Extraordinary Love Found Me by Chastity Allen December 18, 2018 ยท Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN) Kind: teaching Scripture: 1 John 3:1, Matthew 22:36-39 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/chastity-allen--extraordinary-love-found-me Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ Good morning. So this is the second time that I have actually done this this morning, because I had an internet issues. So sorry that this, this devotion is a little bit late. It's not timely that I want to introduce myself. My name is Chasity Allen, and I want to welcome you today 16 of 21 Days of Breakthrough Prayer with the Pentecostals of Murfreesboro and LifeBridge Church. I am glad you could join us this morning, as we go through this devotional. Each day someone new will walk through one of these days of the devotional with you. And I encourage you to go back, catch up on the previous days if you haven't already, because each of these days has been wonderful to go through. So day 16 is titled Extraordinary Love Found to Me, and I want to start by reading a scripture. First John 3:1 says, see what kind of love the father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God. And so we are. I think we all would agree, if we were asked, that God loves us. We often talk about his goodness and his faithfulness. We know that he is righteous, and he is holy, and sovereign. He is so many things to us. But today we want to focus specifically on the way he extraordinarily loves us. Extraordinary, by definition, means going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary. And I know in my own life, this is exactly how I would describe the love of God. It has gone beyond all expectation, time and time again. And still, after serving him all these years, I can still say that I'm amazed by him, in the ways that he shows his love, the way he works in my life. And I never want to lose that sense of all. In the world we live in, there isn't much that's held sacred anymore. There's not a lot that is reverenced anymore. But the gift of his love, it is sacred, and it is special. And it's a privilege and an honor to experience a relationship with God. And I always want to hold that in a sense of awe. I never want to lose that knowledge, and that, that recognition, that awareness of just how incredible his love is for me, and for you. He will show his love to us in many ways, some we can understand and celebrate, and some we cannot understand. But as the scripture says, we have seen what kind of love the father has given to us. We've seen it, and we know that it can be trusted. His love may not always make us comfortable, but it will sustain you, and it will keep you like nothing else. We can, and should, pray for others to experience this kind of love. We can show others this kind of love. We alone can't change their hearts; only God can do that. But we can pray and ask for God to work in their lives, and draw them to him. Our job is to model Christ. Matthew 22:36 through 39 tells us what our priority should be. This question was asked to Jesus: teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus replied, love here, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. Today I want to meditate on his exceptional love for me, and I hope that you'll do that as well. Ask God to show you how to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Loving ourselves comes very easily, but sometimes it's a little more difficult, sometimes it's a lot more difficult, to love others with the same attention and care as we would give to our own needs. I believe, when we agree in prayer, but we will see powerful changes in our own lives, and the lives of those that we care about so much. And I want to pray for us now. I want to pray that we will have the, the strength and the sensitivity, and that we would be shown the ways that we can actually share his love with others today, in this week. So let's pray. Lord, I thank you for the gift of your love. I thank you for this season that we're in, this time when we reflect and we remember, Lord, that you came to earth. You came in flesh and blood. And Lord, you paid ultimately the price for our sins, so that we could feel your love, so that we could know you in a personal way. Lord, help us never to take that for granted. Lord, I pray that you would reveal yourself to us, to your people today. Lord, that you would show us the ways that we can touch others in the way that you would want us to. Lord, help us to be a light in this world, to share the hope and the exceptional, extraordinary love that's been shown to us. Lord, we have so much to be thankful for, and I praise you this morning, because you are God, you are good, and your holy, Lord. Be with us today, everyone that's joining us, Lord. I pray that you would be with them this week. Strengthen them, bless them, Lord, and keep them in your care. We love you, Lord. In Jesus name, amen. So thank you for joining me today for day 16, Extraordinary Love Found Me. Again, sorry it was a little bit late this morning. I know pastor's probably not pleased. But I do encourage you to take some time today to read the devotional for yourself, if you haven't already. Join us live again tomorrow at 7 a.m. with day 17, as we discuss Prayers of the Heart. Have a great Monday, everyone.