The Love of God

Barry - This is the second Sunday in Advent, Advent is a time for us to prepare our hearts for coming of the Christ child.

Last week we had lit the first candle of Advent, the purple candle of Hope. This week we will light another candle. The purple candle of Love, this candle and todays message is a reminder to us that Jesus came to earth to show and tell us about God’s Love.

Barry - Light Candle of Hope and Love

Amanda - Reading

Someone -

Barry - When we look upon the second candle we are reminded of God’s Loving Actions

Opening Prayer

What does love mean to you?

does it mean a new puppy? or a new kitten?

does it mean meeting someone for the first time and you get that butterfly feeling in your stomach?

is love that epic pizza from Thompson that you only get once or twice a year?

is it a home cooked meal with family?

is it a little boy who runs toward you after a hard day at work?

but what happens when that puppy you have grows up to be a horrible dog that has a nasty habit of biting people?

or you come home from work or school and that beloved kitten has run away from home and you never see it again.

that pizza you ate gives you food poisoning…

was it really love? was it truly love?

Your husband or wife tells you ever day that they love you and will never leave you… but one day you wake up and they left you alone, you look at the urn on the mantel and say “honey, you said forever...” is that love?

how can love be so cruel? how is it that love is here for a moment and is gone like the wind… like the scent of a spring day in the dead of winter.

Transition - let me tell you the truth about love, Love is not cruel, or a sick joke. Love is real and Love has a face, love has strong arms, and a soft touch, God is love and He has a plan.

If you have your Bibles with you today, please turn to 1 John 4:7-18

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 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.

17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Transition - Did you know that God had a plan for us?

What does love mean to you?

does it mean a new puppy? or a new kitten?

does it mean meeting someone for the first time and you get that butterfly feeling in your stomach?

is love that epic pizza from Thompson that you only get once or twice a year?

is it a home cooked meal with family?

is it a little boy who runs toward you after a hard day at work?

but what happens when that puppy you have grows up to be a horrible dog that has a nasty habit of biting people?

or you come home from work or school and that beloved kitten has run away from home and you never see it again.

that pizza you ate gives you food poisoning…

was it really love? was it truly love?

Your husband or wife tells you ever day that they love you and will never leave you… but one day you wake up and they left you alone, you look at the urn on the mantel and say “honey, you said forever...” is that love?

how can love be so cruel? how is it that love is here for a moment and is gone like the wind… like the scent of a spring day in the dead of winter.

Transition - let me tell you the truth about love, Love is not cruel, or a sick joke. Love is real and Love has a face, love has strong arms, and a soft touch, God is love and He has a plan.

God has had a plan since before the foundations of this world, long before you or I ever even existed. God saw this day and blessed it.

God’s Love is merciful, His love is full of grace, patients, kindness, and faithfulness.

And today we are going to explore God’s Loving Actions, through sending his Son and Spirit.

Text about main point (sub points)

Transition - God’s Loving Actions start with His Son Jesus Christ.

one of the most recognized verses of the Bible is - “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.”

This simple and over used verse has been the focal point for many stock car race signs and has tossed around lightly but the statement packs such a huge punch.

God Loves Us! He loves us so much that He gave his only Son to die so that He can give us a way to life with Him.

9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

An interesting note here that some people tend to forget, love is this: “Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

the point of this section is that we did not love God. But because He loves us He sent Jesus to die for us so that we can can live through Him.

who in their right mind would love someone who did not love them back to the point they would allow their only child to be put to death just to have a chance to be with them. Either that is insanity, desperation, but when it comes to God its true love.

it was because of God’s Loving Actions that He Sent His Son Jesus

IF you were to take a look at it says “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

U.S.S Pueblo

Think about that one for a moment, very rarely will someone die for one of us who are righteous but for someone who does good works and is considered a “good person” someone might die for them. But God shows us His own love for us by sending Jesus to die for us not while we were saved but He sent Jesus while we were sinners and destined for hell.

Illustration - This reminds me of a story from Vietnam “After the U.S.S. Pueblo was captured by the North Koreans, the eighty-two surviving crew members were thrown into a brutal captivity. In one particular instance thirteen of the men were required to sit in a rigid manner around a table for hours. After several hours the door was violently flung open and a North Korean guard brutally beat the man in the first chair with the butt of his rifle. The next day, as each man sat at his assigned place, again the door was thrown open and the man in the first chair was brutally beaten. On the third day it happened again to the same man. Knowing the man could not survive, another young sailor took his place. When the door was flung open the guard automatically beat the new victim senseless. For weeks, each day a new man stepped forward to sit in that horrible chair, knowing full well what would happen. At last the guards gave up out of annoyance. They were unable to beat that kind of sacrificial love.” - Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (pp. 226–227). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

- Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (pp. 226–227). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Illustration -

Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Life Change - “11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?”

the point of this section is that we did not love God. But because He loves us He sent Jesus to die for us so that we can can live through Him.

We are to love each other, why? Because God the Father has sent His only beloved Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross so that we will have a chance to live with Him. Jesus told us “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” and He did just that. He loved God and God loves you to the point where Jesus laid his life down for all of us and He commands us to “Love each other as I have loved you.”

I want each of you to take your hand and check for a pulse. do you have a pulse? do you breath? can you see and hear me right now? guess what, you qualify for God’s love.

Transition - But God did not just send His Son Jesus Christ he also sent His Spirit

approximately 700 years before Jesus, now thats just a ball park figure so don’t quote me directly on that date. a prophet by the name of Joel said that in the later days God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. On the day of Pentecost after Jesus had gone into heaven that did happen. In the morning of Pentecost as the followers of Christ were together in once place the Holy Spirit came down like a rushing wind and settled upon the heads of the disciples, from that moment they were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.

