Good morning. Tomorrow is Valentines Day. A day to say, " I love you." God said I love you 2000 years ago by sending his Son our Saviour Jesus. So let us sing, God's love to me is wonderful.
Scripture Reading 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (the love chapter)
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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As we journey into a time of prayer, thinking of God's love for us, let us sing, Here Is love.
Let us join together in prayer
Father God, I come into your presence so aware of my human frailty and yet overwhelmed by your love for me. I thank you that there is no human experience that I might walk through where your love cannot reach me. If I climb the highest mountain you are there and yet if I find myself in the darkest valley of my life, you are there. Teach me today to love you more. Help me to rest in that love that asks nothing more than the simple trusting heart of a child. In Jesus name, Amen
Please take a few moment in personal prayer bringing to God our worshipping community here at Woodhouse. Bring your family, loved ones and friends to His throne. And then we will share together in The Lord's Prayer
Please share with me in the Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
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Have you every stopped to think how God loves you? Let the Staff Songsters remind you.
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What Is Love
There are many times I think to myself, how does God put up with all my failings? Turns out the sort of love He has for me and for you is unconditional love. No strings attached love. The sort of love – that come what may, whatever you and I might do – will never fail. It’s a love that was nailed to a cross.
Can you remember that song by “Haddaway” entitled “what is love?” Well, have you ever thought, what exactly is it? When someone says the word “love” to you what ideas spring to mind? Love is the most sung about, written about thing on this planet. One of the Beatles songs was called “All You Need Is Love,” and that says it all.
Love is incredibly important. From the moment we’re born until the moment we die we need love, and yet so many of us have a distorted view of what love actually is. I think Hollywood have a lot to do with that, they make love out to be this kind of cloud nine romance thing. Knight in shining armour saves maiden in distress etc. If that’s what love is all about, then, we have a serious problem you and I because that side of love is but one small part of it and if we expect all of love to be like that, then, you and I are going to be sadly disappointed.
So, what is love? Is it just a feelings as the songs and the movies would have us believe? I want us to look at love in action. Something the Apostle Paul wrote to his friends at a Church in Corinth a couple of thousand years ago. Read with me once again 1 Corinthians chapter 13:
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels but don’t have love I’m just a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal and if I have prophetic powers and understand all the mysteries and have all knowledge and if I have all faith so that I could remove mountains but still I don’t have love then I’m nothing. If I give away all my possessions and if I hand over my body so that I may boast but I don’t have love I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. Love isn’t envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It doesn’t insist on its own way. It’s not irritable or resentful, it doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing, it rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things and hopes all things and endures all things. Love never ends.
There are three different types of love spoken about in the New Testament. The first is the love called “eros” love from which we get words like erotic. That’s not the sort of love that Paul’s talking about here. The next sort of love that the New Testament speaks of is the bond of friendship; The Greek word is “phileo”. That isn’t the sort of love that Paul’s talking about here. The third one is “agape” a love which an unconditional love. A sacrificial love.
Whenever the Bible speaks of God’s love Its talking about this kind of love –“agape” unconditional, sacrificial love.
You know when you think about it, for love to have any real value in a throwaway society, the only sort of love that has true value is unconditional love. The sort of love that accepts us for who we are no matter what we do and that is precisely the sort of love God is speaking to us about here through the Apostle Paul and he begins by making the point, it doesn’t matter how clever, gifted, talented or generous you or I are, without unconditional love we’re worthless: If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels but I don’t have love I’m just a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have prophetic powers, if I understand all mysteries and have all knowledge, if I have enough faith to remove mountains but I don’t have love then I’m nothing. If I give away all my possessions, if I hand over my body so that I can boast but I still don’t have love I gain nothing.
All of us miss out on lot of golden opportunities if we do not have love at the core of our very being. Without this unconditional love it doesn’t matter what we do, it doesn’t matter how clever we are or how gifted we are, we’re doing nothing more than being a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. We only have to look around and we can see people who are rude and arrogant and unloving. We, as followers of Jesus must clothe ourselves with God’s love. This agape love. Love is patient, it is kind. It’s not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It doesn’t insist on it’s own way. It’s not irritable or resentful. It doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing, but love rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it endures all things. Love never fails.
Let’s me ask you, if someone loved you in this way, if someone humbled themselves, made themselves to be lowly in order to love you with patience and kindness, not insisting on their own way or being irritable or resentful, doing only the best for you. If they carried all your burdens, enduring through everything without end, let me ask you, would that make a difference in your life? If someone were to pull alongside you and share the burdens of your life with you in a way that they never accused you or judged you or had a go at you, how would you feel? It would make absolutely all the difference in the world. It would add a dimension, a richness to your life that’s difficult to put into words. Can I say this to you;
Jesus is that person. In Matthew chapter 11 beginning at verse 28, Jesus said:
Come to me all that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I’ll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me for I’m gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Jesus is the one with that sort of unconditional love. And He comes beside you on your journey to help carry your load, to guide and to steer and to encourage and love you with an unconditional love. And this love has no end. Let this love overwhelm you today. I mean there are so many people walking around on this planet who believe in God but whose lives have never been overwhelmed to the core by the unconditional love of God. Be moved to tears, be overwhelmed as the Spirit of the living God pours His love out into your hearts today.
Read with me Romans Ch5:
And hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us. For while we were still weak, just at the right time, Jesus died for us. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a good person although perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die but God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
And when we let God embrace us with the reality of this love, our whole world changes. Suddenly, we’re safe. Suddenly, we’re secure. Suddenly, we know, that no matter what we’ve done in our lives, no matter how badly we’ve failed God, no matter what we may be addicted to, no matter what bad thing may seem to have an overwhelming power over our lives right at this minute, the love of God is real, it is absolutely unconditional, it is for you, it is for me, and it’s free because of Jesus.
Do you want proof of this love for you? Look at the cross. God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. May the Spirit of God drench your life in this reality. May He open your eyes and fill your heart with wonder and joy because it was for this very reason that Jesus died for you. Amen.
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Lord we come to you, we ask that our hearts are changed renewed. We ask that your love will pour out upon us so we can love as you loved.
Lord we come to you.
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.
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