[0:00] Good morning. Welcome to Bethel Christian Church on this rainy day.! So all the offering today will be going toward paying on the loan, the building loan.
[0:40] Vacation Bible School, coming up quick, June 7th through 11th, 6.30 to 9 p.m. And again, I'm sure there's help that's needed still.
[0:52] So if you're willing and able, please sign up or see someone in charge. And of course, as Chris has mentioned in the past, cookies. We eat lots of cookies, so we'll need lots of cookies to eat.
[1:06] So if you like to bake, make sure that you do that, and we'll eat them the best we can. Yeah, it'll be hard to do, but we'll manage.
[1:20] Lisa, I believe you have an announcement? Thank you. One other announcement. The prayer shawl ministry will be meeting tomorrow, June 1st, 6.30 p.m.
[1:36] Anything I've missed? If not, I would like to read Psalm 91. First couple of verses.
[1:48] He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.
[1:58] And if you would stand with me, we'll have a word of prayer and then a time of greeting. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day that you've given to us.
[2:10] And we thank you for this place we have to come and worship you. Father, we just ask that you'd be with us during this service. All that is said, we pray we'll honor you.
[2:23] Just be with Pastor Chris. He delivers a sermon. And we just thank you so much for the gift that you've given to us through Jesus Christ. His shed blood and forgiveness of sin that we have through that.
[2:35] And the promise of heaven. The gift that you've given to us. And Father, we just again, just in all things, we praise you for what you've done for our lives.
[2:46] In Christ's name I pray. Amen. Let's have a time of greeting. Good morning, everyone. Good morning, everyone. Please make your way back to your seats.
[3:04] Turn to page 11 in your hymnal. Page 11 in the hymnal. Come thy fount of every blessing. Come thy fount of every blessing.
[3:21] Tune my heart to sing thy praise. Streams of mercy never ceasing. Call for songs of loudest praise.
[3:34] Teach me some melody and sonnet. Sun by flaming tongues above. Praise his name.
[3:46] I'm fixed upon it. Name of God's redeeming love. Hither to thy love has blessed me.
[3:58] Thou has brought me to this place. And I know thy hand will bring me safely home by thy good grace.
[4:11] Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God. He to rescue me from danger, bought with me his precious blood.
[4:29] Oh, to grace, how great a debtor. Daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness, like a fetter, find me a wonder.
[4:45] Heart to thee. Prone to mom, dad, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.
[4:56] Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. And 786.
[5:09] 786. Count your blessings. When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed, When you are discouraged thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings.
[5:36] Name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. Count your blessings.
[5:48] Name them one by one. Count your blessings. See what God has done. Count your blessings.
[6:00] Name them one by one. Count your many blessings. See what God has done. Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
[6:16] Does the cross seem heavy? You are called to bear. Count your many blessings. Every dove will fly.
[6:28] And you will be singing as the days go by. Count your blessings. Name them one by one.
[6:39] Count your blessings. See what God has done. Count your blessings. Name them one by one.
[6:52] Count your many blessings. See what God has done. When you look at others with their lands and gold.
[7:04] Think that Christ has promised Jesus. There is wealth untold. Count your many blessings. Many blessings money cannot buy.
[7:14] You are rewarded in heaven or your home on high. Count your blessings. Name them one by one.
[7:26] Count your blessings. See what God has done. Count your blessings. Name them one by one.
[7:39] Count your many blessings. See what God has done. So amid the conflict, whether great or small.
[7:51] Do not be discouraged. God is over all. Count your many blessings. Angels will attend.
[8:02] Help and comfort. Help and comfort give you to your journey's end. Count your blessings. Name them one by one.
[8:13] Count your blessings. See what God has done. Count your blessings. Name them one by one.
[8:25] Count your many blessings. See what God has done. Thank you. You may be seated. Well, good morning.
[8:38] Good morning. You know, that song, I think, is a very instructional song, because it instructs us to count our blessings. You know, to take some time now and then, just to really start thinking about all the blessings that we have in our lives.
