Blog da Mari

Que tal fazer um culto em Inglês?

I love you! Prayer: Lord, you are the God almighty! The Lord of all creation! We praise you! Thank you for this second service in English. Thank you for the brothers and sisters that came in here tonight. We all want to adore you and to listen to Your Word. Please help us understand the message you have for us tonight. Bless my mind. Please set me free from any barrier I may have towards a new language. I want to praise your name with my mind and attention. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen! Sermon: Good evening, church! Peace be with you. We are happy to be here again and even happier to see you all joining us tonight. Let’s say the words “Praise the Lord”. So if you want to praise the Lord during the service, go ahead and do it in English. You can. Yes, you can! Halleluiah! When we start learning English the very first sentence we usually learn is “I love you!” How many of you here know the meaning of “I love you”? Most people know. Where did “love” come from? In 1 John 4:8, John says: Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (NIV) Therefore, “love” comes from God! God is love! And because God is love, He did not keep love to himself but has shared it with humanity since the very beginning of time. If we look up for the word “love” in the Bible, on the internet, because there are several translations, the number of times “love” appears will vary from over 500 to up to 800 times. I was wondering about that! Maybe “love” has a wider meaning than we realize. God’s love has been shown in so many different ways in the Bible, in my life, in your life, hasn’t it? Have you already experienced God’s love? Are the stories here the same? No, of course not. God has different ways to reach out for us, to get closer to us. God loves us. God loves me. Here is the true beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: love! Jesus loved his disciples, he loved the sick people, he loved his friends and he loved his enemies. He asked the Father to forgive the ones who were crucifying him. Jesus died for us because God loved us and Jesus loved God. John 3:16(NIV):  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.   When I love I feel good. Doing lovely things are much better than doing bad things. My flesh many times want to do bad things, but Jesus has taught us to obey the Father and be good. Because God is good! In the first service in English we talked about God’s goodness.   Let’s watch this short movie.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OHH1Ametpw8   God’s love is like that. He meets our needs and he really surprises us as he surprised the man in need. One boy represents the evil, the other boy the good person inside of us. The bad boy decides to do good. God decides to do good to us every day. God cares for you and me.   There is always a decision to make, “will I do good or bad?” It is up to you and me. Jesus teaches us to love. He loved the Father on the cross and the Father loved us by sending Jesus to die on a cross for us.   What do you decide?   Would you like to experience God’s love in your life? Would you like to let God transform your heart? Would you like to come to Jesus and let his love save you? Prayer Dear Lord, we thank you for Your Word. Please help me love the way you love me. I want to remember that you care for me. I want to remember that you love me. I want to do good and love my neighbor, enemies as Jesus loved and forgave on the cross. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen!