Message: “The Opposite of Love” from Rev. Tom Hathaway

There's a big difference between having a roommate and having a partner. Roommates might share a home, expenses, and even values. But partners share their lives, combining their strengths and resources to accomplish things they couldn't do alone. What if the same distinction applies to our relationship with God? In 1 John, we're invited into something more than simply believing in God or embracing Jesus' values. We're invited into fellowship with God. Through the remarkable story of Corrie ten Boom, we explore what that relationship might offer us when our own capacity for love, compassion, and forgiveness runs out.

Scripture References: 1 John 1:1-10

Related Topics: Christian Living, Confession, Forgiveness, God's Love, God's Presence, Relationships | More Messages from Rev. Tom Hathaway

From Series: "1 John: Belove(d)"

We progressive Christians are good at asking how God wants us to live. We’re less practiced at living with God, treating faith as a shared life rather than values we admire from a distance. First John has a word for that shared life: koinonia, fellowship, the kind of relationship where you work things out together. Over three Sundays we’ll walk this short, fierce letter and its claims: that you are loved before you are useful, that honesty makes real relationship possible, and that such love casts out fear. The title has a verb hiding in it. You are beloved, so be love.