Matthew 5:43-44

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

From Background Notes [BN] for July 20^th & 21^st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Readers of The Sermon on the Mount have a tendency to lessen the severity of sayings like the present one, in order to make them more understandable. In this strategy lies the greatest danger, namely…

…to weaken the teaching through evasion and thereby lift the burden from the disciple. We can count on the likeliest interpretation of Jesus’ words as the one which most contradicts our own inclinations. We need help lest we try to protect others and ourselves from Jesus, in discovering the meaning of his words.  [BN, 2]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am