Our example
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Our example
Our example
Good morning
I’ll tell you what
It is great to be back
For those of you that don’t know
I have been stuck in quarantine
for the past week
And it feels good to be out and about
There is only so much time you can spend
In one place before you start to go stir crazy
Anyways it is great to be back
So how many of you knew we had a strong bonds event last week?
So you know whats funny
Is that after two months of planning
Two months of going back and forth
With contracts
and lists
and hotels budgets
I actually caught COVID the weekend before Strong Bonds
So rather than getting to enjoy the beauty of the Alps
The beauty of a resort and lodge
The beauty of going site seeing
I had to spend all weekend cooped up in my house
But you know
I am actually glad that we got to have this event
And not just because it helps you all out
But its the curriculum that got me thinking
Meaning that I think the curriculum
Plays very well with todays message.
So this past weekend the class
Focused a great deal on relationships
And knowing how to build a relationship
How to understand when to dive into a relationship
How to build a healthy bond with some one
And I think this is incredibly important
Especially in todays era
See these days we dive into the parts of a relationship
That traditionally you wouldn’t dive in to
Until a great many certainties where already met
Good example my be diving into the physical aspect of a relationship
In our modern society we do this way to soon
In fact studies show this is one of the key contributing factors
To the down fall of our society
It leads to adultery
It leads to failed marriages
One parent households
Child abandonment
and a great deal more than what we care to admit
Why, I mean ask yourself why do we dive into the physical part?
Because it feels good
After all how bad can a little touching outside of marriage actually be?
And that where we have fallen
We have no love for each other
No not that type of love
Get your mind out of the gutter
I’m talking about a love that is entirely focused on the other persons well being
And its that type of thinking that led me to this sermon topic
But one thing I truly enjoy about this curriculum
Is the reasoning behind such a mentality shift
The reality is we don’t know how to love anymore
In fact I’m gonna argue
We have lost the art of understanding how to love!
And when it comes to a relationship that is critical to making
Any relationship work
You can’t just dive into a physical relationship
And think its based on love
Because its not
The reality of our society is
We dive into aspects of a relationship because of infatuation
Not because of love
We dive into aspects of a relationship because of selfish carnal worldly desire to satisfy our sin
Not because of love
Pause*****
Anyone that has been married
Anyone that is over the age of 30 in fact
Would most likely agree with me
That emotional feeling
That obsession you get when you meet someone new
That idea that you want to spend the rest of your life with someone
Just two short months after you met them
It’s not love
Science and psychology have proven this,
In fact its a hormonal shift
It’s a chemical response to an infatuation with someone new
In fact we have a name for this
Super scientific
Called the honey moon phase!
But when you give it say six short months,
Suddenly that person becomes normal to you
Those intense emotions start to subside
They start to dissipate
Suddenly that love you felt for them
Turns into annoyance
Turns into aggravation
And thats the core of what I want to talk about today
I want to answer the question
WHAT IS LOVE.
more specifically
WHAT IS AGAPE LOVE
So please take your Bibles and open up to
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.
Prayer
You know whats amazing
is the depth to which this passage actually goes to
Into understanding what we really have in our faith
To the undeniable example set forth in our Faith
Look at these opening words
“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.”
You know call me crazy
But I truly feel that the greatest tragedy
In the history of the modern man
Is a failed understanding of what this truly means
The lack of desire
To dive deeper into the text
And understand the love that is being pouring out here
Because when you get this
When you fully understand how much He loves you
There isn’t anything in this world
That can conquer you
That can intimidate you
That can hold you in a place of depression
Anxiety
You know how many people I have seen
How many people I have witnessed
That have gone from a an existence of total despair
Absolute turmoil
To an outcome on life that is bright
that is full of hope and love
and joy and friendship
Do you know how beautiful it is
To witness a person
On the very edge of suicide
On the edge of taking their own life
And then
To witness that same person
Become filled with purpose
Become filled with life and love and a desire for the future
It is perhaps the most beautiful thing
You will ever see
But you have to realize,
When someone makes a change like that
When someone turns their life around
It’s never by accident
Once these people found out the true meaning of love
The true meaning of the cross
Its as if they found an entirely different existence.
But in order to get to that point
That individual had to come to a point of realization with the cross
That individual had to confront the cross
And everything that means.
