
08/02/24.
Matthew 22:36-39
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘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.’”
There’s a phrase my dad used all the time, it’s called the K.I.S.S. principle:
“Keep it short and simple,” also known as “Keep it simple stupid.” We often make things more complicated than they need to be, and church life is a perfect example of this. Jesus gave us the ultimate example of the K.I.S.S. principle when He answered the question, “What’s the most important thing?” Here’s His simple answer: Love God and love your neighbor. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we all followed these two simple things?
I believe this should be the guiding principle for all that we do in the church. I believe we can align our mission & ministry to these two commandments. All our energy should be focused on loving God and loving our neighbor. This can be a yardstick for all our meetings and activities. If an activity isn’t about one or both of these things, we shouldn’t do it.
I caught right on to a tagline we have for our church: St. Matthew UMC, “The Church with a Heart in the Heart of Town.” I would really like to lean into and live out this statement. It says who we are, where we are and what we’re all about; all in one simple statement. Wouldn’t it be great if folks in town knew us that way? Imagine people saying, “There’s St. Matthew church, they have a big heart.” That would really make a difference in our town. Isn’t that what the church should be all about? As I get to know folks this summer, I would love to hear from y’all how we live out our identity as “The Church with a Heart in the Heart of Town.”