Love

This Advent message invites us into a profound exploration of love as the foundation of our faith journey. Beginning with Paul's declaration that love is the greatest of all virtues, we're reminded that before we can truly love God, we must first hear about Him, decide to follow Him, and develop faith in Him. The sermon walks us through Romans 10:14, showing how evangelism becomes the starting point of love—we cannot love someone we haven't heard about. But here's where it gets beautifully complex: we're challenged to not just understand God's love intellectually, but to pray for an increased capacity to receive it. The message draws from Romans 5:8, 1 John 3:1, and John 3:16 to paint a picture of God's extraordinary love—He died for us while we were still His enemies, adopted us as His children, and gave us eternal life. Yet the most challenging truth emerges from Deuteronomy 7:9 and John 14:15: our love for God must express itself through obedience. Faith plus love equals obedience. This isn't legalism; it's the natural overflow of hearts saturated with divine love. And in a beautiful mathematical twist from 1 John 5:1-2, we discover that loving God and loving His children are inseparably linked—we love each other best by loving God and obeying His commandments. This Advent season, we're called to pray a revolutionary prayer: 'God, increase my ability to be loved by You,' so that His love can overflow into every relationship we have.