Learning to love what God loves

Learning to love what God loves

How do we learn to love what God loves? Offering ourselves in worship is one way our hearts are shaped. Here’s a glimpse of what worship looks like at Living Stones.

It’s Wednesday morning at Living Stones. At 8:00 a.m., the halls fill with with boisterous students, teachers, staff, and a sprinkling of volunteers. A few minutes later, the children line up and pour into their classroom-sized cathedral. One of the smallest boys, a curly haired blond, grins: “Worship is my favorite part of going to school.”

God loves worship.

Worship at LSA is always about showing God how much we love Him and learning to love what He loves. This season’s theme: offering ourselves in service. 

As lively music fills the room, the whole group joins in song. After singing and moving with the music, the students sit, shoulder-to-shoulder, cross-legged on the floor. The third graders are leading today, and take turns teaching songs with motions and reading verses from the Gospel of Matthew about being salt and light to others.

God loves service.

Our students talk and learn about serving, and are also living examples. They share how they serve others and that inspires others.

Their teacher, Mrs. Copier, interviews several students, asking them about the ways they served others: “I sanitized every doorknob in the school to keep us healthy.” “I picked up trash in the halls and playground to keep our school beautiful.” “I stacked some chairs after lunch to help out Mr. Jeffries.” The banner behind Mrs. Copier contains many red hearts, each spelling out some act of kindness.

God loves a growing faith.

Our students show love to each other by including everyone in their play and in their acts of service. Their teachers strive everyday to show what a life filled with God’s love looks like, and the students get to experience this firsthand.

As the children grow in size, move up grades and learn new things, they also grow in faith. Their faith shown in action: acts of friendship, love, and learning what others need in order to thrive. 

God is the living guide; our children are the living stones. Families, students and teachers are becoming a fellowship of believers at LSA. We are learning to love what God loves.

 

Article by Carol Rottman, volunteer and friend of LSA

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