A Valentine's Message

So I had the chance to preach at Christ the Rebuilder Church, a New Testament Church of God here in Eldoret which was started a few years ago by one of our graduates. It was my first opportunity to preach at a church since we have been here just over a month. While Valentine's Day is not as big here as it is in the U.S., it is growing in popularity (say thank you to the machinery of capitalism). So I preached a message of God's love based on the book of Hosea. I guess a message of love can not get any stronger than that shown in the life of Hosea as an image of God and Israel. And just for the benefit of those who seem to deprive themselves of the Hebrew Bible in favor (or favour) of the gospels, I threw in a bit of John 8 just for good measure. Despite our inconsistency and failures; despite where we come from; God reaches out in love; in fact, he chases us down even when we run back out into our old bondages and he redeems us - he buys us back - at a premium.