Hebrews 13:1-3 Marked By Love

That is an important question for us to answer because we need to know what it looks like to be a faithful and biblical church in a lost and dying world.

And there are several valid answers we might give.

For one, we obviously need the gospel. Without the gospel that Jesus died on the cross and rose again three days later to save sinners, a church cannot be a church because without the gospel we cannot become the people of God.

We also need biblically qualified leaders. We need Elders and deacons to shepherd and care for the flock so that all of us can grow up in the gospel.

We need the ordinances of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism, and we need to practice those ordinances according to God’s Word because they are acts that proclaim the very gospel they represent.

And you could even argue for some other things like church discipline or evangelism. But the truth is even if you have all those things, they are incomplete.

We could get all of those exactly right. We could be dead on biblically about what we believe and how we function, but all of those things are not enough to make a church a church. There’s something missing.

We need love.

Without love for one another all of those things are just dead works.

Without love for one another, we show that we don’t actually know the gospel or what it means to be the people of Christ.

Love for one another is the life blood that takes a group of people from just an organization with true doctrinal propositions and makes it a living body of Christ that exists to worship him and proclaim his gospel.

Love for one another is what makes a church a church.

So how should we love one another?

Hebrews 13:1-3 gives us an answer. The big idea of this passage is this...

The way we love one another must be so radical that when the World sees us they know we are followers of Christ.

If we are going to be a biblical church, we need a radical love for one another.

And so what I hope to show you today is what does that love look like?

What does it look like for us to love one another with the kind of love that defines us as followers of Christ? That marks us off from the world as a church of the Lord Jesus.

We will see, through this passage, that there are three things we need.

First, we must love one another with a brotherly love.

Second, we must put one another first instead of loving ourselves.

And third, our love for one another must be rooted in Christ’s love for us.

Let’s start with point number 1...

I. Christian Love is Brotherly Love

Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.

For you to see the impact and the weight of what the Author is urging here, you need to remember the context.

At the end of chapter 12, he said in Hebrews 12:28 Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.

And all of chapter 13 describes what that acceptable worship actually looks like.

And the first thing the Author says is Let brotherly love continue.

How we love one another is one of the primary ways we worship God.

And how God calls us to love one another is with a brotherly affection.

Now what the author is saying here is absolutely radical for his day.

We can read this verse in the 21st Century and think, “Well of course, Christians should love one another like brothers and sisters, its always been that way.”

But when the Author says Let brotherly love continue, he uses a word for love that everywhere outside of the New Testament is only ever used for people who are actually flesh and blood, brothers and sisters.

For a church to love one another with this kind of brotherly love would have been absolutely ludicrous in that day and age.

Christian churches were made up of people of different ethnicities, social statuses, educations, backgrounds.

All kinds of things that separate one group from another in the world, even today.

And yet, the NT teaches Christians are to love one another like we are all part of the same family. Because that is what we are!

This might sound ridiculous to the world, but it makes perfect sense for those in Christ. We are called to love one another like brothers and sisters, because in Christ we really are one family.

God is our Father.

Earlier in Hebrews 2 we are told Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers.

And through faith in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, the Bible says we are adopted into God’s Family, the church, as sons and daughters of God bought with the blood of Christ.

In fact, this is the same language even Hebrews uses in calling the church the household of God. What is a household if not a family?

This is also why church membership is so important. Who are the members of our household? Who are those people that God calls us to love with brotherly affection?

The only way we can know that is by committing ourselves to a local church. There is a different fellowship that happens when we are committed to a body of believers and they are committed to us.

The NT doesn’t believe in free agent Christians. So if you aren’t a member of a church and you want let brotherly love continue, then you should join our church. Become a part of our fellowship.

Because unless you join a church, you might be a part of our extended family, just like Christians who are members of other gospel preaching churches are fellow brothers and sisters in Christ but you are missing out on all the blessings of being a part of our family.

So if you don’t have a church to call home, become a member and enjoy the blessing of brotherly love!

The first thing we need to believe if we are going to offer acceptable worship to God is that we are a family with one another, and we are called to love one another like the brothers and sisters in Christ that we actually are.

So what should that look like? Like we are a family!

We should have a genuine love, care, and concern for one another. Mindful of and for each other.

That when we gather together as the body of Christ our thoughts and actions aren’t focused on me, me, me. Instead we are all asking, How can I bless them? How can I encourage them? How can I pray for them?

How can I help them follow Christ more faithfully because I love them and want to see the Lord’s blessing in their life.

Paul said it like this.

