God---Guide Seven Phil Benedict

Tahlequah, Oklahoma

United Indian Mission

Greeley, Colorado

These guides are designed to help you to study, to learn, to understand, and to live what God teaches us in his Word, the Bible. God gave us the Bible to teach us how to know and to walk with Him. We can enjoy God’s blessings forever, rather than experiencing his judgement. His Word is eternally true. Take time to carefully read and think about the Scriptures used in this guide. Meditate on them and the truths they teach. Learn to love God and his Word. Regularly ask God for a right understanding of Scriptural truths and then make them part of you. Absorb them. If you go over the material too quickly without much thought, it will have little or no lasting impact on your life. Commit yourself to making Biblical truths the foundation of your life and to putting them into practice every day of your life.

This guide is about the love of God. It covers Biblical truths that can anchor our souls. In this guide, the love, the grace, and the mercy of God are "defined" and explained as best this writer can do. On a personal note, as I (Phil Benedict) was studying and preparing to write this lesson, I repeatedly prayed for direction and for wisdom. Yet when the lesson was done, it seemed to fall so far short in giving an adequate appreciation and an understanding of the love of God. Read and meditate on the Scriptures covered and let the Spirit of God give you a deep appreciation of the love of God..

This guide also covers how followers of the Lord Jesus Christ should respond to God’s love.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (KJV)

How great is the love that the Father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God. 1 John 3:1

God, who is absolutely holy, loved us, who are sinful to the core, so much that He gave his only Son to die so that we can have everlasting life. Through his death we can have eternal life and we can be his very own sons and daughters. Think of that!!! We who are his children should have a heart full of praise and thanksgiving because of his love.

What was the ultimate act of love that God did for us?

Do you appreciate the love of God?

Have you thanked Him lately?

Do you regularly give Him praise and worship?

The love taught and demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ is very different from the world’s ideas of love. Before we can understand and appreciate Biblical truths about love, we need to have a good understanding of what Biblical love is. For this to happen, it is necessary to put aside much of what we have learned from the world about love and see what the Word of God means when it teaches about love.

For God so loved the world that he gave his on and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)

Giving is the highest form of Biblical love. The familiar words "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son..." are some of the most profound in all of Scripture. The holy God gave his only Son to die so that we who are sinful and unloving can have eternal life and spend eternity with Him.

God’s love resulted in his giving something valuable–his own Son–to us who were unworthy of such a gift. God giving his own Son to die so that we can have eternal life is the ultimate example of giving love.

Thoughtfully read Romans 5:8. How did God demonstrate his love?

How does Romans 5:8 identify us?

In our way of thinking we associate love with emotional feelings. However, the foundation of Biblical giving love is not feelings, but actions. God planned in the ages before we were created to love us and to give his own son to die for us even though we would be unlovable, sinful and rebellious. This is not saying that God does not have feelings of love. He does. However, God’s love was demonstrated by his actions, not by his feelings.

To think that God would give the life of his only Son to die for us is beyond our ability to comprehend. All we have to do is accept the gift of his Son. When we do, we receive all the blessings of walking with God while we are here on earth and we also receive eternal life with Him in heaven. He gave his Son even though we were unworthy and could not repay Him. That is real genuine love. From the depths of our hearts we need to appreciate the gift that God gave to us.

Carefully read Mark 12:28-34.

From this passage, what is the most important commandment?

Read 1 John 4:19. In this verse what are we expected to do? Why?

As people loved by God, He asks us to love Him in return. Like God’s love, our love is based on action, particularly our giving. Our love for God is not based on our feelings or emotion. To love God is to give ourselves and all that we are and have completely and totally to God. We hold back nothing. Anything less is not real genuine love. If we love God, we will submit to Him and obey Him completely. Carefully note the emphasis on obedience in the following verses.

Read 1 John 5:3. In this verse, how is "loving God" defined?

How is "love" defined in 2 John 1:6?

From 1 John 3:18, how are we to love?

From John 14:23-24, what will you do if you love God?

From John 14:15 and 21, how is love described?

