"What Manner Of Love!"
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 9 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
I. Introduction.
I. Introduction.
The God of heaven is in my heart!
All through my life, He has given me many things, many blessings!
I have parents that serve God. And that is a wonderful thing.
They taught me about Jesus and I am so grateful for that!
I don’t have a lot of money.
But I have the ability to think and work and live a good life!
I have a wonderful wife who is the only one of her kind, in the entire world!
You can look high and you can look low..
But you’ll never find another quite like her!
Our life is blessed.
God gave me three of the most incredible kids in the entire world!
And another thing: somehow, I’ve always been able to find a job!
Sure there have been hard times,
And I’ve faced the world without a dollar to my name, at times.
But God has been good to me!
Jesus has never let me down!
And not just me!
Take the poorest man in the world today.
To him, God has given the radiant warmth of sunlight.
God has blessed him with a heart that beats no less than 100,000 times each day!
To him is given the assurance that tomorrow is only one day a way.
And maybe tomorrow will be better!
If you can draw breath into your lungs,
If you can put one foot in front of another, and walk and live and work,
You are blessed!
By the way, here’s a pretty good tool for when you are feeling low.
When you face disappointment and your heart feels crushed,
When all you want to do is find some way to cope with the realities that you don’t want to face, please don’t do that!
You are eventually gonna have to face life!
Another bottle or another binge, another High, only extends your misery and shame!
Don’t rely on some coping mechanism to survive!!!
Here’s what you should do instead:
Start thanking Jesus for the blessings that He has given you!
Write them down!
Don’t focus on the negative!
Instead, choose to focus on the positive!
Get yourself an attitude of grattitude!
Start thanking God for the good things in your life!
Hey, those things are not the result of good luck!
Did you know that you have 1 out of 175M chances of winning the lotto?
Y’all, that’s a waste!
I do not spend my money on lotto tickets.
For one, there are kids that go hungry at night, because Mom or Dad gamble and I don’t want dirty money that should have fed someone’s kids!
And for two: I don’t believe in luck!
I believe in the blessings of Almighty God!
You are not here today because of luck!!!!!!
You are here because of Grace!
I believe in a God that said “ I’ll never leave you nor forsake you!”
I believe in a God that knows how to make a way out of no way!
I remember one of the greatest kings that ever lived,
He saw nations rise and fall, throughout his long life,
And there, before he slid into death,
He said this:
“I have been young, and now I’m old, But I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken! And I’ve never seen their families begging for bread!
May I just remind some of you here today:
You are God’s children!
You are the apple of His eye!
It may not feel like it right now, but God has big plans for you!
Things won’t always be difficult!
There is coming a better day!
You will become great for God!
You can go farther in Jesus than you’ve ever dreamed possible!
Yes, so many, many blessings that God has given to us!
But of all the things I have, that came from heaven, here is the best:
Rom 8:39, 1 John 3:1
Take that Bible in your hand, and say to yourself:
Whenever I’m down and out,
When I feel so alone,
Whenever I’m blue and don’t know what to do,
I will remember this:
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
What manner of love has God bestowed upon us?
I’ll tell you:
In fact, I’ll describe it for you!
For starters, Consider the Passion of God’s love!
For starters, Consider the Passion of God’s love!
“For God so loved the world”
The only way for the sin of mankind to be forgiven, was for God to become flesh and die in our place!
And when He did that, there was nothing cold or clinical about it!
Nobody forced Jesus to take the brutal punishment of the lash!
Did you know that it was against the law to scourge a Roman?
They only did it to slaves, and foreigners!
It was considered too humiliating!
And yet the King of glory, bore both the shame and the pain!
The experts say that at 30 lashes, so much meat had been ripped away, it would be possible for you to see bones and organs beneath the remaining ribbons of skin!
A lethal injection could have killed him, had Jesus come in our day, But that would not have met the requirement of blood!
It had to be perfect blood!
And nobody forced Jesus to that cross!
When they came for him in the garden, He went willingly!
As a Lamb to the slaughter!
He did not pass out from the pain, or zone out to the far galaxies he had made!
Jesus Christ lived every second of punishment for us!
I often think of the Archangel Michael and the angel armies of heaven!
How is it that they restrained themselves from violence!
And maybe you’ve wondered how is it that at the great white throne judgement, an angel of God will cast out every person who’s name is not written in the book, and cast them into a lake of fire.”
“It’s not fair!” Some have said.
“How could an angel of God do that?” but then remember, the angels were there at Mt. Calvary.
They know the sacrifice that was made for you and for me!
They saw His passion first hand!
When blood and water gushed from His side, they knew it was significant!
Intellectually, they understood!
And yet, they will never understand the emotions we feel, knowing that the Lord of glory, took that for me!
And then, think of it this way:
After all that, How many more times has God forgiven you?
That is passionate love!!
Just like the prophet Hosea and his unfaithful wife Gomer,
There have been days when we put tears in the eyes of God!
If we fall back to our carnal nature, it is possible to end up enslaved to sin once more!
That’s what happened to her!
And one day, Hosea finds her chained to the auction block in a slave market.
And even though she had made bad choices, the one who loved her decides:
“I will buy her back!”
How many times, has the blood of Jesus covered you afresh and anew?
Go ahead!
Read Hosea!
Read the Song of Solomon,
What manner of love is this? It is passionate!
And it is big! Very Big!
