Last November, Pastor Terri taught an amazing Sunday message on our Core Values. The
core is the central, most important part. Value is what we believe that doesn’t change and is forever settled. These essentials are at the very heart of what we believe as a church. They are: (1) We put The WORD of God first place. (2) We live by faith. (3) We walk in Love. (4) We are led by the Holy Spirit. (5) We pray about everything. (6) We protect the anointing. (7) We honor God.
This month, I wanted to write to you about our third Core Value: We walk in Love.
First of all, the Love of God is demonstrated by a heart that gives. “For God so loved that
He gave.” (John 3:16). Thank you for bringing your supply and for giving your time in prayer and
agreement for us and our church family here at EMIC. And thank you for all you do for the kingdom of God. You are important to Pastor Terri and I, and we are so thankful for you. We are standing in faith for a wonderful harvest for you from The LORD. God loves you so much that He delights in fully supplying everything you need!
A foundation scripture for this Core Value is Ephesians 5:1-2 (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition).
Paul is telling us: “Be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children
[imitate their father]. And walk in Love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved
us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a
sweet fragrance.” The New Living Translation of verse 2 says, “Live a life filled with Love, following
the example of Christ.”
Think about what Paul is writing. He is calling us to emulate the God kind of Love. He is
compelling us to reach up to the highest level of Love possible, instructing us to “walk in Love, as
Christ also has loved us.” In other words, we are to love one another in the same way that Jesus
loves us. Walking in His Love must become “your highest goal” according to 1 Corinthians 14:1
(NLT). The AMPC says, “eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] Love [make it your aim, your
great quest].”
Through the years, I have studied great men and women of Love. I have personally encountered
those who emanated the Love of God. It literally shone through their eyes. Their very presence was thick with the atmosphere of Love Himself.
Nineteenth century medical missionary and Central Africa explorer, David Livingstone, was
one of those whose life was marked by God’s Love. Even more than that, he left a mark on Africa
that has lasted to this day.
Henry Drummond writes of Livingstone in his book entitled, Love—The Greatest Thing in
the World. He was quoting himself speaking to young men and women who were training for the
mission field:
“I beg the little band of would-be missionaries…to remember that though you give your
bodies to be burned, and have not Love, it profits nothing—nothing! You can take nothing greater
to the heathen world than the impress and reflection of the Love of God upon your own character.
That is the universal language.
“It will take you years to speak in Chinese, or in the dialects of India. From the day you land,
that language of Love, understood by all, will be pouring forth its unconscious eloquence. It is the
man who is the missionary, it is not his words. His character is his message.
“In the heart of Africa, among the Great Lakes, I have come across black men and women
who remember the only white man they ever saw before—David Livingstone; and as you cross his
footsteps in that dark continent, men’s faces light up as they speak of the kind Doctor who passed
there years ago. They could not understand him; but they felt the Love that beat in his heart.”1
There was a great dispute when Livingstone died. Preparations were being made to return
His body to England.
The African people, however, made one demand: “You can take his body back to England,
but we want to keep his heart in Africa.”
The request was granted. David Livingstone’s heart is still buried in Central Africa.
Henry Drummond also told those young missionaries, “Take into your new sphere of labor,
where you also mean to lay down your life, that simple charm [Love], and your lifework must
succeed. You can take nothing greater; you need take nothing less.”
I leave you with this “Love assignment” from 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 in the New Living Translation: “And may The LORD make your Love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our Love for you overflows. May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our LORD Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.”
Growing in God’s Love,
Pastor George
PS. Mark and Trina Hankins will be our special Sunday guests on March 19. We are so looking forward to having our dear friends with us again. Be ready for your faith to increase and your joy to overflow! For more information, go to emic.org.
1 The Greatest Thing in the World, Henry Drummond (New York: James Pott & Co., 1890),
The Greatest Thing in the World
