Add to Your Faith . . . Love
Notes
Transcript
Opening
Opening
Good morning.
Who can tell me the greatest commandment? Help me out . . . It’s to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In other words to love God with everything - with our whole being. And the second is like it . . . to love our neighbor as ourself. Jesus said these two things summarize the whole law. Simply put: Love God, Love people. Easy, right?
But you don’t know my neighbor! My neighbor hasn’t mowed his lawn in 6-months. The weeds are taller than me! My neighbor throws loud parties late into the night. My neighbor . . . fill in the blank
Look . . .God knows who lives in our neighborhoods, He knows who we work with, the customers we deal with. He sees the atheists who are giving us a hard time, the hypocrites, and corrupt individuals. And yet he tells us to love even our enemies.
*** Church, our world desperately needs to experience the love of Christ and God wants to use you and me to point people to Him.
With that said. . . how are you doing with the virtue of love? If you are like me, there is an opportunity to improve. I could work on loving better.
Series
Series
Today I have the privilege of finishing out our series called “Add to Your Faith”
Friends, we’ve been working hard, stacking the bricks the last six weeks. Of course, it all starts with Faith.
Peter, writing to the church says that we have received from Jesus a precious faith and that we have everything we need for a godly life through Him.
Peter then challenges us . . .
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
Love is the glue that holds it all together and love will be our focus today.
In speaking about mutual affection, last week Pastor Josue talked about Philo or Philadelphia - brotherly love.
The virtue this week is the Greek word Agape. This is most often used in speaking of God’s love. It is a self-giving, sacrificial love. The kind of love that puts others first.
We’ve had high ambitions in this series, tackling each of these virtues and today is no exception as we look to Christ as the supreme example of love.
Bibles
Bibles
I want to invite you to have your Bibles open with me today. If you need a Bible, please raise your hand and an usher will bring you one.
Today’s key verse may be one that you have memorized.
It’s not uncommon for this to be the first you heard when you gave your life to Christ.
You have probably seen it referenced on clothing, signs, posters on freeway overpasses, telephone poles . . . even under Tim Tebow’s eyes during his college football championship game.
[PICTURE]
That verse is John 3:16. I’d like to invite us to read this aloud together.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
We’ll look at this verse from a slightly different angle today, but first please hear me loud and clear that the primary purpose of John 3:16 is for us to believe in Jesus.
God the Father loved us so much that he sent Jesus to earth to pay for our sins through death on a Roman cross. And Jesus loved us so much that He was fully on board with that plan and carried it to completion. He was dead three days and then he rose to life showing his power over death and sin. When we turn from sin and place our faith (our belief) in Jesus Christ we are saved. We have life now and for all of eternity.
That is our starting point . . .
Our foundation is the faith (all from Jesus) to which Peter calls us to then add these different virtues, so that we can now live productive lives in Jesus.
We’ve talked about goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and mutual affection. Now the capstone (the final piece that locks in all the others) is love.
John 3:16 says “For God so Loved the World”
God’s love is like no other. God’s love is completely good, pure, selfless, and true.
The Bible says God is Love. His very essence defines agape.
And the gospel as summarized in John 3:16 is his greatest act of love for us.
Many years ago we sang a song in church called “Amazing Love.” Do you know it?
The chorus goes “Amazing love, how can it be that you my king would die for me?”
Isn’t that incredible, that Jesus was willing to die for sinners like me and you? So I want us to look at three things we can learn from God’s Amazing Love that we can model as we love others.
We Model God’s Amazing Love When . . .
We Model God’s Amazing Love When . . .
1) We Give Our Best Gift
1) We Give Our Best Gift
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son.”
Jesus was the Father’s very best gift to the world.
In describing the one and only son, the original Greek uses a word (mono-gu-niece), meaning “one of a kind.” There is no one like Jesus. He is so beyond us in every way and yet the Father counted it good to send Him for our sake.
Jesus was the best gift, not only because Jesus is awesome, but because he was exactly what we needed - and who we continue to need. Thankfully, the world only needs one Jesus Christ because He is powerful enough to save all that come to him.
