Every time I hear Rachel and Life Choices just wish we could support them even more. Every month we support them out of our missions fund because they are missionaries for us to young women in the Mid south who. It's not just that we're trying to save babies, but saving souls is more important and Life Choices does both. And so it's what a joy it is to be able to support them. I'm pro life because of what the Bible says.

Yes, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. I was knit together in my mother's womb. My mom's sitting over there and she carried me and. And God put me there. Am I right?

And John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother's womb. And before he was ever born, the prophet Jeremiah was called to serve God just over and over and over again. I'm Trevor Davis, I'm GCC's pastor. And we are closing down a series today called 22 Days with God. And here's what I hope.

I hope that the first three messages, as we've been looking at some of the perfections and attributes of God, I hope they've helped you think higher thoughts of him. Because as A.W. tozer wrote, idolatry is low thoughts of God. And so it's been my desire and my goal that our church, as we feed you the word on Sundays, that you would think higher thoughts of God, that Jesus would be a name that matters and is sweet to you, and that the gospel is beautiful and appealing to you. And so this is our prayer and our hope.

Did you know that our church is having a baby? And by God's grace, that baby will not be aborted either. We are planting a new church because in the Bible, churches start churches. And the Lord has done so many great things for Refuge Church by Helia. And they.

They haven't even launched publicly yet. In fact, there's a new thing that I can't tell you yet. I'm sorry I did that to you. In a few weeks, in a few weeks, the news will be even better. The Lord's just giving our church plant things that they need.

And Michael Caffey's our church planter and his wife Melanie and about 30 of them, we sent them out. They left here to go there to start and they had a. Last Sunday, they had a lot of people sick and they had 61 people. How about that? So I'm going, you got 60 on a low day.

That's really good. So when they launch though, my goal is for them with people that they've reached out to. And the buzz in the community and well wishers coming that day is that they'll launch having to have two services in the building that day. That'd be great. Right?

But I'm a two services guy. If I had a church of 20, I'd do two services of 10. And I know that sounds kind of funny, but I'm absolutely serious because y'all know that if this was our only church service we were having today, right now, I don't know, there's 30 or 40 people in the north end of the building taking care of everybody's children. And we love our kids. Yes.

And they need to hear about the Lord Jesus on their level. And those folks right there, they're serving the Lord in this service. And if we just had one, they wouldn't be able to receive all the stuff you've received in this service so far. Right. They wouldn't have heard what's going on with life choices.

They wouldn't have been able to receive the Lord's Supper or hear this amazing sermon that's coming up. Amen. Right? So we do two services so that nobody has to miss. And so we used to say, serve in one receiving another.

That's still beautiful, but I'm changing it. It's serving one, engage in the other. Because we don't want you just to sit right. You don't gather with the church to just attend. It's like, I engage in the worship of God.

I receive the Lord's table because I've been redeemed by the Lord. I sing his praises because the Bible commands me to do it. I hear the prayers and I pray along with those that are leading in them. And I rejoice when the church rejoices. And I weep when the church weeps because I engage.

Does that make sense? So it's serving one. We just need your help, like those that are helping with the children and all the things that we do. Jen Jones told me today that so many of her children's ministry workers got the flu late in the week and some had to call in this morning, hey, we're all too sick. We can't come to church.

It's like, well, this is why we serve in one and we engage in the other. We just have an army of folks going, I'm on the ready, whatever you need. And so I want to say to you, if you've been kicking the tires of our church, I just kind of want to let you know the kind of church we are because we don't want to spring this on you after you get in, but our members do stuff. They engage. In fact, without you, we don't have a church.

And so if you become a member of our church, we kind of expect you to serve in one, engage in the other, be a part of a small group. And all those expectations that we have for members. And I want you to know that our expectations pale in comparison to the expectations that God has for the redeemed. And so, like, I'm not even courageous enough to ask you to do what God's asking you to do. Because I want you to like me.

Amen. Right. But the idea is serving one, engaging the other. And if you're a member of our church and you're like, I've only really been engaging. I haven't been serving.

