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North English Statement of Purpose: |
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Sunday School - 9:30 a.m.
Church Services - 10:30 a.m.
“How Do You Spell Love?”
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 1 John 3:16
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10
“Love” is a funny word, if you think about it. While some languages have multiple words for expressing what Webster’s gives at least 20 different definitions for, we English-speakers are left with just the one word to try and encompass them all! Thus, we can “love” our chocolate, our favorite jeans, a long-running TV show, and our spouse or children with the same word…but definitely (hopefully) not the same meaning!
So just what is love? With February 14 being a kind of celebration of love, it seems pretty important that we should understand what we’re talking about! Is it affection, preference, desire, delight, passion, concern, enthusiasm…none of the above…all of the above?
The Bible makes crystal clear just what love is – sacrificing our own personal desires for the benefit of others…and not because someone makes us do it, but because we want to. There’s no question that we know this when we see it, but there’s also no question that this is usually harder to do than to observe!
So if it is that tough to do real love, what on earth would ever compel us to do so? The answer? Nothing…nothing on earth would. Only an understanding of what Jesus Christ did for us as the Son of God, sent from heaven, will ever stir us to do likewise. We can know what love is because Jesus showed us, by laying His personal preferences aside, so that we might enjoy the benefits of His supreme sacrifice. While we’ll probably never be called upon actually to die for someone as He did, we can choose to love by putting others first at every opportunity, even when it’s not our first choice. Now that’s real love, spelled S-A-C-R-I-F-I-C-E!
You, the people who call NECC “home,” have done an outstanding job of allowing God to pour out His love through you, and you are to be commended…BUT, don’t get comfortable! I am confident that there will be opportunities ahead of us to continue this pouring out… opportunities we can’t even imagine (with blessings we can’t imagine, either!).
Let’s make sure that we constantly remind one another of what real love looks like, so that all those around will know the truth of this fact: Jesus Christ loves them…and by His grace, so do we! I look forward to continuing to love this community together, as Jesus does! See you on Sunday…
– Pastor Kirk
