GOD'S COVENANT LOVE: celebrating
30 years of God's Faithfulness in Covenant Community [Go to Table
of Contents]
Putting God at the Center
By Sue Cummins
This is my commandment, that you love
one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15:12-13
As a teenager I had a close relationship with the
Lord. I wanted to live for God and to help others know his love.
I was very moved by the words from John 15:13, "No one has greater love
than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." I asked God
to give me opportunities to lay down my life for others. I longed
to share my life with people who put God at the center of their lives.
I didn't realize it at the time, but I was longing for and praying for
Christian community. God heard my prayers and brought me into Christian
community when I was twenty.
As I look back over 30 years of life in community,
I am grateful to God for his faithfulness and love. He gave me a
group of people who love him and who loved me. More importantly,
he gave me a place to love and many opportunities to lay down my life for
others. Christian community has provided me a context in which to
live out my life as a disciple of Christ.
As a woman living single for the Lord, I am encouraged
by those who share the same vocation, but I am also encouraged and called
on to greater holiness by the dedicated married couples who share their
lives with me in community. Seeing them face trials and temptations
with courage and perseverance gives me the courage to persevere.
Their children bring me joy. I am grateful to my brothers and sisters
for responding to God's call. I am grateful to the Lord for giving
us the grace to commit our lives to one another. May we never take this
great gift for granted! |
Table of Contents
-
Introduction
-
Celebrating 30 Years of
God’s Faithfulness, by Don Schwager
-
Being Rooted Together in
God’s Word, by Jeanne Kun
-
Beacons of Hope,
by Rev. Patrick W. Egan
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Trans-generational? You
Bet!, By Van & Janet Vandagriff
-
Calling Out the Best in
Us in Christ, by Bob Bell
-
Counter-Cultural in a Non-Christian
World, by Ellen Gryniewicz
-
Long Distance Commitment,
by Tom Gryniewicz
-
Putting God at the Center,
by Sue Cummins
-
The Servants of the Word,
a lay ecumenical brotherhood in community, by Dick LaCroix
-
Abiding in the New Song
to the Lord, by Nancy Murphy
-
The Call to be a Missionary
People, by Bruce Yocum
-
Mere Christian Community,
by Steve Clark
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Sue Cummins is a senior women's leader in The Sword
of the Spirit. She teaches high school and serves in University
Christian Outreach and Detroit Community Outreach. |
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