The Loving Church 1 John 4:7-4:20
When was the last time that you heard someone going on about how great church was last week.
• They were filled with joy, There was a sense of excitement,
• The Spirit was moving
• And it felt like everyone there had made a connection with Jesus
The truth is, more often than not
• If the subject of church comes up
• That people are complaining about the service
• People often tend to have a negative view have of church.
• And when it comes down to it The real world
• Has no idea who we are
• And why we are , who we are.
An older sister was sitting next to her younger brother in Church one Sunday morning unsuccessfully trying to keep him still and quiet. Finally she said, “I wish you would calm down.” “I can’t”, he said, “it’s just so boring.” And his sister turned and said, “It’s supposed to be boring.”
It’s sad, that so many people have the impression
• That when they come to church
• That there isn’t anything here to bring joy into their lives?
So let’s talk for a minute about The perfect church
• But before we can do this we have to answer the question What is church?
• If I were to ask you that question, what would your answer be?
• I'm looking for short answers,
• So what words come to mind when I say church??
• Boring, irrelevant, out of date, hypocritical
• Or would you say that church is a place of joy, hope, love, companionship, caring?
Well the truth is, there are no perfect churches.
• No matter where you go,
• You’re going to find things that you like
• And you’re going find things you don’t like.
You could go to a megachurch
• The kind with a band and contemporary music,
• You could see and be a part of the lights and the choirs
• And all the technological stuff that goes with it
• Maybe this is what you like
• And when you left your response to the question would be
• Yeah! --Praise the God – this is Church!"
• But another person’s response may be , "They call this noise ’music?’– this isn’t a church!"
So What is church?
• Today in Britain there are a lot of churches that are more extreme than the one I just described
• These churches come in a variety of different atmospheres
• They come in different types /styles / flavors / expressions
• But at the same time all of these churches call themselves a church
There are Churches in a pub, Café church, Goth church, internet church
• There are quiet churches, loud churches, traditional churches, contemporary churches, cultural churches.
So with all this in mind what exactly is church?
• How do we define church?
• Is it something we come to on a Sunday that has a definite order of service,
• One that has a distinctive style of worship or type of preaching.
• Maybe, but at the same time church is more than that
Maybe church Is where we come to catch up on all the latest news and gossip
• That’s happened in the past week – a a kind of social club.
• Maybe, but at the same time church is more than that.
Maybe church is a place for the great Ceremonial occasions,
• The rituals, the performances
• Hatch em, match em, and dispatch em.
• Baptisms, weddings, funerals.
• The great ritual moments of life.
• Maybe, but at the same time church is more than that
Maybe church is a place that is filled with history and tradition,
• That no matter what, nothing can ever be changed / altered, / tampered with,
• Because we have always done it that way
• And if we changed it the mystery of the faith would be lost –
Now there is no better example of a church
• Filled with history and tradition as Westminster Abbey.
• And One day a tour group was being shown the Abbey.
• They were shown all the symbols of Britain’s history.
• They saw the place where the monarchs are crowned.
• They visited the tombs / the memorials.
• It was a wonderful trip backwards in time.
• But at one point during the tour
• A member of the group asked the guide a interesting question.
• She said, “Sir, this is all very fine, but has anybody been saved here lately?”
That’s a good question for any church.
• “Has anybody been saved here lately?” (ELAB)
What we need to understand today is that We are so much more than ceremonial,
• We are so much more than history,
• So much more than a narrow vision.
• We are so much more than hatch, match, and dispatch.
But the question still remains, what is church? And we find the answer – in 1 John 4:10-11,
1Jn 4:10 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. 1Jn 4:11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
No one has ever seen God;
• But if we love one another,
• And since God lives inside of us
• His love is made complete in us.’ When we love one another
• In other words,
A Church is a place where the love of God is known,
• Where the love of God is experienced
• Where the love of God is expressed amongst the fellowship.
It’s not about formats or programs, or music or styles – it’s about love.
But What’s love got to do with it?
