Advent 2023 - The Promise of Jesus - Love

GREET EVERYONE-

Good Morning loved and adopted ones!

If I have not had a chance to meet you; My name is Scott and I am a follower of Jesus and have the privilege of serving Him as the Lead Pastor among the people of Stonewater Fellowship.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1- When God's People Pray 9:00 am

2- Next Sunday 12-24 Christmas Eve Candelight 5:30

3- Kairos Jan 6th

4 - Small Groups

a- Texas Country Estates and 4-Winds

b- Deep Dive Jan 11th

c- ReEngage Jan 25th

LETS GRAB OUR BIBLES IF YOU HAVE ONE AND

Open it to 1st John Chapter 4 as we as we continue our Annual journey of exposing the impact the arrival of Jesus has had and currently has on this world, cultures and people all through history and all around the world.

What we hope to do in this season is Expose to our minds and hearts, through the open Scriptures, all that God promised to bring and and all that He is bringing into our life, as the arrival of God with us, Emmanuel, Jesus is celebrated and remembered.

This dynamic impact and the promises of God not only happened 2000 years ago but continues to happen every day to millions of people around the world through the proclamation of the Gospel, in the power of the Holy Spirit by the faithfulness of the Church is done.

Loved ones, the promises that God brings to us in the Child in the manger and the impact of his arrival;

in reality is something that God came to have all experience, All who have been made new by the regeneration of the Spirit.

He wants us to know these and experience these each and every day as the Gospel of Jesus is renewed again and again in our hearts and minds.

Lets read some Texts this morning as Today we celebrate the Advent of Love.

TRUTH

Luke 2:8–20 ESV

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Romans 10:14–15 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

1 John 4:9–10 ESV

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

PRAY

ENGAGEMENT

This week in the Advent Calendar we celebrate and come to the place of marking in our life and in History the Advent or Arrival of Love -

Some may ask :why do we light candles on a circle pattern during this time of year.

They are all there to mind us, to help us focus our attention and our minds and our hearts on Jesus - The Circle pattern represents the Eternal Jesus - Just like the Circle Jesus has no beginning and He will have no end He is eternal.

The Candles we light to remind us that Jesus is the Light of the World.

That in Jesus was light and that light was the Life of Men.

CULTURAL

Brandi and I were looking at our streaming services the other day looking to see if there was anything that we wanted to watch.

One of the Categories of movies that came up was “Holiday Romantic”.

PERMISSION - SO I'm going to ask permission here or really instead of permission I'm going to give notice. - I guess the reason I am giving notice is becasue I might tread on a cultural Icon of yours and I don't mean to But its is just to easy to and oh so relevant to what were talking about to day

The Last time I stepped on a cultural art icon I got emails and I guys I am letting you know that I'm headed there so maybe I don't get any emails -

So Here goes -

Harper's Bizarre Ranked it the most Romantic movie of all time -

the IMDb Ranked it Number 8 of all time .

Good housekeeping number 23.

Any Guesses?

Yea the 2004 Blockbuster The Note Book.

You might agree with the critics that it is one of the most romantic movies of all time.

The Dedication - The Longevity - The awakening that happens - the Framework by which The actual note book is used and revealed in the movie -

and of course the ending where they pass into eternity together or within minutes of each other.

Just way to Romantic.

Ad all of that seems good and right and well and seems to embrace and embody love.

But I want you to think about the storyline for a minute with me.

The Characters in the movie are Terrible.

So Allie - Meets a guy while she is in High school - That relationship doesn't work out for many a reason. One of which is Allie is form money and this Noah guy is not. The Relationship ends.

YEARS later - She is engaged to a Good man - A decorated vet, Educated Lawyer who LOVES HER and can care for her and provide for her She has the Rock on her finger and she has joyfully said yes.

Here is what this girl does on the whim of a news paper article.

She goes and spends the weekend - hooking up With this Noah guy from her teenage years

Goes back and Confesses to the Lawyer guy who is beyond understanding and more than willing to forgive her. Who by the way Loves her and her parents and they all get along -

And what does she do - She dumps this great guys and goes to this Noah guy and ruins the Great guys life for any chance at happiness.

I’m gonna get off the note book for a minute - but that similar thyme is repeated in romantic movie after romantic move - From Casablanca to Titanic. Over and over again.

TENSION

Here is the problem.

One of the thing that the notebook and other romantic dramas show us is just how fragile and faulted our love really is.

What can so easily happen to us in these and other media formats - Movies - Romance novels - Anything that us guys might quantify as a Chick Flick is we begin to look at the redeeming qualities of the story line and we begin to define Love by those limited redeeming qualities.

Look, I'm not saying that we don't watch them - I mot saying we don't read them - We certainly can and Husbands let me share with you something I learned a long time ago.

