Love
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Greeting
Invitation for lighting of the last candle
Announce text: John 1:14
Key Text: John 1:14
Introduction / Review
Today is the last Sunday of Advent, which is a season of waiting in eager anticipation for what GOD will do. During these last three weeks, we have looked back to the people of Israel as they waited for a savior to appear, and we have looked ahead to the time when CHRIST will come again and all creation will be restored.
We have been reminded that we are a people who do not give in to despair during those days when the darkness seems overwhelming but a people who place our hope in the GOD who brings life out of death. We have been reminded that we are a people of peace who are not overwhelmed by the chaos but instead entrust ourselves to the GOD of peace. And we have been reminded that we are a people of joy, who do not ignore pain and sorrow but who instead know the joy and comfort of GOD even as we grieve.
Today we are called to remember that we serve the GOD who is love and that we are to be a people who love. For most of us, this is nothing new. We know the command to love GOD with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. But sometimes we struggle with knowing how to love well. Indeed, it can be difficult to know what actions are truly loving.
I mean, how do we deal with the homeless person who randomly shows up and whose disposition and far-fetched stories that you know aren’t based in reality—though, real to them—can be challenging—exhausting? One who is truly living in the margins of society—rejected and powerless to change their story on their own. How do we deal with the friend who has decided you can no longer call them by the name you’ve known them by for years because they’re now choosing to “identify” as something or someone else? What about the obnoxious co-worker who offends and/or rubs everyone the wrong way? How would we deal with the gay couple that walks through the doors of the church as we’re getting ready to start our service on Sunday morning? What about the child who has walked away from the faith and is struggling to make sense of life but refuses to come back to the ONE WHO is the SOURCE of all life?
How do we demonstrate love in these situations (and maybe you’re thinking of other situations like this)? It is difficult to know how to love—what is demonstrating love? What would be enabling? This is especially true because every situation and every relationship is unique, and there are often many different factors to consider.
Today we will examine how GOD’s love is displayed in John 1:14 and what that has to say about how we are to be a people of love.
Announce text again: John 1:14
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
Prayer for added blessing to the reading of the Word
The title of the message this morning is Love Made Visible: Embracing Our Call to Love.
Love Made Visible: Embracing Our Call to Love
Love Made Visible: Embracing Our Call to Love
Here is the main takeaway this morning. If you can only remember one thing, commit this to memory and meditate on it this week.
Big Idea: As GOD’s Love is fully revealed in JESUS, we are called to embody that love in our relationships, transforming our communities through acts of genuine love and service.
In John 1:14, we see the embodiment of GOD’s Love in the Person of JESUS CHRIST, WHO became flesh and dwelt among us, demonstrating that Divine Love is not distant but intimately involved in our lives.
The story of GOD is one where GOD is constantly reaching out to the world in love.
From the time of creation, GOD has been seeking the good of humanity, recognizing that humans need community and providing it.
GOD called and blessed Abraham not for Abraham’s sake alone but so that the whole world might be blessed through Abraham and his descendants.
When Israel was enslaved in Egypt, GOD came to deliver them through Moses then led them to a place of their own so that the world might know GOD through their life together.
Time after time when the Israelites turned from GOD and lived lives of injustice and unfaithfulness, GOD sent prophets to call them back to HIMSELF.
Recall back to first Sunday of advent - GOD is at work, even when we don’t see it
Our text today tells us of GOD’s ultimate act of love, when the GOD of the whole world came and dwelt among humanity.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
This is the very GOD of whom Psalm 8 says,
1O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
That same GOD comes to us and takes on our flesh, living as one of us, experiencing all of life from birth to death and everything in between.
GOD shares in our weakness, our grief, our pain, our sorrow, and even our death, so that we might share in the very life of GOD.
As Paul says in Philippians 2, JESUS took on the form of humanity, even the form of a slave, and experienced death, even death on a cross.
GOD set aside HIS crown
Take on the same cursed flesh (Scripture cursed is one who hangs on a tree)
Idea: JESUS came to live - not just die - to break the curse
Spotless Lamb - innocent put to death (unjust)
This is what it means that GOD is love.
GOD seeks relationship with us—so much that GOD takes on flesh and tabernacles in our midst—takes up residence in our heart—experiencing all of life with us.
Live in & thru us in the midst of (below …)
GOD does not abandon us to our pain, our sorrow, and our death but takes all of that into GOD’s very life and triumphs over it in the death of JESUS on the cross.
We are called to respond to this love of GOD poured out for us by being a people of love.
We are called to love one another and our neighbors as GOD has loved us.
As C. S. Lewis says,
“Love is not affectionate feeling but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.”
And this wish moves us to action—we actively seek the good of others.
Love cannot be accomplished if we are ignoring and avoiding the brokenness of our community and our world.
We must engage the homeless person … so that … they find a community of belonging.
We must maintain our friendship … so that … they still have a root of truth tying back to the reality of who they truly are.
We must be-friend the obnoxious co-worker … so that ... they have a trusted example of how to live in community with others.
We must lovingly welcome the gay couple in the same way we do everyone else … so that ... they recognize the tension they feel is not from GOD or HIS people but from the weight of their sin and the broken relationship with a loving GOD WHO desires right and true relationship with them and real loving relationships with others.
We must fight for that relationship with the child who has walked away from the faith … so that … they experience the FATHER’s Love, Mercy, and Grace and are reminded they can always turn back toward home—a forever home.
In each situation we face, we can embody this love today, such as through kindness, community involvement, and sacrificial giving. This morning, let us reflect on our own personal life and relationships. How might we better embody the love demonstrated by CHRIST to those around us?
Love requires us to form relationships with the poor, the broken, and the oppressed; to see and know those who struggle with addiction or homelessness; and to join with those who are experiencing grief and injustice.
So, pj … What’s the point?
Conclusion
Conclusion
GOD’s Love wasn't merely spoken but made visible and tangible through CHRIST, urging us to make our love visible through action and service. JESUS dwelling among us signifies a model of divine love that is active and present. The passage this morning highlights that JESUS, as the WORD made flesh, is the ultimate revelation of GOD’s Love. Throughout Scripture, CHRIST's life exemplifies love through sacrifice, service, and compassion. Understanding CHRIST's role helps us grasp the depth and nature of GOD’s Love, which extends to all humanity and calls us to reflect that love in our lives.
Beloved, our GOD is the GOD of love, and we are called to be a people of love. First John 4 puts it this way:
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
This morning, let us reflect on how GOD’s Love, demonstrated through CHRIST, should inspire us to cultivate genuine love and compassion towards others, especially in a world often dominated by self-interest and division. By embodying the love of CHRIST, we can make a tangible difference in our communities.
Love is not just an emotion or abstract idea but a practical expression of faith that is modeled by CHRIST. We need to repent—to rethink our understanding of love as a commitment to act toward the well-being of others, mirroring the Love GOD has shown us.
During this season of eager anticipation, as we have been preparing for GOD’s KINGdom to come in its fullness, may we know the GOD of Hope when the darkness threatens to overwhelm us. May we know the GOD of Peace when we are surrounded by chaos. May we know the GOD of Joy even in our pain and sorrow. And may GOD’s Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love strengthen and uphold us as we seek to be a people who live in the Love of GOD.
Closing prayer & benediction
24 The Lord bless you, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’
Scripture records the following words in v.27:
27 “So whenever they use my name to bless the Israelites, I will bless them.”
So, receive and go with the blessings of YAHWEH!