• Tina Turner sang that love was just a second hand emotion’.
• But according to our text loves got everything to do with it
• It’s all about the love
• It sets the foundation for everything we have
• And everything we are as a church.
Jas 2:8 Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord’s royal command found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
1Jn 3:11 This is the message we have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
Ro 13:8 Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God’s law.
1Pe 1:22 Now you can have sincere love for each other as brothers and sisters because you were cleansed from your sins when you accepted the truth of the Good News. So see to it that you really do love each other intensely with all your hearts.
Now each one of these scriptures should instruct us about what to do
• But if you like your commands to come from a source with a little more authority
Jesus said :Jn 15:9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.
Jn 15:10 When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his love.
Jn 15:11 I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
Jn 15:12 I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you.
Are you starting to see a pattern starting to develop?
• The commandment of the kingdom, the royal law,
• The proclamation of the King of kings,
• Says that the only real definition of a true Church of Jesus Christ is this:
• One that Loves one another as God has loved us.
Love Defines a church –
• It’s not the fact that we meet together on Sundays.
• It’s not the fact that we sing hymns and choruses.
• It’s not even the fact that from time to time we might get caught praying or reading the scriptures.
The only thing that defines us as a church,
• Is our love for God and our love for one another.
1Jn 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen?
And a few verses before this it tells us
1Jn 4:7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1Jn 4:8 But anyone who does not love does not know God—for God is love.
1Jn 4:9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
1Jn 4:10 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.
Notice the text doesn’t say that God loves but that God is love.
• It’s not an activity that God likes to do
• It’s what He is, it’s His nature, It’s in His DNA His make up and it’s all He does.
• One of the most important things that you’ll ever gonna learn in life
• Is that no matter what God will never stop loving you!
Peter denied being one of the disciples and cursed,
• But God still loved him and turned his life around.
John Mark turned back and quit in the middle of a missionary journey
• But Christ still loved Him
• And He caused him to be an asset to the church
• And to the the Apostle Paul (2 Timothy 4:11).
David committed adultery and murder, but God still loved him.
"If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
• If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
• He sends you flowers every spring
• And a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, He listens.
• God can live anywhere He wants in the universe,
• But He chose to live in our hearts...
• Lets Face it, God’s crazy about us."
Not only does love define a church
• But our love for one another is a witness to each other
If we can take the love that God has for us
• A love that was demonstrated by Jesus
• When He came into the world
• And offered Himself as a sacrifice
• For the purpose that we might be given eternal life
And If we can take this kind of sacrificial love
• And demonstrate it to each other
• It becomes the greatest form of evangelism the church and the world will ever see.
The truth is We live in a terrible, fallen, sinful world.
• A world that is full of hatred and greed,
• A world that’s filled with fighting and war,
• Hopelessness and lovelessness.
• People are starving and dying, and suffering in all kinds of ways
• And all of this is happening while the rest of the world just watches.
We live in a society where a lot of people
• Don’t even know their next door neighbor,
• Let alone care about them.
1Jn 4:12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us.
Where can a lost world see the love of God?
• They can see God In us, in His body, and in His church.
• But if we aren’t showing love for one another
• We might as well pack up and go home.
Our love for God is demonstrated by our love for one another
• ‘Show me a church where there is love, and I will show you a church that is a power in the community.’ (D L Moody)
When the church of Jesus Christ today
• Demonstrates this kind of unconditional and sacrificial love for one another
• Then God is made known to a world that is filled with pain and sin.
If you want to know how closely you are following Jesus?
• Look at your love life!
• Look at how you are loving others.
If we want to know how closely we are following Jesus as a church,
• Look at our love life!
• Look at how we are loving others.
Conclusion - So, one last time – What is a church?
Is it a place for the religious and the ceremonial?
Is it a place for history and tradition,
Is it a place for socializing and cliques
Or is it a place where the love of God is known,
Where the love of God is experienced,
And where the love of God is expressed amongst the fellowship.
