03/05/2023 - Love Lifted Me (Audio Not Available)

Grace Place Atlanta COGBF 4700 Mitchell Street Forest Park, GA 30297 Website: atlantacogbf.org Email: info@atlantacogbf.org Phone: (404) 241-6781 Wayne D. Mack, Pastor / Pastor Wayne D. Mack Sermon Notes March 5, 2023 Love Lifted Me! John 13:34-35 NKJV 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” 1 John 4: 18-21 NKJV 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. 20 1 GM GP For the past four weeks, GP has celebrated Love Month. As has become our emerging custom, the month of February provides us a convenient opportunity gives us to celebrate Love in a creative way; that is, by selecting a popular love song and preach a message around it that reveals a deeper spiritual truth. It’s the same practice that Jesus used with parables when He took an everyday occurrence to illustrate a spiritual principle. Of course, February has passed, but the Love Train must continue to roll . .. roll beyond a symbolic month and on through every day of the year, every day of our Christian lives. As we are now in the month of March, I want to take one final opportunity to focus on Love. This round, I want to leave us with some practical principles surrounding the gift and virtue of Love as seen from God’s perspective to the Believer. So, in keeping with our Love Month format, I want to tie this morning’s message to a Love Song. Our love song for this message was presented by . . . All Of You who are Born Again. The song for today is: LOVE Lifted Me. And so, rather than have Uriah play it, we are going to do a live congregational rendition of it. Help us out Constance/Michelle. [We’ll sing the 1st and 3rd Stanzas]. 2 Love Lifted Me I was sinking deep in sin Far from the peaceful shore Very deeply stained within Sinking to rise no more But the master of the sea Heard my despairing cry, From the waters lifted me Now safe am I Love lifted me! Love lifted me! When nothing else could help Love lifted me Love lifted me! Love lifted me! When nothing else could help Love lifted me Souls in danger look above Jesus completely saves He will lift you by his love Out of the angry waves But the master of the sea Billows His will obey He your savior wants to be 3 Be saved today Love lifted me! Love lifted me! When nothing else could help Love lifted me Love lifted me! Love lifted me! When nothing else could help Love lifted me. Now, I want to provide some practical concepts around LOVE that will strengthen our understanding of Love from God’s perspective and expand our personal comprehension of the types of LOVE we encounter in life. Turn with me to 1 John 4: 18-21 NKJV Follow as I read it . . . . 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. 20 Our key verse is Verse 19: 4 We love Him because He first loved us. (8 Words) NKJV We love because He first loved us. (7 Words NASB) How true. With His love extended toward us, we would not even know love. We need His everlasting, unconditional, ever-abiding LOVE. So, in the Epistle or Book of First John, there are approximately 105 verses. Of those 105, love is mentioned more than 40 times. That’s a lot of verses in such a short epistle about love. With 8 or 7 words, depending on which Bible version you look at, the Apostle John summarizes his teaching on this important topic with these words: We love, because He first loved us. We love Him because He first loved us and we love others because He first loved us. Love stops and starts with God. He is the Author. He created it out of His very nature, and He desires that we share and experience this wonderful gift to humankind. When you think about it, our similarities to God are few. We are not omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent. But God is love, and He wants us to share that attribute with Him and with others. What a marvelous privilege. We are most like God when we Love . . . not when we shout. I think it’s unique to compare the most familiar verse in the Bible with another verse that John wrote: Most of us can quote John 3:16 . . . . 5 For God so loved the world . . . But look at First John 3:16: 16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. I understand that the numbers and references and chapters and verses in the Bible are not in the original parchments, but the two John 3:16 verses have a complimentary message: Love gives sacrificially. The world knows little about sacrificial love. But because we have been born again by Jesus’ sacrificial death on the Cross – we ought to be well acquainted with it. In defining love, let me provide the definitions of the FOUR types of Love. Did you know there was more than one type of Love? Because there’s more than one shows how complex the subject is. Let’s begin with the first type of Love -- Storge. [not in order of value or importance]. It is pronounced: Stor-gay. It looks like Storge (rhymes with George), but it is accurately pronounced STOR-Gay. It is defined as . . . Natural affection or love, especially of parents for their children. Storge (storgē, Greek: στοργή) is liking someone through the fondness of familiarity, family members or people who relate in familiar ways that have 6 otherwise found themselves bonded by chance. An example is the natural love and affection of a parent for their child. Next is Agape – Agape Love . . . This is the highest form of love. Of the many times love is referred to in the NT, most of the references are to AGAPE Love. This is what John 3:16 speaks about. This love is totally sacrificial and committed to the well-being of another. This is God’s kind of love. It is a fruit of the Spirit who indwells us. The Fruit of the Spirit verses are found in Gal. 5:22 & 23 . . . 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Another way to look the fruit of the Spirit with regards to love is like this: • Joy is love enjoying. • Peace is love resting. • Patience (or longsuffering) is love waiting. • Kindness is love reacting. • Goodness is love choosing. • Faithfulness is love keeping its word. • Gentleness is love being able to empathize. • Self-control is love being in charge. This kind of love is not something we can work up on our own. It is an outflow or overflow of the Holy Spirit. This third kind of love is Phileo. This is a brotherly kind of love. The fourth kind of love is Eros. This is sensual or sexual love. Love Lifted Me! 7 The Four Types of Love: Storge: love of parents for children. Agape: love of mankind. Phileo: love of friends and equals. Eros: erotic, passionate love. 8