Hey, here's the clarion call from the church leaders to go, hey, we always need your help. We're growing, so do that. And Sheila, would you stand up so everybody can see you? I know you're cold. Cause you're awake.

And so this is Sheila. And Sheila. Sheila kind of oversees all of our volunteer ministries. And if you can, if you say today, look, I want to begin to serve in one, engage in the other. I'm going to point you to her.

And Sheila has stuff that you can do. Is that true, Sheila? We have so much. So she's our gal. Hey, let's thank God for Sheila today.

All right? How we love her.

So today, the fourth installment of 22 Days with God. And our topic today is God is love. We've talked about God's sovereignty. We've talked about his holiness. We've talked about his might, his omnipotence.

And we end with maybe the best one. God is love. And I wonder, have you ever wondered what love really looks like? And I'm not really referring to the Hallmark movie kind of love or the greeting card kind of love. Not the fleeting feel good emotions.

Nothing wrong with those, but they don't last. I'm talking about the kind of love that leaves you speechless and changes everything. That kind of love. The kind of love that doesn't wait for you to get your act together, but comes running toward you even when you're at your worst. That is the love of God.

And so I want you to know today that God doesn't just show love. He is love. And when we grasp that, truly grasp that, it has the power not only to change how we see God, but it has the power to change how we live. I want to ask you a question. I want you to engage with yourself quietly, just for a beat or two.

What comes to mind when you think about God's love?

Is it warm and comforting? Or if you're going to be really honest, is it far away and abstract? Is it a concept and not something that is really in you yet? Because today, in these few moments together, we're going to explore the love of God. How at its very core, how it's at the very core of who God is, how he's shown it through Jesus and how it has the power to transform us.

Look, I love life change. Yes. I like when people get changed by God because I don't think you can come into his presence and leave unchanged. And so today I want to give you three truths about God's love. If you're ready.

If you're ready, say yes. Truth number one. And look, this sermon is so simple and I think they're the best kind. Truth number one. God is love.

The Bible teaches this lots of places. Let's go to 1 John, 4, 7, 8. The apostle John writes, beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. If I were going to summarize that verse, I would say that God has the corner of the market on love.

He invented it. He's better at it than everyone else. He gets to define what the parameters of love. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. And then in verse 8, he who does not love does not know God.

Well, there's a warning, and here's the truth. For God is love. Explicitly in the text. The Bible teaches that God is love. And this statement is unique in scripture.

Here it shapes how we understand all of God's interactions with his creation. You know, everything God's doing today, enveloped in his love, all the judgment he brings, all the correction that he gives, all the instructions that he shows, and all of the comfort that he bestows on all of us. It's all out of his love. And it was important. As I edited my sermon, I just kept taking things out because I want to be very precise and simple about God being love.

And here's why. If you were a Muslim today and you were reading the Quran, it wouldn't tell you that Allah loves you, because it doesn't. They don't have a God that would tell them, hey, look, it's gonna be okay because I love you. There's a billion Muslims in the world. If you were a Mormon today, you would find out that God Loves you when you keep his rules.

Enough. Here's the best evangelistic question you'll ever ask anybody. You ready? Got it from Bill McKeever from Mormonism Research Ministry. Doesn't matter if they're an atheist, if they're in a false religion or you don't even know.

Here's the best question to enter into spiritual things. If you died today, do you believe you would receive the best your religion has to offer? If you ask that to a Mormon, they'll say, no, I don't think so. I just kind of hope that I make one of the heavens. But I don't know if he really loves me.

While God possesses many attributes, and we've studied some of them. Holiness, there's others. Justice. His omniscience, how he knows everything. His omnipotence, how he's all powerful.

His eternality. How there never was a beginning of God. God has all of those perfections while we've he possesses those. This verse reveals that God's very essence is love. It isn't anger, it isn't hate.

It isn't disappointment. I hope that this message will do for some of you. Just get this image out of your head that you have a very frowning God, because you don't. Love is not something. Love is not just something that God does.

It is who he is. I would say it this way. Love is his defining nature. Everything God does flows from this central truth about his nature.

