There are many things I am thankful for when I think about our church, but near the top of the list has to be our Mission Statement: Loving Christ and Loving Like Christ. This mission shapes all of who we are and what we do. We believe that as you grow in your love for Christ, it should lead to a growing desire to love like Him in this world. Both are needed in order for us to be the disciples that Jesus is calling us to be. We can’t love Christ without loving like Christ, and we can’t love like Christ without loving Christ.

It's summed up well in 1 John 3. Here’s just a selection of verses from that chapter to give you an idea of what John is telling us:

16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.  17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?  18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.  19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God…  23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.  24 Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.

Okay, there’s a lot in there, but here are the highlights:

• Christ has shown us what love is through His sacrificial death on the cross (v.16)
• We are to live that same life of sacrifice, putting others ahead of ourselves as we look out for and have compassion upon those in need (v.17)
• True love is action, not just words (v.18)
• To love, we must ourselves know and belong to (love) the Truth, Jesus Christ ( vv. 19, 23)
• The Holy Spirit lives in us helping us love Christ and love like Christ (v. 24)

So, as we come to know and love Christ more and more, we are able to sacrificially love like He loved, putting others’ needs ahead of our own. Sounds simple enough, but it can be challenging. Too often we either drift toward spending all our time Loving Christ (through Bible Studies, devotionals, prayer, worship) or spending all our time Loving Like Christ (through feeding ministries, clothing closets, prison outreach, homeless shelters, educational programs). Here’s the truth of the Gospel: Both are critical to living life as a disciple of Jesus!

We want to help you achieve a holistic approach to your life with God, one that helps you to both love Christ and love like Christ. Even our Core Values reflect that – we have six values that are foundational to us at Christ Church, with three of them directed toward Loving Christ and three toward Loving Like Christ: To Know Jesus, To be Biblically-Anchored, To be Grounded in Prayer (loving Christ); To Live a Life of Servanthood, To have Intentional Community, To Offer a Grace-filled Witness (loving like Christ).

I’m so excited about what God is doing here at Christ Church, and I can’t wait to see the fruit that comes as we live out our mission and values together. Every Sunday we pray, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” May it be so through each of you and through Christ Church as we Love Christ and Love Like Christ!