Beloved

Introduction

promo Christmas Services Promote Beloved

Charity starts at home - but should always go beyond.

Please talk to Kristian and Raquelle - let’s be generous

We’re about to enter the Christmas season - and do a short theme this month called “Beloved”

You know I actually love this word in the bible - because it’s one of the most significant words, and we seem to always underappreciate its meaning.

Today we’re going to take a look

Pray

Segment 1: Meditate on Scripture

Matthew 3:17 (ESV)

17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Can I just start by saying this: we need to re-seek the art of meditating on Scripture. Not just reading it.

We’ve lost the art of meditating on Scripture - really sitting down with it, wrestling with it, allowing it to profoundly challenge and mold us.

There are many people in churches today that know the Word - but don’t love it

We can steal the significance from scripture by approaching it the wrong way, it loses its profoundness in our lives.

Can’t help but think of scripture as it says blessed is the man who DELIGHTS in the Word. (Psalm 1)

Let’s not turn scripture into some fast-food practise. We’re in an out in as quick a time as possible

By doing it this way - we rob scripture of the ability to really dig deep and transofrm our lives.

Segment 2: Beloved

Back to the passage

This is one of those verses we shouldn’t just gloss over - because there is so much profoundness here, so much significance.

Do you know that God the Father only speaks 2 times in this gospel? At Jesus’ baptism and at the transfiguration. And you know what He says both times?

“This is my BELOVED son, with whom I am well pleased”

Matthew 17:5 (ESV)

5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my BELOVED Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

In both of these ONLY instances where God the Father speaks audibly - He seeks to communicate not just the fact that Jesus has authority as a son - but that He is also BELOVED. He is Dear to God.

Jesus was LOVED by God - He was dear to God, He was so precious to God.

It can be too easy to gloss over scripture and miss this significant moment.

It is God setting the stage for what is about to happen - I imagine there almost being a pain in this declaration:

Jesus is precious beyond measure to me - and yet I am going to sacrifice Him - for you.

This is my only son, whom I love - and I’m sending him to die, so that I can rescue you.

In my humble opinion, the love letter officially starts here - that declaration is for us.

This is where we should realise that God did not hold back for us, He did not send a nobody, He didn’t send someone He liked, He sent someone He loved - His only Son.

ILLUSTRATION: Kid gives up favourite toy

You know - kids are terrible when it comes to attributing value to things. I remember arguing with Jackson a couple of weeks ago when I was over at his place. I said that I really liked this toy that he was playing with, and I asked him how much it would cost me to buy it off him? And he quoted me for a jillion dollars - or a zillion, he lost me at anything over a dollar. But it’s weird that while they can’t really attribute accurate monetary value to things - they still understand the meaning of value.

Back in one of the first churches I attended, we had a church garage sale which we hosted to help with the purchase of a potential new building. And I was responsible for one of these stalls where people would basically come and donate items that could then be sold for money. There were all sorts of items, old watches, keychains, someone donated an old TV - that sort of thing. It didn’t really work because it was an asian church - so like every seller wants to sell their items at daylight robbery prices, but every buyer wants a steal - not a good combo.

Anyway - about halfway through the fair this young kid walks up with his mum, and offers up this disgusting old bunny doll for us to sell. Now bear in mind, I’m not really good with kids, but I’m trying to be nice here. So I’m like - aww thanks, but in my asian mind, I’m like 5c max.

The moment he lets go of the bunny - this kid starts wailing like a madman. And when I’m like why? The mum explains to me that this rabbit was that boys first birthday present, and he goes everywhere with it, he sleeps with it, he talks to it, it’s basically his best friend; but when he heard that the church needed a new building he was searching for a way to help - and this bunny was the most precious thing he had, so he gave it over.

Now - before anyone crucifies me for trying to sell what was this poor kid’s best friend, you need to know his mum was just doing this so the boy could learn how to give - she actually bought the bunny back on the spot for $50. Which I thought was insanely unfair but hey that was my biggest sale of the day.

You know - sometimes I think we can almost take this approach to the cross; we only really see Jesus’ value from our perspective - as a sacrifice for our sins. Yeah He’s perfect, yeah He was the one, yeah He fit the bill perfectly.

But we often fail to perceive Jesus’ value to God the Father. He was so loved by God, how it must have pained the Father to send Him on this mission, How much it cost the Father.

And yet I think we can’t make the mistake of not seeing this angle - because otherwise we can fall into the temptation of seeing this just as some transaction, Jesus was the right amount - Jesus paid the price.

But our salvation was purchased at a cost that goes far beyond a mere transaction. It was emotional, it was PERSONAL, it was heart-wrenching, it cost the Father so much. We should never think of it as a mere “transaction”

And yet He paid it - for you.

