How Great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God 

1 John 3 verse 1 

A few weeks ago, a little boy was walking home from school carrying a cardboard model he had made. It was lopsided, covered in glue, and missing half the roof. Halfway down the street, the wind caught it and the whole thing collapsed in his hands. He looked at it, shoulders dropped, ready to cry.

Just then his grandfather came around the corner. He saw the mess, saw the disappointment, and simply said, “Let’s take it home. We’ll fix it together.” The boy’s face changed instantly — not because the model was saved, but because he was seen, valued, loved.

Later, when the model was repaired and proudly placed on the shelf, the grandfather said, “It doesn’t matter how it looked. I just wanted you.”

That is God’s heart toward us. We come with our broken bits, our lopsided edges, our mistakes and our worries — and God says, Let’s walk together. I love you as you are.

Every month we gather around bread and wine to remember something precious. It isn’t confined to Easter weekend or a single moment in the year. It is a reminder of love — “This act reminds us that someone loves us. God loves each and every one of us.”

We come from different backgrounds, ages, experiences, yet God’s love reaches every one of us. In a world that pressures us to look a certain way, act a certain way, or follow the crowd, God gently says, I love you just as you are — faults and all.

The bread and wine show how far that love goes. Jesus bore pain, separation and persecution for us. When he heard the cries of crucify him, when he breathed his last, he did it knowingly, personally, lovingly — for each one of us. “That’s love not that we loved him but that he loved us and gave himself up for us.”

We know what it feels like to be loved. A kind word, a thoughtful chat, someone simply being there — these things brighten a day. Words can hurt deeply, but they can also lift and heal. Love is shown in caring for others, putting others first, being present. Jesus’ whole earthly ministry was centred on others: welcoming shepherds and wise men, stopping for lepers, healing the blind, lifting up the broken, teaching simply, searching for the lost, valuing the forgotten. He gave time to everyone — even the thief on the cross.

That is love in action.