And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Our Mission Statement at Cape Community Church is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ and to Love Our Neighbor”. This is no mere exercise in wordsmithing and teambuilding. It means that everything we do as a church and every decision our leaders make must fit under the umbrella of that mission. Jesus gives us that mission, here in Matthew 22 and later in the last words of Matthew’s gospel. The lawyer who asked Jesus what the most important commandment was, probably expected it to be do not murder. Jesus raised the bar. Do not be angry. In all things, Jesus stressed love and discipleship.
Discipleship has been our thrust for 2024 at our church because of all the great new faces we see in our church. We all, in this dark world, need to be discipled but we also need to be loved, especially our neighbors who are hurting. When I let someone down, I feel terrible, not because it is against our Mission Statement. It is because I failed to keep the Great Commandment, which is these verses. Today, let us refocus our attention to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Let our mission be to do Jesus’ work and see his hurting children. And love them.
Dear Lord, thank you for your mercy and your commands. May we be gracious and joyful as we serve those you bring into our path today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church