby table. Wait for a circle to assemble. Pass the matzo/bread until each person takes some. The bread of life. Eat together. Pass the cups of grape juice to each other. Wait until everyone has one. The cup of the new covenant. Drink together. Stay and pray as long as you like. If you want to take communion on your own or with a partner, wait until the first communal circle is finished, and then proceed to the table as you are ready. People are available around the sanctuary to pray with you.