Sunday 8/30/15 Love (5)

PRAISE THE LORD!! Dear Father in Heaven: Thank You for watching over us this day and for the great church service this morning. Thanks for answering prayers. I love You, dear Lord. Please forgive me of my sins and please help me now with the message and then to get it dispatched. In the name of Jesus, I give thanks and praise. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters, I want to start today by thanking you who have prayed and prayed for our son Matthew. As I don't often use names of people who are new to the line, today I want to welcome our son Matthew to the line. Thank you, son, for joining with us and we will give God all the honor and glory for it. Today our home team lost to Japan, but these kids played great ball. Hold your heads high, guys, you did great. Go Red Land. Now let me get to the message on Love.

Sunday: August 30, 2015: Love (Day Five)

Matthew 22:36 - "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 'This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, I want to start today with a question about love. Are you in love with yourself? What would your answer be? Careful now, the answer is right above you in the scripture. Let me ask the question again. Are you in love with yourself?

My answer to that would be a resounding NO!!! Maybe I worded the question to be like a trick question, for if you look at what Jesus said, it is "Love your neighbor as yourself." To me there is a big difference between loving oneself and being in love with yourself. I think if you are in love with yourself you would be placing yourself above others and maybe that would include even God.

There is no doubt that God should be the number one love of our lives. That is very plain in the very Word of Jesus. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Now  going by the Word of our Lord, if you do not love yourself, how can you love your neighbor? There have been times in my life that I hated what I had done and I am sure a lot of you have at one time or another hated some things you did maybe making you hate yourself for awhile. Well, get over it. Get on your knees and confess your sins to God and get things right with number one and then you can love yourself again. Now again I don't mean be in love with yourself and there is a difference. I am sure we have all seen people who seem to just think they are a tad above others. They would be the ones who I think are "in love with themselves."

Today I watched as a baseball team from Japan and a baseball team from America played a game. Only one team could win and after the game the kids that won and the kids that lost shared hugs. All of these kids had one big thing in common. What might that be, you ask? They are all God's children. You remember this, right? "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world." While I have no idea if any of those children are saved, born again, washed in the blood, not from either side, I do know this, Jesus loves us all. Oh yes, I am still a child of God and He loves me. Now I also ask you this. Who is your neighbor? Jesus is not talking next door or across the street, Jesus is talking all around the world. It is our job to get those children to love Jesus.

In closing tonight, let me ask you this. Do you love Jesus? If not, is today your day? Again, and by now you know, I am closing this way each day. Pray with me, please.

Please, dear Lord, forgive me of my sins and come into my heart. I do believe You died for me and were risen from the grave. Save me, Lord. I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Now go and love your neighbor as yourself, and that is in the Bible.

Love ya. Pastor Dan