Shortly after my arrival at Memorial in 2018, I preached a sermon that was written with the hope that those who heard it would be motivated to share the love of God in our community and world. One phrase from that sermon seemed to strike a chord with our congregation to the point that it soon became the phrase we placed right on the front of our new church t-shirts – “Love Shows Up.”
Since then, members of the grace-filled family at Memorial have been recognizable all over our community and world as they have sought to embody the meaning of those three little words. We believe the life-transforming love of God that we claim for ourselves, that we sing of, celebrate, and preach about week in and week out is to be shared extravagantly wherever we go so that it might be life-transforming for others, too.
What has that looked like this week? It looked like:
meals prepared and delivered to the new parents of twins
gathering with a grieving family to celebrate the life well lived of our longest living member
meeting with, listening to, and pastorally caring for an individual facing a major health struggle
a mission team offering basic medical care to a community and building a home for a family of six in Guatemala
a phone call to check in with one of our senior members who struggles with loneliness and isolation.
offering support to members of our community who are feeling singled out and attacked
a team of people gathering to care for God’s creation by gathering to clean up our local beach
These are just a few of the ways love has shown up in and through our church family this week. The reality is that love shows up in so many other ways every week through the loving, neighborly, gracious acts of you, the people and members of Memorial United Methodist Church. It’s what we do, friends.
So, let’s celebrate the extravagant love of God that has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5), and let’s commit once again to the task of ensuring that love continues to show up in and through our words and actions.
I’ll see you Sunday!
Pastor Charlie
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