Our vision to love is given to us by Jesus who taught that the first and greatest commandment was to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and the second is like it - to love our neighbor as ourselves. "The deepest truth about ourselves is that we are created for communion with God, with one another, and with the whole Creation. We need God and others both to discover who and whose we are and also because it is only through our life together that we can fulfill our destiny for communion in God's Kingdom. Yet human beings have persistently rejected, and continue to reject, that communion." (L. Gregory Jones, Embodying Forgiveness, p.61)

We isolate ourselves from one another in order to protect ourselves from having to give ourselves to God and to care for one another. Only Jesus can help us overcome this self-centredness when we die with him to our pride and self-righteousness and enter into a new life of grace that recognizes our need for one another.

We need Christ's forgiveness to heal us and bring us into a loving relationship with one another. What would this community look like if we genuinely loved one another? What would our lives look like is we reached out to care for one another? Can we make that our vision for the new year? Can we see ourselves not as we are...but what we can become?

Our vision is to love, to learn.... Jesus said, "Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt.11:28-30) Jesus reveals to us what we need to know in order to live out God's plan and purpose for us in his Kingdom. He sends us the Holy Spirit through the apostles to teach us all things through his Word written.

The holy Scriptures are able to show us the way to salvation: to show us truth, expose our resistance, correct our mistakes, and train us to live God's way. In order to learn we must be open to learning, and disciplined in our study. We cannot begin and then drop out because it seems sometimes to be difficult.

Just as so many are handicapped in finding employment because of their lack of education, so many church members are spiritually handicapped because they are ignorant of the teaching of Jesus and the wisdom of the Scriptures. Biblical illiteracy is rife in the churches. Recent research indicates that only 16 percent of church people read the Bible every day, another 32 percent read the Bible at least once a week, and only 37 percent say that studying or reading the Bible has made a significant change in their lives. What would this community look like if every member took learning from Jesus through the Bible seriously?

Each would read the Bible every day. Each would participate in a class, or a Bible study, every week. We would all become students of the Word, eager to learn of Jesus, and we would find rest for our souls. Can we make that our vision for the new year? Can we see ourselves not as we are...but what we can become?

Our vision is to love, to learn, to worship... Jesus said, "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23,24) True worship, genuine worship, authentic worship is not entertainment, is not superficial, is not hypocritical. Jesus criticized the Pharisees and religious leaders of his day as being hypocrites because, as Isaiah prophesied: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." (Mark 7:6,7) True worship is heart worship. It is the desire to draw near to God to offer our daily lives, our relationships, our hopes and aspirations, our fears and worries, to the throne of grace as a spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1) It is to pray in the Spirit, to ask, to seek, to knock at the door of heaven, for the gifts and guidance of our Father.

It is to hunger and thirst for righteousness, for the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It is to offer our prayers with all those of the communion of saints as incense at the altar, and with all the host of heaven join in their continual chorus "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being...Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise." (Rev. 4:11;5:12)

As we gather around the Lord's Table we look back to the Cross and look forward to the wedding supper of the Lamb as we receive the emblems of Christ's love in the bread and the cup. We go forth strengthened for service, fortified by forgiveness, and equipped by Christ's victory over sin, death and the devil. Can we make that our vision for the new year? Can we see ourselves not as we are... but what we can become?

Our vision is to love, to learn, to worship, to witness in Christ. Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses..." (Acts 1:8) To witness is to tell what you know. A witness does not have to know everything. We can witness to as much of Christ as we know. Jesus said, "You'll end up on the witness stand, called to testify. Make up your mind right now not to worry about it. I'll give you the words and wisdom..." (Luke 21:15) "You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matt.5:13-16) St. Paul reminds us, "God leads us in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

For we are the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone competent to take it on? No-but at least we don't take God's Word, water it down, and then take it to the streets to sell it cheap.

We stand in Christ's presence when we speak; God looks us in the face. We get what we say straight from God and say it as honestly as we can." (2 Cor. 2:14-17) Salt, light, fragrance. We are called to witness to Christ in our community by word and deed. We are beggars telling other beggars where to find bread. "I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see." Can we make that our vision for the new year? Can we see ourselves not as we are...but what we can become?

Can we live into this vision this coming year? Can people say of us, what they said of the early Christians: "how they love one another. When they realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." (Acts 4:13)

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