LIVERMORE — At the North Livermore Baptist Church Feb.y 13 service, the congregation was welcomed by Pastor Bonnie Higgins at 9:30 a.m. to begin the service. The Call to Worship was read and the Invocation/Lord’s Prayer was recited. The hymns that were sung was “My Savior’s Love”, “Redeemed” and “How Great Thou Art”. The service was concluded with “Go Now in Peace”. Linda Lyman is the organist each week. Lew Lyman leads the music for the congregation each week.
The sermon, titled “God’s Valentine” and reading the scriptures from John 15:12. Pastor Bonnie began telling the congregation about what not to buy for your significant other. The Bible tells us that God actually sent the first Valentine present and that was Jesus Christ over 2000 years ago. Through that first act, God showed His love to us.
Pastor Bonnie said she was having a conversation with God this past week and asked Him what He wanted her to tell us. She said He told her to tell us that He loved us. She reminds us that God throughout the Bible states that He loves us, so we won’t forget it. She went on to explain that God’s love is not new, He loved us before the foundation of the world. God has always loved us. God not only shows us His love by forgiving us of our sins, He also brings us into His family. Christians are heirs to God’s Kingdom and nothing can separate us from God once we are accepted into His family through Jesus Christ. We were separated from God by our sins in our lives. God loves us so much that He wanted to reconcile us with Him by sending His Son, Jesus, to die and rise from the grave so we can have eternal life. We might not be able to fully understand the depth of love that God has for us, but we know that it is always there for us and He gives it to us unconditionally.
This Valentine’s Day, many will buy cards with heartfelt sayings, some will write poems, others will write love letters or even love songs. No matter what we write or compose, nothing will compare to the love God has for each of us. It is God’s nature to be love, love in the purest form, with no restrictions or gimmicks. Just pure love to us. As the love here in this world sometimes fails, God’s love never fails. No matter what, God continues to love, because that is who He is.
Mary and Joseph’s relationship was based on the love, the foundation of God’s perfect love. They trusted God from the beginning to the end. That is what God wants to show us. That His love should be the foundation of our lives. God’s love was shown through His Son, Jesus and as we accept Jesus as our personal Savior, in essence, we are accepting God’s love in our lives. The love that God gives us should flow through each of us in the way we serve Him. There should be nothing that is more important than God’s love to us.
We know that God’s love is unconditionally, because we know that He loved us first. There are no conditions on God’s love for us. Because of God’s love, we want to serve Him. We know that God’s love is unending and never fails, it is limitless. God’s love is from eternity, without a beginning and without an ending. God’s love is unchangeable. He is the same God yesterday, today, and tomorrow. God’s love is also uncompromising. As Jesus hung on the cross with His arms wide open, He was blocking our way to hell as believers. Jesus took the pain and suffering so we wouldn’t have to. Even though it was our sin that sent Jesus to the cross, God still loved us and said we were worth it. That is love in the purest form.
God wants us to all know that His love is available to everyone who reaches out to Him. No matter what we have done in the past, He will forgive us if we confess it to Him and accept His Son, Jesus Christ. God wants you to know that He loves you.
Announcements listed in the bulletin was that the congregation will be collecting Canned Soup for the Food Pantry in the month of February. Bible Study begins at 1 p.m. every Tuesday. If there is snow on the roof, do not park by the side of the church. The AA meetings are held on Friday nights at the church.
For information, check out our website at northlivermorebaptistchurch.org. You can email the church at nlbcmaine@gmail.com. Pastor Bonnie’s office hours are Monday and Tuesday’s from 9 a.m. to noon. When there is no school due to the weather, Pastor Bonnie will not be in the office and all events of that day will be cancelled.
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