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Christianity In Four Words In the simplest terms, what does it mean to be a Christian? St. Peter tells us in his first letter. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit St. Peter wrote, “whom having not seen you love though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls.” (I Peter 1:8,9) In this brief statement there are four words, all of them verbs, i.e. action words, which describe the Christian life. The four words are: love, believe, rejoice, and receive. As Christians we are a people who love. Now the word love never stands alone. It is never self-contained and must have an object. In other words to love is to love someone or something. The object of our love to whom St. Peter is referring is Jesus Christ the Son of God sent by the Father to be our Savior. And why do we love Christ? St. John tells us, “We love, because He first loved us.” (I John 4:19) Our love for Christ is a response to His love for us. The amazing thing is that God loved us before we ever thought about loving Him. St. Paul wrote, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Once we have responded to God’s love by loving Him, the love we have in our hearts will spread to others. St. John made this point when he wrote, “Beloved let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (I John 4:7,8) The Christian is also one who believes. Belief like love must also have an object. Our belief is belief in Jesus Christ. This belief of course is the acceptance of certain things about Jesus Christ as factual. We believe He is the Son of God who became a man, who died for our sins on the cross, was resurrected and is now at the right hand of God the Father making intercession for us. However, this belief is more than intellectually accepting certain events as being historically true. Such belief is a personal trust in Christ as one’s Savior. There is a world of difference between a person who believes fact about Jesus and one who believes in Jesus; an eternity of difference. The third word that describes the Christian is the word rejoice. What is it that makes a Christian “rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory”? There are many things. We rejoice because we have been brought out of darkness and into light. We have experienced the powerful love of God and know that Christ is always with us to meet our needs. We have a hope that goes beyond the present and look forward to living with the Lord forever in the home He is preparing for us. We have much to cause our hearts to rejoice. The word receive is the forth descriptive word for the Christian life. Through faith in Christ we have received salvation. This salvation is a gift. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9) If something is a gift it means that someone else has paid for it. It is the giver of the gift who pays for the gift not the recipient. A gift should be accepted with gratitude and thanks. The gift of salvation was paid for by the life and death of Jesus Christ. We have received that salvation through faith in Christ and our life is a living expression of our gratitude to God for His inexpressible gift. Yes, the Christian life may be described by four common verbs; love, believe, rejoice, receive. by Rev. F. M. Levi   Missionary of the Month Rev. & Mrs. William Jerdan (Grace), and their children Stephanie, Daniel, Jonathan, Benjamin and his fiancée Sarah Haberkamp. Montpellier, France. Preschool Resumes September 5, 2006 Sunday School Rally Day And Picnic Sunday, September 10, after church. Hamburgers, hot dogs, buns, and pop will be provided. Choir Resumes Choir resumes on Sunday, September 10, 2006. Choir rehearsals begin on Thursday, September 7, 7:30 p.m. Ember Days Ember Days occur four times throughout the Church Year. They are always on the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of the week. These days, which are of ancient origin, are set aside as special days for prayer, and abstinence or fasting. This September the Ember Days are September 20, 22, and 23. Homecoming Sunday, October 29, 2006 Video Available VHS & DVD recordings of Bishop Sellers` sermon and the opening Service of Holy Communion are available. Please contact the church office to order. (708) 614-7404. VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.andrewrec.org       Happy Birthday! Sept. 1 – Nancy Toomey Sept. 17 – Elizabeth Domato Sept. 20 – Frank Sellers Sept. 23 – Steve Horosinski Sept. 28 – Brian Sutton Sept. 30 – Dennis Domato   TEACHER’S PRAYER by Helen Kitchell Evans Dear Lord I do not ask To be given some wondrous task; Only help not lead astray The children that I see each day. No crown of Queen would I wear; Just help me love those in my care. I do not ask ever to stand Among the greatest in the land, I only pray this prayer today: Give me wisdom to guide their way.