What would possess this family to leave their comfortable lives to live and work in Ethiopia?
Love. In fact, the greatest love story ever.
This is why we're going. This is why we're serving. This is why we're turning our lives upside down and doing something people might view as crazy. Not everyone will agree with what we say. Some will think we are weird. But this is the Truth.
It started a long, long time ago. In the beginning God created a man and a woman. They were His masterpiece, the creation He loved the most, the ones He would do anything for. He intended for them to love Him and love each other. Everything was perfect.
But unfortunately, His wonderful creations sinned and rebelled against Him. This sin didn't just affect them, but it was the kind of sin that is passed down to all generations. The price to pay for sin is death, and now the one perfect true God couldn't have the same relationship with His children anymore. There was a separation between perfect God and imperfect man. Sinful man cannot be in a relationship with perfect God. This broke God's heart.
God, out of His great love, devised a plan to win His children back. He would send His son Jesus to rescue His children from sin and death. It wouldn't be easy; sin had hardened many hearts and blinded many eyes from the truth. And sacrificing your own Son for people who had turned their backs to You? Not a very rewarding plan from a human perspective.
Jesus entered the story as a tiny baby, the One we celebrate at Christmas; but He was more than a sweet baby or a nice story. Jesus was Almighty God coming to earth in person to win back the hearts of His children.
Jesus spent 30-some years on earth to fulfill the plan that He and His Father had devised. And at the end of it, what happened? He died. Yep, killed on a wooden cross the way the worst criminals were executed in those days, killed by those He had come to save. His death on the cross bridged the gap between God and man. What one man had destroyed through sin, one man reconciled through His sacrifice and death. God offered a way, through Jesus, to be in a relationship with Him again, to erase the separation.
God's offer of reconciliation is completely free, available to everyone. But it's like a present; you have to take it from the hands of the gift giver, you have to accept it. You don't have to be perfect or without problems. God's love letter to us, the Bible, says "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). It doesn't say "After we were all spiffed up and fixed our problems, God said we were good enough to be with him." Nope, it was while we were still sinners.
Why would God do this? Why would He want to know me, a lowly sinner? The answer is love. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us" (1 John 3:16). What kind of love is that? It is far beyond the love we have known, far beyond any kind of human love.
How do we respond to this incredible love? We owe God our whole lives and as we look to Him for direction, His compassion and forgiveness inspires us to do what He wants us to do. The Bible is pretty clear what every Jesus follower (also known as a Christian, though this term is often misused and has gotten a bad reputation!) is supposed to do.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:12-13).
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:36-39).
"And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:16-18).
We believe that the most loving thing we can do for someone is to share Jesus' love with them, to tell them about the most incredible love story every written. This is why we're going to Ethiopia. Yes, we'll provide medical care. Yes, we'll help stand in the gap of immense medical need. Yes, we'll be on an adventure. But it's all for love.
Love God. Love People. That's it. It's that simple and that complex all at once.
Jesus gave us the example of how to love: Extravagantly. Passionately. Recklessly. Fearlessly. To love those who don't love you back. To serve those who can't pay you back. To love even out of your weakness, even when it doesn't make sense, even when inconvenient, and even to the point of death. From His command, with the help of His Spirit, motivated by His love we commit to do the same.
Love motivates.
The power of Jesus' love is stronger than anything we can ever imagine. In this video you'll see many youth being baptized in Lake Langano, accepting the love and forgiveness that Jesus offers to bring us back into a relationship with God.
It started a long, long time ago. In the beginning God created a man and a woman. They were His masterpiece, the creation He loved the most, the ones He would do anything for. He intended for them to love Him and love each other. Everything was perfect.
But unfortunately, His wonderful creations sinned and rebelled against Him. This sin didn't just affect them, but it was the kind of sin that is passed down to all generations. The price to pay for sin is death, and now the one perfect true God couldn't have the same relationship with His children anymore. There was a separation between perfect God and imperfect man. Sinful man cannot be in a relationship with perfect God. This broke God's heart.
God, out of His great love, devised a plan to win His children back. He would send His son Jesus to rescue His children from sin and death. It wouldn't be easy; sin had hardened many hearts and blinded many eyes from the truth. And sacrificing your own Son for people who had turned their backs to You? Not a very rewarding plan from a human perspective.
Jesus entered the story as a tiny baby, the One we celebrate at Christmas; but He was more than a sweet baby or a nice story. Jesus was Almighty God coming to earth in person to win back the hearts of His children.
Jesus spent 30-some years on earth to fulfill the plan that He and His Father had devised. And at the end of it, what happened? He died. Yep, killed on a wooden cross the way the worst criminals were executed in those days, killed by those He had come to save. His death on the cross bridged the gap between God and man. What one man had destroyed through sin, one man reconciled through His sacrifice and death. God offered a way, through Jesus, to be in a relationship with Him again, to erase the separation.
God's offer of reconciliation is completely free, available to everyone. But it's like a present; you have to take it from the hands of the gift giver, you have to accept it. You don't have to be perfect or without problems. God's love letter to us, the Bible, says "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). It doesn't say "After we were all spiffed up and fixed our problems, God said we were good enough to be with him." Nope, it was while we were still sinners.
Why would God do this? Why would He want to know me, a lowly sinner? The answer is love. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us" (1 John 3:16). What kind of love is that? It is far beyond the love we have known, far beyond any kind of human love.
How do we respond to this incredible love? We owe God our whole lives and as we look to Him for direction, His compassion and forgiveness inspires us to do what He wants us to do. The Bible is pretty clear what every Jesus follower (also known as a Christian, though this term is often misused and has gotten a bad reputation!) is supposed to do.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:12-13).
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:36-39).
"And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:16-18).
We believe that the most loving thing we can do for someone is to share Jesus' love with them, to tell them about the most incredible love story every written. This is why we're going to Ethiopia. Yes, we'll provide medical care. Yes, we'll help stand in the gap of immense medical need. Yes, we'll be on an adventure. But it's all for love.
Love God. Love People. That's it. It's that simple and that complex all at once.
Jesus gave us the example of how to love: Extravagantly. Passionately. Recklessly. Fearlessly. To love those who don't love you back. To serve those who can't pay you back. To love even out of your weakness, even when it doesn't make sense, even when inconvenient, and even to the point of death. From His command, with the help of His Spirit, motivated by His love we commit to do the same.
Love motivates.
The power of Jesus' love is stronger than anything we can ever imagine. In this video you'll see many youth being baptized in Lake Langano, accepting the love and forgiveness that Jesus offers to bring us back into a relationship with God.