NO LIVERMORE — At the North Livermore Baptist Church Feb. 12 service, the congregation was welcomed by Pastor Bonnie Higgins at 9:30 a.m. to begin the service. The Invocation/Lord’s Prayer were recited. The hymns that were sung was “To God be the Glory”, “The Wonder of it All”, “They’ll Know We Are Christians”. The service ended with “Go Now in Peace”. Linda Lyman is the organist each week. Lew Lyman leads the music for the congregation each week.

The sermon, titled “Love is in the Air” and reading the scripture from Ephesians 2:4-5. Pastor Bonnie began by asking what is love. Is love what Hallmark cards say or is it the flowers that you received? God is saying no it is not. Love is who He is.

Love occurs about 567 times in the Bible. The two greatest commandments from God are to love God and love your neighbors as yourself. Love actually fulfilled the law of God. God’s love is amazing to all those who accept it. God’s love is unequal to anything else. There is nothing greater or stronger than His love for us. God’s love is also sacrificial. God sacrificed His own Son, Jesus, to show us how much He loved us. God’s love is impartial, we are all equal in His eyes. John 3:16 tells us “God so loved the world…” He loved us that much. God’s love is unconditional. No matter how bad you think you are or have been, God will forgive you for your sins because of the love He has for you. God’s love is eternal. Jeremiah 31:3 says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love!”

God has placed a priority on His love for us. God is telling us without love, nothing else really matters. We know that Jesus was all about love. Jesus told us to love one another, to love our neighbors, and to even love our enemies. Love is essential to a well-lived life, we need to make love a priority, especially loving God. We also need to know what love looks like. 1 Corinthians 13 gives us the details of what love looks like. It tells us that love is patient, kind, always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres, does not envy, does not boast, it isn’t prideful, doesn’t promote anger, etc., love rejoices in the truth, the truth of God’s love to us. We may fall in and out of love here on earth, but God’s love is permanent. He is never going to stop loving us.

So, what is the proof that God loves us? The proof is in Jesus Christ. Because Jesus died for us, He was horribly crucified for us, so we wouldn’t have to go through it ourselves. God knew we couldn’t. Jesus took it all as a willing participant. He obeyed His Heavenly Father. Jesus died in agony and humiliation. He was God, yet He hung from a cross, naked, and bruised for us. Jesus took our place, He shed His blood so we could live. We are all sinners, but God loved us so much He didn’t hesitate to give up His body for us. God’s love is a gift to each of us, and all we need to do is ask for it as we repent of our sins. The gift of redemption is the proof of God’s love through Jesus Christ.

Announcements listed in the bulletin are that the congregation will be collecting Canned Peas for the Food Pantry in the month of February. Bible Study is at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. The AA meetings are held on Friday nights at the church. Do not park around the church when there is snow on the roof and if School is canceled in the area, Pastor Bonnie will not be in the office and all events canceled.

For information, check out our website at northlivermorebaptistchurch.org. You can email the church at nlbcmaine@gmail.com. Pastor Bonnie’s office hours are Monday and Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. to noon.