His Love Endures Forever

This evening I want to look at a truth that applies to the season we find ourselves in… but it also applies to every single day life. Psalm 107:1 reads

Psalm 107:1 NIV

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just a week and a half away! And as we enter into this time of giving thanks, I pray that we will ALWAYS remember to continually give thanks to our God and King!

Thanksgiving is a time where busy schedules are slowed down… even stopped for a moment… in order that we might reflect and show appreciation for all the many blessings we have. Church… we have much to be thankful for today!

And even as we face all kinds of national uncertainty… we still have much to be thankful for!

But there is one thing about this season that makes me sad… one thing that has bothered me since the days I worked in retail. It’s a cultural trend… a day that is held up in honor much like thanksgiving and Christmas. It happens now less than 24 hours of the day of giving thanks… it is the day known as Black Friday.

We rush the stores… we empty the shelves… we wait in lines… and spend money we do not have so that we can get the best deals and provide the best gifts that this world has to offer.

I watched people get into fights, push each other out of the way, yell and call names just so they could get what they wanted. The greed and the hysteria was almost more than I could bear.

Yet it is a part of who we are as a nation… as a consumer nation… just one day after we spent time counting our blessings.

Interestingly enough… this year there appears to be a problem.

I’ve heard it voiced different ways but the media will tell you that Christmas is in trouble. Why? Because all the stuff for all the good deals is stuck on ships that are waiting to be unloaded.

Expect delays! Expect higher prices! Expect less merchandise! Expect extended shipping times! Expect frustration in your Christmas shopping! There WILL be shortages on everything!

It is rhetoric that is sowing panic instead of peace… greed instead of generosity… and the material over immaterial.

Again, this narrative is being fueled by the broken process of unloading the ships and transporting the goods. It’s not something that we can fix at the drop of the hat.

With all that said… I don’t know if this is the problem we need to fix… or if we truly need to go deeper. If a shortage of material goods could threaten the meaning of Christmas in our culture’s mind… then I would suggest we desperately need to get back to the REAL meaning of Christmas!

Aren’t you glad that while we are facing a shortage of stuff, that we will NEVER face a shortage of God’s love?

The world does have some fun and interesting gifts for the consumer to enjoy… but there is NO GREATER GIFT like the gift of Jesus! There is no greater gift of love than God’s gift of His Son!

And when it comes to Jesus… you can believe you will NEVER experience a shortage of love, mercy, grace, deliverance, power, freedom, forgiveness and victory! Jesus truly is the gift that keeps on giving!

He is there when you need Him. He will truly answer when you call. He is not distant as His Spirit lives or dwells within our hearts! Jesus is alive in heaven and wants to come alive in all who cal upon His name!

So as we look at what is going on in this season… there is a solid lesson that we can learn as we look a little bit deeper.

Consider the problem that the media is talking about today. All the stuff is stuck on the ships with no one available to unload it.

And once unloaded, who will transport the stuff to the stores and stock the stuff on the shelves? The stuff is out there… and the consumers are waiting… the problem our culture faces today is in the delivery system.

Tonight… we know there is no shortage of God’s love. However, we know the only way for His love to be realized by this world is if His designated delivery system remains online. And make no mistake about it, church. Our world is in DESPERATE need of His love. God does not use shipping containers and trucks to proclaim His good news… rather, God uses His faithful followers and His children to declare His goodness to this world.

God’s love is NOT non-existent. God depends on His people, HIS CHURCH, to be the delivery system of His love to the rest of the world!

God provided the gift… Jesus. Are we willing to be the transport? Are we willing to be the vessel that would carry that Gift to the ends of the earth?

Church, I would suggest this evening that while there is not nor will there ever be a shortage of God’s love, we can experience a bit of a shortage in the area of messengers.

Just as the ships in the harbor will not unload themselves… the work that God has placed before us will require action and intentionality on our part.

God’s mission… is a mission of action… and what this world needs are churches who will place God’s mission in motion.

The Mission in Motion

Loving God and Loving People is an ACTIVE mission that places LOVE at the center of everything we say and do.

Our first priority is to love God - with all our heart, soul, and mind.

This is an active expression of our love for God with all that we are. It is a genuine expression of our appreciation for His love that has never given up on us!

We could spend all night talking about how far and how deep and how wide God’s love is for us! We could give example after example, testimony after testimony of how awesome His love is!

As our main text says, we have reason to give thanks! Our God is GOOD! His love endures FOREVER!

Secondly, we are to love people - we need to extend the same kind of love toward people that God has extended toward us.

The church is God’s designated delivery system of His love. The church is His love in motion in real time.

God has called us to be agents or messengers of His love and the way His love is declared can take on many forms.

But ultimately, we must choose to be used of God in this way. God desires for His love to flow in us AND through us.

Think for a moment how much God’s love has impacted your life. What kind of changes have you experienced because of His love?Aren’t you glad for that experience this evening?

We came to know of His love because someone invested in our lives. We know because someone cared to share.

The bottom line is, this world will not come to know the love of God unless the designated messengers rise up and tell of God’s love.

Romans 10:13 says

Romans 10:13 NIV

13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

I’m glad for this truth tonight! But look at what it continues to say in Romans 10:14-15

Romans 10:14–15 NIV

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? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

In these last days, let’s not allow for a hiccup to occur in the delivery system regarding the good news! Let’s be dedicated in the mission and examples of His love!

His love is real! His mercies are new every morning! His desire to see all come to repentance remains unchanged! We have been saved to serve in the mission to win the lost!

So let’s not get sidelined. Let’s not get distracted. Let’s not get bogged down, but rather let’s remain on mission as messengers of Good news!

Prayer Points

Tonight as we get ready to pray, I want us to pray for something very specific.

We know that God’s love endures forever! We know that God’s love is real and is for everyone… but not everyone is aware of His love!

I want us to pray to the Lord of the harvest… to Jesus… for a request He spoke of in Luke 10:2

Luke 10:2 NIV

2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

There is a generation waiting… there is a culture that is immersed in sin… consumed with that which has failed it.

I want us to pray this evening for God to do two things.

One: Alert us to the reality of the harvest.

Help us recognize that time is short.

Help us to recognize His Spirit is with us.

Help us to identify as His messengers.

Two: Send us to the field to do the work.

Empower our witness through the Holy Spirit.

Help the lost experience a connection with God’s love.

Find opportunity to share God’s goodness with others.

And lastly, I want us to circle back to how we opened this service… I want us to give thanks.

Give thanks for His goodness.

Give thanks for His enduring love.

Give thanks for His redemptive plan.