Greater Love

We’re so glad you are here! Thanks for checking out Sunday's message titled Greater Love!-----SERMON NOTES:The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love. Henry MillerThe word love is so loosely applied and recklessly referenced that it’s lost much of its meaning and impact. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1 ESVA longing for love is a longing for God.This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:12-13 NLTGod’s Love is RealThis is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow man, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And we made it disappear. Let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re truly living, living in God’s reality. 1 John 3:16-19 MSGLove is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend. - Martin Luther King Jr. Let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. 1 John 4:7 NLT We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 ESVThis is real love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:10 NLTGod loves because of who God is, not because of who we are. Phil YanceyGod’s love is RelationalGod loves each of us as if there were only one of us. AugustineWhen Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?” Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.” Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.” Luke 19:5-10 MSGGod’s love is RelentlessEven if we are faithless, he remains faithful. 2 Timothy 2:13 ESVLove bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7 ESVGod’s love can bear the weight of your life and history and never break!God loves and believes in you even when you don’t love or believe in you!We are good at running and rebelling but His love is even greater at pursing and redeeming. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.John 8:10 & 11 NLTCan anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? Romans 8:35 NLTI am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. Romans 8:38 NLTBut God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 NLTJesus relentlessly loves the rebellious, contemptuous, hatful, hurting and hiding, the lost.................Download the 828 Church app!To view our latest e-newsletter, the Midweek Momentum, and subscribe to our weekly updates, go here! https://linktr.ee/828church