Sharing Love
/Update From Your Pastors
We hope you are all doing well and staying healthy. We missed you all this past Sunday, but we were encouraged to see so many people join us for our live stream. We had over 1,500 people click on our live stream to watch our Sunday service.
We do apologise for any buffering that you may have experienced; Facebook had too many people online to handle all the traffic. We are looking into the possibility of streaming to both Facebook and Youtube this Sunday. Currently, our Youtube account will not allow us to go live due to Google approval. Please be praying that Google will enable us to go live before Sunday. One important thing you can do to help is to subscribe to our YouTube account to give us more traffic.
If you haven’t watched any of our kids or teens videos, they are up on our website under Online Church: Sunday Service. We will also post on Friday our second Adventures Online video and game, so keep an eye out for it!
Subscribe to Welling Church’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP7vPRPzN1GM2MFHnqm0iVQ
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Prayer Points
Steve, Bob & Beryl, Dolly, May, & others in our church that are high risk.
Safety in pregnancy for Becca who was due last week and Alice who’s due in May.
For our leaders in government to continue to guide our country with wisdom.
Ministry Opportunity
One great ministry opportunity you can do this week from your home is to take time to call 3 people from church that you normally don’t get a chance to chat with. This is an easy way for us to stay connected and to get to know others.
Weekly Devotional
The Fruit of the Spirit
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
During this time of worry and anxiety, I thought it would be good for us to be reminded that we have been given positive attributes by the Spirit to show the world that we are children of God. The Holy Spirit produces fruit in each of us and they are manifested through 9 characteristics. These characteristics will be our focus each Wednesday. If we will work to embody these characteristics instead of succumbing to fear and anxiety, we will show our friends, neighbours and the world what being a child of God really looks like.
The first characteristic we will look at is LOVE.
One of the best passages on love is found in 1 Corinthians 13. The love described here focuses more on brotherly love. True loves comes from God and is empowered by the Spirit to lead us to do the most good we can to our friends, family and neighbours.
1. Love is Patient
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant. 1 Cor. 13:4
A loving child of God is patient with people. We all know that not everyone we come in contact with are easy to “like.” In fact, we are not commanded to like everyone, but we are commanded to love. A characteristic of a Spirit lead person is that of love. We are not to be known as a jealous, prideful person but one who is kind, generous and loving.
2. Love Isn't Rude
“or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Cor. 13:5, 6
Loving others means that we should put their needs before our own. We should does this not out of some sort of compulsion, but out of a genuine desire to be obedient in love. When we get irritated and resentful because someone needs our help, we miss the point completely. A child of God should be characterised by love that is genuine and pleasant.
3. Love Bears All Things
“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Cor. 13:7
A Spirit-led, child of God will commit to love others, no matter what. Loving someone, especially a stranger, can be difficult. We have to bear a lot sometimes as we minister. However, we are compelled to endure and hope for the best as we love like Jesus. We do not give up when it gets difficult. We press on and we can do so because of the fruit the Spirit produces within us.
4. Love Perseveres
“Lover never ends…So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Cor. 13:8; 13
True love never, ever ends. Many things in this world like "prophecies and tongues” will pass away, but the Word of God tells us that love will never pass away. Faith, hope and love are the objects of our lives as Christians. However, our faith will be realised and our hope made secure when we see God in heaven, but his love will go on because it is everlasting. Working on loving like Jesus will pay eternal dividends.
Questions to Consider
Am I loving in such a way that I’m known for my generosity and not for my selfishness?
Am I loving others in a way that is not out of compulsion but out of obedience?
Am I loving others no matter what?
Am I investing in things that will pass away or things that will last forever?