From these verses it is clear that loving God is primarily an action (obedience), not an emotion. Someone not living an obedient life may experience some emotional feelings about God, but this is not genuine love for God. We cannot live in disobedience to God and then claim to love God. At times our feelings may be aroused, such as in an emotional worship service. However, unless we are living in submission to Him and have confessed and turned from known sin in our life, those emotional feelings are of little value to God. They are not genuine love. Those feelings may make us feel good, but they are not what honors and pleases God.

Some people are not real emotional people and may not have strong "emotional" feelings about God. At times they may even feel guilty because of their lack of emotional feelings. However, we must realize that our feelings go up and down and will change with circumstances, but our genuine love which is our commitment to obedience and service can remain constant in spite of how we feel.

This kind of loving commitment and obedience is a growth process. The more we grow and mature in our faith, the deeper our love becomes. As we live in submission to God and as we grow in our walk with God, our love takes on a deeper dimension. As we grow, it is likely that a person will have feelings of love that accompany his commitment to obedience.

Read Mark 12:30 again.

How are we to love God according to this verse?

To the best of your ability, explain what it means to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength.

Carefully read Mark 12:28-34 several times.

From this passage, what is the most important commandment?

What is the second most important commandment?

We normally think of our neighbor as someone who lives next door or someone who lives fairly close to us. However, in a Biblical sense the word neighbor can be very broad. Any other human that I, in one way or another, have dealings with is my neighbor.

Read Luke 10:29-37.

From this passage, how would you define a neighbor?

From this parable we could define a neighbor as anyone the Lord brings into our life who has a need.

The second commandment cited in this passage in Mark is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Loving a neighbor is to do good for them. When we are able, we meet their needs. We put their interest ahead of our own. Again, to love your neighbor does not mean that you will have an emotional attachment to that person, but in obedience to God’s command we seek to do good things for them, even if we do not "like" the person. The individual may not "deserve" what we are doing, but we make the choice to do it because it is the right thing for a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ to do.

God’s love for us cost the life of his one and only Son. Loving another person will cost us something. It is not just giving money or other of our possessions, although that may be part of it. We may give of our time, our knowledge, or our wisdom to help someone. We may show love by giving encouragement and compassion to someone who is going through hard times or is in some kind of trouble.

How have you shown love to someone who was not part of your own family or a friend of yours?

Read Luke 6:27-28.

In this passage, how are we to treat those who may be defined as our enemies?

This is probably the hardest kind of love. To give of our self to meet the need of an enemy is not a natural human response; yet it is a command by God. However, in obedience to God we show our love for God by doing good to our enemies.

Loving our brothers and sisters in the Lord, takes on a whole different dimension. It is giving plus fellowship. This love is covered in a following section on fellowship.

Following are some observations about genuine giving (agape) love.

1. The death of our Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of giving love.

2. It may be one way giving. It is giving without expecting something back.

3. It will cost something such as time, energy, emotion or finances.

4. It is a mental choice. We may or may not have emotional feelings for the one we are giving to.

5. It is unconditional. It is not based on the worthiness of the recipient.

The only way we can be this kind of a loving giving person is if we are strengthened and led by the Spirit of God. As we allow the Spirit of God to control us, we can be the kind of person who gives God-like love.

We proclaim unto you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3

1 John 1:7

It is very true that God loves the whole world. He gave his Son to die so that we can have eternal life. An equally precious truth is that God wants fellowship with those who accept the gift of his Son. In fact, God created us in his own image so that we can have fellowship with Him. (See Genesis 1:26-27.) God wants us to enjoy Him. He wants to be our friend. This is a kind of love and fellowship that God can have only with his own sons and daughters. It is the kind of love and fellowship that He can never have with those who reject Him. We have a special place of love in the heart of God. What a blessing!!!

When we covered God’s giving love earlier in this guide, we emphasized obedience and commitment, rather than feelings. In fellowship love, there are feelings involved. In fact they can be very deep warm healthy feelings of care and love.

While on earth, Jesus developed special friendships. One such friendship was with Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. In John 11:3, Lazarus is identified as the one that Jesus loved. In John 11:36, the crowd observed how deeply Lazarus was loved by Jesus. This kind of love is alluded to in Proverbs 18:24 which states that we have a friend that sticks closer than a brother. In John 16:24, God the Father loves us in response to our love for his Son. In Romans 8:15 it states that we cry "Abba Father". "Abba" apparently is a term of affection, possibly like our word "daddy". God is our loving and caring father.

