One step on this journey was a sermon that I shared on Sunday. Please pray for me that God's love would reign in my heart.
Here are my notes from the sermon:
Jesus Loves Me
His name
was Bill. He had wild hair, wore a
T-shirt with holes in it, blue jeans and no shoes. In the entire time I knew him I never once
saw Bill wear a pair of shoes. Rain,
sleet or snow, Bill was barefoot. This
was literally his wardrobe for his whole four years of college.
He was brilliant and looked like he was always
pondering the esoteric. He became a
Christian while attending college.
Across the street from the campus was a church full of well- dressed,
middle-class people. They wanted to
develop a ministry to the college students, but they were not sure how to go
about it.
One day, Bill decided to worship there. He walked into the church, complete with wild
hair, T-shirt, blue jeans and bare feet.
The church was completely packed, and the service had already
begun. Bill started down the aisle to
find a place to sit. By now the people
were looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one said anything.
As Bill moved closer and closer to the pulpit,
he realized there were no empty seats.
So he squatted and sat down on the carpet right up front. (Although such behavior would have been
perfectly acceptable at a college fellowship, this was a scenario this
particular congregation had never witnessed before!) By now, the people seemed uptight, and the
tension in the air was thickening.
Right about the time Bill took his
"seat," a deacon began slowly making his way down the aisle from the
back of the sanctuary. The deacon was in
his eighties, had silver-gray hair, a three-piece suit and a pocket watch. He was a godly man -- very elegant, dignified
and courtly. He walked with a cane and,
as he neared the boy, the church members thought, "You can't blame him for
what he's going to do. How can you
expect a man of his age and background to understand some college kid on the
floor?"
It took a long time for the man to reach the
boy. The church was utterly silent
except for the clicking of his cane. You
couldn't even hear anyone breathing. All
eyes were on the deacon.
But then they saw the elderly man drop his
cane on the floor. With great
difficulty, he sat down on the floor next to Bill and worshipped with him. Everyone in the congregation choked up with
emotion. When the minister gained
control, he told the people, "What I am about to preach, you will never
remember. What you've just seen, you
will never forget."
I.
Introduction
a.
Goals
i.
Understand God’s heart
of love better
ii.
Open our hearts to
God’s love
iii.
Become channels for
God’s love to flow through our hearts
b.
My journey
c.
Credits
i.
Jack Frost
ii.
Experiencing Father’s
Embrace
iii.
From Spiritual Slavery
to Spiritual Sonship
II.
Love is greater
a.
Speaking in tongues
(very important) – like an annoying sound
b.
Prophecy
c.
Faith
d.
Giving
e.
Martyrdom by fire
III.
Love described
a.
patient
b.
Kind
c.
Not jealous
d.
Not boastful and
arrogant
e.
Does not hold grudges
f.
Does not rejoice in
unrighteousness
g.
Rejoices in truth
h.
Bears all things
i.
Believes all things
(gullible?)
j.
Hopes
k.
Never fails
l.
Love is not what we do,
it’s who we are.
m.
Love works. Works don’t
love
i.
I struggle to put this
into practice
ii.
I do my duty and feel
satisfied, but when works don’t flow out of love, the benefit is reduced
dramatically.
1. We sing Sweet Hour of Prayer and
are content with 5-10 minutes a day.
2. We sing Onward Christian
Soldiers and wait to be drafted into His service.
3. We sing O for a Thousand Tongues
to Sing and don't use the one we have.
4. We sing Blest Be the Tie That
Binds and let the least little offense sever it.
6. We sing Serve the Lord With
Gladness and gripe about all we have to do.
7. We sing I Love To Tell the Story
and never mention it at all.
8. We sing We're Marching to Zion
but fail to march to worship.
9. We sing Cast Thy Burden on the
Lord and worry ourselves into a nervous breakdown.
10. We sing The Whole Wide World
for Jesus and never invite our next-door neighbor.
11. We sing Throw Out the Lifeline
and content ourselves with throwing out a fishing line.
IV.
God’s love as an
example
a.
He created us for
relationship with Himself and others
b.
He gave us beauty
c.
He gave us abilities
d.
He gave us autonomy
e.
He died
f.
He rescued us after we
turned away from Him
i.
Imagine if God kept
score
ii.
Imagine if he was
always “fair” or didn’t want to go beyond the call of duty as we sometimes
don’t
V.
We can only truly love,
after we’ve received God’s love
a.
This is a process
b.
1 John 4:16 We have
come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and
the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
VI.
Why can’t I love
a.
Rejection from people
in the past – we build walls and keep people at a distance
b.
We are afraid of
intimacy
c.
We have agreed with a
lie from Satan
i.
God only loves us based
on how well we perform
ii.
This carries over into
our human relationships
iii.
We only love the people
around us based on their performance
d.