The Great Awakening preacher Jonathan Edwards wrote, the love of God is an ocean without shores or bottom. In other words, it can't be contained and it cannot be measured, neither can it be stopped. So, Pastor, I've heard God is love all my life. Fantastic. I want you to understand it a little bit better.

Understanding that God is love informs how we see Him. It transforms how we see ourselves and it challenges how we see our purpose in the world. So it informs. You need to know this. It transforms.

It needs to make you different. And it needs to challenge you on why you wake up every day. I'm gonna wake up tomorrow, start a great new week. Because God is love. But Pastor, how did the saints in the Old Testament understand God's love?

Because in the Old Testament, wasn't God the mean God that killed all of his enemies? In the New Testament, he became like the nice older grandfather God that kind of chilled out and gave us Jesus. Isn't that how the Bible? Not at all. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

And Yahweh says, I the Lord do not change. The same God in the Old Testament is the same God. In the New Testament, the same God it is while you're sitting in your seat today. So how did they understand the love of God in the Old Testament? They experienced his covenant love.

And the word for God's covenant love in the original language is the word hesed. You might spell it H E S E D. Hesed. It's a Hebrew. Or you can say it like the Jews do.

Chesed. You can just kind of cough, right, you know, and then you got it. So this chesed is a Hebrew word that can be translated a few ways. And I'm going to my favorite one's, the last one in the list. Hesed can be translated steadfast love.

That's pretty good. It can be translated mercy all the time. It says mercy in the Old Testament. Here's my favorite. Loving kindness.

You see, it's not that just God is love, but because he's love, you feel his kindness in your life. He's good to you. His loving kindness. God expressed this love in the Old Testament through His unwavering commitment to his promises. And he made a promise to Noah.

He made one to Abraham. That's the big one. We all know that. But he made those promises even when his people were unfaithful to him. And if you read your Jewish history in the Old Testament, that was basically every day, just all the time.

They're just messing it all up. I want you to think about Moses on Mount Sinai in Exodus 34, when he hears God declare God's name. God says, I'm gonna tell you what I'm like. Exodus 34, 6, 7. Yahweh says, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression.

Does that sound like a mean old jerk of a God There sounds like love to me. To the Old Testament believer, God's love was something they could depend on, meaning God's love was still there even after they rebelled. It didn't go away when they ceased to perform.

It wasn't abstract either. It was tangible. Did you know in the Old Testament, they could see God's love and they could touch God's love. And they could taste God's love and take it in. What do you mean, Pastor?

Well, they saw his love when he parted the Red Sea and gave them a way of escape from the Egyptian army that was close on their heels. They saw those waters part and they tasted his love when they were Starving in the desert. But when they woke up in the mornings on the rocks had formed manna from heaven. Manna. You know the word manna means what is it?

And so they're like, what is this? Doesn't matter. Eat it. What is it like? It's what you tell your two year old.

Well, what is this? Mommy, I don't want to eat that. Just eat it. It's from God. They could taste it.

They could also taste the water that he gave them out of a rock. The tangible love of God that's in the Old Testament. What about New Testament believers? For New Testament believers, the love of God takes on a deeply personal feature. The apostle Paul notes that God's love is eternal and we can't be separated from it once we're in Christ.

Here's a verse I read when I go and visit members of our church who are dying and likely not going to get up out of the bed they're in. I read Romans chapter 8. Here's Romans 8:35. I remember last year I read this to Nancy Covington. Two days before she lost consciousness and couldn't communicate anymore.

Angie and I were able to stand over her bed and say, nancy, because you're in Christ, even though this cancer is going to get you and it's going to cause your heart to stop and your brain to cease functioning, you're not going to breathe anymore. You can't be separated from Jesus. Look, if that's not true, then the rest of the Bible doesn't matter. Romans chapter 8, verse 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or or famine or nakedness or peril or sword. That whole list in Romans 8:35 are curses of the covenant. In Deuteronomy and Leviticus, all of the curses of sin combined cannot separate you from God's love in Jesus Christ. If you're in Christ, you get a better love of God than just the common love of God. You get the kind that can't separate you.

