"Embrace" - The Way of Grace, Part 1

This Sunday we began a new series, The Way of Grace, celebrating and launching our recently adopted vision and mission statement. The first part of the mission statement is, "Embrace all people with God's love." Drew preached from Matthew 22:36-40, known as "The Great Commandment." When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment in all of the Bible was, he replied 1) love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and 2) love your neighbor as yourself. Unpacking that further, we also looked at John 12:32, in which Jesus promises to "draw all people" to himself, mirroring again his desire that all people know grace in him and through his followers. And though we try to make exceptions - based on race, class, beliefs, lifestyles, politics, country of origin, you name it! - for Jesus, there are no loopholes or fine print. There is no asterisk on the all.