Sermon Tone Analysis

*Date:*      13th July 2008                                                                         (Sunday AM)                                                                       *Ref:* A0393

*Place:     Kambah P.S.*

*Title: What is Love Anyway*

*Text:        *& Jeremiah 31:3

 

*Illust:     *There is a whole family of songs music that crosses nearly every music style – From classical Opera to Metal – The Love Song – Music of all generation, & styles – Guns’n Roses – “November Rain”, Righteous Brothers – “Unchained Melody” , Joe Cocker – “You are so Beautiful”, Counting Crows – “Accidentally in love” – Puccini’s – “Nessun Dorma” – the subject of song, art, movies;  “Sleepless in Seattle”, “Titanic”, & many others.

The subject of Love.

!

I.                   What is Love

!! A.               World View

i.

A popular song of the 80’s ‘What is Love anyway, does anybody love anybody anyway’ It’s a good question, what is love?

– Hollywood often equates love with sex.

Confuses love with lust and generally gives us a mushy, feeling based view of love.

ii.

Love is something you feel, butterflies in the stomach, thoughts are consumed with the  person, cupid has struck, fired his arrow straight into your heart.

Swooning emotion based desire.

iii.

Everything is roses, chocolates, warm fuzzies; Until the feeling goes.

The years pass & now the feeling, the passion is not there, not the same anymore.

– /“I don’t know what the problem is.

I just don’t love him~/her anymore.”/

– What you are saying is that feeling is not there anymore.

– But is that love?

– What is Love anyway?

!! B.               True Love

i.

What does the Bible say about love, what is God’s view of love?

& 1 Cor 13:4-8a.

– Lets quickly get a true perspective of love.

         4 Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

Patient & kind, - Kindness – How much true kindness do you see in the world, in marriages.

Couples ~/ families ~/ friends just being kind to one another?

Not jealous ~/envious – Right there is much of our Western materialism smashed.

-

         5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Not rude.

Not self seeking.

That is counter culture, everything in our culture is geared to what’s best for self.

/What’s in it for me, what do I get out of this?

If MY needs are not being met then I’m outta here./

– Keeps no record of wrongs.

– forgives & forgets.

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Defintive terms, always, always: Protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres – Leads to Three powerful little words.

8 Love never fails..

ii.               /I don’t love you anymore/ doesn’t quite cut it.

You never did.

– Love is not something that you feel, it can’t fail.

It is a conscious choice, a decision to keep going, to press through, to make it.

– Hope, persevere

iii.

Not a noun it is in fact a verb, an action a doing word.

Takes effort, takes conscious choice, even when you don’t feel like it.

– Feelings have nothing to do with it.

– Our mental hospitals are full of people who have lived their lives at the whim of their feelings.

!

II.

The Love of God

!! A.               Greater Far

i.                 Love is not a light ~/ easy thing, requires effort, denial of self interest.

~~   Why we are astonished when we think of the Love of God.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(NKJV)

ii.

The Poet, the songwriter all struggle when trying to come to grips with the love of God demonstrated on that Cross.

– Isaac Watts:

      /1/ When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.

……./3

/See, from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down; Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

…./4 /Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; *Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.*

And can it be that I should gain An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain?

For me, who Him to death pursued?

*Amazing love! how can it be That Thou, my God shouldst die for me?*

iii.

The more you meditate on this, the more you think about your sin & God giving His son Jesus to doe for your sin, the love of Jesus to go through the horror & agony of the Cross for your sins; the harder it is to grasp the vastness of God’s Love for us.

Ephesians 3:17-19 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

(NKJV)

!! B.               God Loves You

i.                 Very real problem is that the Amazing Love of God is so immeasurably vast that we miss the most amazing part.

– God loves you.

– Not done for some vast nameless masses in India or Africa – Christ went to the cross for you , He loves you.

God loves you personally.

ii.

This is the promise of our text: & Text.

– an everlasting love – true love, not on whim or emotion.

– Love that bears all things & never fails.

iii.

No matter how insignificant you may think you are, you are precious in God’s eyes and loved by Him.

– No matter what you are going through, no matter what happens in life, the struggles, the trials, the victories, the failures.

God never stops loving you.

– Always has the best for you.

         1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.

God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

(NKJV)

!

III.

Love One Another

!! A.               As He loved You

i.

This leads us to our obligation.

~~ What do we do in response to this amazing love that God has for us?

John 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.