[8:49] And you know, when we do that, we begin to understand and realize that it is, in reality, a pretty long list of blessings that we have, isn't it? Isn't it?
[8:59] Amen. All right. At least I think it is. I don't know about the rest of you this morning. We have many blessings that God has given us, and we need to remember to thank Him and praise Him for it. One of those blessings is that we do serve a God that we can go to in prayer.
[9:12] We can take our requests and our heartaches, our hurts, our concerns, we can take all of them to Him, and give them to Him in prayer. So this morning, what prayer requests do you have? What things are on your heart that you'd like us to lift up in prayer this morning?
[9:24] Amy, to the Father in prayer, and take these to our God. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you again for this morning that you've given us. And Lord, just keep us just mindful of the fact that this is an opportunity we have to come to your house.
[9:39] Help us to remember that it's not out of obligation, but it's an opportunity we have to serve you, to thank you, to worship and praise you. And help us to do that this morning with all of our hearts.
[9:52] And Lord, this morning, just to think about the fact that you're a God that loves us to the extent that you care and you're concerned about the things that go on in our lives on a daily basis.
[10:03] That the hurts and heartaches, the concerns and the worries that we face, that you're a God that is concerned. And you're a God that tells us in your word that we can bring these things to you and leave them at your feet.
[10:16] That we don't have to carry these burdens around. And I thank you for that knowledge. So this morning, Lord, we just want to lift up these that have been mentioned. Lord, we just pray for the ones that need a physical touch, that have health concerns.
[10:28] We think of Amber Grant this morning. Lord, we just pray that you'd be close to her. For Tim Valeria, who had fallen. And Lord, we just pray that his body would continue to mend and to heal.
[10:39] Lord, we pray for Carl and Helen as he recovers from his stroke and as she recovers. And Lord, just be with them both. And as she's in the nursing home, Lord, we just pray that your presence would be felt in their lives.
[10:52] Lord, we pray for Dave, who is involved with hospice. And Lord, we just pray that you would be close to him. Lord, this morning we lift up Jim and Paul for health concerns. We pray for Dorcas for healing.
[11:04] For April as she has surgery coming up on Friday. We just pray that that surgery would go well. We pray for her dad, Stan, as he has an oncology appointment. We just pray for a good appointment for him.
[11:16] For April's mom, Sandy, as she recovers. And Lord, for Jeff that was mentioned that has an appointment tomorrow. Lord, we just pray that you would be with each one of these that just needs a physical touch.
[11:28] And we know that you're God of healing. So we just pray that you'd work in their lives. Lord, we pray for those families that have experienced loss. Lord, we know that while we're here on this earth that our lives are temporary.
[11:39] And yet when it comes time to part with someone that we love, that parting is a difficult thing. So, Lord, you promise us in your word that you'll give us one who can comfort us. That you'll wrap your arms around us.
[11:51] So, Lord, we just pray for the noble family, for the Hornish family, the Mansfield and the Bidlack family. Lord, we just pray that they would feel your spirit and your presence in their hearts and in their lives.
[12:02] And that you would give them the strength that they need. Lord, this morning we pray for Jennifer that was mentioned that just needs your help and assistance in her life. And, Lord, we pray that you would grant that.
[12:13] For those that are traveling. For Dan and his wife. For Ray and Cindy. For Claudia. For Hannah as she's overseas. Any others that are traveling. Lord, we just pray that you'd be close to them and watch over them.
[12:25] Keep them safe. Lord, we pray for those that are dealing with the results of the flooding. Lord, we just, I know that there's been a loss of life. And we pray that you'd comfort those families.
[12:37] But a lot of hardship, Lord, for many. And we just pray that you'd meet their needs. For Taylor that has the interview. Lord, we just pray that that interview would go well. And just open the doors that you want to be open.
[12:49] Lord, I pray for Leah Brockhoff this morning as she's in China. And being a missionary for you. And sharing and spreading your word. I pray that you'd bless her. Her ministry there and her efforts there.
