JCHS baccalaureate a message of God's love

Melissa Hatfield, associate pastor at First Baptist Church, delivers a sermon during the Jefferon City High School baccalaureate service  Sunday at the Miller Performing Arts Center.
Melissa Hatfield, associate pastor at First Baptist Church, delivers a sermon during the Jefferon City High School baccalaureate service Sunday at the Miller Performing Arts Center.

Words of how the Jefferson City High School graduating class should live or what they should or shouldn't do came to no avail at Sunday's baccalaureate.
Instead, the sermon offered a simple message that may be hard for many to accept: God loves you no matter what, no matter your race, gender, or sexual orientation. God loves you no matter the mistakes you make or prayers you say. No one will ever have to earn God's love, said Melissa Hatfield, associate pastor at First Baptist Church.
Those were the words she knew God would want the 2016 graduating seniors to hear as their high school chapter ends and the next one begins.
"That's a hard thing for us to swallow as we ponder that nothing is free in life, and when someone says there's no strings attached, we're often curious or confused or uncomfortable," Hatfield said. "I will struggle with the idea that I'm loved and there's nothing I can do about it. I know that sounds strange.
"It's like if a complete stranger walked up to me and offered me the keys to a brand new Lamborghini and I said, 'No, no. I don't want that.' You would think I was crazy and I would think I was crazy. God's love is infinitely greater than any sports car and he gives it to us with no strings attached, no debt to be paid, no fine print or hidden enrollments, and yet it's hard for us to just receive God's love. It seems wrong not to have to pay for it."
Life achievements come and go, as do jobs, friendships and relationships, but God is there to love each person unconditionally. Those who refuse to believe that and spend their life trying to earn his love will lead a difficult and disappointing life, she said.
"The way we're loved has a huge impact on how we live, but how we live will never have an impact on how we're loved," Hatfield said. "Class of 2016, congratulations on your achievements, and may you live well and know you are always loved."
Megan Foster, who offered the invocation at the ceremony, said the baccalaureate was more than she expected and Hatfield delivered a great sermon.
She particularly liked the combined choir that fanned out into the interior walls of the Miller Performing Arts Center at the beginning of the ceremony. Illuminated by candles, the choir sang the school's "Alma Mater" song and then moved into the balcony to sing a few more numbers.
Foster plans to attend Lindonwood University in St. Charles after graduation to play on the school's basketball team and major in chemistry.
"I'm definitely excited, but also scared about being on my own," she said.
She'll miss the people she's met in high school the most and is sad to leave behind so many friends she's made.