Segment 3: God’s love can’t be earned

1 John 4:10–12 (ESV)

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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

This passage is so much richer when we come into it with a full appreciation of just how much Jesus meant to God. When we understand just how big a sacrifice it was.

And immediately one statement should jump out at us: “THIS IS LOVE, NOT THAT WE LOVED, BUT THAT HE LOVED.”

In other words - God’s love is unprecedented. It is without prompting, it is unearned, undeserved, non transactional, it wasn’t a trade - it came upon us without us lifting a finger.

It is not a response to anything you have done - it is not a response to the love of man. It is without precedent - meaning it was freely given.

God’s love is entirely unearned - there was no action, no thought, no amount of money or time that caused God to pour out His love on you.

The only thing you can do in the face of such a relentless love is receive it.

Segment 4: Keep the love, not just the fire

You know I think one of the reasons Christians lose their faith and fire is because we don’t meditate on this point enough.

Just as we must know how Beloved Jesus was to the Father - we must know AND receive how Beloved we are to the Father as well.

If He would give up His beloved for us - well that makes us Beloved too. A fact that John refers to in v11 when he calls us beloved.

And I think we don’t stop to receive this love enough

We push on in faith, we attend church, we serve in church - and there is nothing inherently wrong with this at all. After all the bible says that service helps us to keep our spiritual fervor.

But the love MUST precede the fire, because we serve OUT of that abundance of love. We can be good at keeping the fire, but we have to be even better at receiving the love.

It’s more important for us to be loved than it is to love

I’ve noticed that the more I “mature” in faith, the less I spend time just receieving God’s love. There is this danger that we lose sight of the Mary in our lives and we start to become like the Martha.

Somehow just spending time receiving God’s love, even just BEING in love with God - can be seen as somewhat immature, something that only a new Christian does.

We lose the tenderheartedness we have toward God

And this is where we’ll most likely take one of two paths:

We burn out trying to earn back God’s love through acts of service (works-based legalism)

We serve and attend church but quickly lose sight of the reason we are serving and all heart and fire dies out quickly after.

Just as you must know Jesus was God’s beloved - do you know that you are too?

If you know Jesus is God’s beloved - then what does it mean if He willingly sacrificed Him for a shot at a relationship with you?

ILLUSTRATION: Adopted Child finds love

I know a family who adopted an older child from an unspeakably horrific orphanage in another country. When they brought her home one of the things they told her was that she was expected to clean her room every day. When she heard about that responsibility, she fixated on it and saw it as a way she would earn her family’s love. In other words, she isolated the responsibility and applied it to her existing frame of thinking that was shaped by life in the orphanage. Thus, every morning when her parents came in her room, it was immaculate and she would sit on the bed and would say, “My room is clean. Can I stay? Do you still love me?” Her words broke her new parents’ hearts.

Eventually, after a long time - the girl learned to trust that she was their unconditionally beloved child who would never be forsaken, she wasn’t a visitor trying to earn her place in the family. After she knew that she was an inseparable part of the family story, even correction and discipline did not cause her to question her family’s love for her; she understood correction and discipline to be part of what it meant to be in the family.

This is an image of what we can be like - we can serve and love out of a place of insecurity; am I good enough? will I ever be good enough? am I doing enough? am I giving enough? am I serving enough?

This is not the life God wants for you

Today God is calling you out of servanthood - and into sonship.

John 1:12 (ESV)

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Segment 5: His love is perfected in us

John finishes with perhaps one of the most curious phrases in the bible: 1 John 4:11-12

1 John 4:11–12 (ESV)

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

This phrase that John ends with “God’s love is perfected in us” should spark curiosity.

Is God’s love not already perfect? Why does it need to be perfected? Does that mean that God’s love is inadequate/imperfect?

If something needs to be perfected - then cleary that means that it is imperfect. That it is not yet complete.

The answer to this is yes - and no. It is true that God’s love requires us to complete it - but that’s because He has designed it this way.

God’s love for us is designed as a circuit, It begins with God - and it comes to us. BUT it is not designed to end with us, according to this passage it is not even designed for us to give it solely back to God. No - it is designed that we may receive it, and also administer it to others - completing this circuit.

In other words God’s love is meant to be received, yes - but it is not DESIGNED to end with you, it is designed to end with another.

God’s love is perfected when we love one another.

Paul describes this in Romans 13:8

Romans 13:8 (ESV)

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

Paul describes this as an continuing debt to one another.

Just as we continually and freely receive God’s love whenever we need it - the only debt that remains to be paid is that we complete the circuit, continue to love one another

Be filled so that you can fill others, be blessed so you can bless others, You ARE loved so that you can love others.

This becomes the proper way to look at serving God - in any capacity. It is not out of dutiful obligation, not out of a debt that we must repay directly to God (we can never repay that debt).