We believe that God is
like our parents. If they were angry, distant, hard to please, unloving; that’s
how we see God unless He has healed us from those wounds.
e.
Our culture (especially
in previous generations and in the Anabaptist world) says that men are tough, without
feelings and emotions. They don’t need to receive or give love.
f.
We've never received
unconditional love.
i.
Maybe very little love
at all
ii.
Maybe love based on
performance
iii.
We have no love in our
emotional bank account to give.
g.
We are serving God for what
we get from Him instead of for a relationship
i.
Money
ii.
Community
iii.
Healing
iv.
Emotional support
v.
Prodigal son rejected a
relationship in favor if money
vi.
if that is where we are, God longs to welcome
us back
vii.
When he came back into
his father's love, he received all the physical blessings of his father's house
as well.
Fable:
A woman came out of her house and saw 3
old men with long white beards sitting in
her front yard. She did not
recognize them.
She said "I don't think I know you,
but you must be hungry. Please come in and have
something to eat."
"Is the man of the house
home?", they asked.
"No", she said. "He's
out."
"Then we cannot come in," they
replied.
In the evening when her husband came
home, she told him what had happened.
"Go tell them I am home and invite
them in!"
The woman went out and invited the men
in.
"We do not go into a House
together," they replied.
"Why is that?" she wanted to
know.
One of the old men explained: "His
name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and said
pointing to another one, "He is Success, and I am Love." Then
he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you
want in your home."
The woman went in and told her husband
what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. "How nice!!" he said.
"Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill
our home with wealth!"
His wife disagreed. "My dear, why
don't we invite Success?"
Their daughter-in-law was listening from
the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion:
"Would it not be better to invite
Love? Our home will then be filled with love!"
"Let us heed our daughter-in-law's
advice," said the husband to his wife. "Go out and
invite Love to be our guest."
The woman went out and asked the 3 old
men, "Which one of you is Love?
Please come in and be our guest."
Love got up and started walking toward
the house. The other 2 also got up and
followed him.
Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and
Success: "I only invited Love. Why are you coming in?"
The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success,
the other two of us would have stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever
He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and
Success!!!!!!"
h.
We have a religion
based on fear
i.
There is no fear in love; but perfect
love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is
not perfected in love. 1Jo 4:18
ii.
Do you live every day
with a fear of
1.
hell
2.
God's anger
3.
Offending God
4.
Displeasing God
5.
God wants us to live in
love that casts out fear
6.
Live loved
iii.
If we sin and we are
afraid of God, we run away from God instead of running to Him for forgiveness
iv.
We run to:
1.
addictive behavior
2.
hyper religious
activities
v.
We believe that we can
earn God's love by works
1.
After we began
attending Shalom, I realized that a big part of my fulfillment and value in
life came from works.
2.
I'd been very involved
in church activities
a.
Superintendent
b.
Sunday school teacher
c.
trustee
3.
Now I didn't have those
activities to give value to my life
4.
It was God's way of
showing me that those things were a crutch in my life that were blocking me
from receiving His unconditional love.
5.
This is why we see so
many people of God fall into sin. They have been filling the void of intimacy
with God with good works.
vi.
What we need is a new
picture of God
1.
If we look at Jesus
life on earth, we can get a picture of who God is
2.
He wants to bring life,
healing, compassion and joy to us
VII.
Living without God's
love
a.
When we live without God's
love, we can never give true love to others
b.
We desire intimacy with
God
c.
we live with a void in
our lives we seek intimacy elsewhere:
i.
Even our spouses cannot
fill that void
ii.
Fulfilling marriages,
can only come as we first have a close relationship with God
VIII.
Learning to love
a.
See ourselves as God
sees us
i.
We tend to believe that
we are unlovable
ii.
We are damaged beyond
repair
iii.
God sees us as His
beloved children
iv.
We are created in His
image
v.
Our worth comes from
God, not from us or our performance
vi.
a lawyer, asked Him a
question, testing Him, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the
Law?" And He said to him, " ' You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ' This is the great
and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ' You shall love your neighbor
as yourself. ' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the
Prophets." Mat 22:35-40
vii.
Jesus said that this is
the most important commandment. Yet, many times we want to put the Great
Commission before the Great Commandment
viii.
Sing "Jesus Loves
Me" with understanding and believe that it's true.
ix.
Jesus loves me when I'm
bad and when I'm good.
b.
Realize our need for intimacy
i.
We all need it, men included.
ii.
We need God every step of the way.
iii.
We need to know and be known by God and
by the people in our lives
c.
Take personal responsibility for intimacy
i.
It's easy to blame others for the lack of
intimacy in our lives
1.
My parents didn't show me love
2.
I've been heart too many times
3.
My spouse doesn't accept it/doesn't
deserve it.
ii.