If she says she wants to watch what you and I would classify as a “chick flick” the faster you press the play button the better things are gonna happen for you.

But as we watch and as we enjoy - We must always remember three things -

ONE - They are a clear reflection of how flawed and fragile our human love really is, as it is acted out from our human brokenness.

TWO - They are but a shadow of the love of God that he ushered into the world and lavished upon us with the birth of Jesus.

and

THREE - Shadows make a very poor substitute for the real thing.

Because we look at the notebook - We see the love and steadfastness and the devotion - and the Payoff even if it is momentary -

- And we look at that and two things cross our minds -

ONE - wow I want to love like that -

TWO - I want to be loved like that.

All the while the Love of God is so much more than the shadows we experience human to human

Ultimately if we define Love by the Shadows we live in and experience we are missing the knowledge and the experience of the Love of God.

BACKGROUND

John - the Apostle John is writing and I want you to remember the motivation behind all of Johns writings.

John Writes so that people will believe in Jesus.

John Writes so that people will place their trust in the finished work of Jesus ad have everlasting life.

what the spirit f God is wanting Him to write as he is unfolding for us the Love of who God is and in this He will open our minds and hearts not only to the Severity of Gods’ but to the person of God love namely Jesus Christ.

UNPACKING

VS9

John Starts with “in this” in what? IN the coming of Jesus -

You see the Child in the Manger is the Love of God.

As John Continues - In this - The Love of God - Remember that is the essence of who God is - The Love of God is The Character and Nature of WHO God is becasue God is Love -

Does does not have love- it is not something that He has to choose - He is love.

So GOD - THE LOVE of God and the Love that IS God was MANIFESTED - or MADE MANIFEST Interesting word.

to cause something to be fully known by revealing it with clearly and in detail

‘to make known, to make plain, to reveal, to bring to the light, to disclose, a revelation - To make visible something that was invisible.

You and I have heard it Said - God IS love - 6 times in the New Testament Specifically indicates that God IS love -

and we must understand with biblical clarity that Love is the Central character and Nature of who GOD is. and it makes sense. A creator who created us in His image not just be loving but be in and of Himself Love and in action Loving.

But the Bible also says some 600 times that God is Holy.

Which means that God and Everything about God is all together separate - That is what Holy Means - The Word Holy in the New and the Old Testaments Means Separate - Perfect in His separation moral separation from us.

So when we think and try to understand and attempt to define and experience the Love of God. We cannot start with us. We cannot begin with the way we view and understand and experience Love between us.

Here is why - Because the Love we have with each other and the love that we see in the romance of all that is Limited - It is Limited and conditional. - Its just a shadow.

Without looking and understanding and experiencing the Love of God in and through the person of Jesus What we think is love will end in itself.

You might ask: Pastor does that mean I have to be a Christian to Know love?

no - I’m not saying that at all - You don't have to be a christian to experience love -

You don't have to be a christian to be generous -

You do have to be a christian to Enjoy Rib eye steak or a good glass of wine or community with friends -

or have a good marriage and family - I'm not saying that at all.

Here is what I am saying - All of those things - the fullness of Love -the joy of Generosity, The Taste of A rib eye, the depth of flavors of a glass of wine and the connection in community, The bonding we will experience in marriage and family, will all have a cap on them to a certain point as to how much we can enjoy them and experience them becasue without the God who created them and gave us all things to enjoy, all of those things then become then end in themselves.

Its just a good rib eye becasue its a good rib eye - Its a great glass of wine becasue its a good wine - and We have a good marriage becasue we just have one.

And our thoughts and our experience never go beyond the moment when we know that the moment is fleeting and eternity is written in our hearts.

This is why The love of God is made visible AMONG US.

We needed to see and experience the depth and completeness and the severity of the Love of God that is found in only one person.

God made himself known - He revealed Himself - He made His central characteristic and the centrality of His nature Visible - Revealed it to us in the person and work of Jesus -

He did this by SENDING JESUS -

Look at vs 9 Again The love of God was made manifest among us. Emmanuel God With US. The Love of God was Made Manifest AMONG us -

HOW?

JESUS WAS sent to us. Jesus - The expression, the embodiment, the person of the Love of God -

Here is the beauty in that - We weren't asking. There is nothing in Scripture that indicates that the gentiles were asking. That the Jewish people were asking for the the Love of God to be revealed - The Love of God that was promised when the Gospel was preached in advanced to Abraham.

No - What the Jews we’re looking for was a National Hero - A Earthly King! Not and eternal one! They were wanting to have forever established a country and earthly Kingdom of their own possession -

By the time Jesus came the Jewish people didn't love god for who He was!

They loved God for what they thought He could and would do for them.

WHY did he do that? - Why did GOD make His love Manifest Make it Visible to us by sending Jesus?

