Welcome to all the new people

Christmas Eve: Service times!

Anointing Sunday - January 4th.

1 John 4:7–12 ESV

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 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. 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.

“For the Love”

The Advent (coming arrival. ADVENTUS) Journey is a great one because of what we are either introduced or reminded to, which is the enduring realities of what Christ’s coming into the world means for the world. If you like these are what Jesus brings as gifts to us. What comes in as christ comes in, what His names represent, what his earthly appearance represents for all of humanity.

In a divine appearing what did we circle back around to?

1.Hope Delivery - Hope has been promised, Hope has come, and hope is still out for delivery

2.Peace Be With You - The peave God give us, he leaves in us.

3.Good News, Great Joy - Jill brought a phenomenal word about Joy that abides in him, and oinly himn

…. and Today

4.For the Love.

Why did Jesus come? Johns gospel and his Letters can really be summed up in one way: it was for the love. John repeatedy especially in his later writings emphasized over and over the importance of the Love of god being

John 14:14 “14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:15 “15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

John 15:13 “13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

John 13:34–35 “34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

1 John 4:7 “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”

1 John 4:18 “18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

1 John 4:19 “19 We love because he first loved us.”

1 John 3:1 “1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

1 John 3:18 “18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

John 3:16 “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.”

if you love me… follow my commandments

Why is love so important: well what the world saw, was for the first time, since the garden: the True Love of the Father expressed through the son.

Love is everything: and that is why we end the advent journey here because what Christ and Christmas represents is Gods full love on display for all to see.

Complete in form

total in nature

eternal in terms of lasting impact

thats Christmas. The True Love

WHY IS LOVE A THEME AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

So what about the advent story, and what is this love that we are presented with here

1.We are Created in love

The garden was a divine first. the First act of love

That the creator, brought forth creation

What God created in the garden was Gods first act of Love: God is self defined as LOVE

So now that i know this is whats first taken place: this gives me an understaning of what LOVE ACTUALLY IS

I cant create my own definition of love - God has self deined as LOVE.

1 John 4:19 ESV

19 We love because he first loved us.

love is who God is

love is what God does

Love is the very center of the advent story

God created Adam & Eve… in love

God sent hs one and only son in love.

and God is defining what love is and what it looks like in determing this LOVE

THIS IS WHAT LOVE IS: God is bringing forth definition: a final word if you like: you want to see what Gods love really looks like?

Love is Him…. and in Him love flows

Love is, and Love does:

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 ESV

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

Patient

Kind

Not Pushy

Is truth loving

Bears all things

Believes

Hopes

Endures

…. and doesn’t give up. Love NEVER ENDS.

God defined what Love is, Now we can rescognize it at Christmas

Love is GOD. and we are created in Gods love

2.We are Redeemed in love

So why is christmas so important?

Well with Christmas and the delivery of Hope. you have to stand back and ask this question: what was the point in the advent? what was the purpose in the appearing?

The very act of Jesus birth: is God setting into motion the universal redemption act of love

…..CHRIST’s BIRTH IS A DIVINE ACT OF REDEEMING LOVE

Ephesians 1:7 ESV

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

redemption, forgiveness…. leading us into and towards beneficiaries and standard bearers of Gods Grace

thats the real present under the christmas time.

what was borth in bethlehem wasnt just a baby, it was my own redeemer, coming to get me,

NO ONE BUYS SOMETHING THEY DONT WANT: they may buy something they have to, they need to…

But no one buys anything they dont want

I mean just think about going to buy a car and walking through carmax and not even needing a car but choosing the most ugly unappealing awful looking thing: Sound ridiculous doesnt it?

There may be someone here today who is covinced that Gods love for them is

you find yourself thinking or being accused by the devil of being too unlovable

that somehow what you did, or what youve done.. or the person you (think you are) has caused you to fall short of qualifiying for this love: and so you turn away, stand at a distance, follow at a distance

well you see thats Good because its only there do we really get to the heart of the matter

whats worse actually is someone who thinks they deserve Gods love (because of what they have done)

Listen: None of us deserve this kind of Christmas.

THE BEST EXAMPLE WE HAVE IN THE GOSPELS IS THEY WAY JESUS INTERACTS AND REDEEMS THE DISCIPLES IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE WORLD>

……

the washing of the disciples feet - was an actual expression of redeeming LOVE of God. It was a buyback moment!

Galatians 3:13 ESV

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

God became unclean… as an act of love…. became dirty so that the disciples could be clean.

Jesus came to earth,

became a helpless, human, sinless child and then man: and wore the dirt of our sin and shame, to make us clean to enter heaven when we believe He is who he said he was

John 6:66–69 ESV

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

See, Believe, Redeem… clean.

3.We are carriers of this love

expected , now, to , if you have God.

you have love

so now… show the love

1 John 4:11 “11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

1 John 4:21 “21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

there is no reason, in this season, or any season for the believer in Jesus - the recipient of Gods unending, boundary-less Love - to go on living without giving the love of God to those they meet - Thats johns message

***8History records that at the end of Johns life, he was an overseer in the church at ephesus. and he would attend church and its believed that John lived and was the only disciple that in the end was not martyred for the faith. However, a great story about john was that in Ephesus after the gathering of the believers people recognized it was john and called on him to share something that Jesus wanted them to know and they called on him

“john John tell us, whats something Jesus would say if he was here”

Johns response was so simple: Just love one another… which just echos the words HE ACTUALLY HEARD HIMSELF

John 15:12 “12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”