Love Theme’d Sunday

For our February ‘Valentines Day’ service we explored the theme of Love using some creative readings and videos.  Here’s what our service looked like, it worked for Valentines Day but I would think some of this stuff could work for any service that is talking about God’s love or how we should love others.

Opening Worship Set

• Forever

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship Video: “Obstacles”

• Song:  Meet With Me
• Song:  Lord Let Your Glory Fall
• Song:  The Love of God
• Song:  How He Loves Us
• IDEA – Play How Deep the Father’s Love for us in 3/4 time and used the chorus from How He Loves Us.

Sharing and Prayer Time

• Song:  Hungry

Video – “Agape”

This video, while a little quickly spoken, really has a lot of good things to say, and helped to move people from thinking about ‘love’ for ice-cream, or ‘love’ for a sports team, to Jesus’ sacrificial love.

We then sang the chorus of the Hymn ‘Amazing Love and Can it Be’ arr. by Tim Hughes with scripture readings between each chorus.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Chorus – Amazing Love How Can it Be, that Thou my King wouldst Die for Me

Rom 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Chorus – Amazing Love How Can it Be, that Thou my King wouldst Die for Me

Rom 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Chorus – Amazing Love How Can it Be, that Thou my King wouldst Die for Me

Eph. 3:14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Next came a video that tied in Valentines Day and God’s Love.  Normally mixing Valentines day and God’s love ends up being cheesy and weak.  This poem and video  nailed it!  I was quite impressed.

Amazing Video: “A Valentines Day Poem” by David Bowden

You can get the lyrics on his blog here.

• Song:  Love that Can Only Be You (One by One)

Reading of  1 John 4 – Message Bible… The general idea being loving God means loving others.  We’d all agree that loving others is a good thing, but what does it look like to love others?   What does 1 Cor. 13 type love look like in our day to day relationships?

Reading/Confession based on 1 Cor. 13