Love That Actually Lasts

Sunday, May 3, 2026

Scriptures: Ruth, Leviticus 19:9-10, Deuteronomy 24:19

• Sermon Summary

  Jeremy wrapped up The Miraculous series by looking a the miracle of love. We looked at the story of Ruth and Boaz, but also at the story of Ruth and Naomi as the story of those who often find themselves on the margins. Jeremy argued that while romanticism is also an expression of love, love is actually a "formed" reality—a deliberate choice to make another person's story our own. He emphasized that healthy love requires a "web of relationships" and a commitment to social safety nets, because it is impossible for one person (our partner, for instance) to meet our every emotional need. Our human attempts to choose one another ultimately reflect God who holds the entire universe together in love, faithfully and consistently.

• Discussion Guide

  Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.

  Connect: In the introduction to his sermon, Jeremy joked that he is more of a "spreadsheets and itineraries" person than a classic romantic.
  How do you tend to express love In your own life — through big or small spontaneous gestures or through the work of planning and showing up?

  Share: Share about some of the ways you experience and practice love in your significant relationships.
  
  Looking back at your most significant relationships (romantic or not), do you feel you found that love (as in a soulmate theory that we often see on the TV or in books), or do you feel like you formed that love through mutual effort?

  Reflect:  Reflect on the expectations that we often have from a partner or significant people in our life. We often want them to be everything for us —lover, cheerleader, friend, and confidant.

  How fair of an expectation is that? And how do you guard and protect your relationships from the heavy weight of those expectations?
  
  How do you feel about the idea that we need a "web of relationships" (friends, mentors, and even in-laws) to keep a marriage viable? And how do you go about building that web?

  Engage: Engage with this idea from the sermon:
  ”Maybe the miracle isn't that we fall in love. Maybe the miracle is that we find a way to stay there... That we stick with each other even when it doesn't make sense, that we learn about each other even when we don't have to, that we step into obligations even when we're not forced to."

  In the story of Ruth, love is placed in the context of, or we can even say tied to, "social safety nets" and  "obligations". How does this view of love resonate with you?
  In what way does it ground you, or challenge you?

  Take away: What are you going to continue thinking about from this sermon series? What has resonated with you the most from this sermon or the whole series?

  Prayer from the sermon:
  God of resurrection,
  Ground of all being,
  Love that holds the universe together,
  
  We pause now,
  Not to escape this world
  But to become more present to it.

  Awaken us again today to the miracle we so easily miss—
  That you are here,
  In the quiet, in the chaos,
  In the ordinary moments we rush past.

  Teach us to notice
  The ways your Spirit moves
  In conversations, in coincidences,
  In the people placed right in front of us.

  And then as we turn today to love,
  Form us into people who don’t just feel it,
  But practice it,
  Who discover it,
  Who grow it.

  Give us courage
  To step toward one another
  And to shape our lives
  Into reflections of your steady, sustaining love.

  In the strong name of the risen Christ, we pray, Amen

• Service Songs & Prayers

  CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 111

  MUSIC Curated by Kevin & Alyssa Borst
  Brooke Ligertwood - Banner
  Brooke Ligertwood - King of Kings
  Royal Anthems - Turn Your Eyes
  All Sons & Daughters - Great Are You Lord
  
  REFLECTIVE SCRIPTURE PRAYER
  Written by Yelena Pakhomova
  
  This morning, we will use the words of Scripture to guide us in our prayer.

  I’ll be reading from Psalm 116, and I invite you to reflect on your experience of divine kindness in your life right now.

  As you hear the words of the ancient poet, take a moment to check in with yourself,

  and ask God to meet you in the places where you hold deep gratitude, and in the places where you hold chaos. In the places where you feel supported, and in the places where you feel alone.

  I will read the final line twice for us, and may we hear the breath of the Spirit exactly where we need it today. Let us pray.

  [Psalm 116]

  1 I love the Lord, for God heard my voice;

  heard my cry for mercy.

  2 Because God bends down to listen to me,

  I will call on God as long as I live.

  3 The cords of death entangled me,

  the anguish of the grave came over me;

  I was overcome by distress and sorrow.

  4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:

  “Lord, save me!”

  5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;

  our God is full of compassion.

  6 The Lord protects the helpless;

  when I was brought low, God saved me.

  7 Return to your rest, my soul,

  for the Lord has been good to you.

  7 Return to your rest, my soul,

  for the Lord has been good to you.

  Amen
  
  SERIES BUMPER
  The Miraculous