Vicar Scheil February letter 

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulerrs, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.   Romans 8:37-39

Dear Christian friends,

     As we look around us during this time of the year we can't help but notice that everything seems to be covered in hearts and is geared toward proclaiming your love to that special someone. This can be a very good thing to show those that you love that you do in fact love them.  However, how often in our culture has the word love really come to mean something else?  Many people today use the word love almost flippantly and without any deep seated atttachment.  There are those who would even say that the meaning of the word is being lessened by the amount of people who overuse the word love.  In our sinful world we can take some of God's greatest gifts to us like love and change them into something which isn't pleasing to God at all. It has even become commonplace for people to acuse all manner of sin in our culture under the pretense of love.  Love in our sinful lives is flawed and can falter.  Human love is not perfect, no matter how much we wish that weren't the case. 

     Unlike our sinful nature which inserts flaws into this wonderful gift that God has given us, we have a God who has a perfect love.  His love is so great for us that nothing in the entire creation could possibly tear us away from Him.  It was this perfect love that sent Christ into our world to take all our sins to the cross.  It was this perfect love that Christ had for us which made Him submit Himself to the will of the Father that His death would set us free.  We don't ever have to worry about Christ not loving us anymore.  For nothing in the entire creation could ever separate us from our God.  Our God loves us with a self-sacrificing love, a love which has no end, a love thay can never falter or fail, a love which is perfect.

     Your Servant in Christ,

      Vicar Scheil