Christ's Love

God loves you not because of what you do, but because of who He is.
At its heart, the Gospel is the story of a God who so deeply loves you and me that he was willing to humble himself, to suffer, and to pay the ultimate price just so that we could personally know him. We were powerless; there was nothing we could do to know God. Yet, he loved us so much that he gave us an opportunity to know him.

Romans 5:6-8 gets at the heart of how deeply God loves us: You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We didn't earn or deserve God's love (we were still powerless and we were still sinners). However, God loved us anyway, because God is love (1 John 4:8) -- that is, his nature is love. God can't help but to love us, because that's what he is.

In Ephesians 2:4-5, Paul writes about the nature of God's love for us: Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved.

Nothing you do can cause you to earn or deserve God's love. You can't earn God's love, but he loves you anyway -- that's why it's called grace. God loves you, because he is love not because you have earned his love.

Joyful living requires giving.
Most people are selfish and self-centered, focusing only on what benefits them. Such thinking claims that the more you have, the more you accumulate, and the more attention you receive, the happier you'll be.

Yet, most of the time, such selfishness only makes a person more depressed than ever. This is because when all you focus on is yourself, you'll always want more, and you'll never be satisfied with what you have. On the other hand, if you live focused on how you can bless others and serve them, then God will give you joy.

It is no surprise, therefore, that Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

Likewise, in John 13:1-17 Jesus is seen washing his disciples' feet; he sets an example by humbly giving himself to his disciples. Then, in John 13:17, Jesus tells them, "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." In other words, you will be blessed, which in the Greek has the meaning of being happy, if you give and serve others. The Bible makes it clear that joyful living requires giving.

Give of yourself this week. Be a true friend and share the love of Jesus Christ with others around you. Sharing the gospel and leading others to salvation can only be done in this life. In eternity the die is cast. You will only have this short life on earth to share the evangelical message. God left you here after you accepted Christ to be a vessel that the Holy Spirit moves through to others, sharing the gospel.

Jesus said:

Luke 12:12For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

John 14:26But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Acts 1:8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.


Acts 4:8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,...

May you be filled to overflowing with the love of Jesus Christ this week as you take that step of faith in sharing the Good News with others!

In Jesus name be blessed

Roberta Semple Salter

Brant Baker was very interested in preaching in the places where Amiee Semple Mcphearson had preached. He wanted to learn as much as possible and may have spoken with Amiee's daughter, Roberta.

Roberta was born September, 17, 1910 in Hong Kong.
She passed into the presence of the Lord on January 25, 2007. She was 96.

Monday, Jul. 11, 1927- TIME

"In Hammond, Ind., one day last week and again in Chicago, a 16-year-old girl tried out as a professional evangelist. She was Roberta Star Semple, daughter of Aimee Kennedy Semple McPherson, prosperous Baptist evangelist of Los Angeles. Roberta was beginning her career at a younger age than did her mother. But she had her mother to help her.

Roberta Star Semple is tall; has a soft voice and a clear laugh. She does not know men. Aimee Semple McPherson has been careful to keep men out of her daughter's ken. The girl, however, does know people. On the platform of the Chicago Coliseum, which Mrs. McPherson hired at $1,000 a day to tell about her notorious kidnaping of a year ago (TIME, June 7, 1926 ), the daughter last week followed her mother. She held her audience's attention, put them in a mood of sanctity, but she took no money from them. Mrs. McPherson did that, after her own sermon. Later, the two, with a dramatic troupe from their Angelus Temple in Los Angeles, set out to work towards Manhattan where they would arrive for the fall and winter evangelistic season."

Monday, March 16, 1931- TIME

"Married. Roberta Star Semple, 19, daughter of Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson and the late Missionary Robert Semple; and William Bradley Smyth, 23, purser of the S. S. President Wilson; in Singapore. Purser Smyth met Evangelist McPherson and her daughter at the beginning of their world tour (Jan. 20), was instructed to give them "special attention." He became Miss Semple's fiancé in Shanghai (Feb. 16). "It is a pure love match," said Evangelist McPherson, "I give it my blessing." Said Mrs. Minnie Kennedy, grandmother of the bride: "I got married when I was 15. Sister [Mrs. McPherson] went to the altar when she was 17, so Roberta, being 19, waited much longer than either of us."

(Note: They divorced 3 years later)

Groomed from an early age to succeed her mother, Roberta lost a dispute over church management and was removed from the organization's leadership in 1937. While Roberta showed signs of being anointed to minister like her mother, she never yielded into it. Perhaps this dispute ultimately quenched the call of God upon her life.

According to Daniel Epestein the biographer, Roberta possessed many of her mother's gift's, including a "brilliant smile." She led the children's service at many revivals, was host of a radio program and called herself "Aunt Birdie" in a youth colume for the church newspaper. She accompanied her mother on crusades around the world.

After the dispute with her mother, Roberta went to New York to be a guest on an NBC radio program called "Hobby Lobby," which featured celebrities and their hobbies. She was subsequently hired as the show's researcher and in 1941 married its music director, Harry Salter.

Roberta never walked in her calling, she gave up the ministry that was destined for her. Satan often uses internal church disputes to quench the calling upon people in the ministry.

Few know that Brant Baker's mother argued with him over church administration and money. She at times appeared to be trying to take over his ministry. After he passed into heaven she attempted to revive the ministry in Long Beach with out success.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-14
12And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
13And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.