SO that we would LIVE THROUGH HIM.

So that every thing that we do and see and feel and experience in this life would be done through the life and work and grace and reconciliation of Jesus.

This is why Jesus said - The Thief comes to Steal and Kill and destroy but I have come to Give you Life and Life Abundant.

We might not get to define what abundant looks like, but here is what we need to understand -

When Life is lived THROUGH Jesus - Life becomes more and more abundant each and every day.

Because what Changes is not the life we have but the way we live the life we have.

Here is what Changes: The Fullness of our experience of Love NOW become a gift that is given by a creator that loves us in an inexpressible and incomprehensible way.

The Joy of Generosity becomes an outgrowing of our love and affection for God that has given us all things for life and godliness and been so generous to us.

The flavor of the Ribeye, and the fullness of the Aroma and flavor of the wine is enjoyed NOW with thanksgiving to the one who created the Cow for the table and the grape for the Glass.

Community and relationships become more than people along the way but relationships that are valued and cherished and can have deep influence becasue we know and realize how loved and valued by the one who created them in His image, died for them, and intersected them in your life really is.

Marriage becomes more than a social construct of culture and even more than a great connection of good compatibility of goals, likes and dreams and desires.

Marriage become a captivation of your heart and soul because you live in the constant environment experiencing that He or She was perfectly made and selected by God himself to give you what you needed to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. So you respect Him becasue He was chosen for you and you Love and Cherish and nurture Her and give your self for her because She was chosen for you By the one who loves you and created you and knew your before you took your first breath and has your name constantly before Him becasue it is engraved in the Palm of His hand.

Children, become Gifts from God and family becomes the safe place.

Married or single - Parent or not - Rich or poor - Community of Isolation - Ribeye or chopped steak - Cabernet or tap water - IT matters NOT

This is the abundance of Life that Jesus came to Give!

That we would life life through the Manifested Love of God namely His son that He sent into this world to seek and to save that which was lost.

And when we do that - We change - Our perspective on life Changes - our understanding of our purpose meaning and values all change because we have been made new.

Vs 9 told us exactly how God made His love viable -

VS10

Verse 10 tells us what the love of God is - The Verse begins with “In this is love”

What is the “this” that John is pointing us to.

This is the “This” John is pointing us to - and there are two things that God is and God did that define Love -

1st thing is the God Loved us -

you might be here this morning or watching on live stream and thinking - Yea of course God loves me - I’m all that. Let me ask you this loved one;

Would you love someone who did not love you?

Would you desire relationship with someone who didn't acknowledge that you even existed?

Would you love someone and give anything to someone who acted as if their life would not change on iota if you were in it or out of it?

NO of course not we would not! - Because our love is conditional - We live in the notebook.

You see this is what John is telling us through the Spirit of God in the Scriptures - We did not love God - We wanted nothing to do with Him. This sentiment is expressed all through the Scriptures.

Psalms - Proverbs and Isaiah as well as the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans who sites these writings - Says - There is none righteous - There is no one who understands - there is no one who seeks after God. All have turned aside - No one does good not even one.

You see this is us - This was them -

We were not asking for God to make His love Manifest among us - We were not asking for Him to send His son - We had little or no desire for God -

BUT GOD - John writes - But God LOVED US. John would write later that this is the reason and the fullness of why we can love becasue He first loved us.

This is how in His Gospel, John Record for us the Very words of Jesus who is the manifestation of God love:

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Here is the reason this is so Important for us to hear and understand is true - Because it is the severity and depth and height of the Love of God that allows our hearts to abide in Jesus and experience from day to day.

And In verse 10 - Right after John explains that God loved us even though We did not love him - John Puts the word AND in the text -

The Love of God is two things - The fact that He loved us even though we did not love him. AND

AND - Sent HIS SON JESUS to be the Propitiation FOR our sins.

Now I know propitiation is not a word you use everyday - We or going to hear it used at HEB or Walmart -

This is where some of us might want to get off the buss - My hope and intention is to let the word stand on it own.

Here is the truth - when we talk about and look at the scriptures to understand what propitiation means - there are going to be some things in tension. Tension - Things that pull away from each other.

But here is what tension can do for us - when rightly applied and understood. Tention can keep us anchored to the truth like the tension on the trailer that keeps thing connected to the trailer -

You Tracking with me so far?

Ok - The word Propitiation Means “ a satisfaction of wrath” To propitiate means to Satisfy Wrath - This is what the word means.

And look at what John Writes - God sent Jesus into this world as THE propitiation FOR our sin. Notice it does not say - OF our sin. He makes this same statement back in chapter two when He says “He (namely Jesus is the propitiation FOR our sin)

Paul, In Romans says the Jesus is a Propitiation for our Sins.

