Love Reaches Out To Those in Need

The Reign of Christ is the last Sunday in the Church Year. It is the time we celebrate our looking forward to the coming of Jesus at the end of time. We are looking forward to that time when those in right relationship will be separated from those who are not, and gathered into the Kingdom. In today’s Gospel (Matthew 25.31-46) the sheep and goats are separated on the basis of their response to God’s reaching out to them in love. Only those who have responded to God’s love by reaching out to others in need will be invited into the Kingdom. This is the test of our love.

1. Ezekiel (34.11-17, 20-24) describes a God who actively seeks the lost and those in need

I Believe In The Resurrection and the Life Everlasting

Both the Apostles and Nicene Creeds affirm belief in personal resurrection and eternal spiritual life. Christian believers have hope. Unlike others, we have the hope of eternal spiritual life in Jesus Christ. Our hope is that when we die, we die 'in Christ'. We are connected to Him in a relationship of love. This relationship of love is the 'oil' of the Holy Spirit that the Foolish Virgins in the Parable did not have. The message is that those who do not have this 'oil' of relationship or love may be shut out of the Heavenly Kingdom.