Freedom City Church
Loved Up
Loved Up - The Key to Loving More
Locations & Times
Freedom City Church
6 St Mungo's Rd, Cumbernauld, Glasgow G67 1QR, UK
Sunday 11:00 AM
Anthony Ray Hinton
Anthony Ray Hinton was poor and black when he was convicted in 1985 of two murders he hadn’t committed. He spent the next 30 years trapped in solitary confinement in a tiny cell on death row, having to watch as one-by-one – his fellow prisoners were taken past him to the execution room. Anthony says: "I was 29 and mowing the lawn at my mother’s house in Birmingham, Alabama, on a hot day in July 1985 when I looked up and saw two police officers. When my mom saw the handcuffs, she screamed. They asked me whether I owned a firearm, and I said no. They asked if my mother owned one, and I said yes. I asked the detective 50 times why I was being arrested. Eventually, he told me I was being arrested for a robbery. I told him, “You have the wrong man.” He said, “I don’t care whether you did it or not. You will be convicted.”
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/oct/21/28-years-on-death-row?CMP=edit_2221Anthony Ray Hinton Exonerated After 30 Years on Death Row
Anthony Ray Hinton walked out of the Jefferson County Jail a free man for the first time in 30 years at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, April 3, 2015. "The sun does shine," Mr. Hinton said moments after being released following his exoneration. He was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.<br> “Race, poverty, inadequate legal assistance, and prosecutorial indifference to innocence conspired to create a textbook example of injustice,” EJI Director Bryan Stevenson said. <br>“I can’t think of a case that more urgently dramatizes the need for reform than what has happened to Anthony Ray Hinton.” <br>For more information, visit: https://eji.org/cases/anthony-ray-hin... Extended version: https://youtu.be/KLbeZRiMLC0 <br>The Equal Justice Initiative works to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality. Visit our website to learn more: https://eji.org
https://youtu.be/HbMjJX_az3I
When asked what is the greatest Commandment Jesus gives 2 and they both centre around love. Love God and your neighbour. Jesus said the 2nd commandment is like it. The 2nd command is equally as great or important as the first. It is like it in importance, significance and magnitude.
Jesus corrects the false assumption. There wasn’t one greatest commandment. There were two. The next thing Jesus says is mind blowing when you think about it. He says these 2 laws sum up all the Jewish Scriptures.
“On these 2 commandments depend all the law and the Prophets.”
The law and the Prophets is another way of saying all the Jewish Scriptures. So according to Jesus, their entire Bible , so to speak, could be summarised by these 2 commands.
What does it look like to love God? “Love your neighbour” Love for God is best demonstrated by loving your neighbour.
Tying these 2 teachings together then we can say:
1. Love is what the Christian faith is all about and to grow in my faith I need to grow in LOVE. Love for God and Love for people.
2. Jesus said that a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.
Preach The Gospel To Yourself Every Day
Focus on His forgiveness and how much He has forgiven you daily and your little love will grow. Your love for God and people grows as your awareness of His grace and forgiveness grows. It causes your humility to grow, your gratitude to grow and your love for Him and others to grow. And as you focus on His kindness, love and grace it creates in you the desire to turn your life around, to stop doing the harmful stuff and release the goodness he has placed in each of you. <br> <br>So preach the gospel to yourself every day. Every time you fail and mess up, confess your sin. Ask for forgiveness. Ask the Spirit to change you from the inside out. Ask for His grace and power to changed and be transformed. Ask for the fruit of the Spirit to give you what you need to change.