The writer of Hebrews say Jesus is the propitiation FOR our sins.

What does our sin do that needs to be satisfied - Our sin brings upon us the Wrath of God. and this is where you and I might bump heads a little. But this is the Bible and we must understand what it says so that we can understand the Person of God, the Revelation of God and the Love of God -

God hates Sin and God’s right and just response to Sin is wrath - WHY?

Because every sin is against the very character and nature of who God is.

You and I are saying Yes and Amen -

But loved ones that is not the extent of God’s love. Here is why - The Greater love that we possess the greater capacity for wrath. This is where you and I might bump into each other a little - And so the Scripture needs to stand for itself -

Yes God hates sin - It hurts those he loves and it malingnes who he is.

But loved ones - The satisfaction of God’s wrath on the cross of Calvary was not to save sin -

The Satisfaction of God’s wrath was to save Sinners.

You see God hates Sin and He Hates sinners and His wrath is against Sinners, Against people who sin.

And this is where you and I might bump here a little bit - no Pastor - God loves the sinner but hates the Sin -

Love ones that is not Bible.

Psalm 5:4–6 ESV

4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. 5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. 6 You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

You hate ALL evildoers - You destroy those who speak lies - You abhor the blood thirsty and the deceitful!

17 times in the first 50 Psalms alone this sentiment is represented.

God’s wrath is against sinners -

Jesus said - Depart form me you evil dowers.

And this is where the Tension that seemly pulls away from each other can keep us held together with God.

1st things first - we must remember, who God is - God IS love that is the very essence of who he is .

He IS love and He Has wrath - He is not continually trying to choose between love and wrath - He IS Love and he HAS wrath.

And becasue He IS love Everything he Does is done out of his great love for us, including his hatred for Sinners.

CONCLUSION - LAND THE PLANE

And Here is the Promise of Christmas - Here is what the Arrival, the ADVENT of LOVE brings into this world to all of us and to!

That when we turn to this God who loves us and sent His son into this world to satisfy His wrath against us as sinners - That we would know when when we turn to Him - When we accept this outpouring of Love that is the Advent of the Season. We then are adopted - We then are in His family - We then Love God becasue He first loved us - We then Live Abundant Love through Jesus - and when that happens to us - WE are made new - We are regenerated by the Spirit of God - and Loved ones we love in Roams 8 There is now NO condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus.

There is no accusation that Sticks - There is no sin that is unresolved - There is no wrath that is towards us and due us - Jesus - The Personification and manifest revelation of LOVE - what God IS - has satisfied all of that - WHY? Because God so loved the world.

PRAYER for all of us this season - That we are captivated this season by the manifest love of God - That the Child in the manger IS the personification of God in the Love that IS GOD - and how that is fleshed out is that Child in the Manger, is the Satisfactions of God wrath that was against us.

My prayer is that THROUGH that truth we would experience the Love of God in ways and in times that are overwhelming to us.

That this morning and many times through out this season of presents, and people and pastries - you would kust look to the heavens and say with all of your being - Jesus I love you! and you would be overwhelmed and completely immersed in the experiential response from heaven, when you hear God say to you - I love you my child!

Some of us this morning might be saying “ah pastor lets be careful with all that experience stuff, we are people of the Book, and if the Book says it, its good enough for me”

Loved ones - That is true we are people of the Book. But here is the funny part, as we read the Book we will read over and over and over again of the great leaders, prophets and apostles pursuing the Experience OF god and they grown in the Knowledge of GOD.

Abraham - All of his life of growth was through experience -

Moses - Had the burning bush - Did all kinds of stuff in Egypt with the whole staff thing - Crushed it when He came off the Mountain. Experienced God in the Cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. But what does Moses want - Show me you Glory. I want more of you!!

Paul - Lightning bolt transformation on the road. three years in arabia with Jesus Himself. His heart cry - I want to know Him and the Power of His resurrection and to share in the fellowship of His sufferings.

All though this book - Recipients of God’s love looking to experience more of God -

Here is the beautiful thing - This god they want to experience is calling an loving people who are due His wrath becasue of their sin AND unbelief to experience His love and His desire that His love and kindness would overwhelm them and they would turn to him and be made new.

STICKY POINT PRAISE TEAM AND PRAYER TEAM

You might be here this morning or watching over live steam and you have heard, through the scriptures this morning for the first time, that God loves you, but that you are a sinner and that there is a big problem between you and GOD. That He is love and He does love you and you are challenged with this wrath thing and how this love thing and wrath thing work together. I would invite you to simply look at the cross of Jesus - Look to the cross of the Child in the manger. If there is any doubt of the wrath of God towards you becasue of your sin - Look at the Cross

If there is any doubt as to the Love of God and the depth and height and severity of His great love for you - Simply look to the Cross!

PRAYER TEAM!