Tour Day 15 – Decatur, IL to St. Joseph , MO – Wyatt Park Baptist Church Homecoming

L.O.V.E.

Limitless

Overcoming

Vivacious

Embrace

What a name for a sermon title. I must admit that I have a mixed relationship with that word. It can be such a nebulous term, right? How often have you thrown around a stray, “I love you”, or an, “I love Taylor Swift, so much…” (I promise you; those particular words have never crossed my lips).

Last night in Decatur, IL at the Salvation Army performance, there were posters all over the wall that reflected the Salvation Army’s latest marketing campaign, “Above all, Love.”. Putting aside the obvious connection to the sermon title for a moment, something about seeing that poster sparked a thought in my head.

When the apostles dispersed after Jesus’ death, they had a mandate to go out and do something radically different: to promote the concept of the great overcoming love of God (I’m no scholar of religions, but I can’t think of any where love is so central). They then set out communicating with each other and their churches about what it means to love. Many of them have famously endeavored to define what love is. I think they did a pretty good job, don’t you? In that light, it’s no small feat for our singers to undertake clarifying the definition of love. They likely don’t realize the scope of that undertaking.

But, perhaps, do you think that not knowing the weight of the task might be best?

…and a child shall lead them

…faith like a child

…David against Goliath

They may not consider themselves children but after spending two weeks on a bus with them, you realize that most of them are very much full of the innocence of youth. A time when love doesn’t require much definition, you just know it when you see it. And, man, can’t you tell that these kids were impacted by something truly great last night? That they experienced the love of God? The funny thing about the letter writers in the Bible is that they were struggling to put into words something that you really can’t put into words. I don’t know that it would be fair to go any further and describe in words the love of God that has impacted these singers and all the hearts they have touched this tour. So I’ll stop here and just say this:

On behalf of the sponsors and all The New Generations Singers past, present, and future, thank you for your support over the last year, and especially over the last two weeks of tour. We sincerely hope that you enjoyed the homecoming performance, and that you left warmed by God’s

Limitless

Overcoming

Vivacious

Embrace