A Worldwide Church of Love

Pastor Steven Furtick preached a great sermon this weekend to kick off Love Week. It was out of Jeremiah 29:4-7:

  4 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: ⁵ “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. ⁶ Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! ⁷ And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” (NLT)

The main point was that no matter where you are in life, God put you there for a reason. You might not understand why you are there or how you even ended up where you are, but you are there for definite purpose. God's Word tells us through this passage that no matter where God has put us, we shouldn't dwell on the past. We should start our lives again and make the best of it. We should strive to glorify His name and His righteousness even in the most hopeless of times. Verse 7 tied in perfectly for this week as we go out and serve in our city to make a HUGE impact to show Christ's love. No matter where you are, what you are going through, or what's in your past, always work for the peace and prosperity of those around you!

Pastor Steven also talked a lot on how the church as a whole has come to be known for what they are against instead of what they are for. That often many churches respond the totally opposite way they should. With so much wickedness, violence, and corruption in our world, many churches tend to condemn instead of responding with love. Here are a few key points I thought were important:

• The church should become more known for what they LOVE, instead of what they hate.
• The church is to infiltrate the world, not to be of it. 
• The church shouldn't be known for:
• condemnation
• isolation
• imitation
• The church should be such a profuse outpouring of love, that the city would mourn if something were to happen to it.

The church down the street shouldn't be your competition, they should be your partners in reaching the world for Christ! Could you imagine how much God would move if all the churches across the world came together and unified to show His love worldwide. Starvation could me demolished by Monday, poverty gone by Tuesday, the sick healed by Wednesday, and so on until Sunday the world would know the undying name of Jesus Christ and see His power and feel His love that no one could unknowingly deny Christ! Think about it... 

You can watch this past weekend's sermon here.