Blog | Life Church St Louis

The Importance Of Love

Church, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / May 2, 2006

Somebody once sang the phrase “Love makes the world go round.” Although it’s not a verse in the Bible, it’s true. Now the love that really makes the world go round, the love that created the earth and put the stars in space, is God’s love. The Bible says that God is love. Since God is love and He created people in His own image, then love is at the heart of every human being. Without love, our world won’t go round, it will come to a screeching halt. Everybody instinctually knows that inside themselves. That’s why most of the songs on the radio are about relationships and love of one kind or another.

There is an empty space in every person that is looking for love, an empty space that is looking to be filled with a relationship, a relationship that won’t end, a relationship that will last forever. Last Sunday, we talked about how you can fill that empty space in your heart. You can only find true love, eternal love, by becoming part of God’s family, by becoming a child of God. But you know what, even when you become God’s child, even when you begin to experience God’s love in your own heart and life, there’s more that God has for you. You were not created to live life just “me and Jesus.” God said in NIV Genesis 2:18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” So God has a family for you to be part of, a family of other children of God, a spiritual family of brothers and sisters, the family of God in the church. NLT 1 Peter 2:17 Show respect for everyone. Love your Christian brothers and sisters. God wants you to both experience love in God’s family and He wants you to learn to give love to others as well.

Your Christian brothers and sisters are part of the body of Christ, just as you are. As we learn to love one another with God’s love, we are actually giving and receiving Jesus’ love in our relationships within God’s family. That’s the way God designed a church to function, as a spiritual family. As you learn to love, you’ll be loved, you’ll sense the empty places in your life being filled up, you’ll be fulfilling God’s second purpose for your life, the purpose of fellowship. Jesus also said in NLT John 13:35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. Love in a church, love in God’s family, will show people that what is going on here is really of God, that we are really followers of Jesus Christ. Would you want to be part of a family or group that was always fighting and didn’t show love? I wouldn’t want to. So God has put us in a family to learn to love others. So today I’m going to focus on how you and I can learn to love others in God’s family.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 30, 2006 message entitled The Importance Of Love

What God’s Family Is About

Church, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 24, 2006

Pollster George Barna reports that the top priority of adults in America is their families. God put that desire, the desire to be part of a healthy family, in the hearts of every person. Regardless of whether the family you grew up in was healthy or not, God created you first and foremost to be part of His family. NIV 1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! Being part of God’s family and relating the rest of God’s family is one of the five purposes that God has for your life, the purpose of community or fellowship.

Today, we begin a new message series entitled “Become Part of the Family.” In this series, I’ll be talking about two aspects of God’s family. This is confusing to a lot of people, so I’m going to address it right from the start to help you understand. The first aspect of God’s family is the universal family of God. The universal family of God is made up of every believer in the world, those who have lived before, those who are alive now and the ones who will become believers in the future. One day the we’ll all be together with God in eternity forever. When I attended college, I led a small group Bible study. The name we chose for ourselves was the “Forever Family Fellowship.” Someday in heaven, I will meet some of the people from that Forever Family fellowship of many years ago. The universal family of God is forever.

The second aspect of God’s family is the local family of God. The local family of God is believers who are united together in a local church. They are united both by their commitment to Jesus Christ and by their commitment to one another in the church. Some local churches are small, less than thirty people, and you can get to know everybody pretty well. That’s what Life Church was like when we started out. Others are average size like Life Church right now, around 100 people. It’s actually hard to get to know 100 people well, but you can get to know a dozen people in a Life Group well. Other churches are very large. The largest church in the world is Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul Korea with a current membership of over 800,000. The people build relationships in that church in the largest system of small groups in the world.

Every person needs to be a part of both the universal and local families of God. It’s God’s plan for you and your family. It’s the only way you’ll be successful in life. Today, I am going to talk about the universal family of God. My message is entitled “What God’s family Is About” If you’re not a believer, you’ll learn how to become part of God’s family. If you’re a believer, you’ll learn how to see yourself and live as a member of God’s family. The more you do, the more successful you’ll be in life fulfilling God’s purpose.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 23, 2006 message entitled What God’s Family Is About

The Encouragement Of Easter

God, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 17, 2006

What a great day to be alive, Easter 2006. Many of the symbols we have of Easter are about new life: rabbits, eggs, flowers and springtime. However, Easter is not just about life, it is about life from death. Easter is about resurrection. The true meaning of Easter is the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 2000 years ago.

Easter means that Jesus is alive today and that gives us joy and hope. Jesus said in NIV Revelation 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! The resurrection of Jesus Christ means that you can have hope in this life. No difficulty is too hard for God to overcome. The resurrection of Jesus Christ means that you can have hope in life after death. Even death is not the end for the believer. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, so we as believers will one day also be resurrected.

Today I want to talk about “The Encouragement of Easter.” Do you need encouragement this morning? I know that I do. Perhaps you’re going through difficult times or someone you know and love is in difficulty. Your problems may be spiritual, emotional, physical, financial, relational or something else altogether. Whatever you’re going through, Jesus wants to encourage you this Easter.

