Love All Series

Love All

Advent Conspiracy Series

Final Week (3)

12/20/2009

Introduction

Slide

Love.

Love is a word we use a lot to describe our affection for things and in America, we love a lot of things.

We love our kids

We love our spouses

We love our freedom

We love our sports teams

We love chocolate

We love steak

We love pizza

We love our dogs

Some even love their cats.

We love a lot of things.

We love so much that there are over 100 songs that were #1 hits that have the word love in the title.

Back in 1956, Elvis wanted people to “Love me Tender,” (1956) and then a few years later, he sang that that he “Can’t help falling in Love” (1962). Even though he couldn’t help falling in love, some obviously could because there were some who had “lost that lovin’ feelin’” according to the Righteous Brothers.

The Supremes wanted people to “Stop in the Name of Love” while the Beatles told us that “All You Need is Love.” A few years later, while The Partridge Family sang, “I think I love you,” Olivia Newton John could say, “I honestly Love you.”

In 1975, the Eagles were willing to give the “Best of my Love” and Captain and Tenille told us that “Love will keep us together.” By 1976, Paul McCartney was decrying all the “Silly Love Songs,” but REO Speedwagon vowed in 1981 to “Keep on Lovin’ You.” It was the only thing they wanted to do.

Lionel Richie and Diana Ross knew that they would keep on loving because they sang about their “Endless love” in 1981 while Tina Turner wanted to know “What’s Love Got to do with it” in 1984.

In 1985, Whitney Houston was “Saving all my love for you” even as Foreigner said “I want to know what Love is.”

That is a lot of love songs and those are only the ones with “love” in the title.

Do you ever think that we have overused the word love so much that we no longer really know what love is? We think that we don’t really understand what love is that we could honestly say along with Foreigner, “I want to know what love is.”

Maybe you have never consciously wondered that, but as we talk about it, it does strike a chord with you. What is love? I want to know.

Well today, we are going to talk about love. We are going to seek to find out what love is and how we can truly love all people.

We are finishing up our series “Advent Conspiracy” and our title today is Love All.

Slide

Two weeks ago in this series, we have talked about Worshipping the Lord fully.

We saw that worshipping was much more than singing songs as we looked at some of the people in the first advent and learned that to worship fully

requires obedience, submission and sacrifice.

Then last week, we talked about how in our culture we have all gotten caught up in the commercialization of Christmas, so we talked about consciously spending less this year and instead, we looked again at several characters from the first advent and we learned that even as we spent less, we could give more by

giving our presence,

spending our time, and

sharing the gospel.

Now, as we approach Christmas Day, we are going to talk about Loving All, because that is what Jesus did by His birth, he loved us all.

Turn with me to 1 John 3:16

Slide

Not John 3:16, but first John 3:16.

It is interesting however that both John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 both talk about God’s love for us.

Here, however, the apostle John has a response to Foreigner who said “I want to know what love is”

Let’s read.

1 John 3:16-18 - This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Pray

This Scripture that we just read starts out by telling us what love is by showing us God’s love for us.

It says

God’s love for Us is Sacrificial

Slide

1 John 3:16

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

God sacrificed for us.

We can look at so many places in Scripture to see this same thing.

John 3:16-17 - "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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”