Last week I introduced a simple theme for us: Love Works. "Love," you might think, "what is so important about love? Is it really a worthy aim for us?"

The Bible has the answer. In this installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I'll quote a familiar passage from 1 Cor. 13:1-3. Read it as if for the first time.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

Love is crucial. Without it, nothing else we do means anything.

Let's get practical. What can love do this weekend? Love contacts the person you haven't seen in a long time and invites them to connect. Love looks in the lobby for the person who is alone. Love walks across the room. It reaches out to the hurting. You want to be part of a loving church - a church where love rolls up its sleeves and works. Let's make Dayspring that church! Try it. Love works.