The Prophet Micah observed the people trying to impress God in Jerusalem. He knew about the extravagant gifts offered up to Him. Some thought they could repay God for His goodness. Others gave in order to impress God. A few people had even secretly offered up their own flesh and blood. Micah stood before the people. Few of the people in the days of Micah wanted to love and serve God."You cannot repay God. You cannot impress Him. You can only please God by serving others in His name!" Maybe some gathered there that day would be caught by the simple message. Move ahead 800 years to Jesus in the same Jerusalem of Micah.

They were going to get Jesus to stumble one way or another. "What is the greatest commandment of all?" How would you like to answer that question in order to join that church? Jesus met the challenge with the two greatest commandments: LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. Do these two commands each day, and you will show His love!

Micah and Jesus bring the whole teaching of God to the level where we all can get it. They gave the people who really wanted to love God that famous phrase called, K. I. S. S. you might have heard of: KEEP IT SIMPLE - SAINTS. You thought I was going to say something like, "Stupid." No one for whom Christ died is stupid. Is that you? How about your neighbor? You know, the one who plays music all hours. The one who thinks his front yard should rival the city junkyard. That one. I call you SAINT, if you’ve committed your life to Christ.

Well, this is a day to make all mothers proud. It is the day we confirm the youngest members of our church. They have gone through their studies. They have met with the Session for their examination. This is the last step. This day we will witness you stand up here and tell everyone that Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord. We will rejoice in the baptisms of Nathan, Chris, Stacy and Kayla. We will pray over you and welcome you into Central Presbyterian Church.

What could I tell you to help you on this special day? I thought of making you recite some of the things we learned together. No. What could I tell you that will stick with you new saints that will fire you up to serve Jesus Christ. Keep it simple! So, here is the message to Saints, young and old!

Keep your faith very simple! Don’t clutter it up with what some people think you should do. Do what the Lord requires of you. "He has told you what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God." (6.8) Jesus made it even simpler: LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF! Now, I know that some people struggle at this very point.

We have turned these two great commandments around in recent years. Many people cannot love their neighbor, because they themselves have low self-esteem. We need to love ourselves, yes! People often pay dearly for low self-esteem. They can become abusive toward others. This often becomes one of the factors for racial hatred and drug and alcohol abuse. One teacher practiced one thing each year in her first grade class. She whispered in the ears of each of her students, "You’ve got to be special in my class. I only get the really smart students." It worked! Parents complimented the teacher for finally recognizing the gifts of their child. The class performed better all through the year! The only problem: that kind of love will not help us love as Jesus loved.

We have also found out what happens with too much self-esteem. It often leads to bigger problems in society, not smaller. In studies of criminals and bullies they often have an over-inflated self-worth. "In fact, the dangerous ones are those who overestimate how good they are... They lash out and try to head off anything that might lower their self-esteem." (G Baumeister) Yes, we need to accept ourselves as gifts from God. We improve our performance in life. But this kind of love does not cause us to love our neighbor with the kind of love Jesus intends.

Start with Jesus Christ. Fall in love with Him. How do you do that? Read about Him in the gospels. Learn to find Him hidden in the promises we have in the Old Testament: In Genesis, He is the seed of the woman; in Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb; in Leviticus, He is our High Priest. Go to the Psalms, and the Lord is my shepherd..." You can find Him wherever you look, BECAUSE YOU WANT TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, MIND AND STRENGTH!

Love God so much that your love for Him will flow over to your neighbor! Keep it simple, Saints. The life with Christ is a very simple life. Keep your Christian life very simple...very basic. When you fall in love with Jesus, you want to be with Him. You want to please Him. You want others to love Him, too!

That is where we meet the second great commandment. Why should we love our neighbor? Loving our neighbor takes work. It is inconvenient. It interferes! We love others, BECAUSE WE LOVE GOD. It is His command! We must do it!

That is how we pass on the love that God has poured into us! There is nothing else we can do in return for God ‘s love. We can only pass it on! It could begin with your neighbor in your own house...your own family! This love must go on to the neighbor next door. The one who plays music too loud, or has a junkyard for his property. It is anyone and everyone we meet. As we meet them and live with them, we show the depth of our love for Christ. Keep it simple, Saints. Young and old and in between, keep your faith simple. Grow in your love for Christ. He will show you ways to make your own vital expression of His love to others. Bill heard this message. He loved the Lord Jesus very much. He wanted to share his love with others where he worked as a bagger in a grocery store. He asked his father to show him how to use the computer.

Bill has Down’s syndrome. With his limitations, he made three columns, then, began to write "Thoughts For the Day." Sometimes they were Bible verses, or simple thoughts from other writers, and even his own. He printed them out, made copies, and cut them up into three strips. Then with each customer, he put in his little paper, "Thoughts" in one of their bags. When customers recognized what he was doing, whenever they checked out, they went to where he was bagging groceries. One time the line was so long with people waiting to check out, the manager opened two more lines, and invited the people to move along. "No!" they chorused. "We want our Thought for the day!" It transformed that store.

This love will be shown by our young people going to Reynosa, Mexico. They are going to love one family as they help build one house for them. Why? Because we love our Lord Jesus Christ, and His love simply overflows and washes over other people, too! It is shown when we give our money to touch the lives of people right here in Russellville, like the Shelter for women, and so many other ministries!

Keep it simple, Saints. You will find yourselves looking for ways to show the love of Christ to people you meet. Go for it! Love God with all your heart! Allow Him to love others through you. You and others will be changed for eternity!