Ruth had every reason to walk away. She had lost her husband, her future was uncertain, and Naomi was returning to a country Ruth had never called home. But Ruth stayed. Her extraordinary loyalty gives us a beautiful picture of the kind of love God calls us to have for one another.
Pastor Jeff focused on brotherly affection in 2 Peter 1, drawing on Ruth's story and the New Testament's call to love deeply, honour one another and keep on loving. It's a kind of love that goes beyond friendship or shared interests. It asks us to remain committed to one another, even through differences, disappointments and difficult seasons.
“We don't attend church. We are the church.”
There's something powerful about people from different backgrounds and generations choosing to belong to one another, because Christ has brought us together. This is the kind of community Peter is describing, and the kind of love that makes the church unlike anywhere else.