Our BEST gifts will be different, though they will point others to the ultimate gift that is Jesus. If it doesn’t point to Jesus then it’s not your best
What then is your best gift? It depends on the situation and who you are giving to. But, there are some general principles that can help guide us.
A good starting point here is to remember that every believer has Spiritual Gifts for building up the church. How has God empowered you?
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Some of these gifts involve our words, some involve us to give something away, others require us to physically serve.
The Holy Spirit equips us with these supernatural gifts that are beyond whatever talent or resources we have acquired on our own
I believe that the Spirit can give individuals different ones at various times to meet the needs we encounter.
As a reminder: Your spiritual gifts are not for you to keep for yourself! They are for loving and serving others - specifically for building up the church.
Giving the best gift for you may be giving your time to someone. Is time valuable to you? Is anyone else busy? There never seems to be enough hours in the day to do all that I want to do! But often, the best gift I can give someone is time - sitting with them, listening to them.
I may not be able to heal someone who is in the hospital, but I can visit them and pray with them. So can you! Sometimes that is the best gift.
Our best gift could be giving financially.
Believers (myself included) are called to give regularly to the church. Just how much is something that should be prayerfully decided between you and God.
2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV)
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
See, a tithe was never meant to be a cap! God’s not limiting your generosity.
Our best gift could also be sending loved ones to go where God is calling them.
Parents, we are called to let our children go when they get married - to go and become part of their new family unit. And when schooling, jobs, military, or other commitments call them elsewhere.
Some of you know Jocelyn Bentecourt. [PICTURE]
She is joining a Missions Group called Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and will be overseas for six months starting in October. Not only is she giving her best gift, sacrificing her time, her comfort, offering her Spiritual Gifts (which is beautiful . . . we are proud of you Joselyn!) — but her parents are also giving their best gift in this situation. Will they miss their daughter? Will they worry about her wellbeing? You bet! But they are trusting God.
When we model God’s Amazing love we give our best gift. The second point is this: When we model God’s Amazing Love . . .
2) We Show Our Love for Every Individual
2) We Show Our Love for Every Individual
This requires us to see all people as made in God’s image - as Scripture teaches. Worthy of dignity. Worthy of Love.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him . . .
God does not discriminate. His gift is for anyone who believes - man or woman, young or old, from any race or ethnicity, out of any lifestyle. God has saved former murderers, adulterers, liars, drug dealers and the list goes on. What sins has he forgiven for you personally?
The ONE qualifier is belief. Those who believe will turn from sin and receive Jesus.
In the same way, we can only give to those who are willing to receive it.
That doesn’t mean you only need to try once. Multiple offers are fine. It may take some time before people trust us enough to receive what we are offering.
________
I mentioned earlier loving our enemies. Yes, God calls us to do this. Last week Pastor Josue challenged us to pray even for those who persecute us and to not stand in the way of anyone receiving the love of Jesus.
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Remember that He first set the example of being kind to the ungrateful and wicked (two words that described us at one time or another)
Love every person.
Love your family! Love the Church! Love your neighbors! Love your enemies! I imagine you can quickly recall people that fall into each of those categories.
We tend to notice the people that demand our attention But as we think about showing love for every individual, consider also that there are people in our lives and in our world that often get overlooked.
I’m speaking about those who live in poverty, widows and others without family support, prisoners, or people with disabilities. When teaching on loving others, Jesus said . .
Matthew 25:35–40 (NIV)
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Those present asked him when they did those things for him . Jesus replied,
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
When we love and serve others, it is as if we are serving the Lord himself!
Around 400 AD Augustine of Hippo wrote, “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”
You see, No individual is below us. All are equal at the foot of the cross.
One example of showing love for every individual is how our Children’s Ministry loves every child.
