Quiet Love

Call to Worship

Psalm 36:5 NIV

5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.

KiDZ Message

Read “Get Ready!” from Jesus Storybook Bible

You see God will never stop loving you

and because he won’t stop loving us, he came to rescue us

That’s what Christmas is all about. the day God came to rescue us because he loves us.

That’s what God’s love is like...

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it’s the: ‘The Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.’

Go to advent candles

Today we light the LOVE candle to remember Jesus’ Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.’

And on Wednesday night, on Christmas eve, we will keep reading the story you heard today.

Main Sermon

I. On-Ramp — What We Think Love Sounds Like

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Do you want to be loved? [big pause]

I want to be loved. I want to be enjoyed, I want to be liked, I want to be cherished and valued. I want to be supported and cheered on.

When you think of loving someone or something, I bet that kind of stuff comes to mind.

Being enjoyed, liked, cherished, valued, supported, and cheered on.

What happens in your body when you don’t receive that kind of love?

For me, I get callous, tired, irritable, defensive.

Do you enjoy people when they are cold and callous?

Do you like people when they are irritable?

Do you cherish your time with someone when they are too tired to show you affection?

Do you feel like cheering on someone who treats you as a threat?

Today, we are talking about the quiet love of Christ. To consider what Christ-like love looks like, how it is similar and how it is different from what we regularly call “love”

Invite empathy: “The world may be telling us love means approval or affirmation: ‘If you love me, you’ll agree with me.’ But that’s not quite what Jesus’ quiet love looks like.

It also may be telling you that love looks like “speaking the truth” to people because you value them, even if it hurts them. But that’s also not quite what Jesus’ quiet love looks like either.

We are only a few days from Christmas. We are in “gift procrastinator” season where some of us procrastinating types are scrambling to get gifts for the people we love because if we don’t it will look like we don’t love them. This season likes to claim that the only way to truly show someone love is to spend money on them. We all know that that is a thin view of love, yet we go and buy the stuff anyway.

Christ’s quiet love is in many ways similar to the love that affirms, the love that pushes back, and the love that buys stuff, but the things that makes it quiet, is also the thing that makes it powerful.

I love how Sally Lloyd-Jones put’s it in the Children’s bible she wrote...

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She calls it: ‘The Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.’

The scriptures reveal that the primary feature of God’s love is not his affection, his supportiveness, his discipline, or the gifts he gives,

It’s his steadfastness, his faithfulness. It’s the way that he never gives up, no matter what.

God’s love stays under ALL circumstances.

And that’s our Big Idea for today.

II. Big Idea

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Quiet Love is the steadfast presence of Jesus, no matter what. (His Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.)

But don’t take my word for it, let’s look at the scriptures.

III. Scripture Exposition

SCRIPTURE

1. Exodus 34:6–7 — The Name of Love

Context: God reveals His name to Moses after Israel’s failure with the golden calf.

What do you think they assumed about God?

God doesn’t abandon them—He reintroduces Himself.

“Steadfast love and faithfulness” define His identity.

The first thing God wants us to know about Him: He is faithful, not fickle.

Key Line:

“Quiet Love begins with a God who stays when you would expect him to walk away.”

SCRIPTURE

2. John 13:1-5 — Love to the End

Setting: right before betrayal.

“Having loved his own… he loved them to the end.”

Jesus washes the feet of Judas, Peter, and the rest — knowing what’s coming.

His love doesn’t depend on how lovable we are. It’s steady through failure.

Illustration:

To love someone who really appreciates it is one thing, but to love someone who betrays you is another entirely.

“Jesus’ love can’t be broken by our betrayal—it’s stronger than that.”

Caveat: Don’t misunderstand this as a passive love. It’s not some divine Stockholm syndrome where as abused God compulsively loves his abuser.

God remains aware of the disgusting nature of our sin.

God’s love doesn’t call our sin clean, it cleans us from sin at great cost to God’s self.

Key Line:

“Quiet Love is faithful presence, not fragile affection.”

SCRIPTURE

3. Romans 8:31–39 — Nothing Can Separate

The things that prevents us from Loving like Christ loves is our need to be loved in return.

What would it look like if you love for the people God has placed in your life was in no way altered by their choices? What if you faithfulness happens regardless of what they do?

Being loved is a human need, but it is not truly designed to be met by other humans.

Paul’s point here is that God himself is the only truly reliable source of love.

v. 39. Nothing in creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ.

God’s love doesn’t just survive your worst day; it has already outlasted death itself.

Key Line:

“Quiet Love isn’t loud about how it feels—it’s strong about what it will never stop doing.”

IV. Application — Living in Quiet Love

Invite Band Up

If you believe that to be true, then what will it mean for the way you give love to, and recieve love from others?

Receive it from God: Stop trying to earn or deserve it. Let yourself be loved as you are.

You do not need to live off of the love you get from others, If you fully accept God’s love, the love of others can be abundance rather than sustenance.

When you receive God’s love, it will form you. Your lack of desperation opens you to transformation.

Rest in it: When the world gets loud, remember: His love hasn’t changed.

Circumstances and the faithfulness of others doesn’t need to shake your experience of being loved.

Reflect it: Love others with a steady presence that stays, even when you disagree.

To love as Christ loves is to help people heal form their sin without a need for them to get better on your timeline.

V. Conclusion

So here we are, just days before Christmas.

How will we experience and practice Love this week?

The same God who refused to abandon Israel, who was born into Joseph’s confusion, who washed Judas’s feet, and who carried His love all the way through death itself—that God is still with you. His love doesn’t depend on how you feel, or how faithful you’ve been. His Quiet Love is the steadfast presence of Jesus, no matter what. His Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.

The invitation is simple: Receive and give HIS love.

let’s pray.

VI. Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for loving us to the end. Teach us to rest in Your faithful presence—never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever. Help us love others with that same steady grace. Amen.

Benediction

Go now to continue being formed by the never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love of God in Christ Jesus. Amen.