1 John 4:7-12 (NLT) - “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love-not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”

When we see a person in the brown uniform step out of the brown UPS truck and come up to our doorway, we would expect him or her to deliver us some kind of package. It is what the UPS person does. When we go to a Starbucks and see the person in the black apron behind the counter working the espresso machine, we expect that “expert” barista to make us a yummy cup of some kind of coffee. It’s what a Starbucks barista does.

Then “surely,” we, who are children of God, who is love and has shown us love, will also love and express that love with one another. It is what we do. And, we experience the full expression of his love with one another. How precious it is that we experience God’s love in such real and powerful ways with one another! “Let us continue to love one another!”

Let’s thank God for all the ways that we have experienced God’s love so beautifully and powerfully in the church together. Let’s spend some time thinking about those in our small groups, campuses or missional groups and one by one bring them up in prayer that each one would experience God’s love in powerful ways today.

“Hands to the Heavens” by Kari Jobe
https://youtu.be/UZlqigKYYjI

-EK