MESSAGE SUMMARY:
On this Memorial Day and during these last days of Easter Season, even in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic, we cannot ignore the Agape {Self-Sacrificing} Love (i.e. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends”) of a Risen Jesus and those Veteran men and women lying in Cemeteries across the world. Grieving and remembering these Veterans’ ultimate sacrifices are meet and right so to do. However, it is even more meet and right so to do to give thanks for Jesus’ eternal life-gi...
MESSAGE SUMMARY:
On this Memorial Day and during these last days of Easter Season, even in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic, we cannot ignore the Agape {Self-Sacrificing} Love (i.e. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends”) of a Risen Jesus and those Veteran men and women lying in Cemeteries across the world. Grieving and remembering these Veterans’ ultimate sacrifices are meet and right so to do. However, it is even more meet and right so to do to give thanks for Jesus’ eternal life-giving Agape Love and our Veterans’ earthly Agape Love given for us and our country. In John 15:12-14a, Jesus tells us of the actions that constitute the self-sacrificial Agape Love taken by many of those soldiers interred in these cemeteries: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends . . .”.
We are made in the image of God; therefore, we are supposed to be perfect mirrors of God's Agape Love (i.e. self-sacrificing love). In 1 John 4:16-17, John tells us about God’s Love: “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world." Sin is our failure to act as our God of Agape Love acts -- the opposite of Agape Love is our self-love. Also, in 1 John 4:18-19, John presents us with the fruits of Agape Love, within the context of God’s model for Agape Love: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.".
Today, let us all remember those Veterans who acted with God’s Agape Love and who sacrificed so much for us by giving up their lives.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Today, Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, I will not be driven by Fear. Rather, I will abide in the Lord’s Faithfulness. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV): 1 John 4:18-19; Psalms 51:1-2; Romans 5:2-5; Romans 8:31-39; Psalms 107a:1-11.
THIS SUNDAY’S AUDIO SERMON: You can listen to Archbishop Beach’s Current Sunday Sermon: “In Times of Uncertainty and Fear, Seeking and Hearing God’s Voice Is Critical": at our Website: www.AWFTL.org/listen/.
WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH’S SERMON VIDEO – “In Covid-19 World’s Uncertainty, God Gave You the Holy Spirit as Your Counselor and to Walk With You”: www.AWFTL.org/watch
DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB
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