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THE LOVE OF GOD
by Pastor Mike Fortune
February 15, 2014
YouTube: Thank You Mom
1. Love is worth more than money (Luke 14:26; 1 Corinthians 13:1-3; Exodus 25:2; 2 Corinthians 8:1-2, 7-8; 2 Corinthians 9:7) Quote; Verse 12. Love trumps prophecy (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) Jeba; Verse 2
3. Love lasts forever (1 Corinthians 13:9-13) Verse 3
Luke 14:26 (ERV)
You must love me more than your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—even more than your own life! (Luke 14:26 ERV)
1 Corinthians 13
1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Exodus 25:2
Tell the people of Israel to bring me their sacred offerings. Accept the contributions from all whose hearts are moved to offer them.
Giving Quote
Financial giving is not God's way of raising money - it's His way of raising children.
2 Corinthians 8:1-2, 7-8
Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us —I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.
2 Corinthians 9:7
You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
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God-like love
by Jeba Moses
*If I am fluent in every lingo represented in the Ohio Conference and the Columbia Union and the NAD and the GC of SDA, but do not have God-like love, I have become a boisterous polyglot or a christened pyrotechnic. If I master the writings of Ellen White, and know, understand, and promote all nuances and intricacies of remnant theology, and am proficient with denominational policies; and if I have unrivaled church growth success, so as to have my physiognomy splashed across denominational media, and dazzle the brethren (never mind the ‘sistren’), but do not have God-like love, I am a zippo. And if I give away all my chattels to ADRA and ACS, and if I sacrifice my body at the altar of the health message, but do not have God-like love, I am just a baptized version of Richard Simmons.
*Godlike love has no strings attached. Godlike love is present in the middle of the storm. It does not give up on renegades; it makes no back room deals; and is not frazzled over disseminated spineless anonymous messages. Godlike love says no to alluring alternatives, it does not walk away, is non-threatening, and does not keep score. It weeps when enemies fall, but rejoices when trusted friends and turncoats do well; it’s agreeable to disagreements without being disagreeable, and personifies grace over the psychosis of the multitudes.
*Godlike love never fails; one day, all media ministries will run out of power; very soon, every ‘we know better’ haughtiness will be crestfallen; before long each church bureaucracy will be leveled. You see, our knowledge of God’s ways and Godlike love are sadly minimal; but when the perfect comes, we hope to be up to speed. As perfect loves permeates us, we no longer act like a kid who had just lost his favorite marbles. For now we read in the Review, battle in the board room, vote at Annual Council, and post on social media, but then face to face; What now? O, we got doctrinal purity, church hierarchy, and God-like love, but the paramount among these is God-like love.