Whether thats hard fought repentance
A new life change
A different way of looking at the world
I’m telling you guys, once you realize the love that God has for you
It’s impossible to look at life with no purpose
Because... the cross.... is... love
and Yet Sometimes that love is deemed offensive
Because it does require a shift
For those of us that have figured out
For those of us that have truly understood what happened on that day
Nothing is ever the same
That’s why the cross is so offensive to some
It requires a change
And for some
They don’t want to change
They think God should meet them on their level
Not how it works
You know Billy Graham used to say that the cross is offensive
Because it forces you to look deep inside of yourself
To look deep inside at God
And begin to recognize the depths of depravity within you
The depths of sin within you
The lengths at which you have taken to disobey God
And Yet
It also forces you to recognize the depths at with God went
To rescue you
All because of love
And I know,
Not a popular message when speaking to soldiers
Who wants to talk about love
But when you truly understand this topic
This is where every ounce of beauty comes from
In everything we
see,
hear,
and do
Love is the reason you exist
Love is the reason God created the world
Love is the reason you wake up in the morning
Love is the reason you get butterflies when you meet that special someone
Love is the reason you stick it out when
Your family member,
Your spouse
Your child
Catches cancer and they need someone by their bedside
Love is the reason we get angry
Its the reason we grow attached to people, to things
Love is the reason for everything we hold dear
And everything that we hold as valuable
The Apostle Paul
In his address to a dying church
To the church at Corinth
To a body of Christians that just didn’t get it
Explained love in perhaps the most complete way
And I am sure you’ve heard this before
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!
YOU SIMPLY CANNOT ESCAPE THE EFFECTS of LOVE
And When it comes down to the roots of what we believe
To the roots of God’s love for us
I like what what commentator said
“When it comes to ‘agape’ love or the divine love, everything is different (thats the greek word here, greek actually has four different words for love’)
We know what love in its lower meaning is,
He talking about physical attraction, natural affection and friendship,
All the stuff we talked about at the beginning
Then he continues
“But we would be totally unacquainted with agape love,
the divine love,
were it not for what He did on that cross.”
were it not that He left his thrown and put on this frail, fallible, weak flesh and died for our sake when quite simply He didn’t have to.
And here is where it starts to get interesting
“That love which has made us rich has also made debtors of us to lay down our live, as our Lord laid down His, BUT to lay down one’s life for the sake of another.
DID YOU GET THAT?
To lay down one’s life for the sake of another is to set oneself to seek the good of that person at all cost, even at the cost of life itself.
Everything about the cross
Is entirely contrary to our existence
To our culture
To our understanding of this world
To our very mindset of everything we do every day.
The example of the cross,
Our understanding of what love is according to verse 16
Is to lay down your life for a fellow brother or sister in Christ
And I can hear it now
But Chaplain that’s to extreme
I can’t go die for someone I have a family
Don’t worry John thought of that as well
Look at verse 17
If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
You don’t have to give your own life here
John gets that
But he challenges perhaps something even greater
Your own finances
How many of us are willing to help a fellow brother or sister in Christ
When it comes down to money
Why do you think I showed you that video this week.
Have we retreated as a church
Are we going to take the love of Christ to the world?
Ladies and gentlemen that is the entire message of these first three chapters
Summed up into one simple statement
Love your brother and sister in christ
even to the point of death.
Even to the point of your own finances being used
Thats what separates us from the world
And that is what we are being called to do
We are called to share the love of God
By our actions
For others
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
And one of my absolute favorites
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Your salvation
My salvation
Is a gift that requires a response
A response that puts the love of God on display for the world to see
Look at verse 18-19
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.
Everything about what you believe in
Is centered on
First and foremost the cross and the love of God
Second
our love towards our fellow believers
And our love towards towards the lost
You are to be the example to the world
And I get it
Each one of us is searching for something
Some type of fulfillment
Something to tell us personally that we are significant
That we have a purpose
And yet that message
That carnal mindset
Is so contrary to everything the Bible teaches
It’s almost as if we are missing a part of us that we can’t seem to fill
Like a void that is just gone
And yet the message here
Is that hole in your heart
That loneliness that lack of love you’re feeling
Is meant to be filled with love for the community
With love for those you spend eternity with
Look guys one day we are all going to stand before the thrown
And like this passage says
we are going to give an account
For how we administered the message
For how we cared for the church
For how we loved one another
This passage right here is telling us
If we love the church as we are supposed to do
As the example of the cross instructions to do
Then we can come to God with boldness on the day of judgment in fear absolutely nothing.
I’m telling you guys
When your life lines up with the truth of love
With the truth of the cross
Everything makes sense
Your prayers make sense
Don’t get verse 22 confused
This is not a ask God for a car type of faith
No when your heart and motivation
Are in line with God’s will
With God’s Spirit
You begin to ask for what He wants in prayer
You begin to desire what He wants for the church
Your life make sense
Your relationships start to make sense
You begin to understand what AGAPE truly is
Take the truth of the cross
Apply it to ecverything you encounter
Every day
Get in the word every day
Guys I don’t just tell you that for no reason
Find a resource
Find a Bible
Download an app
Something but start to seek God in a way
That puts AGAPE love on full display
We are the body of Christ
We are called to be His examples to the world
And like that commentator said
We owe it to Him to be the example
To share to love of God first with the body of Christ
But then to the world
I encourage this week be the very embodiement
Of what you are called to
And start living your life as if you’re a citizen of heaven.
Boldness for the cross out of love for Jesus.
Close in prayer
‘May the Lord bless you
and protect you.
May the Lord smile on you
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor
and give you his peace.’