God is LOVE
Love. What is it, how do we do it, what is it not?
Definition of love: A strong feeling of affection and concern toward another person, as that arising from kinship or close friendship.
Bible Passage: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
“Love is kind and patient,
never jealous, boastful,
proud, or rude.
Love isn’t selfish
or quick tempered.
It doesn’t keep a record
of wrongs that others do.
Love rejoices in the truth,
but not in evil.
Love is always supportive,
loyal, hopeful,
and trusting.
Love never fails!”
We have a God who deserves our respect, deserves us following him, because he is omnipotent, he is omnipresent and today I will be talking all about how God is LOVE.
God doesn’t just love. He isn’t just loving. God IS love!
Which person do you know who loves you the most in the whole entire world? I am going to guess that it is someone whom you spend a lot of time with. Someone who looks after you, cooks for you, cleans up after you, plays with you, cuddles you and keeps you safe. Maybe your mum or dad, but maybe it’s a grandparent or someone like that?
I didn’t realise how much my mum and dad did for me until I became a mum. It is the biggest job with the smallest reward there is (a hug maybe) but yet most parents do the job willingly and love it! There are so many things involved in looking after a small human…
I love my kids and so I am happy to do all of those things for them.
Why am I talking about parents and their relationship with their kids? Because God is just like that.
Bible Passage: Luke 13:34
“Jesus says, ‘I have often wanted to gather you, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.’”
Jesus loves us just like our parents love us only better, more thoroughly, more perfectly.
Bible Passage: Matthew 22:37-39
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.”
What do you think?
Do you feel loved when someone cooks you dinner?
Do you feel loved when someone washes your clothes?
Do you feel loved when you are hugged and kissed? When you are given gifts? When you get to watch TV shows together?
Think of a time someone did something for you and you felt really loved; more loved than any other time in your memory.
What did they do? Why did it make you feel so loved and cherished?
Or maybe it wasn’t just one thing, it might be a lot of little things all adding up to feeling loved and cherished.
Bible Passage: 1 John 4:7-12
“My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows that we have been given new life. We are now God’s children, and we know him.God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him. God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other.
No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is truly in our hearts. God has given us his Spirit. That is how we know that we are one with him, just as he is one with us. God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We saw his Son and are now telling others about him. God stays one with everyone who openly says that Jesus is the Son of God. That’s how we stay one with God and are sure that God loves us."
Bible Passage: John 15:12-13
Jesus says, “Now I tell you to love each other, as I have loved you. The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them.”
Bible Passage: Romans 5:6-8
“Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful. No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person.But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful.”
Story Time!
Has anyone ever died for you? Who do you think might die for you if they were able to choose to? Your parents? Grandparents? Aunt? Someone who loves you most likely.
In today's story Anna shares how her dad risked his life to save hers when she was swept off the rocks at the beach when she was young.
God showed his love for us in dying for our sins.
Question Time!
Try to think of something that is more loving than God sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.
Knowing that God is love, how do you feel about God now?
