Sermon Tone Analysis

He is Love

Last week talked about the hope that is in Christ

We talked about how the Jews were under the rule of king Herod and paranoid that he was.

To the point of having two of his own sons murderer - along with one of his wives parents and eventually one of his wives

how he built a massive fortress overlooking Jerusalem and the surrounding areas

How the people would constantly be reminded of his rule

We talked about how they were under the roman government which was robbing them by the extreme taxes that they would have to pay...

We discussed the corrupt leaders of their faith the pharisees who were legalists, the sadducees who were also legalists and the crazy zealots...

Christ coming would be a huge breath of hope for the Jews...

Likewise, this week we will discuss the love that God showed by sending Christ!

When the time was right, God came!

“All the Way to Kingdom Come” - Rich Mullins

We didn't know what love was 'til He came

And He gave love a face and He gave love a name

And He gave love away like the sky gives the rain and sun

We were looking for heroes He came looking for the lost

We were searching for glory and He showed us a cross

Now we know what love is 'cause He loves us

All the way to kingdom come (All the way)

All the way to kingdom come

Love is a miracle

It's a miracle if you can find it

And miracles are hard to come by these days (these days)

But the sweet Lord Jesus he's a miracle man

He's got holes in His feet in His side in His hands

And if you ask for love love pours through them

Like a ray of light like a raging blaze

We didn't know what love was 'til he came

And He gave love a face and He gave love a name

And He gave love away like the sky gives the rain and sun

We didn’t know what love was ‘til he came...

Jesus came as the perfect picture of love....

When the time had full come - God came in the person of Jesus!

Love took on flesh and walked this earth

The love of God came in Christ Jesus..

What is this love?

The ultimate act of love was when Christ came...

What is the world?

- Greek word kosmos - which means the created world, the universe, all created things.

Refers to all that exists.

“All created things” includes you and I.

‌Back to the verse.

‌God loves you so much, that He came, and died on a cross for you.

Jesus gave up all glory and authority in heaven for you....

‌1 John 4:9

God loved us before we could mess anything up!

‌The love that is expressed in the relationship with Jesus is unlike the love that we see anywhere else in the world!

His love always has been, is now, and will always be, perfect!

‌I do weddings every once in a while and there are typically a few things that always seem to happen.

‌Vows - "I, _____, take thee, _____, to be my wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee my faith."

‌This is a choice....we are choosing, or vowing, to do be with this person....

‌The difference in God is that His love is not a choice.

It’s not something that He chooses to do! Love is something that God is!

It is His very essence.

‌1 John 4:7-8

God doesn’t choose to love you.

He just loves you.

What’s the implication of that?

It’s that He can’t choose not to!

God can’t wake up one morning and say “you know, I don’t think that I am going to love Caleb today.”

He is love!

‌He is faithful and just!

He will never let you down!

He will always love you!

‌The second thing that is often in weddings is:

When God loves, this is How He loves!

‌His love is perfect!

‌To understand who God says that you are, is to understand that you are loved!

And, not as the world loves, but with perfect, unfailing love!

‌I think that sometimes we lose focus on the fact that God loves us!

One of the ways that we lose focus on God’s love is in

1. Fear

Fear of lots of things:

‌uncertainty in the future

‌fear of bad health

‌fear of failure

‌fear of the future of our nation and the freedom to worship freely

‌fear of division and dissension in the church

‌fear of doing what I am called to do, because I let people down

‌What happens when I listen to fear is that I lose focus on the one who loves me!

‌Yes, he wants me to lead myself, my family, the church that I serve, into His glory.

And, into His will.

‌Yes, He wants me to seek Him and to make the decisions that He wants me to make.

‌But, if I fail....He still loves me!

He hasn’t given up on me!

When fear starts to creep in, I need to remember Who loves me!

The second thing that is often a distraction from understanding God’s love for me is:

2. A Lack of Focus

We often times get distracted by the things going on that we lose sight of God’s love for us...

Something happens and we question if God is still there...

We hear something that makes us question the validity of God...

Or, things like we get too busy...

My Grammy used to say all the time “all that the enemy has to do is to keep us busy.”

Now, I am not sure that’s all he has to do, but it certainly is a distraction...

How often do we get distracted by life?

We slowly stop spending time with God...

We stop reading and learning our word...

We stop going to meet with other believers...

We stop worshipping...

And then, we are so far away from God that we seem lost....