Romans 12:9-10 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

The most basic way I can say it is this: Brotherly love means caring for fellow Christians more than we care for ourselves.

That we try to outdo one another in showing honor. That we try to outdo one another in loving each other.

Imagine a church where every member is constantly trying to outdo the others in loving and serving one another.

What kind of radical love would that look like? What kind of radical love would we get to experience in our fellowship if we did that?

Isn’t the most blessed place in this world being with a family that loves us. And the Bible says that in Christ, we should have that here.

That when we are together, the love we have for one another should be so rich and overflowing, that there really is nowhere else any of us would rather be.

That is what it means to love one another like family.

But even after all this, it might still be a little unclear of how we love one another that way. Of what that love actually looks like.

Because up until now, we’ve only talked about the experience of what that love should look like, but we need to ask does the Bible ever give us a clear definition of what it means to love one another with brotherly love?

Turn to 1 Corinthians 13:4. This is a familiar passage but you might be surprised to know that its not a passage about marriage. This is a passage about what it means to be the church together, and here’s what Paul says.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. [Just an aside, that is why it can actually say hard things to one another and rebuke each other for sin but still be loving. Paul continues.] 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

That is the love we should aim for as a church, because that kind of love is the love necessary for us to be the church God calls us to be.

And without it, we aren’t really a church.

Why? Why is this kind of love so fundamental to our identity as a church?

Why is it so necessary for us to love one another with brotherly love if we are going to follow Jesus?

Let me give you four reasons.

1. Christ Commanded Us to Love One Another

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

1. This is what Christ calls all Christians to do. Loving one another is intrinsic to our identity as followers of Christ. Disciples love other disciples.

2. Loving One Another Bears Witness to the Gospel

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

The way we love one another shows the world what a disciple of Christ looks like. Because a disciple is someone who emulates their master.

Therefore the way we love one another shows the world, the love of Christ.

What that means is that our love for one another is a testimony that bears witness to the world the love that Christ has for us.

So that not only do they hear the gospel as we preach it, but they also see the gospel and the love that Christ would also have for them, if only they would repent of their sin and place their faith in him.

3. Loving One Another is the necessary proof of our Salvation

1 John 3:10-11 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

John says it is evident who are the children of God. The children of God are the ones who love God’s other children.

The sheer fact that we love one another with a brotherly affection is proof that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. That Jesus has saved us and given us new life. That we have been adopted by God into his family.

Unless we love one another, we can have no assurance that we ever actually believed the gospel at all!

And finally number 4.

4. Without Love, Nothing Else We Do as a Church Matters

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Many Christians spend so much time arguing about the spiritual gifts Paul mentions in this verse that they miss what Paul is actually saying.

Paul is writing to the Corinthian church which has a number of problems going on. One of them is division within the body.

Some members were exercising their spiritual gifts and doing all kinds of ministry, all while looking down on other members who weren’t gifted quite the same way.

And Paul’s point here, is that it doesn’t matter what you do. It doesn’t matter how much ministry success you have or how godly you think you are. If you don’t have love, you gain nothing.

To say it another way, our church could grow to 10,000 people. We could have 10,000 small groups and see 10,000 people baptized. But if we don’t love one another, we’ve accomplished nothing.

Brotherly love is the defining characteristic of a church that loves Jesus Christ.

So Hebrews calls us today to Let brotherly love continue.

It calls us to show a deep and genuine concern for the welfare of one another and to make every practical effort to outdo one another in showing honor.

So if that’s what brotherly love looks like, how do we do that? How do we let brotherly love continue? Hebrews tells us in point number 2.

II. Christian Love Puts Others Before Ourselves

Hebrews 13:2-3 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

Now what you have here are two commands, two applications, for how the Hebrews specifically are to let brotherly love continue.

The Author tells them Do not neglect showing hospitality, and Remember those suffering for their faith.

But what I also want you to notice is that these two commands are really part of a bigger idea, namely that Christian love puts others first.

But before we get to that, let’s walk through each command individually to learn what God’s Word says, and then afterwards we will look at them both together.

Do Not Neglect

First, the Author says Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

So this verse has a straight forward, easy part to interpret, and an odd part that is a little bit more difficult.

The main point is that we are to show hospitality to others.

Now being hospitable means something more than just being kind or pleasant, although it does include that.

Being hospitable actually means welcoming a guest. It means receiving someone into your home with the sole purpose of serving them. Loving them. Caring for them. Giving them food and lodging and expecting nothing in return.

The question is who were they supposed to show hospitality to? The Bible says to strangers. But does that mean he was instructing the Hebrews to show hospitality to Christian strangers or to unbelievers?

