Love Casts Out Fear – Today we continue a post-Easter series of several weeks of focus on 1 John and the idea of love, that God loves us and that our response to that is to love God in return, but also to love others.  There are numerous examples in our lives and in our day of fears.  Even among some churches the incentive for believing in God is the fear of God’s judgment.  But the writer of 1 John says clearly that “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear,” so that our relationship with God is not built out of any fear, but is a response in love to the fact that God first loves us.  Given that context, we can see throughout the Bible God’s persistent love for the people, in spite of their turning away at times.  Our response to God’s love of us is to love ourselves, our neighbors, and even our enemies.    (NOTE: Reflecting the importance of the Word, the video begins with the scripture, but once it starts you can scroll back to the beginning of the service if you want.  The entire service is videoed.)  (NOTE: Today is Senior Sunday when we recognize the high school and college senoirs among us who are soon to graduate.)