[13:00] Keep her safe as well. Lord, for the unspoken prayer requests. Again, you know them. You know exactly what they are. You know everything about them. And we just put them in your hands. And we know that you already know what's best in each situation.
[13:13] In all these things, Lord, we have our own wants. We have our own desires. Things that we want to see happen. To give us a faith just to be able to say, Not our will, but yours. To turn it over to you and to leave it with you.
[13:25] And ask for your will to be done. So thank you, Lord, for what you've done. We thank you for what you're going to do in the future. And we ask and pray all of these things in the name of Jesus Christ.
[13:36] And all of God's people said, Amen. I encourage you just to continue to pray for each and every one of these things. And we need to be fervent in our prayers for each other.
[13:47] Thank you. Oh. Please stand. Take your hymnals and turn to 572, please. 572. Okay. Okay. Okay.
[13:58] Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.
[14:11] Oh, what a heart taste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God.
[14:24] Born of his spirit, washed in his blood. This is my story, this is my song.
[14:36] Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song.
[14:48] Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight.
[15:01] Visions of rapture, of burst on my sight. Angels descending, bring from above.
[15:13] Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story, this is my song.
[15:25] Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song.
[15:37] Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, always at rest.
[15:50] I am my Savior, I am happy and blessed. Watching and waiting, looking above.
[16:02] Filled with his goodness, lost in his love. This is my story, this is my song.
[16:15] Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song.
[16:28] Praising my Savior all the day long. Thank you, you can be seated. Well, I hope that is your story and you're sticking to it.
[16:45] Yeah. So, what do we have to praise God about this morning? Janet. Father, we're reminded every single day of your goodness to us.
[16:58] I just pray that we'll respond. And not just be sponges that soak it in and don't give back.
[17:10] Give back of our time. Give back of our talents and our finances. And as we collect this offering today, thank you for helping us with wisdom and knowing the good things to do about paying down the debt.
[17:29] Because you know, in your word, it talks a lot about debt. And we thank you for that. And just pray that you bless those that give, especially those that give with a cheerful heart.
[17:43] And we thank you for being the prime example of that. Your greatest gift that we could never pay back. In Jesus name. Amen.
[17:54] Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below.
[18:08] Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
[18:22] Amen. You can be seated this morning.
[18:36] Good to see each one of you out this morning. I would tell you that you look awake and raring to go. But you look a little tired. So it's either the rainy day or you just plain did too much this weekend.
[18:51] Or week. But we're here. And God's presence is here. And that's what's important. And I pray that you're ready to hear God's word and focus on Him and His relationship with you.
[19:03] So this morning, if you have your Bibles, I'm going to have you turn to a scripture that most of you, I'm sure, are quite familiar with. It's 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Which is the what chapter? The love chapter.
[19:15] The chapter that talks about love. That gives not just a description of love, but the description of love. Really, the one and only true description because it comes from God who is love, who knows all about love.
[19:28] We hear a lot of things. You can read a lot of articles about love in our world today. But, folks, I want you to know that this chapter is the final authority on the subject. We're just going to look at, this morning, the first three verses.
[19:40] And these first three verses don't so much talk about exactly what love is or isn't, but talks about the importance of love in our lives as believers and as Christians.
[19:51] And I want you to know this morning that love in your life is of the very most importance that you can imagine. And these verses just remind us of that and confirm that.
[20:02] Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. First three verses. This is what God's Word shares. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I am become as a sounding bronze or a tinkling cymbal.
[20:19] And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not love, I am nothing.
[20:32] And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.
[20:43] And then I want you to look at the very last verse in this chapter, verse 13. And now abideth faith, hope, and love. These three.
[20:54] But the greatest of these is love. Let's pray. Lord God, again, I thank you for your Word. I thank you for the truth, for the wisdom that it contains. And Lord, I just pray as we look at your Word this morning that you will just help it to make an impression on our hearts and on our minds.
[21:11] Help us to really consider how this applies to our lives. Whether we're living out and following your Word in the way that we should. Whether our lives are reflecting your Word in the way that they should. So just help us, Lord, to focus on you and your message for us this morning.