I think the answer is primarily for Christian strangers although it can obviously include non-Christians as well.

Inviting unbelieving coworkers, and friends, and family members into our homes for dinner or desert gives us a unique opportunity for evangelism.

They get to see our life in action in our home, and we get to have the opportunity to talk with them over a long period of time and hopefully share the gospel.

Hospitality may actually be one of the most effective ways to witness to unbelievers in our culture.

So one hundred percent, I think we should show hospitality to non-Christians. But I don’t think that is what the Author is emphasizing here.

I think he is telling them to show hospitality to Christian strangers. Let me tell you why.

For one thing, the reason he gives in the second verse refers to angels which in Hebrews always means angelic beings but elsewhere in the NT it can simply mean a messenger of God. So I think there’s a play on words there implying these are God’s messengers.

Another thing to consider is that both verse 1 and verse 3 are talking about loving other Christians. Now its possible, that he would switch back and forth between Christians and non-Christians, but it would be odd to do so.

Finally, you also need to remember what the ancient world was like for travelers. There were not Holiday Inns and Embassy Suites in every single town.

In fact, their version of hotels was almost exclusively used for debauchery and immorality.

So what I think what the Author has in mind here are Christian travelers and missionaries.

They are messengers of God who might come through the Hebrews’ town on their way to preach the gospel to a city that’s never heard it before.

So essentially the Author is saying, Don’t neglect showing hospitality to Christian brother and sisters who are passing through.

Now why might that be a problem for the Hebrews? Because hospitality in Middle-Eastern culture, even all the way to today, is the way someone extends the hand of friendship and fellowship to someone else.

So if the Hebrews showed hospitality to Christian strangers, they would have effectively been saying they were one with the Christian missionaries.

And in a culture that was already persecuting them for following Christ, showing that kind of hospitality would’ve been equivalent to painting a bullseye on your back for more persecution.

So what the Author is calling for by calling the Hebrews to show hospitality for traveling brothers and sisters is a radical, sacrificial kind of love that puts the needs of other Christians above the Hebrews’ own comfort and way of life.

Difficult Part

And then he says the difficult part. For thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Now let me start by saying how you interpret this phrase does not change the meaning of the passage. How someone interprets his is a way open-handed issue.

Because no matter what you say, this passage is still talking about loving others with such a radical love that it makes it obvious that we are followers of Christ even if it is inconvenient or undesirable to us.

Now historically, you’ve probably heard that this verse means something like if you see a panhandler on the side of the road and you should give them money because that panhandler could actually be an angel.

And usually the idea is that if you don’t, you might stand before the Lord one day and some angel will come and call you out for your lack of charity.

However, I don’t think that’s what the verse means.

For one thing, the motivation for loving others and being charitable is not fear of judgment, but is rooted in how charitable and generous God has been to us through Jesus Christ.

So I’ll tell you the ethic you should use when you see someone begging for money is not to worry about whether or not you are going to get ripped off or what they are going to use it for.

Instead, if you feel a conviction to give charitably to someone in need, you should absolutely do it because it is better to be defrauded than to withhold something from a person in need that the Lord has placed in your path to help.

I guarantee you in heaven you aren’t going to miss that five dollars, and regardless of what they do with it, you still showed love and charity and that will be rewarded by the Lord.

So the motivation to show hospitality, is not because that might be an angel, but because God was hospitable to us.

But the main reason I don’t think that this verse means you and I will literally entertain angels is because the Author doesn’t say you may entertain angels unawares, but he says some have entertained angels unawares, leading me to believe that the Author has a particular instance in mind of when this happened.

And I think that that is the key to understanding what the Author is saying in this verse.

The Author has been using the Law, the first five books of the Bible, to prove that Jesus is the Christ all throughout the book of Hebrews.

So I think the Author has in mind here Genesis 18-19 where Abraham and Lot both entertained angels.

First you have Abraham who one day looks up and sees three men in the heat of the day. One of them is the Lord and the other two are angels.

Not knowing that, Abraham asks them to rest in the shade of his tree while he prepared some food for them. In other words, Abraham showed them generous hospitality.

And in response Abraham received two blessings. First, the Lord confirmed his promise to give Abraham a son within the year.

This was huge. It had been years and years since God first told Abraham that he would make him into a great nation, and now the Lord was saying, Abraham, your son is almost here! Just a little longer, and you’ll have him.

The second blessing that Abraham received was the opportunity to intercede for Sodom and Gomorrah.

God told Abraham he was going to judge those wicked cities for their sin, and this gave Abraham an opportunity to plead with the Lord.

