God Loves You: No Doubt About It

SPECIAL DAY: VALENTINE’S DAY

TEXT: 1 JOHN 4:9-10

TITLE: “GOD LOVES YOU: NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!”

INTRODUCTION: A. Two teenaged boys were out cave exploring when they found what appeared to be

huge bear tracks deep inside a long, cavernous tunnel. They bravely decided to keep

going, but they moved ahead slowly and cautiously, keeping their eyes and ears open

in case a bear lurked nearby.

Suddenly, from behind a large rock formation jumped the biggest, meanest-looking

grizzly bear they’d ever seen. The bear stood up on its hind legs, beat its chest, and

roared so loudly that it sent a terrible sound echoing off the walls of the cave.

Scared to death, the two teenagers decided to run for their lives. They took off on a

dash for the daylight. They had a little bit of a lead on the bear when one of the guys

dropped to the floor of the cave and started untying his boots. He whipped his

backpack off and took out a pair of running shoe sand started to lace them up.

His buddy yelled at him, “Hey, man! Whatta ya think you’re doin’? Let’s get

outta here! We don’t have much of a chance of outrunning that bear as it is!”

The guy on the floor hopped up and began sprinting toward the cave’s exit. He

turned and yelled over his shoulder: “I don’t have to outrun the bear. All I have to do

is outrun you!”

--Do you ever feel like people treat you like bear bait?

1. When the going gets rough, they bail out on you?

2. They claim they love you until it costs them something and then they leave you

behind.

B. I understand how that feels. I had someone who was my absolute best friend for

year. We first met when I was in Hr. High. We were friends through thick and thin.

Even when no none else liked us, we were still each other’s friend.

This friend hit a very troublesome time in his life and went through some very

disappointing circumstances. Everything he had worked toward and had hope for were

gone. He was crushed. No matter what, I stayed his friend and tried to help him

through this period and find some new direction for his life.

After things began to get better in his life, things in my life began to turn sour. I

entered one of the most difficult, depressing, and spiritually dead points that I have

ever faced. But I knew I could count on one thing: no matter what else happened or

what I did, my friend would still be there.

1. Guess what?

--When I needed his friendship the most, he bailed out on me

a. I was too much trouble

b. I was going to drag him down

c. I was an embarrassment to him

2. I never felt more downhearted and disgusted in all my life

--It took me quite awhile to get over both the circumstances that had brought the

tough time and the failure of my friend to love me through those circumstances.

C. However, it was during this particular time that I really came to know someone who

had already said they loved me and I had believed them – to a certain point

--It was during this time of indecision and tough times that I truly discovered the love

of God.

1. The last part of 1 Jn. 4:8 – “…God is love.”

2. Love is not just one of the central attributes of God’s character

a. God IS love

b. God = love

c. If you want to know what love is all about, look at God

3. God’s love is different from any other love you will ever experience

4. 1 Jn. 4:9-10 (NLT) - “God showed how much he loved us

by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through

him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his

Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

--I want to share with you five amazing facts about God’s love for YOU!

I. Amazing Fact #1: GOD CREATED YOU FOR THE PURPOSE OF LOVING YOU

A. One of the most important things you need to comprehend is that you are not here by blind chance and

evolutionary processes.

1. God is a Creator God

--Gen. 1:1 0 “In the beginning, God created…”

2. You are not an accident of nature. You are created by Almighty God.

--King David recognized this fact in Ps. 139:13-16 – “For you created my inmost being; you knitted

me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your

works are wonderful, I know full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the