For the apostle Paul, God's love was unshakable. It was a force that defined reality itself. Brother Spurgeon from England in the 1850s wrote, God soon turns from his wrath, but he never turns from his love.

God is love. That's supposed to comfort you. I hope it does. Number two, second truth about God's love. God shows his love.

Let me say it a different way. He proves it. Do you know Romans 5:8? But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still Sinners. Christ died for us.

Let me just say about the phrase while we were still sinners, if you're new to our church, maybe this is your first day and you were wondering what we're like. I just want to say to you that we're just a group of redeemed sinners. We're not the good people that God found in Olive Branch and said, why don't y'all get together? We're the ones that were far away from him, not looking for him, his enemies. And he came to us, proving that he loves us.

The Apostle Paul notes that God shows his love. He doesn't just declare it, he doesn't just feel it, he demonstrates it. So in Romans 5:8, we learn that there's a love that's both undeserved, unmatched. God doesn't just say he loves us, he shows it through the cross of Christ, which is what made it so appropriate for us to sing the praises of God today about the cross of Jesus. What we learn from Romans 5:8 is that God's love is sacrificial.

It is shown not to the deserving, but to sinners. Which makes it radically different from human love. Because most human love. Please don't be offended by this. Human love is good and you need it in your life.

Most human love has some expected performance attached to it. What's the number one relationship of human love in all of life? It's marriage. And in marriage, we make promises to our spouse. And I can tell you as a pastor, behind the scenes, these promises are often broken.

And sometimes they're broken so frequently and so severely that it destroys the relationship. You see, there's a performance expectation you have even attached to your spouse. And they can go so far that your love for them will cease and that relationship will break. Not so with God.

He keeps his promises because of the cross of Jesus. He vowed to love you, and he's not going to change. God didn't wait for us to come to him. He came to us in the person of Jesus Christ. And it is in that divine initiative.

That's what sets the gospel apart from every other worldview. It was in Christ that God bridged the gap that we could never cross on our own. And here's what sets biblical Christianity apart from every other faith tradition. Are you ready? Every single other faith tradition is man reaching up to God, trying to grab hold of him.

But the Christian faith, the one that that is because of Jesus Christ, that's God reaching down to us. See the difference? That means that God's love is a gift. It's not a reward. It's not like if you'll just.

If you'll let Trevor Davis give you a set of God's rules and watch over you while you keep them and get better at keeping them, eventually, when you keep the 1,092 of them, God will finally love you. That's what all the religions of the world, apart from Jesus, teach. There's no hope in that, only regret and disappointment. The phrase while we were still sinners reveals the astonishing nature of God's love. He loved us not when we were lovable.

He loved us not when we were righteous. He loved us when we were rebellious and undeserving. I feel like I need to camp out right there just for a moment to say, do you understand why we call it good news? It's good news because we're the walking bad news.

Well, Pastor, I've been seeing you guys have been asking if we wanted to ask Jesus into our heart and pray those prayers, you know, And I've heard you say something like, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Although I'd never say it that way, but if you don't ever hear the bad news, you'll go, really? God loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life. Well, I'll be, I love me and have a wonderful plan for my life, too. We should get together on this.

No. When you get the gospel and you understand it, you realize you're drowning in an ocean of your sin and rebellion, and Jesus is the life preserver thrown to you, and you would never stop and go, can we just think about that for a minute? You don't negotiate with the life preserver. You grab it and you hold onto it with all your might, and you thank the person who gave it to you. Does that make sense?

He loves sinners before they ever look his way.

Also, not only is God's love a gift, not a reward, the cross is the ultimate display of God's love. Jesus dying for sinners who don't know him, declares to us that somehow we are worth the life of the Son of God. Explain that to me, Pastor. I can't. I can declare it to you, but I'll be plumbing the depths of that truth the rest of my life and into eternity.

Tim Keller, who's with the Lord now, pastor at a church in New York, he wrote, you are more sinful than you could dare imagine, and you are more loved and accepted than you could ever dare hope.

