TODAY WE JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT GOD LOVES YOU SO-O-O-O MUCH!!! We know that many of you, like us, have encountered … or are presently encountering challenges that seem so huge that you’re not sure what to do or where to turn. Of course, as believers – as God’s kids! – while we may not always know just what to do next, we do know that we can turn to the Lord God Almighty for our answers and our solutions. But it’s what goes on in our hearts and minds during that waiting period that often takes our breath away, knocks the fight out of us, and blinds us from seeing God at work in the bigger picture of our circumstances. Today we just want to remind you of how very much God loves YOU … right at this moment … right in the middle of that seemingly insurmountable struggle. And WE care, too! That’s why we want to pass on this “love letter” from God’s heart to yours today. There’s enough sadness and fear, and lack and sickness, and bad, scary news going around to last our entire life-times … so what we really need to take a hold of … is God’s precious, powerful love for US!!! Let’s see if we can, in our limited human expression, paint just a portion of how wide and deep and high God’s love is – for each of us! First of all, if we ever had any question about God’s love for us, we can dismiss those doubts, because Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” So if He loved us that much when we weren’t even His children and we were breaking His laws and rejecting Him … why would we ever need to doubt His love NOW that we ARE His very own? The very word “demonstrate” means that God proved His love, showed plainly His love. That doesn’t sound like a cheap love, especially since it cost God the very life of His Son, Jesus. It seems like a lavish love. “Lavish” means extravagant … to give abundantly. In His love, He wants us to know who we are, and what is ours. James 1:17 tells us that “every good and perfect gift is from Above.” Sometimes we mistake the gifts He gives us for His love. While all of His blessings and favor are so incredible, they are only an expression of His love. His love is greater than any of His gifts, and because of His love, He longs for us to share in that intimate love relationship with Him. More than receiving His answers, His healing, His guidance, His mercy, His provision, His grace, His peace, His protection, His power … He wants us to receive His everlasting love, His unconditional love, His jealous love. He wants us to experience and live in that kind of love that carries us through a multitude of decisions and discouragement. He longs for us to realize such a love as His that continues on and on without end, that is unconditional. A love like God’s needs nothing that we can give Him or offer Him, but a love like God’s desires our love and fellowship because we are His! A love like God’s infuses our very being with His presence. A love like that makes us ever aware that He is with us, in us, around us, going before us, and guarding us from the rear. A love like God’s spills out, overflows, pursues us, runs to us, and fills us!
We love the eighth chapter of the book of Romans, where we are told “that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Where we are told, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” And where we are reminded that, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So today, know that you are undeniably, irrefutably, fully loved by the God of the Universe!!! Rest and rejoice in that! Be renewed … and respond in that indescribable love!
We love the eighth chapter of the book of Romans, where we are told “that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Where we are told, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” And where we are reminded that, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So today, know that you are undeniably, irrefutably, fully loved by the God of the Universe!!! Rest and rejoice in that! Be renewed … and respond in that indescribable love!
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
- A SPECIAL WELCOME to Mellisa and Aiden who joined us in worship for the first time on Sunday … we loved having you in our midst and we look forward to seeing you again! May God’s blessing be yours!
- OUR SPECIAL THANKS to Jimmy, who provided us with his homegrown, natural grape juice for Communion this past Sunday! And to Laura, Isaac, Merv, Kathy, & Chris, who helped with our KIDZ BLAST in the afternoon as we packed in lots of fun adventure for our younger children and little ones! We had a GREAT time!!!
- MAY GOD BLESS each of you for your continued support of God’s work at Elevation North, including our faithful pastoral partner supporters from out-of-state! Your giving is paying huge dividends in God’s Kingdom! And we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! May God’s favor be yours, is our prayer!
- LOOKING AHEAD . . .
- THIS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11th:
- 10:00 a.m. – WORSHIP & PRAISE – come and experience God’s love ~ and ours!
- 11:15 a.m. – SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES – to help all of us grow in our knowledge of God’s Word!
- TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13th – 6:30-8:00 p.m. – JR/SR HI YOUTH: RE: FUEL … plan on an action-packed evening as we turn our appetites to God’s Word … as we put together several hundred packets for our all-out evangelism blitz coming up … as we report on our YOUTH PIZZA FUNDRAISER … and enjoy treats!
- AND SPEAKING ABOUT THE YOUTH FUNDRAISER … our youth are selling Kwik Trip pizzas to help with the costs of a youth trip event to the Cities, and they will be sharing 10% of their monies to help out with the expenses of our Sunday School curriculum! Let’s help them out!
- JUST AROUND THE CORNER! We are so excited about the Women of Faith Conference, “A GRAND NEW DAY” in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center on October 16-17! It promises to be a blessed weekend for all who attend; check out the link on our church blog for everything you’d like to know about the 2-day event!
- PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES . . .
- What a joy it is to serve a God who hears and answers our prayers, and who is actively involved in our daily lives! We are praying for: a liver transplant, the sale of a house, possible cancer diagnosis, family relationships, upcoming surgery, evangelism outreach, financial provision, jobs, our evangelists and our missionaries, our nation’s leaders and our military personnel, etc., etc. Remember “nothing is too hard for God!” (Jeremiah 32:17b) He is so worthy of our praise! LET’S EXALT AND GLORIFY OUR GOD!
- THIS WEEK – Remember, “We can be assured of this: God, who knows all and sees all, will set all things straight in the end. Even better, He will dry every tear.” (Richard J. Foster) And don’t forget . . . “If you experience God’s love at your lowest, you’ll know it has nothing to do with your condition – and everything to do with God’s amazing grace! (Unknown)
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
