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Evotional
updated 8/20
Every couple weeks, a new
“evotional” will appear here. Check in from
time to time for a thought,
a prayer, a reflection, a devotion…
AUSTIN AGAPE - What's in a name?
We’ve changed our name. UPC’s campus ministry, that is—we’ve changed our
name. We used to call ourselves “Presbyterian Campus Ministry.”
Exciting, isn’t it? OK, maybe not. But that old name was sure... um...
precise! Still, you have to admit that there wasn’t much chance
of anybody mistaking us for anything else, right?
Here’s
the thing, though—we got tired of “Presbyterian Campus Ministry.” Sure,
it was hard to mistake us for something else, but it seemed so
institutional and, to tell you the truth, it looks downright boring on a
T-shirt. Our new name says a lot about who we are and who we aim to
be...
AUSTIN AGAPE
“Agape”
is a Greek word and it means “love.” Actually, it means more than
love. Once somebody asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was. His
response went like this:
You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first
commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.
- Matthew 22:37-39
“Austin”
is, well, where we happen to find ourselves. Calling ourselves “Austin
Agape” is another way of saying, “Right here and right now, we’re going
to love God and God’s people!”
As this
school year gets under way, our hope is that we might all be open to
acting on behalf of God’s love at work in our lives—open to ways that
our hearts, souls, and minds might be opened to God’s love in new
ways—open to ways that we might embody that same love for our neighbors.
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