From the Pastor's Message

"Before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having Loved His own which were in the world, He loved them to the end." John 13:1

Continue to read the "Red" Words of Jesus; therein is His Love declared. We know that Jesus Loved us, for we have partook of His Great Salvation. We know of His Sacrificial Love on Calvary as He poured out His Life for us. But to follow Him in His every day activities and to note that Scripture often says He Loved someone, this is our study today--to look at the situations wherein Scripture reveals His personal Love to someone, or where He talks about His personal Love for the Father, etc. When we think of Jesus' Love, we usually think of His Love that took Him to the Cross; however, it was His Love for His Father that drove Him to die for us. Because God so "Loved the world" Jesus offered Himself to die for what the Father Loved. This is a unique thought: Jesus Loved His Father so much that He would fulfill His Father's wishes and because His Father Loved us so much, Jesus Loved us! Our Christianity is all about Love. It is the Standard, the principle of the Christian's life. Jesus said: "By this shall all men know that ye are My Disciples, if ye Love one to another." How does the world know we are a Christian? By our Love. Could it be that Christianity has lost this spark of the Savior's Love? Is it something we need to work on? It begins at home and in the Church. Jesus Loved Martha, Mary, Lazarus, He Loved the rich, young ruler, He Loved His Mother and John, He Loved the world and was obedient to His Father's Love. Let us Love one another and express our love. It is the mark of our Christianity! Jesus Loves all the world with the same intensity He Loved the Father!                            

Loving You, Pastor

From the Pastor's Sermon

Are you reading the "Red" Words of Jesus? If you have finished, Please; Read them again! We need the Words of Jesus to pierce our soul, to stir our Spirit and overrule our flesh! As we read through the chapters of John the Beloved, the Revelator, let us remember his love for Christ gave him strength to follow Jesus all the way to the cross. We see this as he exhorts us in 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear." And then there is the Apostle Paul, who by his own experience, could impart the depth of Jesus' love. "But God commendeth His Love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8. The followers of Christ wrote great messages so powerful and filled with our Lord's instruction. It is interesting to see the specific messages that He gave to the individual disciple or follower. He gave them messages to impart to us, messages that had touched their lives so they could be passionate about His Love. Let me ask the Church, what are you "spiritually" passionate about? O that God would give us a greater depth of passion for the Word of God, for prayer, intercession, and increase our love to include those who are less fortunate in our world. John said, "I have seen Him with my eyes, I have handled the Word of Life." In salvation we have seen His Love, and in reading the Bible, we have handled the Word of Life! As you embrace His Word, may you experience His Life!

Loving you...

From the Pastor's Thoughts

"Whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the Love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." 1 John 2: 5-6.

As we read through the "Red" Words of Jesus, there is so much to take in: His thoughts, His instruction, His correction, His patience, His patience with humanity and His Love. As we enter into February, we again begin to think of Valentines and love. There is always an occasion to reflect on love, especially God's love and the Love of Christ. The Valentine season is just another way to think about Jesus, for without His Love, where would humanity be? The world seeks a kind of lasting love; but it seems to escape them because it is fickle. But, God's Love is Everlasting. As we explore the Scriptures today regarding love, we are once more reminded of the "Passion" of Christ. He is the greatest Valentine ever delivered to mankind. Scripture tells us that as we try to understand love or perceive just what it is, we are informed: " it is the fact that Jesus laid down His life for us." And saints, we know how hard it is to just try and please someone--but to lay down our life for a wicked and unregenerate individual, well, that is God's kind of Love. In Jesus' final moments with His disciples, He left a "New Commandment"-- "Love one another; as I have loved you! By this all men know ye are My disciples, if ye love one another."  Let us be challenged by Jesus' Love, to show and share His kind of Love--not only to those who are special to us, but to all mankind.

Lord keep us in Your Love  

Pastor's Thoughts

"For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." John 6:33. As we read through the "Red" Words of Jesus, there is so much to take in: His thoughts, His instruction, His correction, His love and patience with humanity. He gave us Words of life and Instruction to live by that would bring Peace to their lives. Yet many did not comprehend who He was. We live in such a day; there is little comprehension as to who Jesus truly is; Yes, the Church worships Him, and the world talks about Him; but He desires so much more involvement with His people. We learn this as we read through His thoughts and instruction in the Book of John. Perhaps John saw something deeper than the rest, a kind of strength that enabled him to follow Jesus to the Cross. Even in Jesus' chosen, the disciples, there was a surface knowledge. Yes, they saw Him feed the thousands, they saw the miracles, but their ears were dull when He spoke of His suffering: Note Mark 8:31 "He began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." The Instruction that followed this discourse was: "If any man come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." His desire is to that we would follow more close to Him. He is our Bread, our nourishment, the source of our strength and our life.

    He is the Bread of Heaven!