[21:25] And we ask and pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Our spiritual life is the most important part of who we are as believers, as we spend our short lives here on this earth.
[21:39] Our spiritual life should be the key, should be the focus, should be what it's all about. And when you think about the question, how is your spiritual life doing? What comes to mind?
[21:50] How do you begin to judge how is your spiritual life? How would you begin to kind of categorize some of the things you need to go through to really evaluate how your spiritual life is doing?
[22:01] Some of the things I wrote down that maybe would be the first things that come to a person's mind if they were asked the question, how is your spiritual life? Some of the things that often come to our mind are, first of all, we think, well, how is my prayer life?
[22:14] You know, how am I doing spending time in prayer and talking with God? And we might use that as a kind of evaluation for how is my spiritual life? We might think about reading God's Word.
[22:25] How am I doing at reading God's Word, at studying it on a daily basis, of really thinking about it as I go through my day-to-day life? How am I doing in that area? We may think about our church involvement.
[22:37] Am I as involved with the family of God? Am I involved with the church in the ways that I should be? We can think about all those things as we think about how our spiritual life is doing.
[22:48] But I really don't think that those are good indicators. Because those are really tools for our spiritual life. Prayer, reading God's Word, church involvement.
[23:00] Those are the tools that we use. Because I believe that after we accept Christ, what it really becomes about is becoming more loving in our lives.
[23:12] And I'm going to share why I believe that. Because I think it's biblical as we look at these verses. But, am I becoming more loving? Is really the question that I want you to think about in your minds and in your hearts this morning.
[23:25] Because look at the list that it gives us. Even as we look at the first verse. Because it talks about in these first verses some great things spiritually that we might think, Boy, if you've got that, you've got it. You've got that, you're set.
[23:37] Look at what it says in the first verse. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels. Does that sound pretty good? Speaking with the tongues, not just of men, which is a great thing.
[23:49] Speaking in a way that people can understand and grow. But it says the tongues of angels. Does that sound like a pretty amazing and wonderful spiritual gift and spiritual thing that you could claim and be able to do?
[24:01] Does that sound great? Would you agree? It sounds wonderful. But look at what it says after that. And have not love.
[24:13] Even if you could do that, but if you don't have love. I am become as a sounding bronze or a tinkling cymbal. When you hear that, sounding bronze or tinkling cymbal, what comes to your mind?
[24:29] Noise. Really a tinkling cymbal? Or when I hear a sounding bronze, I'm getting old. I think of the gong show. Any of you remember that?
[24:42] You know, if the act wasn't any good, they'd hit the big gong and they were off the stage. That's a sounding bronze. Or you hear a tinkling cymbal. It's just a little tiny noise that's made.
[24:53] Not that if you play those things, it's bad. This is probably all I'd be capable of playing. But they're just a noise. They can't really carry a melody or a tune. They're just a noise that's made.
[25:05] Even though you had the ability to speak with the tongues of men and angels, but if you don't have love, that's really all you're accomplishing. But look at what it says.
[25:16] It doesn't just say that you are a sounding bronze or tinkling cymbal. Excuse me. It says you become a sounding bronze or a tinkling cymbal.
[25:29] I think that the way that it puts it there, that little word in there, become, is important. That that's what you become. It's not what you are overnight, but it's what you become over time.
[25:42] Because the reality is we are all becoming something in our lives. Do you understand that this morning? We are all becoming something on a day-to-day basis.
[25:54] We're on our way to becoming something different than what we are right now. You know, and you think of examples of that. You know, little children. We know they're on their way to becoming something more, aren't they?
[26:07] You ask a little child, what do you want to become when you're older? What do you want to be when you're older? You get all kinds of answers, don't you? What they want to grow into as they get older.
[26:18] When I was studying for this, I kind of got a chuckle this week because I was thinking about a preschooler that I was talking with a couple weeks ago. And I happened to ask them the question, what do you want to become?
[26:29] What do you want to be? You know, usually you get answers like police officer, fireman, those kind of answers. I asked this little guy, what do you want to be when you get older?
