Mike Pennington - December 30, 2018
YOUR HEARTS 3 GREAT QUESTIONS...
Your Heart’s 3 Greatest Questions 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:7-12 1. Am I Loved? Am I Loved? The Baptism of Jesus 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Henri Nouwen shares that God declares the reality that we are God’s Beloved. And then we spend a lifetime “becoming” the Beloved. “Yes, there is that voice, the voice that speaks from above and from within and that whispers softly or declares loudly: “You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests.” It certainly is not easy to hear that voice in a world filled with voices that shout: You are no good, you are ugly; you are worthless; you are despicable, you are nobody—unless you can demonstrate the opposite.” “For me, God is the one who calls me the Beloved, and I have a desire to express to others how I try to become more fully who I already am.” ― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved Silence. Solitude. Stillness – We encounter God here! Jesus blessed the children. Imagine sitting in his lap and hearing him say, I love you! Read and reread this story. Be with people who recognize and speak our belovedness Learn to hear God’s voice - Reading Scriptures 2. Am I safe? I Feel Unsafe when . . . I am judged I am condemned You try to fix me 3. Do I belong? 1. Am I loved? 2. Am I safe? 3. Do I belong? Join God on the Journey!
From Series: "Stand Alone Sermons"
In between series, or sometimes in the midst of series, God will prompt a message that we feel needs to be given. This is a collection of those talks, not associated with a series.