Received: 2025-05-08 09:47:01

I am needing prayers as I need semi emergent surgery on my cervix

We talk about love an awful lot, and specifically around here, we talk about God’s love a lot. But have you ever thought about the ways that God loves us? Awhile back, a popular author categorized some of the ways we express and receive love into five different ‘love languages.’

They suggested that love is primarily communicated through gifts, words, time, acts of service, and physical touch. Throughout our time together today, we want to explore not just the fact that God loves us, but how God loves us, specifically in these ways, starting with the language of gift-giving.

We’ve all given and gotten plenty of gifts in our lives – some good; some not so good. Sometimes, even a very expensive can totally miss the mark. So what makes a good gift? Ultimately, it’s more than the monetary value of the gift; it’s the thought, time, consideration, and sacrifice that went into it, that shows how important the recipient is to the giver. In other words, it’s not the value of the gift, but the way the gift shows the recipient how valued they are to the giver. A good gift should let you know how important you are to the person who gave it.

John 3:16 goes on to say:

 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16b)

God’s love for us is revealed in this most costly, inconvenient, and sacrificial gift – the giving of God’s one and only Son – all so that we could know how important and valuable we are to the God of the Universe. If you’ve never experienced this gift before, know that God went to all this trouble to give such a perfect and precious gift with you in mind. All you have to do is open your arms and receive it. It’s a gift of love and life beyond your wildest imagination. Eternal, and beginning right now, with the gift of this very day. So let’s sing and celebrate that together now.

Contemplations
Love Languages: Gift-Giving

Ready for what's next?

Reflection
Examen | Church History

Examen is a practice of examining your life backwards, over a given period of time, and prayerfully reflecting on two things: 1) Where you noticed a sense of God’s presence, or closeness; and 2) Where you felt absent or disconnected from that sense. 

Breath Prayer
Ruach | Breath Prayer

As if seeing Jesus alive after witnessing his death wasn’t strange enough, Jesus does this really odd thing where he leans in and breathes on them. To make it even more weird, as He breathes on them, He tells them to receive the Holy Spirit... 

Guided Prayer
Prayer Bowl

We’re going to spend a couple of minutes in prayer right now, but we’re going to do it in a bit of a unique way. To participate, you’ll need to grab a few simple items (that hopefully aren’t too far away, but feel free to pause the video if you need to go hunting). You’ll want a bowl, a pen, and a few scraps of paper...