Tag: Love

Peace, Love, & the Holy Spirit

by Laurin, posted in Sunday Message

Good evening! Last Sunday, Pastor Alan shared another wonderful teaching in the book of John. He continued his lessons on what occurred in the Upper Room, focusing this week on “Peace, Love, and the Holy Spirit.” To listen to this message from John 14, simply click play on the audio player below. I’ve also included Pastor Alan’s outline with links to the verses on Bible Gateway. Enjoy!

The Upper Room, part IV: Peace, Love, and the Holy Spirit

John 14:15-28

  1. Jesus’ words on love. (John 14:15, 21-24, 28)
  2. Jesus’ words on the Spirit. (John 14:16-20, 25-26)
    • Various translations of John 14:16
      • Advocate, Counselor, Helper, Paraclete
      • The idea is this: Jesus will send the Spirit as His ambassador (notice the word “another”). As that ambassador, He:
        • reveals truth
        • brings truth to remembrance
        • indwells
        • gives guidance and strength when we are helpless (as orphans)
        • is instrumental in our salvation (John 3:6-8; John 6:63)
        • sanctifies us/helps us become more like Christ (Galatians 5:22-26)
        • gives gifts to serve God & others (Romans 12:6-13)
    • Father’s Day note: It’s tough to lose a person you turned to the most for strength and guidance. The disciples had Jesus as their spiritual father for strength and guidance. He was going to leave them physically but would be with them always through the Holy Spirit.
  3. Jesus’ words on peace (John 14:27-28)
    • Peace is linked to Jesus
    • There are two kinds of peace (worldly peace & godly peace)
    • Peace can’t really be found without being right with God and living in faith to God (Matthew 5:2-10).
      • “Trust & Obey”
      • “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”
    • Romans 5:1-5 ties it all together.

Father’s Day note: What is the legacy we would most like to leave behind? Jesus leaves us peace. Are we peacemakers?

Conclusion: Are our lives marked by a sense of peace and obedient love and being guided by the Spirit?

Love, Betrayal, & Denial

by Laurin, posted in Sunday Message

Good afternoon! This past Sunday Pastor Alan taught from John 13:18-38, sharing a message about love, betrayal, and denial. To listen to this message, simply click play on the audio player below. I’ve also included Pastor’s notes with links to the verses he references in his message. Enjoy!

The Upper Room Part II

Love, Betrayal, and Denial

The Last Supper:  In Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting, the apostles are grouped in three.  One grouping is John, Simon Peter and Judas.  These three are referenced in John 13:18-38.  All are in conversation.  John records part of that, as does Luke in his gospel.  In Luke we find out that part of the conversation was an argument among friends.  Luke 22:15, 24-30. So that’s the setting.

Now let’s go back to the 3 principle characters in John.  John, Judas and Peter and the three main things we know about each of them.

  1. John is closet to Jesus.  The one Jesus loved is a self-description.  The theme of walking in love is major in his writings.  He in fact records Jesus’s words, “A new command I give you:  Love one another. As I have loved you love one another.  By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John was the only male disciple that was present with Jesus at the cross and Jesus entrusts the care of his mother to John when he says, “Behold your mother.”  So John is a reminder to us of the positive which is to love and remain close.
  2. The other one mentioned is Judas.  He reminds us of the potential there is to betray and how Satan can take over.  It says when he ate the morsel Satan entered in and he left out into the dark.  A contrast here is that the supper was, and is, all about signifying taking Jesus, the bread of life, into us and walking in the light.  Judas allowed himself to go the opposite direction.  We are capable as well.  The end for Judas was a sorrow that led to his taking of his own life.  He got to a point beyond repentance and forgiveness.  Interesting that his betrayal started with denial.  He says, surely not I, recorded in Matthew 26:25.  Both Peter and Judas deny Jesus but only one let himself forever be defined by betrayal.  Both wept but one’s sorrow would lead to repentance, the other’s to death. As it says in 2 Corinthians 7:10, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation  and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow leads to death.”  In 2nd Peter 3, it seems some were beginning to think the Lord wasn’t going to come back.  Peter clears that up and in essence says don’t think his delay, in human understanding of the time, means he isn’t coming again.  He is delaying to give you the opportunity to repent.  2 Peter 3:9-13.
  3. Simon Peter reminds us of the possibility of denial due to fear.  What was Peter’s first mistake?  Denial was the results of a 2-fold mistake. He didn’t realize his limitation and he didn’t ask for strength.  Even though Jesus still prays for him, even though he doesn’t ask.  Mark 14:27-31, 66-72.

