God's love is flooding our heart

Sunday 10/13/19

Series: Walking the Talk

Message – God’s love is flooding our heart

Podcast: Download ()

Our apologies in advance!

Not the way to start a great post but, this recording was done in a closed in area which provided a fair amount of echo.

Also, there was very little time this week to compile notes, so this accompanying post is rather bare-bones, mostly offering the scriptures used in the appropriate translation so you can follow along.

Jude

“20 But you, dear friends, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. 22 Have mercy on some who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; on others have mercy in fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. 24 Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now, and forever. Amen.”

Rom. 5:1-

“1 Standing then acquitted as the result of faith, let us enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also, as the result of faith, we have obtained an introduction into that state of favour with God in which we stand, and we exult in hope of some day sharing in God’s glory. 3 And not only so: we also exult in our sufferings, knowing as we do, that suffering produces fortitude; 4 fortitude, ripeness of character; and ripeness of character, hope; 5 and that this hope never disappoints, because God’s love for us floods our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For already, while we were still helpless, Christ at the right moment died for the ungodly. 7 Why, it is scarcely conceivable that any one would die for a simply just man, although for a good and lovable man perhaps some one, here and there, will have the courage even to lay down his life. 8 But God gives proof of His love to us in Christ’s dying for us while we were still sinners. 9 If therefore we have now been pronounced free from guilt through His blood, much more shall we be delivered from God’s anger through Him. 10 For if while we were hostile to God we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, it is still more certain that now that we are reconciled, we shall obtain salvation through Christ’s life. 11 And not only so, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now obtained that reconciliation.”

1 Jn 4:7

“7 Dear friends, let us love one another; for love has its origin in God, and every one who loves has become a child of God and is beginning to know God.

8 He who is destitute of love has never had any knowledge of God; because God is love. 9 God’s love for us has been manifested in that He has sent His only Son into the world so that we may have Life through Him. 10 This is love indeed–we did not love God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever yet seen God. If we love one another, God continues in union with us, and His love in all its perfection is in our hearts. 13 We can know that we are continuing in union with Him and that He is continuing in union with us, by the fact that He has given us a portion of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God–God continues in union with him, and he continues in union with God. 16 And, as for us, we know the love which God has for us, and we confide in it. God is love, and he who continues to love continues in union with God, and God continues in union with him. 17 Our love will be manifested in all its perfection by our having complete confidence on the day of the Judgement; because just what He is, we also are in the world. 18 Love has in it no element of fear; but perfect love drives away fear, because fear involves pain, and if a man gives way to fear, there is something imperfect in his love. 19 We love because God first loved us.”

The Holy Spirit is within us flooding our hearts with an awareness of God’s love for us. It is because of this love, in our awareness of, belief in and surrender to it that we love God which results in our glorification of Christ being formed in us.

Jesus confesses His love for the Father and His awareness of the Father’s love for Him. It was the basis for all Jesus’ obedience to God John 15 > love =keeping commands.

Then Jesus tells us that the Father loves us even as He loves the Son.

This is the love the Holy Spirit is convincing our hearts about. It is worth noting that the love of God is the only thing the New Testament uses the language of “flooding our hearts” concerning. This is an important thing.

The cry of “Abba” comes out of the heart made aware of this.

God Bless!

I hope this message will bless you richly…not because I taught it, but because it reveals Christ. He alone is our blessing and if in any way – whether big or small, 100% accurate or even just partially so – I have revealed our great God and Savior to you in a relationally knowable way, then this was time well spent on both our parts.

We at Living Grace Fellowship encourage you to place your trust in Jesus Christ, deliberately choosing Him and bowing the knee to Him as your Master and Lord, so as to come to realize Him as your Savior.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. The fact that you exist… that you are His creation, says you were in His heart, you are His delight!

If you do not know Him, please reach out to us. Give us a call at the number located on every page of this website or use our ‘Contact Us‘ page. We would be deeply honored, if you gave us the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will EVER be mentioned.

If you HAVE been spiritually fed by this ministry and WANT to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but please understand that all the outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!