Serving God is a way to love others - when we look at it this way - it renews our perspective of Ministry. EVERY MINISTRY becomes a way to love others. This is why all churches should have high volunteer rates.

Eg. Service team (the way we serve), Worship team (leading others to God), Kids (raising the next generation), Youth/YA (the same), pastoring (loving), CG leading (loving) - all we do is complete the circuit of love that begins with God, and CANNOT end with us.

This is how God designed love, it is not an imperfection.

Segment 6: What if the circuit is incomplete?

1 John 2:11 (ESV)

11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

This is what we were talking about earlier - when the circuit of love is broken and we stop outputting this love to others we enter a state of spiritual blindness.

We lose purpose, direction, perspective. You are sowing lostness into your life

We lose the sense of what church is for and ultimately what faith is for.

That’s because just as much as love is designed to go full circle, we were ordained to love one another. And without that - we become lost.

Segment 7: Revealing God to others

It’s curious that John would say “No one has seen God” - like what a random statement to add in this passage.

But it makes sense if you follow His logic - you know you are a Christian if that circuitry of love runs through you; it is a proof for your faith.

But more than this - I love the notion that “No one has seen God” but we reveal Him to others - as we love them.

We get to be the image of God to someone else, we get to be the hands and the feet of God to someone.

God reveals Himself to others - when we love them.

You reveal God to others when you love them

ILLUSTRATION: You are Jesus, are you not?

In her book Radical Gratitude, Ellen Vaughn tells the story of a friend named Jerry:

Some years ago Jerry was in Russia on a short visit with Prison Fellowship International. When they asked their hosts if they could go visit children in the hospital.

They were taken to a 750-bed hospital in Moscow at the end of the Leniniski Prospect. This was the national clinic for children, where patients came from all over the Russian Federation.

This is where children with cancer and blood diseases came to die. No trained nurses, no laundry, no disinfectants, few medicines, no lab work. The children's families brought in and prepared food for them in the empty hospital kitchen.

A staff person brought a young girl in an old wheelchair to Jerry. She was about 14-years-old, with thin brown hair and dark circles under her eyes. "She has about 4 months to live," the woman told Jerry. "We have no medicines to help her."

"What is her name?" Jerry asked. He bent down to the girl's level.

"Eugenia," the woman said.

Jerry rocked on his heels. Eugenia was his daughter's name. What if his Eugenia was dying and needed medicine? What would he do? What would this Russian Eugenia's dad do for his daughter if he could?

The staff people told Jerry that the drug protocol for Eugenia would run about $18,000 (U.S.). Jerry wasn’t a man of wealth, but he turned to a buddy with him "Ed," he said, "if we can't find someone to donate the money to help this little girl, I'll sell my car, if you sell your truck, okay?"

But selling a car and a truck would only take them so far. There were lots of kids who needed help.

So Jerry returned to the U. S. and got on the phone. Within two weeks, a prominent children's clinic had given him tens of thousands of dollar's worth of drugs packed in cooler boxes with dry ice, and Jerry was on a plane back to Moscow.

Jerry and his friends raised millions of dollars, and the clinic became world-class. Furthermore, they teach nurses and doctors who travel all over the Russian Federation.

Eugenia's cancer went into remission. Vaughn tells what happens when Jerry and the others got back to Moscow with the first planeload of medicine: "When he and his buddies walked into the hospital in the night, Eugenia's mother saw them coming. She ran down the dim corridor, her face incredulous, and burst into tears crying out: 'You are Jesus, are you not?'

We get to be the face of God to someone else - when we love them.

The thing is - this is a great story, but we don’t even need examples like this.

ILLUSTRATION: Megan praying for girl

A couple of weeks ago in this church - I had a chat with Megan, one of our worship leaders. Who told me that in this service, she really felt prompted to pray for a girl next to her, but she didn’t know her at all so she was scared. But she knew she had to - so she asked the girl to pray; and as she prayed for this girl, the girl began to tear up and cry.

ILLUSTRATION: Praying for AJ

God gave me Psalm 139:13-14. Broke down - word for him.

Even in the simplest of actions we can reveal the love of God.

That’s what Heart for the City is about - capturing God’s heart for people that make up this city.

It’s intentional - let’s seek opportunities to love others, intentionally.

Let’s get involved in Beloved and love these kids who need to see the love of God

Let’s make time to love the people of this church - newcomer and OG

If there’s ONLY one thing that people experience when they walk into this church, let it be the love of God (not fun, excitement, impressiveness, awe) just love.

The Father gave up His Beloved for you so that you may know that YOU are Beloved

Make the decision today to be a conduit for His love to those around you.

Altar Call

Would you just pray for the person next to you