FORTY DAYS OF LOVE
The time period of forty days appears to be important in Scripture. Over and over again this particular period of time is mentioned. Here are a few examples:

It rained for 40 days and 40 nights when God wanted to cleanse the world and start over (Gen 7:12) and then Noah waited another 40 days after it rained before he opened a window in the Ark (Gen 8:6). Moses was on the mountain with God for 40 days – twice (Exodus 24:18, 34:28-29 and Deut. 10:10). It took the spies 40 days to search out the Promised Land (Num. 13:25). For 40 days, twice a day, morning and evening, Goliath the Philistine giant strutted in front of the Israelite army and taunted them before he was finally killed by David (1 Sam 17:16). Elijah strengthened by one angelic meal was on the lamb for 40 days ending up on Mount Horeb where the Lord passed by and he heard the still, small voice of God (1 Kings 19:8). Righteous Ezekiel was punished for Judah’s sin for 40 days (Ezek. 4:6). Jonah warned the City of Nineveh they had 40 days until God would overthrow the city. The people repented in those 40 days and God spared the city (Jonah 3:4, 10). Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness (Mat 3:17) and was seen on the earth 40 days after His crucifixion (Acts 1:3).

Obviously, 40 days is a symbolic time. We believe 40 days are significant at NewSong as well. A few years ago we observed a 40 day season as we went through the Purpose Driven Life book as a congregation, focusing on personal renewal. We believe only changed people can change the world; renewal must start there. The foundation for everything in life begins with getting to know and love God and then to begin growing in him and serving. But we were never meant to live our lives in isolation. We need others, and they need us. There is a second kind of renewal needed – relational renewal. That’s what the 40 day season we are about to begin is all about. We must not only learn to love God with all our heart (personal renewal); we must also learn to love our neighbor as ourselves (relational renewal).

Relational renewal is so important we are going to spend 40 days – six weeks - learning how to add depth and health to our marriages, families, and friendships. We will be studying love and practicing love as we explore and implement the relationship principles the Bible teaches. Our goal in the end is to be more loving and to be better equipped with insights and a practical path for fulfilling God’s intention for all our relationships – even the difficult ones.

What does this mean for you? You have several options depending on how deep you’d like to go. You can come to worship for the next six weeks and listen as I preach on love and how to build stronger relationships (you can also listen to, or read, the sermons online, or request a CD or DVD of each message). A second option would be to hear the sermons and enroll in a small group to meet with others to go deeper. To go even deeper you can listen to the sermons, join a small group and then use the book the series is based on, The Relationship Principles of Jesus by Tom Holladay as your daily devotional guide for the 40 Days. This book is available at Barnes and Noble, on Amazon.com and at most other bookstores.

I’m very excited to see what God is going to do through this campaign as we learn how to build healthier relationships in all aspects of our lives. It will be great to all be all doing this together as well.