Christine Garcia is one of our Children’s Leads on staff. 10 years ago she approached Pastor Pam with an idea. Christine had worked in a Public School with students with moderate to severe disabilities - and she has a huge heart for these students. She had an idea to start a buddy system here at Centerpoint so that kids that needed extra support can engage in our ministry with a loving teen or adult to help guide them and to create a safe and loving environment.
Rather than having these kids in separate classes, they get to be part an immersive experience with all the kids and have an opportunity to grow with everyone else.
Each week we have approximately 40 children with diagnosed needs and a team of buddies to love them.
Picture of Special Needs Buddies
The buddies LOVE their kids. They have a genuine connection and tend to become advocates for the kids, speaking up on their behalf as they see needs.
We model God’s amazing love when we act like these folks and show love for every individual.
My final point is that we model God’s amazing love when we
3) We Advocate for Life
3) We Advocate for Life
John 3:16 (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Of course only Jesus can give us eternal life. But all of us can advocate for life.
That may be physically saving a life - giving CPR, donating blood, pulling someone out of the street before they get hit by a car, encouraging a mom to keep her child, talking someone out of suicide, maybe even standing between a victim and their attacker. May God guide us with his wisdom and give us quick instinct in these moments.
We value every life as made in the image of God and should do our part to advocate for life.
We may encounter opportunities like the ones I just mentioned, but what God really put on my heart to emphasize today is to advocate for life by speaking life-giving (or encouraging) words to others.
The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.
If you’d been chewed out or teased or criticized, you know how deflating words can be.
If you’d had someone compliment you or pray for you, then you know how encouraging words can be.
The words that come out of our mouth can either promote death - or - they can promote life. We should speak in such a way that advocates for life!
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
I was recently listening to a message by a Pastor and Author, Craig Groeschel. He was talking about caring deeply for people and he said, “Everytime you think something good, say it.”
I like that. I just have a couple caveats. First, don’t be creepy. Be careful commenting on looks or someones body, especially with the opposite sex. Second, make sure it’s not a backhanded compliment, like “Hey Your not as dumb as you look.” “Congratulations, I didn’t expect you to get the job.” or “That’s a beautiful photo of you. I didn’t recognize you at first.”
Advocate for Life through your words. Don’t withhold encouragement. I can’t tell you how many times a kind word was the motivation I needed to stay on the path that God has for me.
Lysa TerKeurst is a Christian Author, Speaker, and President of Proverbs 31 Ministries. She is doing incredible work counseling people who have been through heartbreak and betrayal.
She has a difficult background growing up being unwanted by her dad and in recent year dealing with her husband who had multiple affairs. You can imagine all the life-stealing words that she heard over the years, but she tells a story of a man named Bob who - to put in my words - modeled the love of Christ by advocating for life. She says this . . .
So Bob, this dude with a crazy sense of breathless wonder oozing with the sincerest Jesus love I’ve ever seen, crosses my path and stops to see me. Really see me.
He prioritizes me for a few moments above all else to whisper words of life into the very part of my soul that needed it the most. The part that never heard those words from my dad. The part that sometimes still wishes for something that a broken dad can’t give.
What did Bob communicate to Lysa? That she belongs. She never heard that before
She closes by saying . . . Never doubt the power of speaking words of life into another.
Closing
Closing
Church, we live in a world that emphasizes division, self-centeredness, and hate. Our world needs love! Our world needs to see Jesus! And God wants to use you and me to point people to Him.
We have an opportunity to model his amazing love . . .
When we Give our best gift. - What do you have to give? How has God resourced you? Give your best!
We have an opportunity to model God’s amazing love . . .
When we Show our Love for Every Individual. - Who might you be overlooking? Open your eyes by starting with the places you already live, work, and play. There are people who need to experience the love of Jesus. - Show them!
And we have an opportunity to model God’s amazing love . . .
When we Advocate for Life - Who can you encourage with your words today? Don’t hold back from promoting life!
Now in view of God’s love, who gave his one and only son for you, may you add to your faith, love.
_______________________
Please stand as we pray and close out the service. Afterward if you need pray we have prayer partners available . . .
Let’s prayer