[26:41] And you always want to encourage them in what they want to be, right? I wasn't sure on this one. What do you want to be? I want to grow up and be a dinosaur. I hated to tell him, I don't think you can get there from here.
[26:56] I don't think that one's going to happen. But the reality is we are all becoming something. Our day-to-day choices, our day-to-day decisions have a cumulative effect to kind of make us into something more.
[27:11] And the question is, are we happy with who we are becoming? Are we becoming the people that God wants us to become? That's really the question. Are we becoming the loving people that God wants us to become?
[27:26] You see, as we spend our times here on this earth, as we go in our day-to-day lives, we get molded into something. And it's very easy to, over time, become molded into something that you really never intended to be in the first place.
[27:40] I remember a movie that was out quite a few years ago, Grumpy Old Men. I don't know if I ever even saw it, but I remember seeing advertisements for it. Grumpy Old Men.
[27:51] You know what the movie was about, from my understanding? Grumpy Old Men. Not a complicated thing to figure out. We can become that, can't we?
[28:03] Well, women can become grumpy old women. But we can become that in our lives, can't we? Can't we? You ever known anybody like that?
[28:14] Or anybody that had a reputation for that? Oh, he's just a grumpy old guy. Or she's just a grumpy old woman. Do you think that they set out to become that?
[28:25] Think about that, seriously. Just think about that question. Do you think they set out, when they were in their 20s, to say, I want to grow up to be a grumpy old man? I want to grow up to be a grumpy old woman and just be mean and nasty to everybody that comes around.
[28:39] They didn't intend that. They didn't set out to become that. But somewhere along the way, the decisions, the way they handled things, the way they looked at things, and sometimes that's even Christian folks, aren't immune from that.
[28:54] But the choices they made and the attitudes that they had, that's what they eventually became. And folks, that's not what God wants us to become. But we are all becoming something.
[29:06] Here it says, if we don't have love, we just become as a sounding bronze or a tinkling cymbal. We can become just noise, just bitter, just angry, just not useful for what God wants of us.
[29:20] Look at what it says in the next verse. It again lists some great things spiritually that we can think would be the pinnacle of where we want to be as Christians. But look what it says. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and have all faith, so that I could remove mountains.
[29:40] Again, isn't that list an amazing, spectacular list? I mean, the gift of prophecy. That's the ability to share what's going to happen in the future.
[29:51] That's pretty amazing, isn't it? And understand all mysteries and have all knowledge. I mean, none of us are there, are we? But if you were, wouldn't that be pretty spectacular?
[30:04] I would sit down and let you come up here and teach. And then after that, and have all faith so that I could remove mountains. Faith enough to move mountains.
[30:16] If somebody were to do that, we would think automatically that spiritually they had everything where it needs to be, wouldn't we? Folks, that's not the case. Because it says that it's possible that even if you could do all these things, and you didn't have love, where does it leave you?
[30:34] I mean, if we're talking about how we're really doing in our spiritual lives, where does it leave you? Even if you could do those great things, it says, but have not love, I am nothing.
[30:47] Nothing. Nothing. I don't know how any, it can state it any clearly, any more clearly than what it does. Though without love, we're nothing.
[31:00] Spiritually. It's all in vain if the love is not there. You know, we've been studying on Wednesday nights in Bible study from 1 John.
[31:11] It talks all about love. I want you to look at one verse that's in 1 John. So, turn to 1 John. Chapter 4. Because I think this helps us to understand why it can say that we can do all these things, and yet if we don't have love, we're nothing.
[31:28] 1 John 4, verse 8. You've probably heard this verse before as well. But again, there are verses in God's Word that we can read and kind of wonder what they really mean.
[31:40] And then there are the verses in God's Word that we read and they're as plain and blunt as you can put it, and there's no question about what it means. This is one of those verses that is as plain and blunt and obvious and clear cut as you can possibly get.
[31:55] 1 John 4, verse 8. He that loveth not knoweth not God. For God is love.