This morning we’re going to look at the a man named Thomas, often referred to as doubting Thomas. After Jesus rose from the dead, some some of the disciples saw him alive but Thomas doubted. He didn’t believe, he thought everyone was deluded, his hope was gone. Perhaps some of you can identify with Thomas this morning. We’re going to look at how Jesus encouraged Thomas this morning and as we do, let Jesus encourage your heart.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 16, 2006 message entitled The Encouragement Of Easter

Experience The Power Of The Cross

God, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 13, 2006

Next week is Easter and I’m looking forward to it. What is it about Easter that is so encouraging? Why is Easter the most attended Sunday of the year in churches? Maybe it has something to do with the season. Spring is a beautiful time of year but I believe it’s more than that. Easter is special because God’s power to overcome any obstacle was demonstrated when Jesus was raised from the dead.

In order for there to be an Easter, there first had to be a cross. That’s what we’re going to talk about today. Today my message is entitled “Experience The Power Of The Cross.” The cross of Christ is at the heart of Christianity. In the cross of Jesus, the power of God was released. You and I need to experience the power of God in our lives. NIV 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Life is complex, life is challenging, life throws you curveballs that you can’t handle. We need God’s power in our lives and to experience that power we need to get near the cross. There were four soldiers who crucified Jesus near the cross, but they were there out of duty. We need to draw near to Jesus’ cross, not out of duty, but out of love for Him, out of love for what He has done for us.

Today we’re going to look at three people who were near the cross to the end. They were near to the cross because they loved Jesus. Each one experienced the power of the cross in their own lives. Mary Magdalene was there, she found freedom near the cross. Mary, Jesus’ mother, was there, she received a reward near the cross. Finally John, the disciple that Jesus loved was there, he discovered direction. Today, let’s draw near to the cross, not just to study ancient history, but to experience it’s power in our own lives.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 9, 2006 message entitled Experience The Power Of The Cross

Worshiping When You Don’t Feel Like It

God, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 4, 2006

Today my message topic is “Worshiping When You Don’t Feel Like It”. Sometimes God seems a million miles away. Sometimes you can’t sense the presence of God. You pray, but nothing seems to happen. Things may be going wrong in your life, but God doesn’t seem to be around. Just like the lady in our picture, you feel all alone and it’s a rainy, blue day. In those times, you don’t feel like worshiping God, you may even begin to feel like God doesn’t care about you.

A lot of people don’t believe that God cares about them at all. Others believe that God only cares about them when their lives are going well, but if things are difficult, evidently God doesn’t care about them. In the Bible, David sometimes complained that God seemed distant. NLT Psalm 10:1 O LORD, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I need you the most? Have you ever felt that way? You’re in trouble, yet God just doesn’t seem to be around. You can’t feel His presence and things aren’t getting better in your life. You don’t feel like worshiping at those times, do you?

Some people draw away from God and church when they begin to feel that God is not helping them and they feel that God’s presence is remote. However, that is not the right choice. To run away from God when you don’t sense His presence will lead to disaster. When you feel low, when you feel like God is out there on a galaxy light years away, God wants to teach you about faith. God wants to teach you about continuing to worship, about continuing to trust, about continuing to do the right things even when you have no experience of God.

NLT Psalm 143:7-8 Come quickly, LORD, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me, or I will die. Let me hear of your unfailing love to me in the morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I have come to you in prayer. Here David is depressed, God seems far away, so what does he do? He prays, he trusts and he draws near to God in prayer. He worships even when he doesn’t feel like it.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 2, 2006 message entitled Worshiping When You Don’t Feel Like It

How To Be Successful In Life

Life / By Pastor Dan Walker / March 29, 2006

God has put in the heart of every human being the desire to be successful in life. He has put that desire there, because it is God’s desire for you to be successful and prosper in life. The Bible says in NAS 3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

What does the Bible mean when it says that God wants you to prosper and be successful? A lot of people equate prosperity and success with money or fame. Donald Trump is a billionaire, but is on his third marriage. Successful? I don’t think so. Billy Joel, the famous singer said, “The happiest times in my life were when my relationships were going well, but in my whole life, I haven’t met the person I can sustain a relationship with yet. So I’m discontented about that. I’m angry with myself. I have regrets.” Success in life is fulfilling God’s purposes in all areas of your life. NIV Proverbs 28:25 A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper. True success in life comes only from God.

The Bible has a lot to say about how to be successful. In the NIV translation, the words “prosper”, “success” or “bless” and their variants are used in 495 verses. Your success in life is related to the success of your spiritual life, according to 3 John 1:2, quoted above. To be successful, you must first of all enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. See my article, for a simple, but profound description of this foundational step.

The second step, which unfortunately is being ignored by many people, is to become part of a faith family in a local church. You will never achieve success in life apart from this. In the Old Testament, to be put out of faith community for breaking God’s laws was a terrible penalty called “being cut off from his people” (Exodus 31:14). In the New Testament, to be put out of the church was just as tragic and was described as being “handed over to Satan” (1 Corinthians 5:5). Yet many today, consider themselves believers, yet do not become part of a church family. The Bible says NIV Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.

Being part of a church family provides protection for you in every area of your life. When you are not part of a church family, your health, relationships, finances, spiritual life and every area of your life will suffer. You will not be fulfilling God’s purpose for your life. A scientific study has shown that those who attend church more than once a week live eight years longer than those who never attend church. A meta analysis of 42 different studies relating life expectancy to religious involvement showed a significant association with lower mortality. In other words, people who attend church are healthier and live longer lives than those who don’t.

Finally, to be successful in life, you must follow the principles in the Bible. NIV Joshua 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Only God, through the power of the Holy Spirit can give you the wisdom and strength to follow God’s principles.

True success in life can only be achieved by those who have a growing relationship with God, who are part of a church family and are following biblical principles in every area of their lives. May your life be prosperous and successful as you live it for God.