Loving
A Christian is... • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Title: A Christian is… Loving
Focus Statement: We live in a fallen world and sometimes we get hurt by those that should treat us the best. Sometimes we’re the ones who hurt others by failing to love well. We know that love is messy, but a Christian is someone who lives out God's call to love everyone, everywhere, at all times.
Function Statement:
Tweetable Phrase:
Main Text: Hosea 1-14
Supporting Text: Galatians 5:22, Matthew 7:15-20, John 13:34-35, 1 Corinthians 13, Matthew 22:36-40, John 14:21, Philippians 2:6-8
Redemptive Closure (point to Jesus): Philippians 2:6-8
Benediction: Matthew 22:36-40
Questions to Review
Is the bottom line clear? Main point should be able to be said in a single sentence.
What’s the opening line? Not hello, start with a question or something to grab attention.
Is the transition from the introduction to main point clear?
What’s my main point? Make it short and memorable
Does it matter? Is the topic relevant to the congregation?
Where is the power in the text? What word or phrase highlights the tension?
How am I moving toward application?
What is my main to-do (application)? Be specific.
What does it matter? The WHY creates urgency.
How am I closing? Have a plan.
5 Things Each Sermon Must Do With the Biblical Text
Teach it: Cultural context, exegesis, what does it mean?
Illustrate it: Add emotion, illustrations, pictures, stories.
Apply it: How do we respond?
Distinguish it: How is this different? Invite the Holy Spirit in.
Portable-ize it: Make it RHYME (no WIN in COMPARISON), ALLITERATE it, make it ECHO (who are of infinite worth to the infinite God), use a METAPHORE (the Root of murder is anger...only God can uproot it from our hearts), or make it CONTRAST (a life devoted to self, leave you alone)
https://ideogram.ai/t/explore
WELCOME
WELCOME
Good morning!!! My name is Ryan Hanson, and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us.
Welcome to those joining us online. We hope you're doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.
And a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. We’re so glad you chose to be here.
ME/INTRO - Tension
ME/INTRO - Tension
So, I have conversations with people pretty regularly about faith and God. Most people I talk to consider themselves to be Christians. Sometimes, depending on how the conversation is going I’ll as them, “what does being a Christian mean to you?” The standard response is that a person is a Christian if they believe in Jesus, pointing to John 3:16.
16 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.
But...is that all it is?
Is being a Christian just a mental belief that Jesus is the Son of God, came to Earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again on the 3rd day, giving us hope that after we die we will spend eternity with Him in Heaven?
Does it matter that most Christian’s lives are indistinguishable from the lives of non-believers?
I guess it all depends on what the bible means by “believe”
The word “believe” is actually the Greek word Pisteuo
Believe
Pisteuo
believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance
obedient
To believe in Jesus, means that...
we believe in who Jesus was and what He did so much that we completely trust Him and rely on Him to guide and direct our lives.
we do our best to be obedient to everything He taught / commanded in the Bible, as well as the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
we don’t just believe in our heads, but that our belief has worked it’s way down into our hearts, and is expressed through our actions (hands)
Jesus states this pretty clearly in the Great Commission
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
So if being a Christian is more than just mentally ascribing to a list of facts about who Jesus was and what Jesus did, but allowing that belief about Jesus to drive us to obey everything He taught, how do we know if we are a Christian?
There are 10 commandments that Moses gave Israel in Exodus 20, 613 total law in the Old Testament, and Jesus taught at length throughout the Gospels.
Israel failed to keep all the laws / commands / teaching of the Bible, so how can we? There must be more to being a Christian than just believing some facts about Jesus and doing what He commands.
And that is the question we’re going to answer throughout this series: A Christian is...
We’re going to spend the next 5 weeks looking at the characteristics that Jesus says will be present in His followers and give God the space to uncover the blind spots that exist in our lives, SO THAT we can grow closer to the people that God created us to be.
Luckily for us, Jesus is pretty direct as to the characteristics that should be present in His followers.
Jesus answers the question “a Chrisian is...” for us in Matthew 7:15-20
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
So to Jesus, a Christian is known by the Fruit of their lives.
And the fruit Jesus is talking about is the Fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
So, over the next 5 weeks, we’re going to look at what the Bible says about each of these characteristics; love, joy, peace, patients, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And, we’re going to see how God wants us to live these out, SO THAT these characteristics can become such an integral part of our character that our lives can serve a witness to the LOVE OF GOD.
