The Lord Jesus has commanded us to love one another the way He has loved us. How is that? He laid down his life for us. The "beloved disciple" in his old age relays that message like this: But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth" (1John 3:17-18). This is at the heart of who we are as Christ's people. He has shown us what it means to love one another, now He calls on us to follow his example. But we cannot do that apart from the gospel. In ourselves we will never be that sacrificial, but when we are believing the gospel we will be motivated to obey this command. Listen to John again in 1John 4:19 "We love, because He first loved us." It is only as we preach the gospel to our own hearts that we will fulfill the commandment of Christ.

Like many other churches our church family is feeling the effects of the economic meltdown that is underway. Several men and women in our church have lost their jobs and are presently struggling to make ends meet. James, the brother of Jesus, said, "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “ Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself" (James 2:15=17). Of course we are tempted to say what Cain said, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The answer is yes. It is my responsibility to look out for my brothers and sisters. How can we respond?

Pray for those who are out of work that God will open doors for employment. It is the revealed will of God that men work and provide for their families and have enough left over to help meet the needs of others. So we can pray with confidence that God will give them employment. That may include praying that they will make whatever changes they need to in their approach or their skill set in order to be gainfully employed in this economy. If you know of someone out of work talk to them about it so you can pray more specifically and effectively.

Respond to their needs, whatever that may be. One family in our church took in another family for a period of time because they needed a place to live. They practiced 1 Peter 4:9 "Be hospitable without complaint." John calls us to keep our deep feelings of compassion open to those in need when we are tempted to close ourselves off ot them. In 1John 3:16-17 he writes, "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?"

Pray for the church's finances as well. We are feeling the effects of the economy like many other churches are. Our giving is down by almost 40% over the past few months and it is at a time when we are facing a huge challenge of paying step by step for the completion of our building. Pray that God would bless our families financially and give us all a heart to give.

Pray that these hard economic times will give us opportunities to display the glory of Christ and the truth of the gospel to everyone around us. The Macedonians displayed the grace of God in a powerful way in their poverty. Paul said of them, that "in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God" (2 Cor 8:2-4). Their act of giving was a powerful gospel witness. Why did they give out of their crouching poverty? Because they remembered "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Cor 8:9).

So keep your eyes open to see the needs of others, pray for God's supply, give out of hearts that are full of joy in Christ and rejoice that we have this opportunity.