Rev Chris Roth

  1 John 4: 7-21; John 15: 1-8 You might have heard that there are different words used for “love” in Greek- eros, stergo, phileo, and agape . Eros is sexual love, as you can probably guess from the word “erotic”. It is an asking, begging, demanding kind of love. It seeks its own fulfillment. Stergo is the love that exists between parents and children, or between members of a family. This carries a sense of devotion to the family group. Phileo is love between close friends. This is the love between two people who are well-matched. Agape is the word that is mainly used in the New Testament to talk about the love of God. This is high-level love. It is a word that translators have often struggled to translate. It almost needs to be capitalized. It comes with deep emotion. It deeply values the person. Agape holds the beloved in great awe, respect, and admiration. The beloved is precious. Agape is a giving love. It drives the lover to action- even self-sacrificial action. Eros...

Acts 3: 12-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3: 1-7; Luke 24: 36-48 In our reading from John’s letter today we are told that, out of God the Father’s great love for us, that we are now children of God. But God isn’t stopping here. What we will become hasn’t been revealed to us, yet. John says that when he is revealed, we will be like him. We hear a similar message elsewhere in the New Testament. Paul says in 2 Corinthians,  “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18). Think about what is being said here. We behold the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image. Peter’s letter tells us that through God’s promises  “you may become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4).  And the letter to the Colossians says,  “… your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).  We are becoming partakers of the divine nature- wrapped in Chris...