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God’s love for us is not based on conditions. His love never changes. May we be reminded that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). That is how God demonstrated His love, His unfailing love for each one of us— for you. You may be thinking that God could never love you because of what you have done. God’s love is not based on what you have done but is based on what Jesus did on the cross. One thing in this life you can be guaranteed of is that God’s love is unfailing.
Let me ask you a question; What motivated God to send His Son to go to the cross to redeem us? (insert Jeopardy theme song here!) It was out of His great love for us that God sent His Son. God’s love when coupled with positive action shows how the redemptive love of the Father also is compassionate love for His children. We begin our series in Lent “God’s Love is Shown” by touching base on what is redemptive love and how we as Christians can show compassionate love toward others. We have been saved to love as He loved.
As we have journeyed these last weeks through discovering our dream and keeping focused on the things God has planned for us to do, you may have found that your role has changed, your desires have changed, and your assignments from God have changed. They have moved from your desires to what God desires for you. But there is one thing God fully desires is that we all finish well. Getting to the last lap of a race is not the same thing as completing it! The Bible has a lot to say about perseverance in order to cross the finish line.
God has a purpose for you— and this purpose is unique to you and unlike anyone else’s. Once you understand the uniqueness of you, it will put you well on the way to pursuing the purpose for which you were created. The Apostle Paul encourages the early church to press on toward the goal of the upward call. Are you chasing after your God-given dream? Let us pursue everything God has for each one of us
We’re moving forward with our God-given dream and are focused on Jesus. What else would we need as believers, followers of Christ? Well, it takes a bit of risk. Most of the time when we think about risk, we think it is a negative thing. However, as we will discover this weekend is that there is the Safe Zone or the Faith Zone. If God has given you a dream, do you really think He will let it fail? This is where stepping out with a bit of risk and a whole lot of Faith ought to be how we walk in this world.
So, there’s a dream God has given you or maybe a dream that has been rekindled by last week’s Sermon and Study. Now what? Our next step is to focus on the one main thing in life that will keep us moving forward to obtain it. It sounds simple! Yet, in reality, it rarely comes easily. The push and pull of everyday life make take away some of the excitement we once had. But that’s why we must learn to Remain Focused. Fix our eyes on Jesus and the promise God has given to get us through.
Moving forward is sometimes a bit difficult especially when you’re not sure where to go. That’s when we need to dream God-sized dreams, to “Seize Tomorrow, Today!” As a follower of Jesus, you are called to look ahead and move forward in power, passion, and purpose. The good thing is, God always knows where you are going, and He has promised to never abandon you on your journey.
This Sunday Advent begins. We start it off with a new 4-Week Sermon and Study Series called, The Fullness of Time. Let us take this time to prepare our hearts and homes to once again remember the reason for the season— Jesus Christ come to earth to set the captives free. Isn’t that worth waiting for? We tend to not like to wait. It’s like being a kid waiting for Christmas morning to arrive. Sometimes waiting seems to take so long. We know Jesus was worth the wait. He came and will return. Let our hope, joy, and love grow as we begin this Advent Season.
When you hear the word surrender what does that mean for you? Does it mean giving up on something or does it mean giving it all to God to orchestrate? When we live fully surrendered to God, we trust Him so much so that our finances, our family, our job situation, our home, our car, our everything is given to Him for the benefit and blessing in our lives for us and for others. We gather once again to remember that Jesus is central to all of our daily living.
We begin a new Sermon Series and Study focusing on Understanding the Spiritual Gifts. Did you know you have a gift given to you by the Holy Spirit? If you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, you have a spiritual gift to share with the Body of Christ to build it up in the world. That is how worthy you are to God that He has given something for you to do within the kingdom to help others see the abundant life now.
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WORSHIP GATHERINGS:
Sundays at 9:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. 835 Riverside Avenue Torrington, CT 06790 See our regathering info here PHONE (860) 482-4705 OFFICE EMAIL secretary@firstcong.com GENERAL CHURCH EMAIL fcongrchurch@optonline.net |