Carefully read John 17:23. This is an amazing verse. God loves us with the same love that He loves his own Son.

Do you think that the perfect sinless God feels love for his own Son?

According to this verse, does He have the same love for us?

How are we described in Colossians 3:12?

We are dear to the heart of God. What a blessing!!!

Do you deserve to be loved by God in this way?

How can a person develop fellowship or friendship with God?

Are you having fellowship with our heavenly Father?

Now read 1 John 4:7-11. Who are we expected to love?

In 1 Peter 2:17, what are we expected to do?

Read 1 Peter 1:22.

How are we to love each other?

Read Titus 3:15. Who is Titus sending his greeting to?

Not only is it possible to fellowship with God, but there is a deep bond of friendship and caring that we enjoy with other members of the body of Christ. This is a two way love and fellowship. I enjoy the company and friendship of other believers and (hopefully) they enjoy fellowship and friendship with me. We give and receive friendship and companionship. We give and receive love and encouragement. It meets a deep need in us for love and acceptance. We are brothers and sisters in Christ and we are all part of his body, the church.

This kind of love is a natural result of giving love among believers. As we give of ourselves to meet each others needs, it is natural that we begin to enjoy a deep bond of fellowship and friendship. We love to be with our brothers and sisters in the Lord and we love to serve them when they have needs.

When we love each other deeply from the heart, there certainly are feelings involved. Fellowship is not just a cold love, but a deeply felt love. As we are obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ and put the needs of other believers ahead of ourselves, a healthy bond of deeply felt love develops. What a blessing to know that there are other brothers and sisters in Christ who have a healthy love for me and I can return a healthy God honoring love to them. What a joy and blessing this is!!!

From what has been covered so far in this lesson about love, describe how you can love fellow Christians.

Are you enjoying fellowship with other Christian people?

Is your participation in church activities enough to develop healthy friendships with fellow Christians?

Do you know a brother or sister in the Lord who is having a difficult time? What can you do to help?

Do you need some kind of help or encouragement from a fellow Christian? Have you told anyone else about your need?

Do you know someone who feels alone? What can you do to help them?

This kind of love emphasizes the oneness and the unity within the body of Christ. As fellow believers, we need to work hard at maintaining unity in our fellowship. One of the things that God hates is disunity and dissension.

Read Proverbs 6:16-19. Here is a list of things that the Lord hates. They are detestable to Him.

What are the seven things?

Carefully read Ephesians 4:1-3.

In Ephesians 4:3, what are we to do?

In verse two we are told to "bear with one another in love". That means to get along with each other, even when it is not easy.

Are all Christians easy to love?

Now carefully read Titus 3:9-11.

How is the church to treat someone who causes division in the church?

What is to be done after the second warning?

Throughout the New Testament there are many references to "one another". Many of these have to do with relationships with fellow Christians.

For example, how are we to treat one another in Galatians 5:13?

How are we to treat one another in 1 Thessalonians 5:11?

It is a rich study to read and absorb the truths in all of these "one another" passages. A study of these passages shows more clearly, in a very practical way, how Christian fellowship works. Other "one another" passages are John 13:34-35, Romans 12:10 and 16, Romans 15:7 and14, Romans 14:13, Romans 16:16, I Corinthians 1:10, Ephesians 4:32, Ephesians 5:19 and 21, Colossians 3:13 and 16, Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:24-25, James 4:11, 1 John 1:7-9,

1 Peter 3:8, 1 Peter 4:9 and 1 Peter 5:5.

As part of the creation of mankind, God created us to be men and women, male and female. He established marriage and the home where children were to be brought up in a loving stable environment. He intended husbands and wives to have a deep love and commitment to each other. He gave them a gift of sex which enables them to come together physically and be "one flesh". The God given love of a husband and wife surpasses all other forms of human love. It is even used as a picture of the love Christ has for his own body, which is us--the church.

Read Genesis 1:26-28.

In whose image are men and women created?

What were God’s first instructions to people?

Now read Genesis 2:23-25.

What is God’s plan as revealed in verse 24?

In Ephesians 5:25, what does God instruct men to do?

