Sunday September 24, 2023

center of it all because of what you

Even when none of us here deserve it, father we don't deserve for him to have to take on that pain and suffering. That is just unimaginable to us father so that we can have an opportunity to accept that free gift and come and live with you forever after this. My father, I pray that we would hail you as a pet. Father. And then if there's someone here, who has never had that attitude positive, never Their own need. Your father did not recognize the sin in their life or the separation that they are experiencing from their creative. Rather than today, their eyes will be out.

And they would just surrender and Haley.

Stay here or let us remain here, long enough for the service today for someone to come. Give their lives and father, I pray that if there's one here who's wrestling with sinner wrestling with what am I doing in this life? Where am I going? Where am I headed? Was my purpose. Father today they would begin a life of what you would have them for me to do for the Father, we praise Pastor, Sean comes to preach now that he would preach your word that we would hear from you. Through him and Beyonce signs.

We working, we working yet.

Hello.

Haven't you? There you go. You know I just wonder if I'm just that loud sometimes cuz I'm like I hear myself until it happens and I'm not going to wait. That is a difference though. Anyways, good morning good. Hey Nick. Great to sing the gospel. Integrate to sing the gospel. I'll tell you what. I just got chills all over my body and singing that song and I just I hope you did too. It just, it just blows me away when we get to Worship in that manner and speak about what our savior has done for us. Cuz I don't know about you but whenever I think of the cross it breaks me. It breaks me but yet I know that that wasn't the End. Amen. That there was victory over death and so we got to see that. Today we're going to really look at some things today. We're going to talk about some things today. Again that you may know that, you may know I love it. I love it that God doesn't want you in wonder? He doesn't want you in doubt. He wants you firm in your faith, living a completely for him. And so today, I want us to see. If we look at 1st John 4 7 through 13, that we, that the invisible God is seen in our is seen in our love. Amen. He seen in our love when I was when I was in 8th grade. There was a girl named Misty Penny who actually decided to go out with me.

I'm still not sure what going out in the 8th grade means. If y'all know you can come and let me know. I haven't figured it out yet. I mean, as far as I know, it meant that we were going to spend a little bit time more time together in a closer setting and that we weren't going to go anywhere. But yet we went out I on I haven't figured it out yet, but that was it and I thought it was great cuz she agreed to go out with me again. Not knowing what that meant. It's just she said, yes, I was excited. I was napping. Blowed away and guess what? My heart was so full. I so excited. It was the best two weeks of my life.

I said it was the best two weeks of my young adolescent life, you know what I mean? Oh my goodness, I left, we stayed together at the ball games. I guess that's what going out meant. We, we we said, together at church. We, we did those things. But it was at a Junior High basketball game where she decided to send another girl that I actually had a crush on as well. Cuz you know how things go in junior high to come and tell me that it was over with that. We were no longer going out. and I listen,

the world just ended, right? It was over with. I went home and just melted into my bed. Oh my goodness. How could she destroy our love like this? You know what I'm talking about? How you up in there before? Y'all know what I'm talkin about? Listen, in the moment. We were meant to be together. Oh my goodness. And now we're not.

This is how love is viewed in the world today. Do you understand? This is how love is viewed in the world. Today, it's given take its, you can have it. I can take it back. Here, it is. Now it's no longer that's not what love is.

They make it a finicky fragile thing that will fall apart at a moment's notice. But the truth is love, is strong and fierce. Amen. And, and the reason is because it's from God, love is from God. It's not our own invention, it's not our own making. It's not what we have come up with. It's none of that love is from God, and when we have the love of God within us, oh, man, we have something that will never fall apart. Amen. If you have your Bibles, I want to read you scripture this morning as we look at God's word together. And first, John chapter 4, starting at verse 7, if you'll stand with me as we honor. God, this morning by reading his word together, says verse 7 says. Beloved let us love one another for love is from God. I didn't make that up. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God the one who does not love, does not know. God for God Is Love by this. The love of God was manifested in us. That God sent his only begotten son into the world, so that he might live, so that we might live through him. And this, his in, this is love not that. We loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God. So, loved us, we also ought to love one. Another no one has seen God at any time, if we love one, another God abides in us and his love is perfected in Us by this. We know that we abide in him, and he and us, because he has given us, Of his Spirit. Father I pray that you bless this the reading of your word and that you would speak clearly to us as we look at it together, we ask this in your son's Most Holy precious name, amen. You may be seated.