So… this week, we’re going to start with the first one in the list.
A Christian is...loving
WE - Tension
WE - Tension
Our main passage will be in Hosea.
Hosea is a minor prophet (which just means the book is shorter than the major prophets), so no judgement if you need to use the TOC.
We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand.
AND... if you don’t have a Bible, we have Bibles under the seats. If you don’t have a bible and would like one, please come see me after the service and I’ll get you one you can keep.
Let's dive in.
GOD - Text
GOD - Text
What is love?
What is love?
But before we dive into Hosea, I think we need to take a second to get on the same page about what Love even is.
The Bible uses four different Greek words to describe love in the New Testament
Agape - Unconditional / Sacrificial
Storge - Familial Love
Phileo - Friendship
Eros - Romantic
This view that there are different types of love is echoed by science the American Psychological Association, in what they call the Triangular Theory of Love, which states that the various kinds of love can be characterized in terms of the degree to which they possess three basic components that together can be viewed as forming the vertices of a triangle; intimacy, passion, and commitment.
Triangular Theory of Love Graphic
These theories state that we aren’t to love everyone in every type of love...these types of love aren’t steps in a ladder of love that we climb with each person. These are different types of love that we show to different people based on what is appropriate to the relationship.
So to love others well, means that we love them in the way that is appropriate given the context of our relationship.
I think we all know this. We love our spouses (eros love) differently than we love our kids or our parents (storge love). We love our friends (phileo love) different than we love our families (eros or storge love).
Yet, the bible seems to treat Agape love a bit differently.
In 1 John 4:16,
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
The word here for love is Agape. The unconditional / sacrificial love.
This agape love is the same love Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
This agape love is the same love that Jesus says we show Him when we obey his commands.
21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
This agape love is the type of love that Jesus commands us to show to one another
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
So what is love?
Love is expressed differently depending no who we are relating to, but Jesus calls us to love everyone with the agape love that He has shown us, an unconditional / sacrificial love.
Love is expressed through our patience, our kindness, our lack of envy, our lack of boasting, our lack of pride.
Love is expressed through how we honor others, and how we seek what’s best for for them.
Love is not angered, doesn’t hold past wrongs against people, and it doesn’t delight in the failures of others.
Love wants what’s best for others by protecting, trusting, hoping, and preserving the best in others.
I’ve heard it defined this way, “Love is putting the needs of others before your wants”
Example of God’s Love: Hosea
Example of God’s Love: Hosea
But any of us that have been in any type of relationship, we know that love is messy. Relationships don’t work out as perfectly as TV depicts.
We live in a fallen world and sometimes we get hurt by those that should treat us the best. Sometimes we’re the ones who hurt others by failing to love well.
That’s why I want to take a look at the book of Hosea.
Hosea is a fascinating book. It is a book that describes the call that God put on the Prophet Hosea to marry a Gomer, and love her unconditionally despite her unfaithful actions. God calls Hosea to show Gomer Agape love. The same love that He has for us.
2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
The rest of the book of Hosea (all 14 chapters) compares the love that God shows the Israelites (while they were unfaithful) with the love that God calls Hosea to show this unfaithful wife.
Bear with me, but I think this is one of the best places in the bible to see God’s heart for us. I think of any place in the bible, Hosea is a book that shows how much God truly loves us and gives us a glimpse into the type of love that we are called to show others. So I want to take a very high level overview of the entire book of Hosea with you today.
But...before we go too far, I think we need to take a step back and look at the relationship that Israel had with God. Up until this point, God had made two covenants with Israel. In Genesis 12, 15, 17 God established the Abrahamic Covenant where God promised Abraham land, descendants, and blessing. This covenant was not conditional, it required nothing from Abraham or Israel. It was God’s promise to keep (and he did).
Later, in Exodus 19-24, God established the Mosaic Covenant at Mt Sinai. This was different. Here God gave Israel 10 Commandments and promised to bless them if they kept the commandments. This was a conditional blessing based on Israel’s obedience.
In the book of Hosea, God is speaking to Israel through the prophet Hosea, showing Israel through the example of Hosea and Gomer how they are not keeping up their end of the Mosaic Covenant, how Israel is not loving God as they agreed to love Him through the keeping of His 10 commandments.
God's first indictment is in Hosea 4:1-2
1 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites,
because the Lord has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
“There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.
