Grace Community Church                                 

 

“God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”  I John 4:16b

 

From the Pastor

Dear Church Family,

As we observe Valentine’s Day in February, our attention and thoughts move toward “love,” our love for our spouse, family, children, friends, and God.  In the book of I John, love is mentioned more than forty times, within 105 verses.  That’s a lot of verses in such a short epistle about love.

With seven words, the apostle John summarized his teachings on this important topic, “We love, because He first loved us.”  We love Him because He first loved us, and we love others because He first loved us.  Love starts and stops with God.  He is the Author.  He created it out of His very nature, and He desires that we share and experience this wonderful gift to humankind.  We are most like God when we love.

The most familiar verse in the Bible is probably John 3:16, but in I John 3:16, the apostle John wrote, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.  And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”  It is interesting that in these two 3:16 verses we find a complementary message: love gives sacrificially.  This love is totally sacrificial and committed to the well-being of another.  This is God’s kind of love, “Agape.”    It is a fruit of the Spirit that indwells believers (Galatians 5:22).  When we look at the fruit of the Spirit in relation to love, it might look like this:  Joy is love enjoying, Peace is love resting, Patience is love waiting, Kindness is love reacting, Goodness is love choosing, Faithfulness is love keeping its word, Gentleness is love being able to empathize, Self-Control is love being in charge.  This kind of love is not something we can work up on our own; it is an outflow of the Holy Spirit.

Think about this, you and I were created so that God could express His love to us and  we  could  respond with  love.  How awesome is that!  God expresses to us His love through His creation.  All that He has created reveals to us His divine nature of love and blessing for us to enjoy.  God expresses His love to us by providing a way through His Son, Jesus Christ to be a part of His family (Titus 3:4-7).  God expressed His love in sending the Holy Spirit to live within believers.  He did not just love us; He empowered us to love Him and others!  God expresses His love by engineering our circumstances for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).  God expresses His love toward us in being intensely involved in our lives.  God expresses His love toward us by providing heaven (John 14:1-6).  God expresses His love toward us by His uninterrupted presence in our lives (Hebrews 13:5).  He will never leave you nor forsake you, He is faithful.

As we move into February, may I challenge us with the words of the song, “Think About His Love;”  “Think about His love, think about His goodness, think about His grace that’s brought us through. For as high as the heavens above so great is the measure of our Father’s love, so great is the measure of our Father’s love.”  God has loved us with an everlasting love; may His love control us in all that we do, that we should no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who loved us first.

Think About His Love,

Pastor Kirk

 

Grace News  

The Who & What of the Holy Spirit

“The Who & What of the Holy Spirit” is the title of a series we are going through in the Sunday morning service.  We will uncover the ministry of God’s Spirit in God’s people and the world and help identify the Spirit’s gifting in believers.

 

 

The Men’s Bible Study group meet on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m.  Men, bring your Bible and a friend.  Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

 

 

Women’s Conference - Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. God loves you more than you ever dreamed possible. Real life stories to inspire and encourage. This one day video conference will give you the opportunity to:  Renew    Recharge    Reconnect    Relax.  Free Admission.  A salad luncheon will be served.  Childcare for ages 5 and under by reservation only.  Hosted by Grace Community Church, 500 Ross Blvd., Dodge City, Kansas.  RSVP to Grace Community Church (620) 225-5033 or Debbie Fry (620) 225-3432

 

 

Women's Bible Studies - Ladies, don’t miss our continuing study of The Amazing Collection - The Bible, Book by Book held on Mondays at 7:00 p.m. and Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m.

 

 

Kids ages Kindergarten through Fifth grade will not want to miss this exciting adventure.   “My Jungle Adventure” – Walking with Christ and Growing Good Fruit, is held on Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m.  See the sign up sheet in the foyer to bring refreshments.

 

 

 

 

 

      

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

  To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.”

II Peter 3:18