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Our next study on love - and how you can pray and be a part

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Greatest of these is love - graphic with cross

Last week our message considered what is most important to Jesus

Jesus said, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31). 

Paul said "The greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13).

For this greatest and most important subject, our next Sunday series will be on love from 1 Corinthians 13. I mentioned last Sunday I asked a couple brothers to help speak for me to give me time to prepare, which will be Pastor Corey and Pastor Dale on 9/12 and 9/19, then on 9/26 I will begin a 10-week series on this great "love chapter," exploring each phrase in v. 4-7. I also shared Sunday I have been convicted of my need to grow in love as I study this, in my love as a husband, dad, and churchman. I ask you to join with me in praying for all of us in our church to grow in how we show this love of our Savior, to His glory.

You can pray for me at the same time as I'm completing a 50-60 page installment on my dissertation this month, which is an academic research paper on love in v. 4-7. This has been good for my soul to study love in-depth, but also a real brain drain as I've been out of academia for awhile :) I finished all my in-person classes in January and now am working to finish this big "chapter," which will culminate in a 125 page paper on the subject due early next year to complete my D. Min Degree at Master's. At the end of this month I come to the best part where I get to preach the fruit of these labors and where I also need your prayers and help. 

This week we are sending out a churchwide email feedback form that is a required part of my final project, to help measure goals before or after. Please take a few minutes to fill this out to help me prepare and fulfill this assignment in a way that will be most helpful for us as we grow together. 

If you regularly attend GCBC but did not receive it by email this weekend, you can click here. Or if you prefer to fill it out in writing, it will be available in hard copy on Sunday. You can also ask to be added to the churchwide email list by contacting gcbc_office@goldcountrybaptist.org

I will be sharing more in church this month, but here is a bit more on what's coming.

Big idea: God’s way of love is to have the supreme and central place in the church, and 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 is a crucial passage for pursuing this love toward others. 

PURPOSE STATEMENT: The purpose of this preaching series is to help GCBC know more of and grow more in Christlike love, to His glory.

GOALS:

  1. The first goal is that GCBC would know more of love’s leading qualities and restraints (what love doesn't do) from 1 Cor. 13. This will be measured by pre-survey questions and post-series questions (asking same questions before and after).
  1. The second goal is that individual believers at GCBC would grow in practicing love’s leading qualities and restraints. This will be measured by questions before and after the series, like above.
  1. The third goal is that GCBC would grow together in helping each other apply the love of 1 Cor. 13 in their lives. This will be measured by feedback from various small groups who will discuss and encourage applications of love in 1 Cor. 13 and pray for each other to live out what they’re learning. If you'd like to be a part of one of these small groups discussing love more, please connect with me after church Sunday.
  1. The fourth goal is that I would grow as a preacher in this series. I want to keep growing in how I edify the church, exalt Christ, and explain the gospel as God's power to love. This will be measured by regular feedback from others on what could be improved, and suggestions for further application or future messages to help us grow together.

Please pray:

- That this series will grow us all in the wonderful love of God in Christ that we will live out more and more in love to one another

- That I will love my family and fellow believers well as I work to get my big paper done next week (and specifically for my family, pray for me and my boys to have a great bonding time as we get away for a trip before the series begins)

- That God will prepare our hearts even now for this season as I prepare, and that the love of Christ would change us and compel us

 

2 Comments

This is a beautiful act of love. Reaching out, inviting feedback and giving the opportunity for involvement is important. I am very grateful for Gold Country Baptist Church and will continue to pray for you, your family and everyone.
I am so proud of you for what you have and are doing. I will continue to pray for you and your family as well as our church family that our love will continue to grow for one another and spill over into our community.

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