The Annual Conference Planning Team has established our theme for the 2008 Annual Conference session.  We will gather at Lakeside under the banner of Love First.

John 3:16 is written on the heart of every believer.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.”  It is a clear and unequivocal statement that God is love, that God loves us first, that God’s sacrificial love is the standard for all who follow Christ.

The author of I John builds on this “God loved first” tenet of our faith to urge all who follow Christ to make “love first” our primary witness, as well.  “Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another…; if we love one another, God lives in us, and God’s love is perfected in us.”  (I John 4:11-12)

The Good News of Jesus is built on the Great Commandment – to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself.  (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34 and Luke 10:25-28)  For Jesus, “love first” is the basis for all the law, the prophets and his own gospel.

The West Ohio Conference is seeking to be a Love First church.  Our mission is to make and equip disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  This mission can only be fulfilled if we love first.  We are in the loving business – loving God and loving neighbor.  I invite you and your church to become a Love First congregation as you bear witness to Christ’s transforming power.

Bishop Bruce R. Ough

back