[32:07] Do you think it could be any more crystal clear than that? I'm not sure how it could. He that loveth not doesn't know God. The person that doesn't have love and show love in their life doesn't really know what God is, doesn't really have that kind of relationship with God because it says God is love.
[32:29] So if we really have that relationship with God and understand God and understand His love, then one of the natural results of that is going to be love in our life. And love that doesn't just stay within us, but love that comes out of us and shows in our interactions with other people.
[32:45] And again, that's something that we're to become more and more as we go through life. The third verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 continues enlisting some amazing spiritual accomplishments, or what we would think of as amazing spiritual accomplishments.
[33:03] And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor. Let's just stop there for a minute. Any of you ready to do that? No takers?
[33:14] Even if you were to sell everything you had, and give it all to feed the poor. You know, I look at that, that'd be a pretty spectacular sacrifice, wouldn't it?
[33:25] But it says you can do all that, even if you gave your body to be burned, gave your life itself. But if you have not love, yet profiteth me, what?
[33:38] Nothing. Again, that word, nothing. It doesn't say it profiteth me just a little bit, or not as much as it could. It says it profiteth me nothing.
[33:52] Nothing. That means that we won't reach our goal. That we won't get our goal or our prize without that love being present.
[34:04] And spiritually, as we think about our spiritual lives, I have a question for you. What is our goal? Seeing face to face?
[34:17] Seeing face to face? I want you to think a little bit. Because when we think about our goal as Christians, I think so often we think about heaven as our goal.
[34:32] That's where we want to all end up. But heaven isn't really our goal. Heaven is our prize. Heaven is our reward. What is our goal? What is our goal?
[34:43] What is our goal? What is our goal supposed to be? It's just like if you were talking about, some of you just graduated from high school. Twelve years of schooling. In that twelve years of schooling, that twelve years of education, what's the goal?
[35:03] I've heard a couple of answers. If you said the goal is to graduate, wrong! Sorry to tell you you're wrong. I kind of enjoyed that.
[35:14] That's not the goal. The goal is not to graduate. The goal is to learn, isn't it? Isn't that the goal of twelve years of education?
[35:26] Isn't it? That's the goal. What's to graduate? Well, that's kind of the reward. That's kind of the prize at the end.
[35:37] They're two different things. The real goal is to learn the information that the school wanted you to learn. In our spiritual lives, as we think about our goal, what is our goal?
[35:54] I believe our goal, our reward and our prize is heaven. But our goal, while we're here on this earth, is to become more and more like Jesus.
[36:07] To become more and more like Him. Folks, that's our goal. That's what we are to strive for. It says that Christ, when He was on this earth, was our what?
[36:21] Example. To follow. It talks about the fact that we're to follow in His step. It talks about the fact that we're to have the mind of Christ.
[36:32] In other words, we're to become more and more like Him. We are to become more and more like our Heavenly Father. Do you believe that this morning?
[36:43] And if our Heavenly Father, if it says, God is love, and we want to become more and more like Him, what should really be our goal? To become more and more, to have more and more what?
[36:55] Love. In our lives. That shows. I mean, let's not be mistaken. The first and the most important thing is to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior.
[37:06] Without it, don't even think about going beyond that. That's the first step. If someone hasn't done that, there's no way they can accomplish having the kind of love that God wants them to have. But once you've accepted Christ, your goal is to become more like Him.
[37:20] And folks, it's all about having more and more love present in your life. Because it says that's what God is. Folks, the question this morning is, what are you becoming in your life?
[37:36] Are you becoming a person that shows more and more love as the days and years go by? Or are you becoming a person that gets more and more jaded and more and more bitter and more and more angry and more and more skeptical?
[37:51] Kind of go down one of those two paths. Are you becoming the person of love that God wants you to be? Love is mentioned over and over and over in God's Word.
[38:04] If you want to hear more about it, come to Wednesday Night Bible Studies, 1 John. We're going to talk about love more and more. You can't read God's Word without getting away from the fact that our God is a God of love.