Consider the perimeter of God’s love”
In 1981, a young linguist from Pennsylvania was travelling through Colombia.
While he was there, a local rebel group kidnapped him, shot him and left his torn body in a hijacked bus.
A year later, His family travelled to Colombia.
And If it was the movies, we’d see violence!
The family will have their revenge!
And America would lean back and eat popcorn in the movie theater,
While blood splatters the wall and Dad takes a life for a life!
But that’s not what happened.
The man’s family and church donated an ambulance to the state in Colombia where he was killed.
When they presented the ambulance, his mother explained:
“We are able to do this because God has taken the hatred from our hearts!”
God gave them love for a specific area in foreign country.
And that is a beautiful thing!
But God does not love one specific area and people to the exclusion of others!
The perimeter of God’s love is “The world!”
“For God so loved the world!!!!!”
God loves with Passion, with everything He is!
And the perimeter of His love, is the entire world!
I walked the streets of Cuidad Juarez a few years ago, I’ve been to the border towns of Reynosa and Tijuana.
Tell me, Does God love the people in Beijing more than the people in Mexico?
Does He love the People in Israel more than those in Santa Rosa?
No!
He loves white people, brown people, black people, all people!
But don’t take it just from me!
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
The love of Jesus Christ is active no matter where you go!
In Ukraine today, and in many other places, there are shortages.
Basic needs and necessities that cannot be found or perhaps only found on the black market at a terrible price!
But you can find the love of God!
Every weekend 15-20 teenagers die in the gang wars in Chicago!
But even there, you will find the love of God!
In prisons, in hospitals, in schools, in universities, In homeless encampments in Sonoma county,
God’s love can go there!
His love can thrive there!
He is revealing himself, to hungry hearts all over the world!
Let me tell you something that you can take home with you today, friend, this is Gospel truth!
You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving!
You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving!
And that is the proof of God’s love!
He Gave!!!!
His love was not mere words, but action!
The Price of His love, was shame and pain and death!
The Protection of His love is as great as the covenant!
When you Are water baptized in Jesus Name, you enter covenant with Jesus Christ!
Everyone who wants more of Jesus, who wants their sins washed away, If you want to be right with God, you need to be baptized in Jesus Name!!!!!!
It is a contract between you and God!
Not only are your sins washed away, God chooses to obligate himself to you!
You become obligated to Him and He to you!
He doesn’t have to do that!
He does it because He loves you!
He always has!!!!!
This love of God is amazing!!!!
It is tremendous!
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
True love requires trust!
True love will make you vulnerable!
And it doesn’t get more vulnerable than hanging on a cross!
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying,
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:
Therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Did you know that Heaven is mentioned more than 500 times in your Bible?
Did you know that the Word that Jesus used when He said he was going to prepare a place for us, specifically refers to a locatable place?
One day not long from now, we are going to live forever and forever in glory unspeakable!
Here’s the thing though, we can celebrate his love here today and go home, like so many others, or we can decide that it is not enough to be aware of the love that is aimed at you.
We can decide that the thing to do, is to give that love back!
How you gonna do that?
Well, for one, we can worship him right here and now!!!!
Hey, I’ve seen the most amazing things happen in Worship!
It’s not enough to receive the love of God!
We have to turn around and give it back!
Nobody can praise Jesus like someone who has felt their sins roll away!
Nobody can praise Jesus like the blood washed child of God!
We aren’t supposed to live holy because the organization or the pastor says so!
We need to live Holy because we love Jesus!
The way we talk and treat each other and everyone else,
The things we say and do at home and everywhere else,
Those things don’t come from a rule book or manual!
Those things are the expression of love!
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!”
So let me ask you, are you living the life of someone that really loves Jesus?
What more can you do to be that person?
What changes can you make to serve Him better!
How often do you really pray?
How often do you listen to Him?
What consecrations has he asked you for, that you’ve not yet given?
What part of your life have you tried to manage yourself, when all along, Jesus has been asking you to trust him?
Being a Christian is not just about escaping hell!
It’s more than that!!!!
So much more!
We don’t ask “What is the least that we can do?
We should ask: “What is the most that I can do for Jesus?”
Every once in awhile, I find my love growing cold.
Time to fire that altar up once more!!!!!
How many of you know that love is a choice?
It’s more than an emotional response!
Serving God is a choice I make for life!
Now before we end this service with worship, I have a charge for you!
I challenge you to find a real world practical way to love God this week!
You can start a prayer journal and be very honest with yourself and God.
You can establish a time of fasting.
Make a committment to the local church!
Get some skin in the game!!!!
Give of yourself!
You can show your love to him by loving some of his children,
Give him your time!
Give him your money!
Give Him your obedience!
All of us have room for improvement!
You could say: “I want to be baptized today!”
“I am ready to change my life!”
You could decide to give God the very thing that has become too important to you:
A habit, an attitude, an unforgiveness...
Give something to Jesus here today!
Jesus loves you!
Consider the passion of his love!
Consider the perimiter of His love!
And now, let’s you and me worship Jesus! All together!
We could get lost in worship!
We have so much to be thankful for!
We have plenty of time And this is what we came for!!!
Maybe you are fighting trials and temptations, I challenge you to worship Jesus anyhow!
Maybe you are ill and unwell in your body, worship Him anyway!!!
Give love back to Him!
Give him your best worship!!!!!
Join up with a brother or sister and give God your love today!
Worship!!!