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Message: Love Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:3-9 Talk about famous last words! That's the entire book of Deuteronomy! Moses was told he was going to die. But he wasn't sick or weak in his old age, and he WAS old! So, this book of Deuteronomy that we began reading together last Monday is Moses’ last words to Israel. The whole book is a recap of their history and laws, their rebellion and God's faithfulness. It does add some details about some of the laws, to clarify some points from Leviticus. But mostly it’s a long sermon, an exhortation to the people of God that they should live holy lives and never forget that they owe it all to God. So probably the key passage that the whole book is centered on is this one in Deuteronomy 6. As a summary statement it's really simple. It is as simple as, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your nei...

Scripture: Romans 8:31-40 Listen Link: https://www.lcepc.org/blogger Do we ever wonder what it might really be like to live as if we were more than conquerors? What is it that we are supposed to conquer anyway? Our own sins? That’s certainly part of it, as God leads us to allow Christ’s character to be formed in us. But there’s got to be a community aspect to this too. What are we supposed to conquer together as the body of Christ? How do we today as modern Christians face death all day long as Paul did? What would that look like for us today? What does God really want from us now? Our mission is clearly stated by Jesus in Matthew 28: “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” I just got this great statement from an African Pastor in Nigeria. We’re Facebook friends...

Galatians 6:1-5 If you’ve been following along with me in reading the chronological Bible, this week we read a real hodgepodge of strange and interesting stuff!! But there is a common thread, community. God was building a community. He really wanted them to sense that they belong together and need each other. That’s why I chose Galatians 6:1-5 as the passage that could bind all these various stories and rituals together under the heading of “things we must do together.” And what are those things we must do together? I see three. 1. Root out sin and separate ourselves from evil impurities. 2. Help each other along by bearing each other’s burdens. 3. Each of us must choose to live responsibly.  I want to give some examples of each of those from our readings this week. So, first, on rooting out sin and being separate from evil. The first instance in this weeks’ reading is Numbers 5:1-3. “The Lord said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone w...