[38:15] He's also a God of judgment and a God of justice. And it says He is love. What are you becoming, folks? You know, the last verse that we read, the last verse in chapter 13, verse 13, look again at what it says.
[38:33] And now abideth faith, hope, and love. These three. Those are three, in and of themselves, three pretty spectacular things.
[38:46] We think of faith and how important and how vital that is in our lives. We think of hope. Without hope, where are you left? But it includes love in this list.
[38:58] And what does it say is the greatest of these? Greater even, according to this, greater even than faith and hope is love.
[39:11] It's love. Folks, that should be what sets us apart from the rest of the world, shouldn't it? That should be what sets Christ's church apart from the rest of the world.
[39:24] That we should love each other like nowhere else. I'm not talking just here at Bethel, but I'm talking God's church across the globe. Love should be so evident in His church.
[39:37] It should be so evident in our lives. And God's Word talks about the power of love. Love covers a multitude of sins, or offenses, it says in Proverbs. That means even when somebody offends you, guess what?
[39:50] That love within you should be powerful enough and strong enough to overcome that. That's the kind of love we're to have. For each other, towards the world.
[40:03] Are you becoming more and more like that? That's the question I just want to leave you with this moment. What's your level of love? Because that's really the greatest spiritual indicator we can find, according to this chapter in God's Word.
[40:16] How's the love in your heart and in your life? I pray that we make it a priority. That we pray that we become more and more like Christ. That we love more and more as the days and years go by.
[40:29] That our heart, instead of getting harder as we get older, gets softer. That needs to be our prayer. Let's bow our heads as we pray. Lord God, I just thank you for this morning and I thank you for your Word.
[40:43] I thank you for the challenges that it gives us. And Lord, this is part of our challenge as believers, to become more and more like you. It's to be our goal. And Lord, I pray that we would take that goal seriously and understand what a tremendous role love plays in that.
[40:57] As we've read this morning. All the wonderful spiritual things that can be accomplished, and yet if love isn't a part of them, it's nothing. Lord, we're to become more and more like you, and it says that you are love.
[41:10] So Lord, that's to be such a tremendous and huge part of our lives. So I pray this morning, Lord, that we would take time to consider whether we're becoming the people of love that you want us to be. Lord, I pray that we would ask that question, not just this morning, but each and every day of our lives.
[41:26] Lord, knowing that it will affect our relationship with our friends, our neighbors, our spouses, the people around us in church. It will affect it all.
[41:38] So Lord, just work in our hearts to accomplish what you want to accomplish. And we ask and pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Take your hymnal and turn to page 644.
[41:53] 644, the greatest thing. Come and pray. Come and pray. Come and pray. Come and pray.
[42:06] Come and pray. Come and pray. Come and pray. Come and pray.
[42:19] Come and pray. All my life is knowing you. I want to know you more.
[42:38] I want to know you more. The greatest thing in all my life is knowing you.
[42:58] The greatest thing in all my life is loving you.
[43:09] The greatest thing in all my life is loving you.
[43:23] I want to love you more. I want to love you more.
[43:35] The greatest thing in all my life is loving you.
[43:49] Greatest thing in all my life is loving you.
[44:00] The greatest thing in all my life is loving you.
[44:12] I want to love you more. I want to serve you more. I want to serve you more.
[44:26] The greatest thing in all my life is loving you.
[44:39] I want to serve you more. I want to serve you more. With a love that's beyond all our understanding, anything we can imagine. God's love is tremendous towards us, but we need to take that love and share it with others.
[44:53] Let's bow our heads and we'll pray that God would help each one of us to do that as we go through this week. Lord God, we again just thank you for this morning. And Lord, we just pray that as we go through this coming week, that as we know and experience your love, that we would show it and share it with others around us.
[45:09] Help us to be faithful in that and understand the real measure of our spiritual life that that is. So watch over us as we leave this place and help us to become the people that you want us to become. And we ask and pray these things in Christ's name.
[45:22] Amen. God bless you and have a wonderful week. Amen.