“I have seen him. I have heard him. I have touched him.” Imagine being able to talk about Jesus this way, like the Apostle John did. We can! John wanted his readers to open their hearts to him - to drop their guards - so that as he shared with them the “Word of Life,” it would be as though they were touching him, too. And then something wonderful would happen...their hearts would erupt in joy as they relished their love for God...and for one another. Jesus, the Word of Life, is the way to a life of joyous love with one another!

If the controlling story of our lives is not the gospel, we are hopeless to love God with our whole being. If the controlling story of our lives is not the gospel, we are hopeless to love one another like Christ loves us. This weekend we will be talking through how the gospel becomes the fundamental, controlling power of our lives.

This weekend we're continuing to learn what exactly it means to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. This kind of love we are called to project onto the Heavenly Father is our only hope. It's to live with and in and through the One who will fill us, keep us, and strengthen us for the road ahead. But more than that, it's an invitation to enter into the eternal intimate friendship of the Trinity and never, ever again be alone.

Do you love God? A lot of people say they do…which brings up a problem. The scriptures teach that if we really love God we will love each other (1 John 4:20). But so few believers, it seems, really love people the way Jesus loved people. Maybe we don’t love God as much as we think we do. And maybe if we learn what it really means to love God, we can love one another.