Sunday Gems

John 15:13  "Greater Love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

Jesus loved us so much he laid down his life so that we could have a place with God.  In return, we give our life to him.  To give our life is to let go of self.  When we do that, the love of God can increase within us and we can truly be fruitful before God: verse 8, "Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."

I really enjoyed Tom's thoughts this morning about keys.  He talked about how, especially at work, every building has a set of keys that open individual doors.  And most buildings have a master key that opens all doors.  Spiritually, Jesus is the Master Key.  He makes it possible for us to open doors that we, with our own nature, could not do on our own.  When you open the door of Love, you close the door on hate.  When you open the door of Faith, you close the door on doubt.  Those are doors that we difinitely need the Master Key for, and thankful that Jesus is willing to be the Master Key for us when we seek him.

Keaton spoke on Moses, always turning to God.  Moses was able to do things that were impossible for him to do because he was continually turning to God - and God delivered him.  We may feel like we can handle things on our own, some things we can... but it's so much better when we turn to God and allow him to be involved.

Preston spoke on having the peace of God dwelling in our hearts.  Showing God we are thankful helps us to have that peace of God.