The Notes

This Wednesday night, February 18, 2026, our message is called: 

"Fully Known, Fully Loved."  It has been said that one of humanity's biggest fear is to be known, but not loved.  But to be fully known and then fully loved is the greatest gift.  The Bible explains that God loves us exactly that way, so we don't have to perform for God.  We are totally, unconditionally, absolutely loved! 

Join us for worship and an uplifting message at 6:00 p.m. 

It's mid-week encouragement for the soul. 

If you can't join us in person, you can always participate through our Facebook page - we go "live" at 6:00 p.m., and you will have a front row seat.  If you can't join us live, there are 3 ways to watch the message later - on Facebook, on YouTube, or here on our website.  Messages are posted the following day and you can watch a replay of any message anytime!  

If you want to keep some notes from a message, you can download the notes for a specific message from the "Past and Future Messages" page of our website.  There are many ways to be spiritually fed and encouraged.

This past Wednesday night, February 11, 2026, was week 6 of our message series called, "6 Reasons."  This week's message was based on 1 John 4:16 – “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, & God lives in them.”  The apostle John gives us 6 reasons in that chapter to "live in love" - to make a life-long journey of discovering the depth of God's love for us. 

Our love for each other gets better as we learn to live in God's love.  God's love is a transformational love.   John was changed by that love; he lived out a life of love & wrote about it, for us.  

Here are 6 Reasons to Live in Love from 1 John 4:

1 - Love has to be demonstrated.  Words aren’t enough.

1 John 4:9-10 says: “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one & only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.  This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us & sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

God didn't just say He loved us.  He sent Jesus.  And Jesus was action + words.  He showed us love in the way He lived, and in the way He died.  The Greek word used in that verse for love is "agapao" - it means a selfless, sacrificial love.  This type of love isn’t based on emotions or feelings but is an act of will, reflecting God's love for humanity.  This is love that flows out because that’s what’s inside, not because of what the other person is doing.  Put simply - God doesn’t love us because we’re good.  He loves us because He is good and He is love.

It’s how Jesus instructed His disciples to love - to love one another as He loved them (John 13:34-35).  So in following Jesus, we should show love – demonstrate it – just as Jesus did.

2 - We can love others like that because God’s love flows in us, and through us.  1 John 4:11 - "Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other."   This verse also ties with 1 John 4:19 – “We love because He first loved us.”

The key to understanding this is knowing that God lives in us.  And our primary verse – 1 John 4:16 – says: “and all who live in love live in God.”   We love each other through God’s love because He is in us.  Other translations say: “whoever abides in love abides in God.”

Abides is a continual, enduring relationship.  It’s staying put, remaining steadfast in that love . . . as Jesus put it, staying close to the vine.  Some have felt that love, but have drifted away from it.  The invitation from God is to come back home prodigal child.  Get reacquainted with the love of God.  Reconnect to it.  Then - because we live in God's love, we are able to love others. 

3 - People See the Love of God when we Love each other.

This is one of the most important reasons to live in God's love.  

1 John 4:12 says: “No one has ever seen God.  But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”  The phrase "full expression in us" means the maturing part of God’s love . . . it’s what happens as we abide in – stay close to – God’s love.  Other translations of verse 12 say: “If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.”

Perfected in us doesn’t mean flawlessness but rather, the fulfillment of God's purpose in us.  As we grow in love, we reflect more of God's character - His love.  It’s a lifelong process of God refining us and conforming us to His image. (Rom. 8:29). 

he perfecting of love is a testimony of God's transformative power; and when we are changed, others can change.  That is a powerful message, and it's why people need to see the love of God through our love! 

4 - Loving others is evidence of our Salvation – that God abides in us.1 John 4:13 – “And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.”  Doesn't the word "proof" jump out to you?

The Spirit of God is inside us - and the Spirit is what leads us to love others. We don’t have to ask for God’s Spirit - it's a guaranteed gift - but we do have to be willing to listen to the Spirit's voice.  Jesus said, God’s Spirit will come to us.  John 15:26 – “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me.”  Jesus said the Spirit will come, and it does.

Paul, like John, also said the Spirit is sent to us by God.  Just look at Galatians 4:6 or 2 Corinthians 1:22.

And this verse - Ezekiel 36:27 – “And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes . . .”   The Spirit is a gift, a byproduct of our salvation.  The Spirit is in us to guide us – inspire us – and have our lives be proof of God’s love.  A desire to stay close to God allows His spirit to shine through us.  That's because the Spirit will always respond in love, and act in love.  When we live in that love, it’s evidence that God abides in us.  On the flip side – hating someone is evidence that God is not in us.

5 - You can’t hate someone and call yourself a Christian.

1 John 4:20 - "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen."  Note also verse 21 - "And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”  We are going to be wounded in life.  Hating someone for doing that is easy.  Just look at the example of Cain, the first born of Adam & Eve.  He was angry & jealous of his brother Abel.  God said: “sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you.”  If we don’t give those issues to God, they will control us.

But this is the part where God’s love changes us.  God accepts us as we are, then His love refines us.  It transforms us and renews our mind.  We’re born again.  Look at 1 John 4:7-8 - "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

If we are born again of God, we are given the ability to love so we are able to live in love instead of hate.  Give your hurts to God, He’ll give you peace & love in return.

6 - We can love others because Love changes us.

Some people struggle to love others.  They say, "I'm not a people person.”  Past hurts or fears lie behind those statements.

But every single Christian is able to love others; indeed, we are directed to love others.  1 John 4:19 - "We love because he first loved us."  Ever felt the love of someone so strong that it made you want to be better?  When we are truly touched by God’s love, it changes us.  To be loved when we’re wrong?  That’s powerful.  

To be loved when we fail and are imperfect?  It’s life changing.

To still be loved when we’re selfish or prideful?   Transforming.

God’s love allows us to see ourselves in a new light, and then we can see others in a new light.  When we feel loved by God simply because we are a child of God, we can realize that God loves everyone in this same way.  We don’t love people because they are good, we love because God is good, and He’s in us. 

So the message for us from God is - live in love.  Live in His love. 

Fill each and every day with it.  Feel the love of God, and let your life reflect it so that others may come to know God as their Father.