SUMMER CAMP Life on Easy Street?

How many of you have ever been to a week long summer camp? Well since I can’t hear your responses I’ll assume some of you have.

            There are all types of summer camps out there. Music, theatre, sports, art, wilderness, church and cub scout camp are just a few that you could send your child to or that you may have attended as a child.

            I’ve gone to a few camps in my day. Basketball, baseball and church camp are the ones I remember the most I’m sure there were others but I just don’t recall at this moment.

            As a camper you expect a few things, good times, decent food and a cool t-shirt.  Another thing about campers is that they rarely have any idea of all the hard work it takes to make those three things happen.

            For the last several years I’ve been on a leadership team that puts together three camps a year. Southland Student Conferences puts on a weekend retreat in Ocala for around 300 middle school students from Presbyterian churches throughout Florida. We also put together a middle school summer conference in High Springs, Florida that usually is 5 days in July. And the last event is a High School Conference located at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia this too is held for a week in July.

            I’ve been taking students to these camps for 10 years now as a counselor. The last three years I’ve been the camp director for the Mid-Winter weekend for middle school students. One thing I’ve learned about these events is that it takes a lot of people willing to love students to make them happen.

            As a leadership team we pray a lot. Mainly because we feel without God being in charge and His Holy Spirit leading us and others to focus on Him, that these events would never happen. Our main goal at Southland is to point students to Christ and to community. We really believe that students need to know how much God loves them, and we need to offer solid biblical teaching to show them God’s love for them in His word. We also feel students need community, we all do. Students need opportunity to learn how to love God and share God’s love with others.

            There are a lot of details involved in transporting, housing, feeding, caring for, entertaining 300-500 students. Not to mention the pressure of sending them home with a cool t-shirt.  It also costs a few dollars.

            We are solely a volunteer organization that is non-profit. As we like to say after 50 some years of doing this we’ve yet to make a profit, but we hope and know that God’s Word is profiting all those who have heard it. We see the impact that this ministry has had and will continue to have on students and their communities.

            Where God places you He provides and He has always down this with Southland. Sure there are always ways to do more and do it better but we’ve found we can honor God with what He gives us, whether a little or a lot.

            There is not a lot of sleep this time of year for youth workers and volunteers. Many work long hours to make sure that camp is “Fun”.  Even though our goal is bigger and broader than “fun” and “safe” we do spend a lot of time in working toward these two goals.

            If you are interested in supporting Southland and helping us point students to Christ and community you can contact me at kdkelly32@embarqmail.com . If you want to know more about Southland you can check out our website at http://www.SouthlandCamps.com.

                  So if you send your student off to camp this year whether it is church camp or not, remind them to be thankful for all those who have worked hard to make their camp happen. Remind them that things don’t just happen in life and that they should be grateful to you for allowing them to go and grateful to those who had a vision for them to be there.

            Thanks for supporting our future.

SUMMER TIME

Summer Time.

By the times this runs it will be mid July. Truly Summer time in sunny Florida and hopefully we have had some rain too.

Growing up in Hardee County we always went one of three directions during the Summer to cool off. North, East or West rarely if ever did we go South, excluding maybe a trip to some relatives in Miami and southwest to Lemon Bay/Englewood area.

Usually we would head West to Anna Maria Island to hop in the gulf waters or a swimming pool and beat the heat. I remember taking long walks, catching fish, playing tennis, cards and lots of swimming on that Island. It also happens to be the place I first kissed my wife. Oops it’s not mannerly to kiss and tell.

If we did not go West we would head East, again Southeast doesn’t count as South. I’d either head just a few hundred yards East to the Peace River and canoe, fish and swim or I’d venture a little farther to a small lake some people have called Lake June in Winter. We’ve had family and friends with house’s on this lake for years. It’s always been a great place to “hydro-slide”,  knee-board, ski or tube. It’s always fun running around on a wave-runner, jet-ski or sea-doo, too! But my favorite thing to do is wade the shoreline and fish about 30 minutes before dark and fish until the mosquitoes have driven me back home.

I learned to wade fish from my Dad. Several times he would fish Lake Walk in the Water, Lake Josephine or others in the area this way. Many times he would catch more fish than when we used the boat. His favorite was an old black worm that was 10-12 inches in length.

The other direction was North. We would head for North Carolina or Atlanta depending on which family I was with that day. The North Carolina family would head to Glennville area, we head up to Tennessee too. These were great times as a family taking in all the tourist trap stops along the way, arguing over whether we left the gift shop with the “Indian” tomohawk, drum set or bow and arrow, or the cowboy pop-gun.

I remember mining for gold, going through caverns, hiking up mountains, playing in ice cold mountain streams, fishing at trout ponds and lots of more stuff I don’t want my kids to find out about because they will want me to take them to do all of it. We always had a great time driving each other crazy.

This was back before seat belts and the like so we would sleep in the well of the old station wagon or practice throwing ourselves back and forth over the seat as we fought over one toy or another. As I’m sure now our parents were agonizing over hearing one more of us say, “I need to go,” or “How much longer,” or “I’m thirsty.”

 As for the Atlanta family we would always go to Atlanta and stay in the Holiday Inn, watch three Atlanta Braves baseball games, which I loved. Then after the ball games were done we would spend the next couple of days at Stone Mountain. I’m not sure what happened there, mainly because I was a total brat and pain in the rear that I’ve blocked that portion of memory from recall. But I’m sure there are family members who can readily recall each horrific moment in detail. I remember once being offered well more like told I was going to be put on a Greyhound back to Wauchula.