In Titus 2:3-4, what are the older women to teach the younger women?

Read Matthew 19:4-6. What truth does Jesus repeat in verse 4?

What truth does Jesus repeat in verse 5?

What command is given in the last sentence of verse 6?

Skim through the book of "Song of Solomon" or "Song of Songs"(NIV).

What is the tone of this book?

If God devoted an entire book of the Bible to an expression of romantic love, is it important to God?

The loving romantic sexual attraction is a normal God given love. It is part of our makeup, and sexual feelings are not in themselves dirty or sinful. God gave them to us and He gave us instructions for their fulfillment. It is God’s plan that most unmarried men and women be attracted to each other and eventually select someone to marry. God clearly instructed that the fulfillment of the sexual attraction is to be within the marriage of a husband and wife, and only within marriage.

When God created us sexual beings, He intended it to be three things.

1. Bonding of a husband and wife. The Biblical principle is 1+1=1.

2. Reproduction, with children being raised in a Godly, loving, and stable family environment.

3. A source of deep uninhibited pleasure within marriage.

When God’s instructions are followed and a married couple give themselves to each other in romantic sexual love, it is a very fulfilling, satisfying, and enjoyable expression of love.

In Hebrews 13:4, what is described as pure?

What happens when it is not kept pure?

As we all know, the world is obsessed with sex. If one gets his perspective on love from watching television, secular psychologists, novels, or other worldly sources, he will get a view of romantic love far different than a Biblical God given romantic love.

Sexual love is to be expressed within a marriage of a husband and wife, and only within a marriage. Any kind of sexual activity before marriage, living together without being married, and any extra-marital sexual activity is sin. God did not intend there to be lust, immorality, fornication, casual sex or one night stands, homosexuality, sexual abuse of children or adults, gutter talk, dirty jokes, pornography, etc., etc., etc. He did not intend it to be a source of manipulation, frustration, anger, and hurt.

What command is given in Exodus 20:14?

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5. What are we to avoid?

Are you keeping God’s directions for romantic love?

Have you confessed past sin?

Are you committed to following God’s way?

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 gives a soul searching description of giving love. Carefully read this passage several times and think about what you read.

From verses 1-3, describe how important love is.

How much do we accomplish without love?

How much is nothing?

How important is having the right motives or reasons in giving love?

What do you think are some good reasons for giving love?

In verses 4-7, there are sixteen qualities of love given. What are they?

What does the first part of verse 8 say about love?

Now go through this whole list and think about each one as a description of God’s love for you. This is a soul stirring exercise. It can boggle your mind and greatly deepen your understanding and appreciation of God.

Now go through this list again and think about your own love for other people. How does your love measure up?

Which of these qualities of love do you need to work on?

If you are married, 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 could transform your marriage. These short verses are probably the best marriage counseling in the world. Evaluate your love in the light of these verses. Putting these qualitites into practice would solve the vast majority of marriage problems.

No sermon, no lesson, study guide, or no book can adequately cover the love of God. Love is spoken of in the Bible well over 500 times. Every time it is used there are lessons to be learned. Following are references to just a few of these many truths to be learned about God’s love.

What does Deuteronomy 7:9 have to say about God’s willingness to love?

What does Psalm 32:10 say about God’s love?

How does Psalm 86:15 describe God?

How does Psalm 103:11-12 describe God’s love?

What phrase is repeated many times in Psalm 136?

In John 15:9 Jesus states that He loved us in the same way that___________________________.

This is a tremendous truth. When we realize that Jesus loves us in the same way that God loves his own Son, there is no reason for us to ever wonder if we are loved by God.

From Romans 8:28, what will happen in the lives of those who love God?

Carefully read Romans 8:31-39 several times. This is an eloquent passage dealing with our security in God’s love.

From this passage, who is not going to accuse us?

Also from this passage, what will not separate us from God’s love?

Absorb this passage. From it you can be assured that you are always in God’s tremendous love. What a blessing!!!

From 1 Corinthians 13:13, what three foundation qualities of the Christian faith are mentioned?

Which is the greatest of these qualities?

Read 1 John 3:1. How is the author (John) feeling about God’s love?

From Galatians 5:6, what is important in living the Christian life?