See, it's this truth that reshapes our destiny and our purpose. It points out that the Gospel transforms. And here's how it does it. It humbles us by revealing to us how broken we are. And then it lifts us up by assuring us that God still loves us anyway.

That early church Father, Augustine. Some people say Augustine, but others who are more literate say Augustine. You can call it whatever. We actually don't know how to say his name. Augustine wrote, God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

I think that's true. I think that's how personal and in the crosshairs of God's scope you are, that if there weren't any other humans, this would still be true and you would be God would be making it available for you to be in Christ. See, it's not just that God loves. It's that he loves you. It's personal and it's targeted.

So I want to ask you, are you living as someone who truly believes that God loves you? You see, if you're in despair and shame, and if you would tell yourself that you hate yourself today, the answer to that question is no. You have been blinded by every circumstance in your life so that you can't see the love of God. But I want you to know that the cross demands a response. It demands that you put your faith in Jesus.

It demands that you're grateful to God for loving you and that you surrender your life to Him. And if that's true, knowing that God has sown such love, how can we remain unchanged? See, that's our third and final truth today. God's love changes us.

Lots of places in the Bible teach this. Let's try Titus, chapter three, verses four and five. But when the kindness and the love of God, our Savior toward men, appeared not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.

You like that verse.

The apostle Paul reminds his young protege named Titus that this love is not earned by human effort or by your human merit. It is not by works of righteousness which we have done. The best person you know deserves to burn in hell.

And the best God you've ever heard of has made a way for him not to.

Instead, this love is an outpouring of God's mercy. But according to his mercy, he saved us. So when the love of God appears in our lives, we receive the new birth. Somebody the other day said, you know, there's a billion Christians in the world. There's the.

There's Roman Catholic and Orthodox and the born again Christians. What's wrong with that?

If you've never read the Bible, I want you to know that the most famous verse in the Bible is John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. It's the end zone of the football game verse. But if There's a John 3:16, there's a John 3:15 and 14 all the way back to John 3:3, where Jesus says to a religious man, you must be born again.

The only kind of Christian and the only kind of person in heaven with Jesus today is the one who has the new birth. You don't know God until you're born again. You can't make your babies born again. You can't make yourself born again. Your pastor and your mother can't get you born again.

You have to decide to be born again. You have to respond. It's the new birth. It's the washing of regeneration. Regeneration is another Bible word for new birth.

Born again. That's what regeneration means. And let me just say, Pastor, I don't know if I'm born again. Was there ever a change in your life after you met Jesus and it radically altered the way you think and the things that you love and where you go and what you do? Well, no.

Then I agree with you. You're not born again.

CS Lewis wrote, christ didn't come to make us nice people. He came to make us new people. Have you been made new? Have you been washed with the washing of regeneration? Do you have the new birth, Pastor?

I don't remember. Then what will it hurt you today to come talk to one of our prayer partners and say, would you help me find out whether I'm born again or not? What do you have to lose? And the answer is everything.

It's the most important decision you'll ever make. The most important thing that will ever happen to you. God's love changes us and it changes us through new birth. The love of God is transformative at its core. You haven't come in contact with it in the way you need it until it changes you.

And it doesn't simply improve our old selves, it creates a new self altogether. If anyone's in Christ, he's a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come. This new person is empowered by the spirit of God to live in a way that reflects his character. You ought to be able to come to church two or three times a month and be reminded you need to be born again.

You ought to be able to come here and bring your lost family and friends so that they can hear that you need to be born again. We put those prayers up on the screen and do a five minute gospel presentation now every Sunday morning so that over and over, the sledgehammer of the gospel can just chip away at the hardened hearts of sinners who need Jesus. And one of these days you'll see those prayers from scripture and you'll say, that's what I need. And you'll cry out to him, you see, God, have mercy on me. A sinner is a prayer of repentance.

God, remember me when you come into your kingdom is a prayer of faith. And those are the two proper responses to the gospel. Trusting in Jesus and repenting of your sins. Does that happen to you? It makes you a brand new person.

