On June 8, 2016, Steve Higginbotham wrote: 

Yesterday marked the anniversary date of my mom and dad's wedding day. They enjoyed 59 years of marriage before my dad passed away in 2013. Following his death, I saw some papers that belonged to my dad from his high school days. One of the things that caught my attention was that my dad said that his favorite author was a man by the name of A.J. Cronin. A.J. Cronin? Who was A.J. Cronin? I had never heard of him. But since he was my dad's favorite author, and I loved my dad, I felt compelled to Google him, download, and read a couple of his books. Why? Because anyone my dad thought that much of, was consequently, of interest to me, too.

If you can understand my interest in A.J. Cronin, then you can also understand my great interest in the church. I sometimes find it difficult to understand the apathy some people exhibit concerning the church. How can one who loves the Lord be apathetic to what the Lord loved? Jesus loved the church so much that He gave His life for it (Acts 20:28). Consequently, I love the church, because I love the Lord. * 

If we would get our priorities in the proper order, we must “love what our Lord loves.” 

He loves all of the people of the world. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus, God’s Son, loved the people of the world so much that He gave His life on the cross to pay the price for our sins so that we might have forgiveness and receive the gift of eternal life (Romans 5:8; 6:23). 

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His one and only Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (or “atoning sacrifice”) for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). 

In order to receive the blessings of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, we must place our faith and trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38). This is how we “obey the Gospel” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 6:3-4). Then, we must continue to walk in the light of His Word. As we do so, the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from sin (1 John 1:7). 

The Bible also teaches that those who accept God’s offer of salvation and eternal life on His terms are added to the church (Acts 2:41, 47). 

Jesus loves the church, for the church is composed of those who have accepted His offer of salvation.

He purchased the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28). He loved the church so much, that He gave His life for it! 

Jesus loves YOU! He wants YOU to obey the Gospel so that He can add you to His church and bring you into heaven one day. 

Won’t YOU accept His offer on His terms?

-- David A. Sargent 

Source: “Love What He Loved” by Steve Higginbotham in MercEmail (6/8/2016).

David A. Sargent, Minister