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1. The Offer and Acceptance of God’s Unconditional Love
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he first and most basic message of the Christian faith is the pronouncement that we are accepted and loved unconditionally by God. In the Bible, St John reminds us of two of the most foundational doctrines of the whole Christian Gospel. First, that “God is Love” (1 Jn 4:8) - not that God is like love or does love but rather He is love itself. God’s essence and nature is love at the core. The second follows on from this, that “God loved us first” (1 Jn 4:19). God’s love precedes anything we can ever say or do by way of response. Christians believe that God loving us does not depend on us earning that love by how we behave. This is the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ and the gift that is continually offered to all in every place and time. This message has become so familiar to us that its power to change us no longer has the effect it should. It has become so domesticated that we fail to grasp its full potential. Yet it remains a revolutionary message that changes lives every day. To the youth of the
