The love of God
911 Tributes
Introduction-
We take a moment this morning to reflect on the September 11, 2001 attack on America.
We remember the 1000’s of lives that were lost and the 1000’s of families who have been forced to adjust to life not intended for them.
Those of us who are old enough to remember: What were you doing at 8:46 am on September 11, 2001?
The horror as we understand what was actually happening.
People using planes as missiles to strike the Twin Towers in one of the busiest cities in the world. (It changed security in the USA)
It affected each and every one of us for the rest of our lives.
I remember Billy Graham addressing the world from the National Cathedral in Washington D.C three days after the attack trying to comfort a nation that was wounded, grieving, and angry.
Remember the response teams sent out- The fire and police, ambulance, paramedics , and all risking their lives to get people safely out of harm’s way and trying to give medical attention to 1000’s.
Remember seeing The faces of those who were fighting through debris to find people.
Hours of fatigue on their faces yet with the determination that maybe they could save one more life.
That day I found a new definition of hero.
The old way was a 7 foot man dunking a basketball on a 10 foot basket.
A man who is able to hit a baseball 400 feet, or make a diving catch.
Players able to scramble around and run for a touchdown.
Nothing wrong with them, but they take a back seat during a crisis.
I am reminded of our own crisis here, mobile home parks under water and people making boat rescues to get people out.
Roads covered over and the men and women who directs us and keeps us safe.
How many here this morning have been battling the odds to keep the water from coming into your basement and doing damage.
When we look at the price these brave men and women in uniform are paying for our freedom and safety. We quickly realize the debt that we owe them.
The debt we owe other s who help us.
Many strangers who we will never know their names.
Nothing, I repeat nothing compares to the debt each and every person owes to the Lord Jesus Christ for dying for our sins.
Apostle Paul says “we are debtors(Rom 8:12) that we will never be able to repay what He did for us on Calvary’s Cross. Jesus Christ paid the price for us through His death, burial, and resurrection.
God has forgiven our trespasses, cancelled the debt against us by nailing it to the cross.
It takes a crisis like what we are facing to realize the love that God has for us.
As we continue the series Fruit of the Spirit, we look today at the characteristics of God- love.
Galatians 5:22-26
9 characteristic of God:
Love , joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The very characteristics that God desires to see in each one of us.
John 4:7-12- (read from the Bible)
Did you catch that? God is love.
It is not because you first loved Him.
He loved you before you were even a thought in your parent’s eyes.
He loves you because He wanted to love you. Not because your cute, adorable, rich, or even that you are fun to be around, but because He chooses to love you.
God love runs deep!
Others may love you for selfish reasons, but the God of the universe decided that He was going to love you.
Think of the purest most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that by an infinite number and that would be God’s love for you.
Isn’t that good news! God is love- it is His character, and He chooses to love you.
He loves the flawed, broken, and rejected.
God’s love reaches even the proud, arrogant, and the wicked.
That tells me with gladness that there is hope for us. Each one of us.
The right question is not:
Can God handle my problems, but will you let God handle your problems?
Can God love me- but will you let God love you?
Romans 8:35- (slowly)
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, persecution, or famine, nakedness, or peril, or sword- yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
Romans 8:38-39- “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 created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Paul was persuaded beyond a shadow of a doubt that God loves us. That nothing can separate us from God except the fact that we walk away.
You may run from Him, but He loves you.
You may deny Him, but He loves you.
You may hide from Him from shame, but He loves you.
English word for love is limited.
I love my wife, I love brownies, but not in the same way.
I love my home, I love my job, but not in the same way.
God is love! That is His being!
So we are to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and body. With everything that we have!
Can I get spiritual for a minute?
We have trouble loving God because we try to treat Him like one of the boys.
God is a Spirit (John 4:24) He has no body, you can’t treat Him like one of the boys.
Since His resurrection, He has no earthly body, if He did, He would not be Omni-present. He would be limited to one place.
In Scripture:
Darkness stands for evil, sin, and death.
Light is holiness, goodness, life.
God is light tells us that He is the sum of all excellence!
He is the best of the best! God doesn’t simply love- He is love!
Ephesians 2:4-
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, is paralleled with John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life”
Here’s what I want you to grab as I close this down:
God see’s people for what they can become, rather than what they are at the time. That is Love! That is God’s love!
Example
The women caught in the act of adultery, she was repentant and Jesus saw her as she could be and said, go and sin no more!
Illustration-
The story is told about a pastor riding on a bus, and a drunk comes stumbling on and sits down next to him. The preacher immediately took out his bible and began reading Scripture to the man. Then he announced to the drunk, do you know that you are going to hell? The drunk said, oh, no! I got on the wrong bus again!
Yeah, we need to tell the world that they are on their way to Hell, but the best way to lead them away from Hell is to point them to heaven.
Ann Bybee, a name that most will never remember. A member of the National Disaster Medical support team, looked at 10 stories of ruble from the Twin Towers collapse. 16 hours a day for 3 day. She stared at the pile thinking that she would recognize something, a chair, monitor, anything! Then she noticed something she never noticed before. She pulled her disposable camera out and took a picture. Two I-beams had fallen from the towers and formed a cross. In the midst of the ruble the cross stood out.
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7)
The longer she looked at the cross, the more peace that she felt. She knew God had a message for her- “You are not alone- I am here”
I don’t know where you at today,
But I know a lot of people are facing some tremendous challenges.
We reflect on 911 this morning, we saw what a devastation the terrorist caused.
But terrorism is not the problem, it is a symptom. The problem is sin and people running away from God.
There is a wide road of life and many travel that road, but it leads to death, a physical death, but more important, a spiritual death.
The narrow road, which the world and the crowd don’t choose, is the road that Jesus is on and welcomes all of us to follow Him.
The God of the universe, the creator of everything , loves you!
Desires to have a relationship with you! Wants to and is able to forgive you of your sins and move you forward in your life.
Altar call