From Galatians 5:22, what is it that produces love in our life?

How does one live so that the fruit of the Spirit is evident in his life?

Going right along with the love of God is his grace and his mercy. Love is a fundamental characteristic of God. As a God of love, He chooses to show grace and mercy. These three characteristics of God go hand and glove together.

As one cannot adequately describe or define God’s love, neither can his grace or his mercy be adequately described or defined. Scholars and theologians go to great lengths to understand and explain these concepts, but in the end they too seem to fall short. Following are simple definitions that are a good start to help us understand the grace and the mercy of God.

GRACE: A simple definition is "the undeserved favor of God", which can never be earned.

MERCY: Compassion, the goodness of God to those in trouble

Grace is an extremely important Biblical concept. It is mentioned about 115 times. God's grace or God’s favor is nothing we deserve, and it is not based on human merit. We cannot work for it or earn it. We can receive it only by putting our trust in the death of Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sin. We receive it as a gift, not as something we have coming to us. In fact, if we try to mix God’s grace with our own efforts or merit, it violates and invalidates God's grace.

In John 1:16, what do we receive because of God’s blessing?

In Titus 2:11-12, what does the grace of God make available to us?

To how many people is it available?

In verse 12, how should we respond to the grace of God?

Carefully read Ephesians 2:1-10.

How is God described in verse 4?

How is grace described in verse 7?

In verse 7, how long will God show us his grace?

In verse 8, what is the source of our salvation?

Is salvation a result of grace or works?

In Ephesians 1:6-8, there are two phrases describing the abundance of God’s grace. What are the two phrases?

What is your own attitude about God’s grace?

Have you thanked Him lately?

The grace of God enables us to be saved; however, it also enables us to walk with Him throughout our lives.

Carefully read Hebrews 4:16.

With what attitude should we come to God?

When we are in need, what can we expect from God?

Like God's love and grace, mercy is not dependent on what we have done; it is given by God to us who do not deserve it.

2 Corinthians 12:9 is a verse that has been an encouragement to many many people. What does it say about God’s grace?

According to Titus 3:5, our salvation is not because of what?

What is salvation the result of ?

What does God hear in Psalm 6:9?

How is God described in Micah 7:18?

In Micah 6:8, what three things does the Lord require of us?

Some may be tempted to think that since God is so rich in grace, it’s OK to sin. What does Paul say about that in Romans 6:1?

A maturing Christian must develop a deep appreciation for the love, the grace, and the mercy of God. Is your understanding and appreciation of these characteristics of God growing?

Stop for a moment and thank God for his love, his grace, and his mercy!!!

A question that arises in the minds of many people is something like the following. Since God is a good and loving God, why is there so much suffering and evil in the world? Why did God allow the "trail of tears" and all the injustices and suffering that were part of it? Why does God allow millions of young children to horribly suffer and die from starvation and disease every year in places like India, Africa, and many other parts of the world?

The first thing that needs to be said is that we as human beings will never be able to fully understand God. Our understanding comes from what God has revealed in his Word and, to a much lesser degree, we gain some understanding from God’s creation and from our own consistent walk with God. We can never know for sure what God has not revealed in his Word.

There are some questions relating to evil and suffering that God has not seen fit to explain in detail to us. God lets us know that He is a good and loving God, but He does not explain to us how this plays out in every detail. He asks us to believe, in faith, what He has revealed, and to live our lives in accordance with what He has revealed, rather than to stumble over what we do not understand.

Recognizing that we will never have all our questions answered and also recognizing that this writer is not a very deep or educated thinker, here are some observations that may or may not help to answer some of these questions.

We, as human beings, see and understand a very small part of the whole. In other words, God sees the whole picture while we see only a very tiny part of the whole picture. We are shaped and limited by those who influence our understanding. As human beings living in an environment, in a culture, and in a given time in history, we gain our values and understanding from others who are also shaped and limited by the circumstances in their particular spot in life. God is not subject to these limitations and his understanding far surpasses our own. It is imperative that we recognize our own limitations and have faith in our God who reveals Himself to us in his written Word. This does not mean we will understand everything or that we will have all our questions answered.

