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The theme for the 2013 National LCMS Youth Gathering, LiveLove(d), was selected in January, 2011. The theme is based on 1 John 4:9:
“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.” (NIV ‘84)
As theme development continued, it was suggested that existing themed resources be shared and others be developed for use at LCMS Servant Events, Outdoor Ministries, High Schools and others who work with high school youth. This is the five part study for the 2013 Servant Events.
The theme for the 2013 National Youth Gathering is LiveLove(d). In many ways this Gathering will try to redefine in biblical terms what it means to love and be loved. It is crucial to recognize that, in the theme “LiveLove(d),” the “(d)” makes all the difference. We cannot even begin to know what it means to love others in the biblical sense of the term until and unless we know and trust God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. “We love,” says John,” “because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). By the same token, once we know God’s love in Christ we cannot help but love God and others; “whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:21).
The sessions for this series will include…
Day One: Beloved: We gather together as sinners who are “beloved” as God’s forgiven children.
Day Two: Love LIVED: We take an up-close and personal look at Jesus, the love of God in the flesh.
Day Three: Live LOVED: We take a second look at our identity as ones who have been loved purely and completely by God in Christ. Luther: “Rather than seeking its own good, the love of God flows forth and bestows good. Therefore sinners are attractive because they are loved; they are not loved because they are attractive. . . . This is the love of the cross.” Heidelberg Disputation (1518), Explanation of Thesis 28 (quoted in Lehenbauer, 24)
Day Four: DE-loved: We confront twisted and distorted views of love that inevitably end in disappointment and despair.
Day Five: Live LOVE: We look beyond ourselves to love others in the name of Jesus. Luther: “For where works and love do not break forth, there faith is not right, the gospel does not yet take hold, and Christ is not rightly known.” Prefaces to the New Testament (LW 35:361), on the Gospels (quoted in Lehenbauer, 25)
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