It doesn't just improve your life like a speed bump and you go on by. It's not something you go, oh yeah, I did that at vacation Bible school when I'm 12. I know I don't read the Bible. I know I don't really vote the way God wants me to vote. I know I don't read the scriptures.

I know I don't. I. I don't have a prayer life and God hasn't spoken to me and I don't know when. And I have all these secret sins and I'm enslaved to my passions. But back then I prayed that prayer.

It didn't work.

We trust in a person, not a prayer. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans, chapter 10, verse 13. But the saved are the changed. Where is the new you that Jesus made pastor?

Are you accusing me? I'm not accusing you of anything. I don't know the real you. You know, you. My job is to appeal to you.

Like the apostle Paul said, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. If this is the last sermon I'll ever preach, I preach the gospel to you and I pled with you to come to Jesus and be saved, to know the love of God and be made new. Because when you have this love of God, it actively seeks to reshape your priorities and to purify your desires and to align your life with God's will. And this change is both immediate and ongoing. At salvation and new birth, we're washed clean.

But the renewing of our minds and the hearts that are made new, that continues as we walk every day with him. It's why you need a local church. You need to be around people who are in the race, people that are walking the walk to see how to do it. You learned how to talk by listening to your parents, and you learned how to walk by watching your parents. And you learn how to walk with God by watching other people who've done it before you do it.

Matthew Henry wrote, God's love to us is the fountain of all good to us and the foundation of all our hope in him. I'll give Pastor Henry the last word. As we wrap up today, let's revisit these three powerful truths about God's love. First, God is love. His love is holy and pure, and it's intrinsic to his very nature.

It's not based on what we do, it's based on who he is. Second, God shows his love through Jesus Sacrificial death on the cross. God has demonstrated a love to you that is active. It's undeserved, it is unmatched. Third, God's love changes us.

It transforms our hearts. It empowers us to live for him and it sustains us through our trials. So my question today is, how will you respond to this love? Because God's love is a free gift that demands a response. Let me urge you choose to embrace his love today.

Allow it to transform you and walk in the freedom and purpose that God provides for repentant sinners. You think about that as we pray today. Lord, do your work, Holy Spirit. Show your love in a way that all of us who've heard this seed from your word today won't allow it to be stolen by the enemy before we go to lunch. In Jesus name, Amen.

Amen. As we conclude.

Come and join us this Sunday at the Great Commission Church for a truly remarkable and uplifting experience. Great Commission Church is not just any ordinary place of worship; it's a vibrant community where faith comes alive, hearts are filled with love, and lives are transformed. Our doors are wide open, ready to welcome you into the warm embrace of our congregation, where you'll discover the true essence of fellowship and spirituality. At Great Commission Church, we are more than just a congregation; we are a family united by a common mission – to follow the teachings of Christ and spread His love to the world. As you step inside Great Commission Church, you'll find a sanctuary that nurtures your faith and encourages you to be part of something greater than yourself.

We believe in the power of coming together as a community to worship, learn, and serve. Whether you're a long-time believer or just starting your spiritual journey, Great Commission Church welcomes people from all walks of life. Our vibrant services are filled with inspiring messages, beautiful music, and heartfelt prayers that will uplift your soul. Every Sunday at Great Commission Church is an opportunity to deepen your relationship with God and connect with others who share your faith and values.

At Great Commission Church, we believe that faith is not just a solitary endeavor but a shared experience that strengthens and enriches us all. Our church is a place where you can find purpose, belonging, and the encouragement to live a life in accordance with Christ's teachings. Join us this Sunday at Great Commission Church and experience the transformative power of faith in action. Be part of a loving and supportive community that is committed to making a positive impact in our world. Together, we strive to fulfill the great commission to go forth and make disciples of all nations. We look forward to having you with us at Great Commission Church this Sunday, where faith, love, and community intersect in a truly amazing way.

Great Commission Church is a non-denominational Christian church located in Olive Branch, Mississippi. We are a short drive from Germantown, Southaven, Collierville, Horn Lake, Memphis, Fairhaven, Mineral Wells, Pleasant Hill, Handy Corner, Lewisburg and Byhalia.

See you Sunday at Great Commission Church!