What appears to us a tragedy may, in fact, be a blessing. In the 1950's five young missionary men were killed by the Auca Indians in Ecuador. Each man was married and each had a young family. The world was shocked by this seeming tragedy. What could not be seen at the time was that God used this seeming tragedy to stir the hearts of many others and many more individuals

dedicated their lives to be missionaries. While we cannot see the whole picture, what can be seen is that the one result was a tremendous surge in world missions with many more people coming to know the Lord. The Auca Indians themselves became one of the most evangelized tribes in Ecuador.

As humans, we view things from a perspective of our life on earth. However, what is more important is what has eternal value. Eternity is forever. Life on earth compared to eternity is only a speck of time. In reality, suffering on earth lasts only a moment compared to eternity. God views things from an eternal perspective. If suffering on earth enhances our eternal enjoyment of heaven, then the suffering will be worth it a thousand times over.

God has given man a choice and man has chosen evil. God did not make man a robot. He gave him a choice to love and serve Him or to rebel and follow the direction laid out by Satan. Man chose evil, and throughout mans’ history we have lived with the results of our choice of evil. It is not God who is responsible for suffering and evil, but man himself and his chosen master—Satan.

Love is the main foundation of the Christian life. We show our love for God by our choice to follow and to serve Him. If we did not have a choice, our service to Him would be based in force and compulsion rather than love. If God did not give mankind a choice, there would not be any evil or injustice, but neither would there be any love. God wanted our genuine love and service and therefore gave us a choice. Mankind has chosen evil, and we are seeing the consequences of our own choices.

God puts a high value on faith. It is a major foundation of the Christian life. If all the questions were answered and we had perfect understanding, then there would be no need for faith. It takes no faith to believe that two plus two equals four. But it does take faith to believe the written Word of God which tells us that God is good when we can look around us and see evil. Our faith, however, is not an unreasonable faith, and the Spirit of God increases our understanding and confidence as we seek to know Him better though a better understanding of his Word.

Scripture clearly teaches that trials increase our faith. The ones who suffer the most are the ones whose faith is deepened. When we face these trials we need to remember how deeply God loves us and let the trials make us stronger rather than weaker.

We, at times, get the idea that people suffer here on earth, while God, somewhere far away, is enjoying all the good things of heaven, far and distant from our pain and hurt here on earth. We forget and do not realize how much God Himself suffered as a human being while Jesus was here on earth. Carefully read this passage from Isaiah 53. Though Jesus was totally sinless and innocent, He was punished and paid the price of all our sin. There is also the indication that in one way or another He also suffered or carried all of our pain and suffering while He was on the cross. This is an astounding truth. God, far from being a distant observer, is suffering right along with us as we suffer. Carefully read this passage from Isaiah 53.

Also take time to read Psalm 22 which are the thoughts of Christ while He was on the cross. Never again can we say that God is distant from human suffering.

God is a God of justice. Over and over in Scripture it states this in one way or another. He loves justice and righteousness. God will repay men for the sin and injustices they commit. Those who do such things will face the anger, the judgment, and the revenge of God. When that happens it will not be a pleasant scene. Those who never receive the Lord Jesus Christ will spend an eternity suffering and being judged for what they have done.

Observation Eight

At times we wonder why God allows disasters or acts of terror which result in suffering and death. It may surprise some, but an act of terrorism and a disaster, both of which resulted in death and suffering, were referred to by the Lord Jesus Christ. (Luke 13:1-5) In both cases Jesus stressed the importance of repentance. If we do not repent, we too will die. In the parable that follows, Christ tells about a fig tree that does not bear fruit and its owner orders it cut down, but then agrees to a one year extension to see if perhaps it might bear fruit. Its owner graciously gave it one more year before destroying it. There is a sense in which all people who refuse the Lord Jesus Christ and as a result are spiritually unproductive, are living on borrowed time. The question is not "why is God allowing the death of some", but "why is He not destroying all who refuse Him". Anyone who refuses Jesus Christ is living on borrowed time and cannot expect anything more than God’s judgment to occur at any time.

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October, 2001

In closing, read through the hymn on the following page. Think about the words to this outstanding hymn It may well be one of the greatest hymns ever written.

Written by Frederick M. Lehman

Arranged by Claudia Lehman Mays