2 There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Here God calls Israel out on not being faithful to Him, not showing Him love. Israel was worshipping other God’s, breaking the 1st of the 10 Commandments, “You shall have no other god’s before Me”, and breaking half of the remaining commands as well.
Yet, I think if we’re honest with ourselves, there is some Israel in all of us.
Do you put God 1st and faithfully obey His commands in all situations?
Or, when it benefits you, do you put money / power / pleasure / comfort / etc before God?
Taking a step back, when dealing with people, are you faithful to your word, following through on your promises, or do you tend to blow people off if something better comes along?
Are you a faithful person in word and deed, or as God says in the book of Hosea “is there no evidence of love in you”?
But God is not done, He continues to point out Israel’s failures in Hosea 6:4
4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
like the early dew that disappears.
I find this incredibly convicting. How many of us have great intentions, make commitments to the one’s we love, fully intending to follow through, but end up failing to keep our word?
Do you get caught in this trap? Do you only love others when things are going well?
Does your love dry up, like the morning dew, when things get hard?
Or do you love God and others, unconditionally, no matter how thing are with your live?
But God’s not done, God continues in Hosea 6:6
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
If we genuinely love someone, we need to love them in the way that they want to be loved.
You may have read the book “The 5 Love Languages” by Garry Chapman. The premise of the book is that there are 5 ways that people experience love, and to love others well we need to make sure that we are expressing our love for them in the way that they want to be loved. The five love languages are...
Words of affirmation
Quality Time
Receiving Gifts
Acts of Service
Physical Touch
Israel was guilty of going through the motions of offering sacrifices, but not living in a way that reflected God’s mercy to each other. God wanted Israel to mature in character, to align their will’s with His own. Israel settled for what was easy, offering sacrifices while not allowing their hearts to be changed.
How many of us are guilty of the same thing?
How many of us show others love in the ways that is easiest for us, or in the way that we want to be shown love?
How many of us go through the hard work to learn about the people in our lives and care enough to express our love for them in ways that are truly meaningful to them?
I think one of the saddest indictments of Israel’s failure to love well is in Hosea 9:1
1 Do not rejoice, Israel;
do not be jubilant like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful to your God;
you love the wages of a prostitute
at every threshing floor.
Israel got their priorities wrong. They put their pleasure before obedience to God. They fell in love with the spoils of sinful living.
Israel chose to love sin instead of loving the God that created them, saved them, and unconditionally loves them
Yet...how often do we do the same thing?
How often do we put our own pleasure ahead of God?
How often do we put our own pleasure ahead of the people that God calls us to love?
YOU - Takeaway
YOU - Takeaway
The truth is, we all fail to live up to the standard of agape love that God calls us to live.
We all get caught up in what we want, we forget about, or intentionally ignore, the wants / needs of others, and act strictly based in our own self interests.
Yet, when we get it right, truly loving someone is, in my opinion, can mean more than anything else in the world.
Ordination
I felt this this last Friday. To be completely honest, since I graduated from seminary so long ago, my ordination did not feel like anything special. I was a bit embarrassed I had waited 6 years from graduating seminary to take the next step and get ordained. I had everything done. I just needed to do fill out the form and go through the process, yet I didn’t. God hasn’t opened a door for me that required ordination, so I delayed.
Yet, when the time came, I was told I needed to ask someone who meant a lot to me and my spiritual walk to come and pray for me. I just moved half way across the country, I didn’t want to ask someone to travel that far just to say a prayer for me. It didn’t seem fair to them. Yet, since I had to do it, I asked, and they said yes. There are moments when God shows you how much people care, and those moments are gifts to be treasured. Thank you, Robert for giving me that gift this weekend.
During a board meeting I was heavily encouraged to invite the congregation to come and support me. I knew it was a 45 minute drive, early on a Friday morning so I had no expectation of anyone coming. Yet nearly 30 of you did, including a bunch of the students. My parents even flew in. Thank you. You don’t know much that meant to me.
This community has shown unbelievable capacity to love well. I think you all for accepting me and my family into this local expression of God’s F.A.M.I.L.Y.
We’re going to do an entire sermon series after Labor Day on the mission / vision / values that we put together earlier this year, but I’d be remise if I didn’t call out that the main goal that we put down was to love well.
We want to live up to this call to love others well.
Mission
To reflect the light of God’s love and grace to everyone, everywhere, at all times.
