{"id":4463,"date":"2024-12-24T11:14:46","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T15:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/?p=4463"},"modified":"2024-12-24T11:15:24","modified_gmt":"2024-12-24T15:15:24","slug":"advent-2024-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/2024\/12\/24\/advent-2024-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent 2024 &#8211; Love"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_audio title=&#8221;Advent 2024 &#8211; Love&#8221; artist_name=&#8221;Karl Ingersoll&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; title_text=&#8221;Three Things About  God\u2019s Love&#8221; audio=&#8221;http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Three-Things-About-Gods-Love.mp3&#8243; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;][\/et_pb_audio][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p>Do you know what the longest word in the English language is?\u00a0 I bet I know the first one you thought about, at least if you are anywhere near my age.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSupercalifragilisticexpialidocious\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was a song, I think from the Mary Poppins movie starring Dick Van Dyke\u00a0 and Julie Andrews.\u00a0 I\u00a0 remember learning the song in grade school.\u00a0 But it\u2019s not actually the longest.\u00a0 It has since earned an actual meaning.<\/p>\n<p>supercalifragilisticexpialidocious &#8211; adjective, informal. extremely good (made popular in the 1964 children&#8217;s film, &#8220;Mary Poppins&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p>The longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters), a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles, specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How to pronounce the longest word in English  #interactiveenglish #shorts\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EkMAlnKYfb8?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not always the longest words that carry the greatest meaning either.\u00a0 You\u2019ve likely seen this before.\u00a0 My first exposure to it came on a plaque in the office of the VP of Institutional Development, in United Wesleyan College, Allentown, PA.\u00a0 Elmer Drury was a wonderful, optimistic man, who played a very significant role in our lives.\u00a0 He has since passed away.\u00a0 We still have contact with his wife, JoAn Cutler.\u00a0 Elmer passed, several years ago.\u00a0 JoAn worked for the cancer Society when we lived in Allentown.\u00a0 She drug me around town, dressed in a green dragon suit that often got caught in the car door.\u00a0 I would accompany her to school assemblies, guitar slung over my shoulder and sing \u201cPuff, the Magic Dragon\u201d.\u00a0 It was a bit embarrassing at the time, now a cherished memory.<\/p>\n<p>Elmer had a plaque titled, \u201cThe 10 smallest words that make the biggest difference\u201d.\u00a0 They were: \u201cIf it is to be, it is up to me.\u201d\u00a0 There is a lot of truth in that adage but there are some things that are beyond us because of our capacity, unanticipated circumstances, health issues and changing priorities.\u00a0 I\u2019ve experienced some tremendous blessings in life that I never anticipated, some that I was not mature enough to want, things that I would never trade for the lesser dreams that once consumed me<\/p>\n<p>There is an old Gaither song with some poignant lyrics.\u00a0 You might not know the verse.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">If there ever were dreams that were lofty and noble, they were mine from the start<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">And the hopes for life\u2019s best were the hope that I harboured, down deep in my heart<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">But my dreams turned to ashes.\u00a0 My castles all crumbled. My fortune turned to loss<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">So I wrapped them all in the rags of my life, and nailed them to the Cross<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">And He made, something beautiful something good<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">All my confusion, He understood<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">But He made something beautiful of my life<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">\n<p>There is one word though that is gargantuan.\u00a0 Well &#8230; there is one word that is gargantuan that is not gargantuan\u00a0 It\u2019s not the longest or the shortest but it\u2019s the biggest word in human history.\u00a0 This word, practiced without preference, or prejudice would solve most every problem mankind faces.\u00a0 It\u2019s not simplistic.\u00a0 It\u2019s not soft.\u00a0 It is the most powerful force in the universe.\u00a0 The scripture says something about it that it says about no other force.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLove never fails.\u201d\u00a0 Never means NEVER.\u00a0 Anything else in the world can turn sour, with unforeseen consequences and go belly-up in an instant.\u00a0 But love N E V E R fails.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLove was when God became a man, locked in time and space, without rank or place.\u201d\u00a0 You should listen to the entire song.\u00a0 (Words by John E. Walvoord Music by Don Wyrtzen)<\/p>\n<p>You know what else the scripture declares without qualification?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.\u201d (1 John 4:7\u20138, NIV84)<\/p>\n<p>The scripture does not say, God is justice, or God is wrath or God is holiness. Any other attribute must be in essence, love, for God is love. Read 1 Corinthians 13 again and remind yourself that nothing means anything if it is not first, love.<\/p>\n<p>This is the fourth Sunday of Advent and the theme is LOVE.\u00a0 Love makes all the difference, without love there is no difference.\u00a0 Christmas season is one in which we celebrate God\u2019s incredible difference-making LOVE.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for joining is today at Community Life Church.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you know what the longest word in the English language is?\u00a0 I bet I know the first one you thought about, at least if you are anywhere near my age. \u201cSupercalifragilisticexpialidocious\u201d It was a song, I think from the Mary Poppins movie starring Dick Van Dyke\u00a0 and Julie Andrews.\u00a0 I\u00a0 remember learning the song [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[38,29,12,1,9],"tags":[16,17,13,14],"class_list":["post-4463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-random-thoughts","category-sermons","category-uncategorized","category-weekly-bulletin","tag-community-life-church","tag-grand-manan","tag-karl-ingersoll","tag-sermons"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IX45-19Z","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4463"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4467,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4463\/revisions\/4467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}