So Abraham plead and the Lord agreed to not destroy the city if there were just 10 righteous people in it. Abd the Lord sent the two angels into the city to investigate which brings us to Lot.

Lot, Abraham’s nephew, lived in Sodom and met these two angels at the gate. After meeting them, Lot invited them into his home to spend the night. Again showing them generous hospitality.

That night the men of the city, down to the last man, came to Lot’s house demanding to rape the two angels, and Lot begged and pleaded that they would stop, even wickedly offering his own daughters as a substitute.

And so the angels confirmed the judgement to destroy the whole city. They blinded the men of Sodom and took Lot outside of the city to protect him from God’s judgment.

So Lot’s hospitality led to the blessing of not being destroyed with the rest of the city of Sodom.

Here’s what I think all that means. The Author of Hebrews is obviously encouraging the church to continue showing hospitality, especially to traveling Christians and Missionaries.

And the reason he gives the Hebrews to do this, even though it will likely bring more persecution, is because, just like Abraham and Lot experienced, there is more blessing in loving and serving others even when there’s no reason to expect it.

This is so counter cultural to what the world says isn’t it? The world says that there is more blessing in looking out for yourself. In loving yourself before you love anyone else. For taking care of number one.

But God’s Word says that’s a fool’s life. There is more blessing in loving others more than ourselves even when it doesn’t make sense to do so.

So the Author says show hospitality, even though persecution is likely to follow.

Remember

Then the Author gives the second command for how the Hebrews are to Let brotherly love continue. He says Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

Here he is talking about the Hebrews’ fellow church members. Their brothers and sisters who are suffering for Christ.

Some of them are in prison, and while others are just suffering generally in their culture.

So the Author wants the Hebrews to remember them.

Now the word used for remember here doesn’t just mean to bring something to mind you otherwise might forget.

It actually carries the idea of giving careful consideration for, being concerned about, or keeping in mind.

In other words, the Author is commanding the Hebrews to love their brothers and sisters who are suffering and to come alongside them to do everything they can to help and encourage them.

And just like how showing hospitality would’ve invited more persecution on the Hebrews, Remembering those in prison and those who are mistreated would have also identified the Hebrews as Christians and invited more persecution.

But again, the author doesn’t just tell them what to do. He gives them the motivation for doing so.

They were to show hospitality because there is more blessing in loving others more than ourselves.

And here he calls the Hebrews to remember because if they were in the position of those who were in prison and mistreated, the Hebrews would’ve want them to love and help them in their suffering.

He says Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, meaning you should be as concerned about them as if you yourself were sitting right by them in the cell.

And he says, Remember those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

Now this isn’t referring to the body as in the church. Every time Hebrews uses the word body it always means our physical bodies.

So what he is saying is You need to love them and come to their aid even if it brings you persecution, because you also know what its like to suffer physically.

And you can imagine what you would want your brothers and sisters in Christ to do for you if you were suffering like they are.

Ultimately what the Author is arguing for is the Golden Rule. Love your neighbor as yourself.

So the principle is when we see a brother or sister suffering, we are called to remember them and do whatever we can to help.

Sometimes that will look like just being there. Sometimes we will be able to help by directly providing for their needs.

But if nothing else, we can love our brothers and sisters who are suffering by remembering them in prayer.

And the reason why we need to remember one another in our sufferings is because every single one of us could be there.

Put Others First

So those are the two specific ways the Hebrews are called to Let brotherly love continue.

To say it another way those are the two specific applications of the principle that the church must have and express and brotherly love for one another.

But what about us? How do we apply these verses? Christian travelers and missionaries are not an everyday occurrence, although there can be opportunities to help or house a missionary.

And also, as it stands right now, are not being locked up in prison for our faith.

So if we want to apply these two commands specifically to us today when we aren’t in the exact same situation as the Hebrews, we need to see the bigger principle these commands are teaching.

I want you to notice the two commands. Do not neglect and Remember.

The command translated Do not neglect could also mean do not overlook or forget.

So the Author is saying Don’t forget to show hospitality and Remember those in prison.

Effectively, his word choice tells us those are two sides of the same coin.

So, what is the Author trying to say?

Well both of these commands would have brought more suffering and persecution to any Hebrew that actually obeyed them.

So I think the bigger principle in these two commands is that Loving other believers with a brotherly love means we need to put others before ourselves.

That even when its hard, even when its inconvenient, true brotherly love looks out for the interests and good of others and takes action.

Like Paul said

Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

And this love that always counts others more significant than ourselves is always characterized by practical care and concern. Brotherly love is something more than just sentiment.