According to God’s Loving Actions, He sent the Holy Spirit to live within each of His children, when a preacher is sent, he preaches of the coming kingdom of heaven, of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The person who hears the message has a the choice to believe that message. when they believe that message God sends His Spirit, the Holy Spirit then lives in that person.

When that happens that person “acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God” by confessing with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. Then with the Spirit of God within you, He enables you to do His work and start the process all over again, you become a minister of the gospel.

Illustration- “A man who had been the superintendent of a city rescue mission for forty years was asked why he had spent his life working with dirty, unkempt, profane, drunken rejects (my own edit). He said, “All I’m doing is giving back to others a little of the love God has shown to me.”

As a young man, he himself had been a drunkard who went into a mission for a bowl of chili. There he heard the preacher say that Christ could save sinners, and he stumbled forward to accept the Lord Jesus as his Saviour. Though his brain was clouded (my own edit) by alcohol (my own edit) , he felt a weight lifted from his shoulders, and that day he became a changed person.

A little later, seeking God’s will for his life, he felt the Lord calling him to go back to the gutter and reach the people still wallowing there. The power of redeeming love enabled him to carry on his ministry for forty years.”

Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (pp. 227–228). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

The power of redeeming love enabled him to carry on his ministry for forty years.”

(Edwin Markham) - Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (pp. 227–228). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Life Change - God did not just send His only Son to die on a cross 2000 years ago…

Life Change

No, its more than that. By God’s Loving Actions He Sent His Spirit; the Holy Spirit to live within each of you so that you are enabled to first “Acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God” then to go forth into all the world and preach the good news of Jesus Christ to all creation.

Divine Healing Sermons Is Jesus Christ the Great “I Am” or Is He the Great “I Was?”

It gives a servant of God some heart to know that “I AM” hath sent him. No more apologizing. No more hanging the head and resorting to earthly means; no more trembling and fear of failure, no dread now that the crowds will not follow! Head erect, footsteps firm and full of assurance, earthly temple clad with a robe of the majesty and tenderness of the Father, hands pointing unhesitatingly to the way, voice ringing clear and authoritative—“I AM, I AM hath sent me unto you”!

No more apologizing, no more hanging your head in shame, trusting in worldly tactics. No more fear of failing, no more dread that no one is going to show up when you speak, keep your head up, keep your feet planted firmly in the full assurance of the Word of God. You who are the temple of the Holy Spirit clothed with white robes washed in the Blood of Christ, with your hands pointing firm, not limp to The Way, The Cross with a voice that rings clear and full of authority… I AM, I AM has sent me to you!

(some elements taken from “Divine Healing Sermons - is Jesus Christ the Great “I AM” or Is He the Great “I Was?” - Aimee Semple McPherson)

Divine Healing Sermons Is Jesus Christ the Great “I Am” or Is He the Great “I Was?”

some heart to know that “I AM” hath sent him. No more apologizing. No more hanging the head and resorting to earthly means; no more trembling and fear of failure, no dread now that the crowds will not follow! Head erect, footsteps firm and full of assurance, earthly temple

Transition - God Sent His Son, and His Spirit. Because God IS LOVE

I just mentioned a few

17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

break the text down

Illustration

Life Change

Transition -

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 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.

17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

God So loved us that He made a plan, and by God’s Loving Actions, He Sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die on the Cross and said that: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Jesus told this to His followers that they (and we are) his friends and that he would and has laid his life down for you and me even though we don't deserve it, we can never work to obtain it. and that saying “i’m too far gone”

I want each of you to take your hand and check for a pulse. do you have a pulse? do you breath? can you see and hear me right now? guess what, you qualify for God’s love.

And by God’s Loving Actions, God Sent His Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives you the knowledge that God really does love you regardless of what you have done, and enables in you the ability to “Acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God” then gives you the follower of Jesus Christ the courage in your heart to know that God; the great I AM has sent you.

God Sent His Spirit - It gives you the follower of Jesus Christ the courage in your heart to know that God; the great I AM has sent you.

No more apologizing, no more hanging your head in shame, trusting in worldly tactics. No more fear of failing, no more dread that no one is going to show up when you speak, keep your head up, keep your feet planted firmly in the full assurance of the Word of God. You who are the temple of the Holy Spirit clothed with white robes washed in the Blood of Christ, with your hands pointing firm, not limp to The Way, The Cross with a voice that rings clear and full of authority… I AM, I AM has sent me to you!

(some elements taken from “Divine Healing Sermons - is Jesus Christ the Great “I AM” or Is He the Great “I Was?” - Aimee Semple McPherson)

In closing, I ask you again What does love mean to you?

I know for sure 100% that God is Love and God will freely have mercy on you. He will wait for you, He is not cruel, he is kind and he is trustworthy.

merciful, His love is full of grace, patients, kindness, and faithfulness.

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?”

I want each of you to take your hand and check for a pulse. do you have a pulse? do you breath? can you see and hear me right now? guess what, you qualify for God’s love.

Today’s Passage

Call to change/Alter call

Prayer.

The Love of God

The Love of God

What does love mean to you?

Today’s Passage 1 John 4:7-18

God’s Loving Actions

God Sent His Son

So what do we do?

God Sent His Spirit

So what do we do?

The Result of God’s Loving Actions

Marching Orders

The Love of God

The Love of God

What does love mean to you?

Today’s Passage 1 John 4:7-18

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God’s Loving Actions

God Sent His Son

So what do we do?

God Sent His Spirit

So what do we do?

The Result of God’s Loving Actions

Marching Orders