Pastor's Corner: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

An annual event that our ministerial association sponsors each January is the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" Jan. 15-19, 2024. Each morning at 7 a.m., followers of Jesus Christ from our various churches in town come together for devotions and breakfast at St. Jude's Parish Center. I hope that you will be a part of this event. We always encourage those that have to get to work by 8 a.m. to go first so that they can eat and get on their way in good time...

Begun in 1908, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is celebrated each year in cities and towns across the country and around the world. The theme for the 2024 observance is "You shall love the Lord your God... and your neighbor as yourself" (cf. Luke 10:27). The theme and text for each year's observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are chosen and prepared by representatives of the Pontifical Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and representatives of the World Council of Churches. The international texts are developed, adapted, and published for use in the USA by Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute.

Mark 12:30 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." God wants all of you! all your heart, soul, mind and strength! He is not interested in halfhearted commitment, partial obedience, and the leftovers of your time and money. He desires full devotion, not little bits of your life.

Heart (Emotions)

Your love for God must be heartfelt. Heartless love is not love at all! It is worthless, an insult to God. In our love for God, God looks past our words to see the attitude of our hearts. The Bible says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7b. Loving God involves delighting in God; and delighting in God engages your emotions. God gave your emotions so you could worship Him with deep feeling. God wants your honest, real love. We can love God imperfectly, but we cannot love Him insincerely. There are times when your love for God must absolutely move you deep in your "gut"- times when your passion for God is almost overpowering. Anything that I become more emotional about than God becomes an idol, and God absolutely detests idolatry! Be very careful how attached emotionally your heart becomes to anyone or anything... The Bible says to "Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23

Soul (Personality)

Your love for God must be genuine. It is not just a matter of saying the right words; you must mean what you say. The best way to love God is the way that most authentically represents you, taking into account the background and personality God gave you. No one can love God the way you can! No one can love God for you! You don't bring glory to God by trying to be someone He never intended you to be. God wants you to be yourself. "That's the kind of people the Father is looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before Him in their worship." John 4:23 (Msg)

Mind

Loving God is deeply doctrinal. We use our heads in loving God! God is not pleased with thoughtless singing of hymns, praying of clichés, or careless exclamations of 'Praise the Lord!' - because we can't think of anything else to say at that moment. If your love for God is mindless, it is meaningless. You must engage your mind. Jesus called thoughtless worship "vain repetitions" in Matthew 6:7. It is so much easier to offer clichés, even biblical ones, in worship instead of making the effort to honor God with fresh words and ways. One way to challenge your mind in communicating your love to God is to be specific. If someone approached you and repeated 'I love you!' 10 times, you might think, 'For what?' Wouldn't you rather receive two 'I love you's with two specific compliments than 20 vague generalities? So would God! Our minds are racing most of the time, sometimes here and there and everywhere! When the Bible says, "Be still and know that I am God," I believe that God is telling us to idle down our minds, purposely direct our minds toward Him and let Him shape the racing of our minds. The Bible says, "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Another way to challenge your mind is to make a list of the different names and references of God and focus on them. God's names are not arbitrary; they tell us about different aspects of His character... God commands us to praise His Name!

Strength

"Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1 Why does God want your body? Why doesn't He say, "Offer your spirit?" Because without your body you can't do anything on this planet. Some people say, "I can't make it to the service tonight, but I'll be with you in spirit." Do you know what that means? Nothing. It's worthless. As long as you're on earth, your spirit can only be where your body is. If your body isn't there, neither are you! "Living sacrifices" - God wants us to live for Him! The problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar. "Strength" - loving God takes effort and energy. It is not always convenient or comfortable, and sometimes loving God is a sheer act of the will - a willing sacrifice. Passive love for God is an oxymoron.

Mark 12:30 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." God wants all of you! all your heart, soul, mind and strength! He desires full devotion, not little bits of your life. In what ways are you holding back from loving God? Emotionally? With your personality? Using your mind and your thoughts? With your body; with your strength? It's time to repent and give God permission to change us from inside out. Will you do it?

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The Rev. Edroy "Curt" Curtis, president of the Greater Havre Area Ministerial Association, lead pastor of Havre Assembly of God Church.