Vision
To be the family of God, where all people are welcomed, loved, invited into a saving relationship with Jesus, and sent to live out their God-given purpose.
Values - F.A.M.I.L.Y.
Faith Fueled (Discipleship: Building our personal relationship with God)
Action Oriented (Serve)
Missionally Minded (Great Commission: Seek and Save the Lost)
Intentional Hospitality (Everyone is welcome, not every action is affirmed)
Loving without Limits (Reflect Christ love to everyone; Love is a choice, not a feeling)
Youth Empowering (Open to new ways to communicate God’s love to the next generation)
I can’t wait to see what God has in store for this community as we continue to learn how to live out His call to love others sacrificially and unconditionally.
WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action
WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action
What it means to us
What it means to us
And this is what God wants for all of us. He wants us to be people that love well.
God wants us to love well so much that Jesus even gave us an 11th commandment.
Keep in mind doing this would have been scandalous to the 1st Century Israelites.
Moses delivered the 10 Commandments straight from God. For Jesus to add an 11th would have been considered blasphemy.
Yet, that is exactly what Jesus did in John 13:34-35
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
The 11th Commandment that Jesus gives us is to “Love one another”. This is the agape - self-sacrificing / unconditional love we talked about earlier.
We’re called to love others unconditionally / self-sacrificially, so everyone will know that we follow Jesus. Not by words, but through our actions, by how we love.
And God modeled this for us.
Paul describes Jesus’ agape love for us in Philippians 2:6-8.
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
God loved us so much that He sacrificed His divine rights, stepped down from heaven, and became one of us. He humbled himself to the point of becoming a servant, and giving his life SO THAT we can be forgiven from our sins and spend eternity with Him in heaven if we put our faith in Jesus as our savior.
And that’s is how the book of Hosea ended as well.
God expressed his agape love for Israel in Hosea 11:1-4
1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
a little child to the cheek,
and I bent down to feed them.
Out of God’s agape love, he forgives Israel of their sins in Hosea 11:8-9
8 “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboyim?
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion is aroused.
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,
nor will I devastate Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come against their cities.
God forgave Israel.
And God calls us to do the same, just as he called Hosea to forgive Gomer.
1 The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.
So...
A Christian is...loving, called to reflect God’s agape love to everyone, everywhere, at all times.
PRAYER
PRAYER
Will you join me in prayer...
SONG
SONG
As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who needs God this week. The steps are open for you to pray to the God who is with you, who loves you, you wants to give you His peace.
You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.
BENEDICTION
BENEDICTION
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
This week...
Let’s not let our faith be nothing but mentally agreeing with who the person of Jesus was and did.
Let’s let our belief in Jesus be expressed through the character in our heart, and the actions of our hands.
Let’s reflect God’s agape love to everyone, everywhere, at all times SO THAT those outside the faith can experience who God is through our witness and come to faith in Jesus, the only one who can save.
Quick reminder...
Garage Sale
Habitat Build Dates - September / November
Guest Experience Group - update / vote in app
Sanctuary Lights - $5,013 to replace all of them - Propose replacing the 2 on stage as test for $400
Paint - $7,700 for 1st floor, stairwell, door posts, hallways TVs, office sliding window, and remove wood from Cafe
Monument Sign - remove
Building Sign - $5,181
External Doors Signs - $385
Internal Signs - $TBD
Sidewalks - $6,500
Parking Lot Lines - $TBD
If you’re new, please stop by our info desk, or see me. We’d love to say “hi” and get you know you a bit better.
I hope you have a great week.
Go in peace.
You are dismissed.
DISCIPLESHIP QUESTIONS (download into APP)
DISCIPLESHIP QUESTIONS (download into APP)
How can we practically demonstrate agape love in our daily interactions with others?
In what ways can we better cultivate a heart that reflects God's unconditional love towards those who may not deserve it?
What are some specific examples from our lives that exemplify loving others sacrificially?
How does understanding the different types of love help us in our relationships and our expression of faith?
What steps can we take to ensure our faith is expressed through acts of love rather than just words or beliefs?
How can we show love to our friends in a way that aligns with what Jesus taught about love?
Why do you think it's important to differentiate between the various types of love in our relationships?
What are some ways we can overcome feelings of selfishness to love others better?
How might understanding God's love for us shape how we interact with those around us?
What does it mean for you personally to love someone unconditionally, and how can you practice it this week?
