1 John 4:1-12

Isn't it amazing the difference one simple phone call can make? Tom Norvell talks about a phone call he received on his 57th birthday from an old friend and mentor and how special and important it was to him.

What are you asking Santa to bring you for Christmas? What we want and most need at Christmas are not the kinds of things that money can buy!

What are we known for? We must be known for our love!

Jesus died in the place of Barabbas. More importantly, Jesus died for you and me. Byron Ware recalls a memory from fifty years ago that shaped his life, his love, his family, and his understanding of grace, Jesus dying in the place of Barabbas and us.

Jesus has not only given us the final victory, but he has also promised to be alive in us! Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to remind us that Jesus is the strong man who binds Satan and is Greater than any who set themselves up as our enemy.

Are you willing to give up your ledger sheet and really love? Ron Rose reminds us about the true spirit of giving and that it isn't barter love or ledger sheet giving, but generous giving like we have received from God.

We are still a family gathered to remember Jesus, even when we gather virtually! Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in virtual worship through words and music using YouTube videos to challenge us to explore deeper biblical messages in the Lord's Supper than we often allow ourselves to consider.

Before Jesus, the word 'agape' didn't mean anything special. It was a sloppy word for 'love' pretty much like our English word 'love' as we use it today. Phil Ware reminds us where the word 'agape' really gets its meaning, in what God did for us in Jesus and that we must love God first if we are to love others properly.

What is every parent's instinct? God's sacrifice of Jesus should amaze, humble, and change us.

True disciples of the Lord haven't stopped going ever since Jesus commanded it! Phil Ware continues his series on "What is CORE" by focusing on Jesus' final and intentional last command to make disciples of all nations, and emphasizes the first process of doing that: GOING!

What words do you most long to hear from Jesus today? Phil Ware continues his series called Beyond Bread and Wine and focuses on the three sets of words we most long to hear.

No cost is too great, because he is priceless! Phil Ware talks about a trip to honor his son for graduating from grad school in computer programming and he says his son is priceless and no price is too high to pay to honor him, just like Jesus views us.

Sometimes we are glad when such a thing happens to us! Sarah Stirman shares a chilly church experience to make the point that a mom never minds becoming the other woman when the other woman is her daughter and she sees a daddy treating her like a lady.

What legacy are you leaving with the gifts you give this time of year? While gifts are fine, we need to be leaving behind a legacy of love notes for our spouse and children and grand children.

Which gets blessed more, the pup or the petter? Mike Barres reminds us that love, the blessing of human touch, is important to our pets and also to us and those who we love.

Do we let love drive out our fear, or are we still holding back? Phil Ware reminds us what we know, but often don't practice; our love must have no barriers.

Some things you have to believe or you have nothing worth believing in! Phil Ware continues his series on I AM, God's handwritten messages from heaven and focuses on the bottom line faith requirement -- Jesus is God come in human flesh.

These analogies are so bad, they're like ... God's love exhausts all analogies and can only be defined by what he did in Jesus on the cross and in the manger.

Jesus' birth was the collision of the gloriously divine and mundanely human. It was God entering our world through the birth canal of a woman. Phil Ware shares some thoughts on what incarnation means as the collision of mortality and eternal, God in human flesh.

Can you communicate love across races, cultures, and language? God communicated his love in a way that people of every language can understand: he did it through Jesus' death on the Cross.

Old farmer wisdom strikes again? While heaven and hell, punishment and reward, may be motivation for our behavior, eventually God wants us to be motivated by love.

How can you communicate when you don't know the language? Our actions nearly always speak louder than our words, especially when people cannot understand our words!

How do we ever understand what the cross cost God? Phil Ware continues his series on Mary and her being a window to the heart of God.

The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. No matter what evil spirits are present in this life, we know that God has given us a spirit that is stronger than all others. The message of God to this world is that God’s Holy Spirit is the only spirit worth celebrating, even on Halloween.

I'm not sure I'm that trusting: are you? Patrick Odum talks about a strange occurrence involving trust, a New York ad agency worker, a homeless man, and an American Express Card, which reminds us that God trusts us.

Because God has so graciously loved us, we can live as Jesus' agents of love and kindness in our broken world. Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to call us to recognize God's great love for us as something more like, feel, think, or say, it is always demonstrated.

Does He really speak to people today? Phil Ware shares insights on Jesus calling Mary by name and speaking to us today.

Jesus reminds us that real love involves our tangible demonstration of that love in acts of kindness, help, and service. Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to call us into the mission Jesus gave us to be his bodily presence sent into the world just as the Father sent him.

What do donkeys, sharks, and airplanes have in common? Russ Lawson reminds us to check out what we are told from Scripture, because just like made up statistics, the facts are not always what is presented to us.

Have you felt the clean up of the Master's brush? A mom's work at writing Scripture on her daughter's wall leads to a great opportnity to learn about God's grace.

Who wide is the Cross of Christ and the love He showed us there? Ann Voskamp comes to a cross behind a country church and is reminded of the grace of Christ to not only save us but to also furnish us the basis of life.

Can you see how God loves you as you hold a child in your arms? We learn to love from God because as a baby, and even a full grown adult, we really don't know how to love.

How deep is His love? No matter how we understand God's love, it is deeper than we can imagine.

How do we get rid of it? We can try all sorts of things, but only Jesus can take our guilt away.

What is the greatest Valentine you have ever received? Quotations from Scripture about God's love for us in Jesus.

Grace is the mercy and love of God freely shared with us. Grace is also the style, the way in which God shares this mercy and love James Nored and Phil Ware remind us that not only is God's grace available in his love and mercy, it is also beautiful in the artistic style he brings us this beauty!

Do spooky things scare you? There are scary things in this world, but we need not fear any of them. The one who is in us is greater than the powers of this world.

Can we really find a way of escape? Sin, a form of spiritual cancer, can be defeated like physical cancer and this victory leaves us feeling excited and on top of the world, but we must work hard for the victory and God will help us.

Core to following Jesus is becoming like God in offering love, first. Phil Ware continues his series on what is core and focuses on love and what it is and how Jesus and God demonstrate it.

God has provided each of us the ultimate proof of our identity: the Holy Spirit living inside of us! Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to reassure us of our victory through Christ because of the Holy Spirit's presence within us as God's children.

How do we deal with our fear of evil, the devil, and temptation. Max Lucado talks about the defeat of Satan, the devil, by Jesus on the cross.

Are we really letting our love light shine in a world filled with so much darkness? Byron Ware reminds us that in our world of darkness, now more than ever, we need to be a people who do put love into practice every day.

Can you sway without breaking or falling? Mike Barres reminds us that we need to be like trees: flexible, rooted, connected, and built on the rock.

What is your fear keeping you from doing? Fear can keep us from many things, but mostly fear keeps us from life!

There are some real whoppers out there that way too many people actually believe. With all that is said to us, we must practice discernment if we are ever going to really find the truth.

Are you putting off a confrontation with the enemy? We often try to deny or feel sorry about the attacks of Satan in our lives rather than resisting and fighting him with the spiritual power God has given us.

What do these words mean and whose words do we trust? Phil Ware weaves in the 7 sayings of Jesus on the cross with the sense of forgiveness and mission that should be ours in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

The work and presence of the Holy Spirit give us the assurance that God has made us his children. Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in virtual worship through words and music using YouTube videos to celebrate the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives that ensures we belong to the family of God.