Join us to go through Jesus’ journey to the cross as we prepare for Easter this year! Our theme this year, “Redeemed”, reminds us of the truth that through the cross and His resurrection, we are delivered, restored, and made new. Once lost, we are now found – redeemed and chosen by His grace.
Mark 12:29-31 ESV
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Journeying through Passion Week, Jesus’ triumphant entry and cleansing of the temple set the stage for His teachings on love. In Mark 12:29-31, we see Jesus talking to His disciples in one of His last teachings to them – proclaiming the greatest commandment: to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This highlights love as the foundation of our faith and a direct command from Jesus.
If we are honest with ourselves, isn’t it difficult to be a good person? Jesus commands us to love God and love people, but who are we kidding? In our daily lives, do we truly love God? Do we treat others the way we want to be treated? Do we love our enemies and pray for those who hurt us? We often feel incapable of being good, God-loving people. No matter how hard we try, we frequently find ourselves falling short. Yet, the story doesn’t end with our shortcomings. God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Let’s remember that His sacrifice is the ultimate act of redemption and we love because God first loved us. Through Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, loved, accepted, cherished, and known. Embracing this love invites us to seek transformation in our lives. How can we respond to His love? If we’ve embraced this good news, shouldn’t we desire for those around us to know it too? Loving our neighbors as ourselves means seeking what’s best for them and Jesus is what’s best.
Let’s reflect Christ in our lives by loving God and people around us. This begins with our daily actions and extends to how we build our LIFE Group community and serve within our church and city. Recently, we participated in CityServe, in which we aimed to be a visible display and viable demonstration of God’s love for the city of Hong Kong. Let’s commit to living out this love not just during the Lent season, but throughout our everyday lives!
Reflection and Application
- Have you struggled to show love or compassion recently? What thoughts or feelings held you back, and how might you approach a similar situation differently in the future?
- Reflecting on your recent participation in CityServe, what are some key takeaways and some practical ways you can continue to demonstrate God’s love in your community beyond the Lent season? Identify one or two actionable steps you can take to serve others and build relationships within your LIFE Group, church, or neighborhood this week.
Prayer Requests
CUHK:
- For God’s presence and joy to fill our LIFE Group and for more and more people to experience this with us.
- To prepare the hearts of those currently preparing to enter CUHK next school year that there would be fertile soil and eagerness to be a part of LIFE Group.
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