Its something more than just looking at each other saying, “Man I love you. You’re so great!”

Its actually about doing things that express our love. Its about doing something anytime we have opportunity with the sole purpose of seeking the other person’s good and welfare.

Without practical action. Without the actual effort to love one another and put others first, the Bible says our love is just frivolous talk.

1 John 3:17-18 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Here’s the Big Idea. The way we love one another in this church, and the way we love other brothers and sisters who belong to other churches, should be so radical, and so patently obvious that it makes it clear to the world that we are followers of Christ.

And this love should be characteristic of every Christian.

When talking about the coming judgment, Jesus talks about the sheep and the goats. And look what Jesus says to his sheep.

Matthew 25:35-36 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, [that’s hospitality] 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ [That’s remembering those in prison]

I think the Author of Hebrews had this passage in mind because it describes this kind of radical love that characterizes the life of a true believer, and marks them off from the World.

And the only way we can have that radical, light of the world kind of love is if we love one another with a brotherly affection, and if we love one another in a way that puts each other first.

But how do we do that? I mean, we are all sinful people, and sometimes it can be really hard to love other sinful people.

So how do we, by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, love other members in our church, despite all of our sin and deficiency, as true brothers and sisters in Christ and put one another first?

The answer is by looking to Christ and his love for us because number 3...

III. Christian Love is Only Possible Through Christ’s Love

Now, you’ll notice that this point doesn’t come directly from our text in Hebrews 13:1-3.

But what you need to understand is that the love of Christ is what grounds every command for Christians to love one another.

We saw it earlier.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

So Christ says the standard of our love for one another is to be Christ’s own love for us. That we are to love each other the same way Christ loved us.

Well how is that? What does it mean to love each other as Christ has loved us?

Jesus himself told us how he loved us John 15:12-13.

John 15:12-13 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus loved us by laying down his life for us. By dying in our place, for our sins.

But I think we can say that so much and so often that Christ’s love for us in laying down his life on our behalf can sometimes become something that we just assume, take for granted, or think is common.

But Christ’s death on the cross wasn’t common. It wasn’t just a picture of a normal everyday kind of love.

It was a radical love. A crazy love. Because when Christ died for us, he wasn’t just dying for his friends. He was dying for his enemies.

Romans 5:8-9 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

What kind of amazing love is this? Who would die; Who would lay down their life for a bunch of wicked sinners?

I mean Paul says Christ didn’t die for us because we are good or we deserved it.

We didn’t deserve grace. The only thing we deserved God’s terrible judgment and wrath.

Every single one of us sinned against God. All of us made ourselves God’s enemies. And yet Christ died for us all to turn his enemies into his friends.

There is no greater love than this. There is no greater love than the love Christ showed us in leaving heaven to live a sinless life, only to suffer and die as a man in the place of his enemies.

There are no words to convey to you all the wonder and majesty and depth of Christ’s love for us.

We can only see it when we look at the cross, where Jesus, our great God and Savior, hung on a cross of rough timber, nails driven through his hands and his feet, broken and bloodied with a crown of thorns on his head only to say Luke 23:34 Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

That is the love Christ has for you, and that is the love Christ calls us to have for one another.

Like Christ, we should love one another by laying down our lives for each other.

Like John says...

1 John 3:16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Christ love for us is the only thing that makes it possible for us to love one another with a radical, brotherly, loving others first kind of love.

In Christ we are reconciled to God and one another.

In Christ we have been made one in the church, and our fellowship together, as Christ’s holy people, must be marked by Christ’s holy love.

Conclusion

The way we love one another must be so radical that when the World sees us they know we are followers of Christ.

Our love should make it obvious that we are saved by God’s grace through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That God is our Father. Which means that as his children our love for one another should look like a real family.

Where we love and honor one another as brothers and sisters. Fellow heirs with Christ of God’s amazing love.

The call for our church is to Let brotherly love continue.

It Is to commit ourselves to love other members in our body even when its hard, even when its difficult, not just with words or sentiment, but with real genuine concern for the good and well-being of one another.

And we need to have this love in our body because without this love we lose our witness.

Our love for one another preaches to the world the kind of love Christ has for us. So we need to ask ourselves what kind of gospel are we preaching?

Are we preaching a gospel of selfishness and self-interest, or are we preaching a gospel of radical love and grace.

Without love, we gain nothing.

So today, let us commit ourselves to take care of first things first and to make every effort for our church to be marked by the rich, amazing, and sacrificial love of Christ.

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading

1 John 4:7-11; 19

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another...We love because he first loved us