Category: Love - Rosenort EMC

As we approach easter...

3/9/2020

Our hope is founded on Jesus Christ. As we approach Easter we celebrate what he has done for us. His resurrection points to our glorious future. The following quote from C.S. Lewis was an encouragement to me today, as we look forward to Spring in Manitoba, to live in anticipation of that glory.
"I believe that God really has dived down into the bottom of creation, and has come up bringing the whole redeemed nature on his shoulders. The miracles that have already happened are, of course, as Scripture so often says, the first fruits of that cosmic summer which is presently coming on. Christ has risen, and so we shall rise… To be sure, it feels wintry enough still: but often in the very early spring it feels like that. Two thousand years are only a day or two by this scale. A man really ought to say, “The Resurrection happened two thousand years ago” in the same spirit in which he says, “I saw a crocus yesterday.”
- C.S. Lewis

You are never alone

2/8/2020

Here's an excerpt from Frances J. Roberts' "Come Away My Beloved", and perhaps it will encourage you if you're facing a challenge or worry. She writes in first person from God's perspective.
"You are never alone, for I am at your right hand. Never despair, for I am watching over and caring for you. Be not anxious. What seems to you to be at present a difficult situation is all part of My planning, and I am working out the details of circumstances so that I may bless you and reveal Myself to you in a new way.
As I have opened your eyes to see, so shall I open your ears to hear...and you will know Me as your dearest Friend and as your truest Comforter.
No darkness will hide the shining of My face, for I shall be to you as a bright star in the night sky. Never let your faith waver. reach out your hand, and you shall touch the hem of My garment."

Love Others

11/11/2019

Something that Jesus emphasized often is the simple call to love others. He called it a commandment. It's better to simply obey this command before we get caught up in rationalizing and defensiveness. The following quote is from Thomas Merton:
"Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy if anything can."

"Do it again"

2/15/2019

If the cold of winter is getting to you, maybe the following quote from G.K. Chesterton will bring a little spring to your day.

As the Grandpa to three little ones, I smiled as I pictured God in this way:
"Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that he has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."
- G.K. Chesterton

Gratitude

1/24/2019

Gratitude is something that can be elusive sometimes, so we need to simply make it a regular part of our prayer and daily mindset.
I found these words from Henri Nouwen to be encouraging:
"To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives – the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections – that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment.…Let us not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God."

Love your enemies...

9/21/2018

Here are some wise words from Charles Haddon Spurgeon. His words, originally spoken 150 years ago, are very applicable today.

“We wrestle not with flesh and blood. Christians are not at war with any people who walk the earth. We are at war with infidelity, but the infidel people we love and pray for; we are at war with heresy, but we have no enmity against heretics; we are opposed to, and cry war to the death with, everything that opposes God and his truth, but towards every human being we would still endeavor to carry out the holy maxim, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” The Christian soldier has no gun and no sword, for Christians do not fight with flesh and blood. It is with “spiritual wickedness in high places” that we fight, and with other principalities and powers than with those that sit on thrones and hold scepters in their hands."

Love Genuinely

5/8/2018

As Christians we are called to love others genuinely, sincerely. This always involves a certain level of risk. Consider the following from C.S. Lewis, and show some love today:

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one...Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is hell."

Selfless love

2/26/2018

In honour of last week's home going of Billy Graham, here's a quote from him to spark you day:

"Only God can give us a selfless love for others, as the Holy Spirit changes us from within. This is one reason we must receive Christ, for apart from His Spirit we can never be freed from the chains of selfishness, jealousy, and indifference. Will others see Christ's love in your life today?"

Give Joyfully

11/28/2017

As we enter the season of Advent and Christmas, the season of joy, we praise God for his indescribable gift!

I hope these words from Mother Teresa are an encouragement to you:
"The password of the early Christians was joy, so let us still serve the Lord with joy. Joy is love, joy is prayer, joy is strength. God loves a person who gives joyfully, and if you give joyfully you always give more. A joyful heart is the result of a heart burning with love. Works of love are always works of joy. We don’t need to look for happiness: if we have love for others we’ll be given it. It is the gift of God."

Unanswerable questions

8/19/2017

Not every why question can be answered. Our perspective is simply too limited, our minds too finite, our reason too tainted. We cast our cares upon the One who cares for us. We trust, even in the most trying of times, knowing that God is worthy of it. He alone knows and loves us perfectly.

Below is a quote from Fred Epstein that I found very thought-provoking.

'The question, “Why do children suffer?” has no answer, unless it’s simply, “To break our hearts.” Once our hearts get broken, they never fully heal. They always ache. But perhaps a broken heart is a more loving instrument. Perhaps only after our hearts have cracked wide open, have finally and totally unclenched, can we truly know love without boundaries.'

We proclaim, follow and serve Jesus to the glory of God!

Sunday Morning Service

Kids & Adult Sunday School Classes: 9:45am
Church Service: 10:50am
(During summer Sunday School pauses and church service begins at 10:00am)

Office Hours

Monday: 9am-12pm
Tuesday-Friday: 9am-12pm; 1pm-5pm

Contact

204-746-8519
info@rosenortemc.ca

Theme Verse

"I have loved you with an everlasting love." Jeremiah 31:3

Statement of Faith