Love Is Why - April 5, 2020 - a podcast by theCrossroads, UPC

LOVE is the Reason
“LOVE IS WHY” SERIES

Luke 19:10
10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Matthew 22:37-39
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 

1 Corinthians 13 (NASB)
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body [a]to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 [b]bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of [c]prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I [d]became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror [e]dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the [f]greatest of these is love..

 

It started and still remains because of HIM.

Human love is dependent upon the one who is loved.

There are two things that attract us to other people. The first is appearance.

The second thing that attracts us to people, of course, is personality—people who just ooze charisma.

There’s nothing “wrong” with human love, but there is one problem with it, and that is it cannot endure all of LIFE’S storms.

Divine love is based on the lover.

We have 7 teams that are motivated by the Love of God…the WHY for EVERY TEAM:

Evangelism Team – We reach out to our community to share God’s love with those who are hurting.

First Impressions Team – Because we have experienced God’s love in our lives, we do our best to make sure everyone that steps foot on our campus has a warm, welcoming and loving experience here.

Creative Team – The world is changing and people pay more attention to what they see in pictures, and on video and social media – so we use these mediums for good to share the great news and the effects of God’s love with them.

Worship Team – An atmosphere that welcomes the presence of the Lord, has the power to help people experience the LOVE of God in our services – so the worship team organizes, practices, and ministers with the goal of leading us all into the presence of the Lord.

Care & Follow Up Team – We not only want to welcome people and host people displaying God’s love, but we want you to know that you are not just a number, and that we are here for you for the long haul. If your desire is to get closer to God, and experience His love more deeply – the care and follow up team will continue the first class experience you had while you were with us. Because we love people with God’s love and we keep reaching out to them no matter what life brings them.

Kid’s & Students Team – Experiencing the Love of God happens much more naturally at a younger age, before major hurts and callouses have a chance to develop – so our Kid’s and Student’s team is motivated by God’s love to help our younger members have this experience.

Life Groups Team – The more you know God’s love for you and you experience His true transforming love in your life – the more you are able to love those around you, and encourage them to have the same experience. Our life Groups team is motivated by love to help us be Better Together and experience the Love of God to it’s fullest.

 

So what can you do today that will enable you to completely and fully experience God’s love for your life?
Ask God to forgive you, and remove any sin from your life – All of us have past mistakes and sins, many times it is those things that cloud our perception to the fact that Jesus loves us no matter what. The devil will use those things to make you feel unloved and unworthy of love. So ask God to cleanse you of all those things today! There is no one here that is worthy, but there is a proper way to deal with your guilt and shame – that is to turn it over to God at this altar and LEAVE IT THERE! That is when Love can come in.

Be Baptized today in Jesus’ Name – to wash you completely. His love made a way for you to be clean – why not take that step today to be identified with Him in baptism and have every stain from your past washed away?

Be filled with God’s love through receiving His Spirit – God’s Spirit will enable you to love the unloveable and will bring joy and peace into your life everyday. When you receive it, you will speak in a language you didn’t learn in school. This is the initial evidence that you are receiving the same experience that they did in the church described in the book of Acts.

If you have never had a personal Bible study that covered the main themes of the whole Bible, – Make sure you check that as one of your next steps today on the connection card. You will not regret studying the Word of God. This is how we know and experience the love of God – through the understanding of His Word! If you aren’t quite ready to make that large of a commitment – start with doing 30 Days to Life with a friend.

This church has several ways for you to be involved in acts of service and love, no matter what stage of relationship with Jesus you are in. The reason we want to be the best church we can be is LOVE!

Why don’t you make a place to pray right now in your home, in your living room or family room or wherever you are watching from and ask God to lead you closer to Him today. If you are not sure what your next step is after you have prayed – why not us right after service and get some spiritual advice on how to move forward.

Call or Text us at (270) 351-6060.  — God bless you.

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