God we hold each of us accountable
d.
"Be" then "Do"
i.
Being creates doing, but being is first
and foremost.
ii.
I find this very difficult.
iii.
I tend to find fulfillment in doing.
iv.
I tend to look for the praise from people
instead of God
v.
As we abide in God's love, we will become
like Him
e.
Speak God's love
f.
The solution to having no love to give
i.
Forgive the people in our past who have
hurt us
ii.
Repent of the lies we've believed about
God because of the hurts we have from other people
iii.
Learn to experience God's unconditional
love
iv.
Only God loves us perfectly
v.
Finish with a story that illustrates this
well:
I was
watching some little kids play soccer.
These kids were only five or six years old, but they were playing a real
game –- a serious game – two teams, complete with coaches, uniforms, and
parents. I didn’t know any of them, so I
was able to enjoy the game without the distraction of being anxious about
winning or losing – I wished the parents and coaches could have done the
same.
The teams were
pretty evenly matched. I will just call
them Team One and Team Two. Nobody
scored in the first period. The kids
were hilarious. They were clumsy and
terribly inefficient. They fell over
their own feet, they stumbled over the ball, they kicked at the ball and missed
it but they didn’t seem to care. They
were having fun.
In the
second quarter, the Team One coach pulled out what must have been his first
team and put in the scrubs, except for his best player who now guarded the
goal. The game took a dramatic
turn. I guess winning is important even
when you’re five years old-because the Team Two coach left his best players in,
and the Team One scrubs were no match for them.
Team Two
swarmed around the little guy who was now the Team One goalie. He was an outstanding athlete, but he was no
match for three or four who were also very good. Team Two began to score. The lone goalie gave it everything he had,
recklessly throwing his body in front of incoming balls, trying valiantly to
stop them. Team Two scored two goals in
quick succession. It infuriated the
young boy. He became a raging
maniac-shouting, running, diving. With
all the stamina he could muster, he covered the boy who now had the ball, but
that boy kicked it to another boy twenty feet away, and by the time he
repositioned himself, it was too late-they scored a third goal.
I soon
learned who the goalie’s parents were.
They were nice, decent-looking people.
I could tell that his dad had just come from the office-he still had his
suit and tie on. They yelled
encouragement to their son. I became
totally absorbed, watching the boy on the field and his parents on the
sidelines.
After the
third goal, the little kid changed. He
could see it was no use; he couldn’t stop them.
He didn’t quit, but he became quietly desperate; futility was written
all over him. His father changed
too. He had been urging his son to try
harder – yelling advice and encouragement.
But then he changed. He became
anxious. He tried to say that it was
okay – to hang in there. He grieved for
the pain his son was feeling.
After the
fourth goal, I knew what was going to happen.
I’ve seen it before. The little
boy needed help so badly, and there was no help to be had. He retrieved the ball from the net and handed
to the referee – and then he cried. He
just stood there while huge tears rolled down both cheeks. He went to his knees and put his fists to his
eyes – and he cried the tears of the helpless and brokenhearted.
When the
boy went to his knees, I saw the father start onto the field. His wife clutched his arm and said, “Jim,
don’t. You’ll embarrass him.” But he tore loose from her and ran onto the
field. He wasn’t supposed to – the game
was still in progress. Suit, tie, dress
shoes, and all – he charged onto the field, and he picked up his son so
everybody would know that this was his boy, and he hugged him and held him and
cried with him. I’ve never been so proud
of a man in my life.
He carried
him off the field, and when he got close to the sidelines I heard him say,
“Scotty, I’m so proud of you. You were
great out there. I want everybody to
know that you are my son.” “Daddy,” the
boy sobbed, “I couldn’t stop them. I
tried, Daddy, I tried and tried, and they scored on me.”
“Scotty, it
doesn’t matter how many times they scored on you. You’re my son, and I’m proud of you. I want you to go back out there and finish
the game. I know you want to quit, but
you can’t. And, son, you’re going to get
scored on again, but it doesn’t matter.
Go on, now.”
It made a
difference — I could tell it did. When
you’re all alone, and you’re getting scored on — and you can’t stop them — it
means a lot to know that it doesn’t matter to those who love you. The little guy ran back on to the field — and
they scored two more times — but it was okay.
I get
scored on every day. I try so hard. I recklessly throw my body in every
direction. I fume and rage. I struggle with temptation and sin with every
ounce of my being — and Satan laughs.
And he scores again, and the tears come, and I go to my knees — sinful,
convicted, helpless. And my Father — my
Father rushes right out on the field — right in front of the whole crowd — the
whole jeering, laughing world — and he picks me up, and he hugs me and he says,
“John, I’m so proud of you. You were
great out there. I want everybody to
know that you are my son, and because I control the outcome of this game, I
declare you –The Winner.”
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