As a church, we believe in demonstrating God’s unchanging love to all people. With all of the criticism of church today, we need to show that we genuinely care for people. Just recently, we stumbled into a way to do that here in the busy, stressed out DC area. We provided an outlet for families to come and enjoy a free night out - together. There was something for kids and parents too. It was a great way to provide an environment where people could connect in a relaxed, casual setting. Doing ordinary acts of kindness is a great stress reliever for the recipient.

In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said, In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Living out what Jesus said here may be more important today than at other time. In a time when people are skeptical about the genuineness of Christians, doing acts of service or acts of kindness is a way to just express God’s love to them - without any strings attached. When people experience genuineness through serving, it says something positive to them about God. And, why not take it a step further and figure out ways, as a church, that we can invite people from the community to serve together with us to make our neighborhoods a better place?

Incarnational living begins by being more spiritually aware of what’s going on us. Our motivation comes from Christ in us. It’s being moved by the Holy Spirit to people who may be in need right around us and then doing something about it. Jesus modeled incarnational living when he was here on earth. It’s seeing people right around us the way that Jesus sees them. Jesus exeperienced just about every human emotion and he felt the pain of being human.

Jesus wants us to see people the way he sees them, feel for people the way he feels for the and help people the way he helps them. To do that, we have to live in the moment and be other-focused rather than self-focused. I think it starts with doing little things - simple, ordinary acts of kindess toward others.

Even in the midst of his doubt, Jesus was still able to be devoted to God the Father. In Matthew 27:46, Jesus said, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me …” There as doubt. Yet, because he was submitted to God the Father and his purposes, he followed through with his mission to sacrifice his life for us. Devotion is submission - no matter what. Jesus lived that out.

Living life the way Jesus may be uncomfortable. Jesus focused his life and energies on six things: Devotion to God, live out life with God in front of others, serving, caring, sharing the good news and then giving away ministry to others. As we look at how he lived and loved in these areas, we can get a sense of what it means to live life the way He did - and then pass it on to others.