So, 3 apostles

–      One calls us to love

–      One stands as a warning against betrayal and non repentance

–      One stands as a warning against denial but the promise that turning back to Jesus brings forgiveness and restoration. 

John 21:15-end

They call us to self-examination as we take the Lord’s Supper today. Matthew 26:26-29

Love Is All You Need

by Laurin, posted in Devotion

This morning in church, Pastor Steve spoke about love, and it has been resounding through me again and again. It got me thinking about the fact that love is something we are sorely lacking in our world today. We’ve become a society that doesn’t understand what real love is, believing instead in the lie that love is the same thing as lust and greed and selfishness.

Love isn’t about getting what we want; love is about sacrifice. It’s about selflessness, generosity, and truly caring about others with no expectation of anything in return. “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives [our treasures, those things we hold most dear] for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16, NLT [with my additions]). Instead of the world’s definition of love, where we care about someone mostly because they care for us in return or they can help us or they are attractive, God says that love is about putting others first without ever considering how it will affect us.

As the Beatles once sang, “All you need is love. Love is all you need.” According to the Bible, this is pretty accurate. Look at the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 13: “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would be only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, NLT). You could be a huge success according to the world, but without love, it is all meaningless.

The Beatles spoke true: we do need love, but only if it is godly love. And how do we achieve that kind of love? According to the Apostle Paul, we study the Word, since, “The purpose of [his] instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith” (1 Timothy 1:5, NLT). The more we plant His Word deep in our hearts, the more we meditate on His Word, the more we come to know Him, the more we push out the worldly ways and mold ourselves into those who can love like Christ, those who can give love to others even knowing that we may never have anything in return.

If all the people in His Creation could learn to live like this, can you imagine the beauty and joy and peace and hope and, of course, love we would see every moment of every day? This is my prayer for you and for me: that we learn to love like Christ.

A Season of Love

by Laurin, posted in Devotion

20171208_105120

One of my favorite Christmas songs is “I Celebrate the Day” by Relient K. This touching and powerful song culminates with the statement: “I celebrate the day that You were born to die, so I could one day pray for You to save my life.” Wow! That is such a huge deal and so overwhelming to think about—Jesus chose to come to earth, to be born as both wholly man and wholly God; to go from being at the right hand of God to laying in a dirty, smelly manger; to be a helpless baby, a child who worried his earthly parents, a teenager (yikes!), and an adult in a world where nothing comes easy, especially if you’re different; to be falsely accused, tortured, beaten, and crucified; to be physically and spiritually separated from God and have the Father’s wrath poured upon Him; then to rise in glory. And why did He do this? Because of His LOVE for us! In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him (1 John 4:9).

God loves us so much that He sent His only Son that whoever would believe in Him would have everlasting life (John 3:16). That is what we are celebrating when we gather around the Christmas tree and exchange gifts: the gift of God’s agape, unconditional, unmerited LOVE for each and every one of us.

So on this fourth week of Advent, light the first three candles, as well as the last purple candle, known as the “Angel’s Candle,” for the angels announced the good news of the Messiah’s birth, or the “Candle of LOVE.” Read and reflect on the following verses:

Isaiah 52:7-10

Luke 19:10

Romans 8:18-25

Isaiah 53:5-6

Revelation 21:1-4

God loved us before the foundations of the world; He loves us today; He will love us for all eternity. There is nothing more powerful or beautiful than God’s love for His children. Hallelujah!

God’s gift to us, the ultimate gift, was His only Son, who was born to die to pay for our sins. We can never give God a better gift than He gave us, but what can you give to Him? What present will you put under the tree for God? Will you give Him your time? Your love? Your heart? Your talents? Your passions? Your devotion? Your path? Your job? Your family? Your health? What is that you prize? That is what you should give to Him.

Pray: Father God, I don’t know why You looked down from the highest heaven, saw me in all my wretchedness, and still decided that You loved me enough to be born of man to die for me, but I am so grateful You did. Thank You for loving me when I was dead in my trespasses and blackened by sin and for continuing to love me when I stumble even now. Thank You for the future hope I have in Christ. When I feel discouraged, help me to remember that You will wipe away every tear. Help me, Lord, to reflect Your love onto those around me. Use me as a light of Your love to brighten the darkness in this world. And help me to never take for granted Your love or the incredible gift you have given to me. In Your Name we pray, Jesus. Amen.

Have a blessed Christmas Eve! And if you happen to be in the Colona, Colorado, area, please join us this evening at 5 pm for our Candlelight Service. We will read the Christmas story and sing hymns to celebrate the birth of Jesus in our beautiful, historic little church. All are welcome!