It's kind of an interesting thing cuz John has a lot of things. And the biggest thing that you may see hear it, it in the book of 1st. John is this idea of love? He, he likes the thought of love. He likes putting that toward God and that God is love, right? I mean, the most common, most known scripture in all of the world, right? John 3:16, everybody can quote that with me for God. So loved the world that he gave his only begotten, son. This is Johnny, he understands who God isn't what God has done and he knows that God is all about the love and that when we figure that out, when we see that when we had that, when we understand that, man, we can do some pretty amazing things for our God. And so I don't want to just take a moment and I want to look at some things. I want us to look here. What he tells us in 47. Beloved this this idea of those who are gathered My friends. Listen, I will call you those people here at Seward Road Baptist Church, who are members here who have come here to worship and to be a part of this family. You are, beloved, you are those who Gather in fellowship with one another and this is who John is speaking to you speaking to a group of people, right? We know this because of how he dresses Us in the Nexus is beloved. Let us love one another that term love there is from the Greek verb noun is agape. Everybody's heard that right? Everybody's heard the Greek word Agape. A copy of his love, you know. And I'm not going to go into the other one's right now cuz I'll just confuse you. But the verb form is a God. And and that is is it's this action. This meaning of of how we treat. One another, I wrote this down some of the some of the definitions that that we get. What Agatha o means. If it's to have a warm regard for an interest in another to cherish to have an affection for to love to have high esteem for our satisfaction with something to take pleasure in it. And then the last one is the practice or express love to prove one's love. Let me tell you what when you put these three kind of definitions together and you see that lived out in someone's like, you have no doubt that they have love for something for someone if there are doing it, within the realm of who God is So I've got Pato is the Greek verb. It's, it's what we see here. Do we know that he's address and not just one person. He's addressed in the multitude. He uses that word in the plural form of God, Paloma, which he saying, listen, I'm not just speaking to this person, I'm not just speaking to this person, I'm speaking to you all that, you must know something that you must love and I like that, right. That that it's not a suggestion don't you love it? When the Bible doesn't kind of it's not a moment of we got to figure this out. Let me decipher. What this is trying to say, Let me, let me, let me see what's going on here in this morning to make sure that I can apply that to my life. I love it whenever God's word is direct and clear. It helps me out a man and let me tell you what, for the most part of the Bible, it's that way we make it the other way. Way too often and too many times, but the truth of right here, he's very clear and he's very direct. You are to love, right? Beloved, let us love one another, why? Why for love is from God and everyone who loved loves is born of God and knows God.

He's addressing this. Why? Because there's an issue with people. We want what we want. And when selfishness sets in then all of a sudden, what I want, Will trump what somebody else needs?

Oh man, did y'all hear that?

When selfishness, it's in, and my preference is wanted more than what someone else needs. Let me tell you what, and we live in that love, goes out the door. Love goes out the door and so what he's wanting us to know if he saying, what's the church? We are to love one another. We are to love. We are to to love. Why? Why if your dress is cuz this is a difficult thing for people. In general. It's difficult for us to lawai because we are affected by the actions of others around us. If someone does something that we disagree with, if someone does something that we dislike, if someone does something to offend us, then our reaction from the get-go is from our nature. It's to Ben react in a negative way. It's in a nature to lash out at Fillmore, to get back at them because of what they have done to us. Tell me if I'm wrong. Well no, I'm not wrong cuz I'm getting into and it happens, it happens. And this is why he's addressing it cuz we have an issue as people as human beings. We have an issue with this and so he's wanting us to remember. This is why we have, the Bible says, why we have the word of God. Do they do help us to remember? And to, to do that which God has called us to do beloved? Let us love one. Another for love, is from God, we should love why? Because God loves us. See, when that, we have those moments where we want to lash out at someone, because of how they've treated us, how they defended us what he's saying. He says, listen remember what I've done for you. If there is anybody that has the right to inflict Justice on somebody for the actions against them, I would believe it's God. Amen. I believe that it would be human that he would just stay in the moment that Adam sending the garden and went his own way in his selfishness that God just say it didn't work. Be gone and put him away and then we all live doomed, awful lives. But that's not our God, why? Because our God is love and a god of love, does not want to keep it that way. We need God, I love this. Some people actually believe this dick when God created Adam, he actually probably thought. Well, maybe this will work.

