Love Moves Toward
“Grandma, I’m coming to you.”
Our four-year-old grandson, Davey, scurried along the church row to nestle in Joyce’s lap during the service this past Sunday. We love being grandparents to five dear ones, and these many small moments of affection and connection warm our hearts!
It strikes me just how often love takes the initiative to move toward another.
In this recent Christmas season, we enjoyed celebrating the greatest and most profound movement toward others in the history of humanity—the incarnation of Jesus Christ. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
The Message paraphrase says, “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” God to us, with us, in us, and then—as we take initiative with others in love— through us!
This is why one of Cadence’s Core Values states:
We believe in the power of incarnate ministry. “Incarnate,” verb: “To make an abstract idea concrete, usually through personification.” We want to live Jesus. We believe in following God’s example of incarnating His love for us in the person of His Son. We believe in initiating relationships with people in their worlds. This means our ministry must flow from our lives into their lives. This means we share the gospel through our genuine, humble, and incarnate love. (John 1:1, 3:22; 2 Timothy 3:10–14; 1 Thessalonians 2:8)
There are times because of unrepentant sin, severe brokenness, emotional or physical abuse, and other serious matters that we must step away from someone and set boundaries for safety and security. These are difficult decisions that necessitate wisdom, counsel, and courage.
On the other hand, most often we are called to be up close, “initiating relationships with people in their worlds.”
This movement toward is at the heart of our Cadence ministries. Your financial and prayer partnership enables our staff to reach out in love to military people around the world bringing the good news of Jesus to them every day in 2024 and beyond.
Our grandson Davey already intuitively understands the core of this truth.
May we also keep moving toward others in the way our Savior repeatedly moves toward us, “I’m coming to you.”
David Schroeder
President