Plan for: Thanksgiving | Advent | Christmas
Plan for: Thanksgiving | Advent | Christmas
This sermon emphasizes the profound love of God, our relationship with Him, and the call to express this love to others as evidence of His presence.
Good morning, beloved, it is a joy to gather with you once again in the house of our Lord. We have been called together, not by chance or circumstance, but by the divine love of God, a love so profound and so encompassing that it calls us from the corners of our lives into a shared space of worship and fellowship.
As we gather in this sacred space, let us remember the words of the esteemed theologian, J.I. Packer, who once said, "God's love is an exercise of His goodness towards individual sinners whereby, having identified Himself with their welfare, He has given His Son to be their Savior, and now brings them to know and enjoy Him in a covenant relation."
Indeed, our covenant with God is not a contract or a transaction, but a relationship, a relationship borne out of a love so deep, so wide, so high, and so long that it surpasses knowledge.
Today, we will be focusing on the passage from 1 John 4:7-21, which reads: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."
The love of God is a gift, freely given, and unearned. It is not a reward for good behavior or a prize for achieving some spiritual milestone. It is a gift, pure and simple. This gift is not like the gifts we give each other, which are often given with the expectation of something in return. God's love is given freely, without expectation, without condition. It is a love that is always there, always available, always ready to envelop us in its warm embrace.
This love is an active force, a powerful force that can transform lives, heal broken hearts, and bring hope to the hopeless. It is a love that reaches out, that seeks us out, even when we are lost, even when we are far from God.
The love of God is not a distant, abstract concept. It is a love that is manifested in the beauty of creation, in the kindness of strangers, in the laughter of children. It is a love that is present in our joys and our sorrows, in our victories and our defeats.
This love, this divine love, is a dynamic, ever-evolving force that grows and deepens with each passing moment. It is a love that is constantly being revealed, constantly being made manifest in new and surprising ways.
The love of God is a communal experience, a shared experience. It is a love that brings us together, that binds us together, that makes us one. It is a love that transcends boundaries and barriers, that unites us in a common purpose, a common mission.
This love, this divine love, is not a fleeting emotion. It is a lasting commitment, a lifelong commitment. It is a love that is steadfast, that is faithful, that is enduring. It is a love that is not swayed by circumstances, that is not diminished by time, that is not weakened by trials and tribulations.
As we continue to reflect on the magnitude of God's love, we find ourselves drawn to the imagery presented in the passage from 1 John 4:7-21 ... View this full PRO sermon free with PRO
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