Maybe that's you right now. Maybe you think that when God created at me he thought, well maybe this will work. But the truth of the matter is, is that he knew already, what was going to take place, he knew already that, I Adam would sin against him, he knew that before, he knelt down in the clay that day and formed the body on the ground. He knew that. Before he ever even did that what he would do, if he knew that there's a song bitten, Rusty Goodman. I'm not showing my age at all cuz he's, like, way way out there in order to me but some of y'all know who Rusty Goodman is and I'll I just love rest of them and he's something else. And there's a song that Rusty Goodman sing that describe the beginning and how God in the moment of creation. As he carved the rivers, with his fingers, created a heel, and in the moment that he created that, he'll he grew the tree that he knew would hold his son one day in creation. John, understand that God in the moment that he brought this together in the moment that he breed or spoke. Those first words? He understood everything that was to take place if if this is how I know that cuz he's love If God was not loved and he should not do what he did, knowing what he knew would happen, that would be a vengeful awful Tyrant God to create something that he would not do that, which would bring Redemption that would bring us to life. But our god did it because he's a god of love who cares who, who wants to see us succeed. And so John here says, what one of the wind for God is love and everyone who loves is born of God.

The god Express his love by doing for us what we needed to have life. And then here we see this that when we live our lives, we are to do, likewise, where the love at Sea, love, we're to help those around us. Where the two men, those and teach those in and help those around us that are in need that, that that we should love one another.

When I read this I'm like I don't know about you but I read this and I see this especially at the end of verse 7 and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. So my question and then comes to mine, does that mean that? You can't love unless you know, the Lord unless you're safe. Now, I'm here to tell you. I have seen some people who have rejected the Lord God. They're not a Christian, that's a damn it. That's known. But yet have sacrificed and done some amazing things in this world. Have done some things to help people to show, just like, God shows and reaching out to people putting themselves on the back burner that they may help. Those who are in need yet they still deny the Lord Jesus Christ. what I'm trying to say is, is this that When you want to know true, love the right. Love the love. That's in its truest form. Because the truth of the matter is this person who is here that that says there is no God, that says there's no Christ yet. Still sacrifices and show some sort of love some point in their life, write it down. They did not love. They did not love there was a point in their life, where they were Afflicted in and caught off guard by something, someone else did toward them, and whether in physical action, or in mind, they lashed out against that. And so, what I'm trying to say this is that for those that want to know true, love of the love of the father is to know him. Then we have that, which is the truest form of love that you can ever get that. That got beef. You understand? That when we witnessed two people, people will say that. Why would I want to believe in a God that will just send people to hell?

Maybe you thought that before, but the truth of the matter is, is it, God doesn't send anyone to hell. We send ourselves there. Be at God and his love provided a way so that we may have access to him what house through his love through his moving moving quickly through week, we ain't got much time. Verse 8 says, the one who does not love, does not know God for God is love, I'm going to come back to that verse 9 says by this, the love of God was manifested in us. That God has sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him in. This is love not that, we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. God says, you know what you may say that you have love and you may show some kind of love, but the truth of the matter is as you have no clue what love is because you're human and your sinful and you make mistakes and you are going to fail. It is going to happen. Write it out. I don't care how perfect you think you are, you will Fail meaning, if you fail, you will fail others. Let me tell you what, as a father I want to say that I love my kids but I know this I fell them. I do it's happened. It is happened. And if and if that can't be the most truest sense of love, this world has offered is a father to a child. Then there's nothing else. I can put out there. That's an illustration that comes close to what God has for us. But I have failed my children, but guess what? God, never fails us. Never and he has provided every opportunity for us that we may experience his love that we made into have love that. We may pour out. That's why he tells us in verse 9 by this. The love of God was manifested to us. If that God has sent his only begotten son into the world that he might live, that we might live through him at without giving the Full Gospel presentation in this moment. That's what John is doing. He said, you know and you understand God's love. Why? Because if you're here and I'm writing to you then you know who Jesus is. And you know what Jesus has done, you know, the route he took and you know, the price he paid. So remember this that God sent him to you might one of my favorite verses in scripture is Romans 5:8, but God shows his love for us that while we were yet still sinners Christ died for us. Amen. And if he was waiting for us to get it, right? That's what Jesus would have. Never died on the cross cuz we will never get it right. Be at the fact that Jesus went to the cross in the while we were still Sinners died for us. Providing for us a way to have eternal life and that is proof of what member I said, the practice or Express loves is the proof. One love God, prove his love so much so that he sent his only son that he would perish for you. And for me, his creation that has rejected him. That is some that some serious love. It goes on to say here and verse 10 and and this is love that, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins that that that propitiation, you know, that's a, that's a Greek term for pitch eation and it's used in Greek writing. And and so, some people say why aren't, why is John using this language here? Cuz he wants you to understand something what propitiation means is that Jesus Took what you deserve, Jesus Took the wrath of God upon Him self. He took that which was deemed for us, see in the Mormon that did Adam. Send in the garden. Told him, if you do this at him you will die. And that has a huge, a greater multitude of meaning into just said, he's going to fall over and exist. No more. He said you're going to die. That's not a good place to be Adam. That without following me and living for me, life is worthless.

