Grace & Love Church was able to witness the vow renewal of Alonzo & Lily Villegas. Before family, friends, and our Lord, the couple committed themselves to each other once again. We pray abundant blessings & joy to the happy couple!
Along with this morning’s marital ceremony, we were also able to celebrate Holy Communion. Pastor Mario preached from Genesis 4:10, which reads, “The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” Pastor Mario entitled his sermon “The Blood Speaks.” Blood has always had a mysterious connection between God and His people. Here, in Genesis, Cain has just killed Abel, and the Lord hears the cries of vengeance from Abel’s blood. During the Day of Atonement, the high priest would have to sacrifice an animal and sprinkle its pure blood onto the Ark of the Covenant. This, and only this, would forgive the sins of the Israelites.
But now we skip to the New Testament in Hebrews 12:24: “…to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” As the mediator between the 2 covenants, Jesus has essentially made void the old and officiated the new. Jesus’ blood made all this possible. Through His grace and love, we were saved.
Beforehand, blood represented a need to be met. Abel’s blood cried out for vengeance (someone to avenge his death). The Israelites had to offer living sacrifices in order to be washed away of sin. BUT WITH JESUS, we did not have to do anything; Jesus did all the work. Our problem lies when we don’t understand the full capabilities of Jesus’ blood. We constantly pray for His blood to cover us, but we’ve already been covered - from the day we accepted Christ as our savior. Perpetually praying for Jesus’ blood to cover us nulls His death on the cross; it’s as if we’re asking for Him to get back on the cross. Remember who He is and what He did! Jesus’ blood is an everlasting river of love and forgiveness. Just drink it.
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Sunday Service: Mother’s Day
Last week, we had the honor and pleasure of celebrating Mother’s Day. Pastor Mario Magaña’s mom, Zoila Sajquim, shared about the love of God compared to a mother’s love. God gave woman the honor of bearing Christ, who was a perfect example of a child honoring His mother and father. Christ always submitted to His parents. Even on the cross, Jesus ensured that Mary would be taken care of by telling John to take care of Mary. To honor mother & father is best gift a son and daughter can give. The congregation blessed all the mothers of the congregation, and we bless all the mothers out there with the fullness of God’s love and grace. Your love, sacrifice, and care are truly appreciated by all of us. May God continue to strengthen you and drive your dreams. We love you!
Pastor Mario then talked about the importance of a leader who lays his life down to make sure the congregation members achieve so much more. Like Christ said that we would do greater things because a leader always wants his people to go further. Jesus stands and intercedes for us. It is powerful to know that there is always someone praying for us. We see this in the bible when Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5-7 reminding him of his grandma’s and mom’s. Paul tells Timothy that he is praying for him. At Grace & Love we feel honored to have leaders praying for everyone they know. If you ever feel alone, don’t because God is with you. If you need prayer please feel free to message us and we will gladly stand with you in prayer. God bless you with joy and peace.
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The Holy Spirit rained upon Grace & Love Church today. God’s presence was overwhelming as the worship team, led by Jonathan Caal today, took us even deeper into His courts. We had the pleasure of having brother Kevin Gomez speak the Good News. During the administration period, after the preaching, people came to the altar for prayer, and as one body, we declared victory and healing for all those in need.
“To Dream And Not Lose Hope”
Proverbs 13:12 reads, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Brother Kevin took us on a journey where we focused on God’s unchanging goodness. Through different seasons, God remains good. Whether we are experiencing lows or highs, our Father stays constant.
“Deferred” means postponed, delayed, or lost. When we are children, we dream and imagine with no boundaries. As we grow older, life happens. We encounter so-called failures when we don’t achieve our goals, and these failures cause us to stop dreaming and to lose hope. We allow life to dictate our emotions and feelings. We, then, begin to look at ourselves no longer with the eyes of God. The solution? Worship.
Remember that we are spiritual beings; speak to your soul. The air you breathe is the Spirit, so breathe Him in. You become like what you worship. God set up worship so that it benefits us more than He. When we’re in troubled times, we often ask, “Why God? Why me?” But God is teaching us that He is good. He is not the one who is doing the bad. When we ask “Why God?” we give the enemy a footstool. It puts doubt in our minds about God’s goodness. Instead, we should be asking the enemy the rhetorical question, “Why are YOU doing this? I have a great God, and I’m gonna go destroy your works!” Ephesians 3:20 calls us to be ridiculously happy & optimistic because we serve a God who can do MORE than we can ever imagine.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” We put our desires in God’s hands, and He makes them happen. When our desires are met, it makes us happy and we become a tree that bears fruit. For example if someone is struggling with alcoholism but desires to be sober, God will pull them through the valley and out to the other side. That victory will allow the person to now help others struggling with the same issue. We have hope now, because the Kingdom of Heaven is within us.
Go dream! God will fulfill!
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