Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Wake up! wake up!

If I could sum up my experience this last week into just two words, then it's wake up.

Christianity in America as a whole has fallen asleep and certainly we here at Grace Baptist Church are guilty of walking around too drowsy.

I feel that it is impossible to encapsulate the depth of God's work on my own heart this past week in the few moments we have together this morning.

A few years ago, a young & successful executive named Josh (not me) was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street.

He was going a bit too fast in his sleek, black, 12-cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only 2 months old at that time.

He was watching carefully for kids darting out from between parked cars & slowed down when he thought he saw something.

As his car passed that one spot, no child darted out, but a brick flew out & - smack! – it smashed into the Jag’s shiny side door.

He slammed on his brakes to a screeching halt & his gears shoved into reverse, tires spinning and smoking until the Jaguar was back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

This Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the guilty kid & pushed him up against a parked car.

He shouted, “Who are you?

And what the heck are you doing?” Building up a head of steam, he went on.

“That’s my new Jag, & the brick you threw is going to cost you a lot of money.

Why did you throw it?”

The kid trembling now: “Please, mister, please…I’m sorry!

I didn’t know what else to do!

I threw the brick because no one would stop.”

Tears were dripping down the boy’s chin as he pointed around the parked car.

“It’s my brother, mister,” he said.

“He rolled off the curb & fell out of his wheelchair & I can’t lift him up.”

Sobbing, the boy pled, “Would you please help me to get him back into his wheelchair?

He’s hurt & he’s way too heavy for me.’

Moved beyond words, the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat.

Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair & took out his handkerchief & wiped the scrapes & cuts, checking to see that everything else was okay.

He then walked with them to make sure that the younger brother was able to get them back home all right.

My first question to you this morning to think about is- does it take something like a brick thrown at you to wake up?

That Josh never did fix that side door on his car.

He kept the dent to remind himself not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention again.

Most of you probably already know by now that I spent a week in Chicago at the Moody Bible Institute at their annual Pastor's Conference.

It was a culture shock—not shocking because of the varieties of ethnicities, not shocking because of the dense urban surroundings, not shocking because I became like a dorm student—well maybe that was a little shocking, but really it was a spiritual culture shock.

Shocking in one sense that even in a dense urban area, there are still rather large remnants of those who love our God that come together and also shocking too was the degree of love and devotion that some have today.

This trip was an investment that you made in me, the church made in me, the deacons made in me, and one that my wife made in me.

This morning I'm confident to answer you to say God has used and blessed this investment!

It is a sincere desire of mine that all of you could have a similar experience at least once in your life.

I would recommend for you—even those that are “full of years” to attend a good Bible College conference, and although I know it is not required at all for the faith, I haven’t found a suitable substitution for the experience of a Bible Institution whether a conference or for classes.

Ill.

If the world is spiritually a desert— dried up and dead, then as we run into other believers during the week, it is like a wonderful oasis of living water that wells up as we fellowship together one-on one.

Church, then, is a large swimming pool with a banquet of living bread surrounding that pool, as we feed off of the living Word, and fill ourselves full to overflowing with love, and fellowship, and of the Spirit.

Well… then there’s Bible College— and the best analogy that I could give here is as if some spiritual giant unleashing a fire hose on you knocking you off your feet as you fall back onto the dead, dry ground of the world.

Transition:

To say the least, this last week’s experience has given some more color to this passage that we’re going to be in this morning.

1 John 4:17-19

Scripture Reading:

You might be thinking to yourself right now, “when is the Apostle John going to get off of this love subject?”

We’ve talked about love last week, the week before, the week before that... okay John, we understand, we get it—you’ve belabored this point!

Let’s move on to something else… but he doesn’t — and so shouldn’t we! Why?

Well, because even with all the repetition--all through this letter, I still don’t think we get it!

I still don’t think we understand!

Do we really love God? do we really love others?

Transition:

I would like to do something a little unorthodox for us this morning and go through these verses in reverse order so we’re going to start with verse 19 to answer the two questions: Do we really love God?

And do we really love others?

I. Do We Really Love God? (v.19)

Don’t be so quick to answer this question too flippantly because we tend to answer yes without thinking through what it means to deeply love YHWH

ἡμεῖς ἀγαπῶμεν, ὅτι αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς “We, we love because He loved us first.”

Believers’ love, whether for God or for others, is based on God’s love for them.

God’s love is the source, the initiator.

People cannot love this way on their own; it happens as a result of his loving people first (see 4:9–10).

God’s love is far above all human love.

Because believers abide in God and thus abide in love (4:16), God’s love fills them and overflows from them.

Such “otherworldly” love then becomes the characteristic of God’s people.

They can love as He loves.

Dr. Bob Utley says: “God always takes the initiative (cf.

John 6:44, 65) but fallen mankind must respond (cf.

John 1:12; 3:16).

Believers trust in His trustworthiness and have faith in His faithfulness.”

I met a Pastor Richard this past week.

His skin was as black as skin could possibly be and his eyes were staring right at mine fixed so tightly as if I couldn’t look away—so I said, “Hi I’m Josh.”

Immediately, I could tell he wasn’t from America as this Pastor Richard grabs my arm and doesn’t let go and he introduces himself with a heavy African accent.

He goes on to tell me how back at his home in Uganda, he is caring for 13 churches in his village and surrounding area, and then continues to tell me the basic needs of each church.

One of these churches needs a roof, but no roof right now doesn’t stop them from worshipping our Lord—even in the rain!

they just crowd over to the walls for some protection as the dirt floor turns to mud. and he goes on telling me about how all the churches have at least a couple Bibles, but they desperately need more.

The local police there approaches Pastor Richard asking where to get Bibles and so he gives the police a handful of Bibles and that police officer tells the other stations about this and they go to Richard begging him for even more Bibles.

You see everybody there goes to a Christian church usually by walking over 10 miles to get there.

The preaching is at least two hours long and that does not include the worship music and dancing, nor even the prayer times.

In fact, there is a prayer meeting there EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK where quite a few people show up just to pray.

Why?

Why do these believers from Uganda worship God so fervently and devoted daily?

It is for this very reason, Richard tells me since Jesus died for them, they wouldn’t do any less.

In other words, “[They] love because He first loved us.”

They wholeheartedly believe these words here in 1 John and elsewhere in these scriptures to the degree that changes their priorities and lives to the point that it is very contagious.

It is because of that very love that even though Richard and I were strangers moments before, now we are brothers!

He treated me truly like I was his closest friend.

Transition:

Back here in Kingsford Michigan, do we really love God to the point that we would be willing to walk several miles everyday joyfully or to have a worship service with hours of preaching in the rain and mud— if that’s what He called us to?

Such love overflows to others who experience God’s love as well.

II.

Do We Really Love Others?

(v.18)

If we fully believe and live out verse 19, then verse 18 is a cake walk.

Again, like with last week in verse 12, the word perfect here is the same word and it has more of the idea of completion and maturity.

Believers are becoming like God so they certainly need not fear his judgment.

To be fearful here is to lack confidence; and to lack confidence is to show that God’s love has not been perfected.

Believers ought not be afraid of the future, eternity, or God’s judgment, because of God’s love.

They know that he loves them perfectly (Romans 8:38–39).

They can resolve any fears first by focusing on God’s immeasurable love and then by allowing him to love others through them.

God’s love will quiet fears and give confidence.

Although this verse is dealing with the terror fear of God, it makes sense that as we have no fear our Creator we don’t have to fear anybody else as well.

This is great news!