And we're doomed. And work. In death, we leave the father. It's not a good place to be, but that's what we deserve because of our sin yet. Jesus died on the cross and he became the propitiation for our sins. Meaning that he took upon himself, the wrath of God while on the cross. So that when we put our faith in him, when God looks at us, his love leads him to see who we belong to. Cuz let me tell you what, for those that find themselves separated from God and their, end-of-life? It's not that God's a hateful God, it's not that God is a vengeful, God, it's that. God is a just God. Amen. It's not that he has hatred towards someone that someone ends up in hell. It's that they did not find that which was demonstrated in God's love. They didn't find his son Jesus. Are, you know what church? I'm just going to take a side rant here for just a second. The sad reality is is that there are a lot of people in this world who will die, and never hear the name of Jesus. Lee agree with me, that's a sad thing. And some people will say well that just shows you how awful God is no cuz you know what God's command is to us, the believer. What it's not the set in the church and enjoy the Comforts of church to soak in the air condition in the heating and enjoy the food that they have every now. And then though, his instruction was to the church was to love everyone to love all people to share that wherever you may go. And only way that we could share the love of God is to share what God has done for us. And that he sent his son Jesus to die for us. So sometimes we hold the love of God to ourselves. When we should be sharing it with the world cuz they're a lot of people who are going to die and go to hell but yet would had opportunity if we would have just spoken up. The truth of who God is. Shared with them. Listen, he took on wrath of God, which was Dean for us because we cannot and do not want to do, what is required to have life without Jesus. Amen. We have to have it. This is not showing his love for us. Verse 11, his beloved, if God. So loved us. We also want to love one. Another, no one has seen God at any time. If we love one, another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in Us by this. We know that we abide in him, and he and us because he has given us of his spirit. Too. Many times people say I can't believe in something that I cannot see. You want to make God known, love each other. Do you want to make God seen or let people see? God love people and too many times. The church is quick to cash a judgment upon people instead of the show. Love where love is needed. Now listen don't get me wrong cuz some people say it may be sent with Sean John's trying to say that it's okay to do things. That's not what I'm trying to say. So hear me right now, there is a difference and showing hatred toward someone and showing love towards someone. There's a difference in being hateful, to someone to express your opinion, over someone and loving someone and sharing them. What God's word has to say, about the issue that they are dealing with. There's a huge difference and hear the truth of the matter is, he says, listen if you don't have love then you don't know. God and I don't know about you but the only thing that I know of that is the opposite of Love is hatred. And there are those out there who claim Christ, who claim to be a part of the Church of God, who claimed to be a part of the family of God, and they clearly expressed hatred toward people in this world because they disagree with who they are and what they do and that is wrong. That does not exempt lafai Jesus at all Jesus, the one who was willing to go and set with a sinner and minister to that, he may show them, love that, they may then repent and follow after him, agreed. Right? I love that. Cuz that's the thing. That's the truth that God never went to someone and send and said, it's okay. I love you. You keep doing what you want to do. He never did that. He minister to them where they were and show them his love where they were that they may then follow after him and be redeemed. And this is what he does with us. We cannot be hateful people. We must show who God Is by loving each other and by loving the world, let Super Bowl be at church that people see God at why? Because we love, and we love fiercely, and we in a manner that will not fall apart. Amen. Hey man. This is what I hope for us is a church that we make the invisible God known by people seeing us this it should be a goal in us and maybe even a model around this should road is known for letting people see God. So let us think on that as we move forward, every head bowed and every eye closed.

Loving is difficult. Because people make it difficult.

That doesn't matter. We are still do love, no matter the circumstance. And in the moment that we fail and fall, are we grateful that we have a God who never does? And shows, true love that, we may mimic him that we may live in his that we may have it to give it to others around us. So wherever you are in your life right now is a Believer, My Hope and prayer is that your loving heart in your loving fears, that you are loving, like, none other. And if not, maybe today is a day to turn around that. You give it all to the Lord. Cuz, yes, I understand there are people in this world who make life difficult yet, we are still to love We're still to love. I love it with the word says that when we love those, even our enemy, we keep coals upon their head.

We need to show who God Is by our love. So let us do that church. So pray this morning in the time invitation that God helps you to love and maybe that's a