Our trips to Atlanta were ever so memorable and fun, again in the station wagon albeit a different one. We hit every Shoney’s restaurant known to my Dad, and now that I have two kids that can eat I understand full well the allure of “kid’s eat free.”

We also seemed to indulge my Dad and his love for the Georgia agrirama, know called, “the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village,” they cleverly note , “Where the Present meets the Past!”  I guess growing up in Wauchula on the Peace River I felt pretty much like I had a keen grasp on the past and I was always looking toward the future. I didn’t really see the sense in studying the past, especially in Georgia during summer break. However looking back now I see a lot more clearly.

I was truly blessed growing up in Hardee County having two families that loved me and invested a huge amount of time and money in my life. I treasure the memories that we have made together and the memories our kids our now getting to make with each other. I think Summer time is a great time to be a family in America, a great time to see each other’s short comings and love each other anyway.

So whether you float down the Peace River or venture out to the Grand Canyon or up to Canada or maybe even go to Europe this Summer remember to enjoy each moment you have, be thankful for what you have been given.  God knows exactly what you need, He knows exactly where you are and He cares deeply about where you are going even during the Summer time.

5-22-11- Graduation Sunday, John 3:16-21 The Love you want, The Love you need, The Love He gives

5-22-11- Graduation Sunday, John 3:16-21 The Love you want, The Love you need, The Love He gives.  John 3:16-21 (English Standard Version)

As I look at these guys who have and will graduate, I want you to know that there is a lot of choices you will have to make in the upcoming years.  You can either love the darkness of sin, or you can do what is true and live in the light, and let the light of Christ shine through you so it may be clearly seen that your works are being carried out in God. My Prayer for you is that you will LIVE LIKE YOU are Loved by the Father.

Let’s start by reading God’s Word, John 3:16-21, Remember this is Jesus Christ, Son of God, truly human and truly God speaking. This is the Word of God, This is God telling us about His love for us.

For God So Loved the World  16"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

Paul reminds us of the Father’s Love in Romans 8:32 (English Standard Version)32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

The Father’s Love… We’ve talked about who the Father is, we’ve talked about the type of Father He is, So we know He is a loving Father. So what do we do with the Father’s Love? Is that the question? What are you doing with the Father’s love? Are you being a good steward of the varied grace you have been given? Why? Or Why not? Maybe you know God, Maybe you even know God loves you, but maybe you don’t see that the Father, YOUR FATHER, Who is in Heaven, LOVES YOU. Maybe today you will see His love for you a little clearer, maybe you will experience it by meeting with Him in His Word, which He has preserved for you for this moment. Accept the Father’s Love today if you haven’t, if you have, share it with yourself again, remind yourself and then share it with others. It is GOOD NEWS, The Father’s Love. We are going to jump around the text this morning and start in v.19 and 20. Then back to 16-18 then end with 20-21

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

1. The Love you want.
            A. Darkness
            B. Light

The love you want. Is the love you want leading you to darkness or light.

When we reject God’s love, we love the darkness.  We love the darkness because our works are evil! What are you searching for? What are you hiding from? Something anything, lots of things, lots of “SOMETHINGS” to fill your void, to fill your pain, to fill your ache, to repair your brokenness.

We want love that will satisfy our selfish desires. We want love that makes us feel good, look good and do good as long as we can do that our way. We want love that isn’t costly, isn’t hard, isn’t a bummer, We want love that isn’t messy, or complicated or frustrating. We want love that gives us a good feeling about ourselves. We want love to last and not just be fleeting moments.

We want love. We want love that makes us feel loved, that makes us feel safe. We want love that doesn’t reject us, that doesn’t criticize us, that accepts us how we are. We want love that takes away the hurt and replaces it with healing, comfort, and pleasure. We want love that is real not just empty words and half-hearted actions. Is this Bad? Is this wrong, to want this kind of love?

When the light shines on us, when we come into the light, our darkness is exposed, this is tough because, We want to be love, we want to be the answer, If I could just do this, then they will love me, then I will love myself…really? The truth is clear, the light is all revealing, we want to be god, we want to be in control, we want our way first and foremost, …. until we have known, felt, experienced, accepted, been engulfed by, been overwhelmed by, been re-birthed by the Father’s Love.

God says if we don’t know Him, we don’t know Love. God is Light, The darkness tries to tell you, you are happy, that you don’t need God or His Love, that you can just take care of yourself. You don’t need a father’s love. But God offers us a Hope, a Home, and ability to believe in His Son, whom He sent to Save us, to accept His free gift, of un-ending, un-leashed, un-blemished love.

The Love you really want is God’s Love, That’s the love you are really looking for, waiting for and longing for. Step into the light, It’s not like anything else you’ve tried, It’s everything you wanted and more, It’s exactly what you need.

John 1:4,5,9 , “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. V9) The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

            2. The Love you need.
            A. Rejecting
             B. Accepting

We’ve got to stop rejecting GOD’S LOVE! You have to accept Jesus and Jesus alone for your salvation, Jesus is the LOVE YOU NEED and He is here for you today! He has justified, sanctified and glorified us. Why do we insist that we know what we need? Are we really that confident? Are we really that sure? Or is that just our way of rejecting God’s love. Bowing the knee to Jesus, to our King is hard, taking away pride is difficult because we’d rather be master than servant, especially when we are unwilling to accept God’s love. Because in God’s grace and mercy we are more than servants, we are more than conquerors of fear and doubt, we are children of God, co-heirs with Christ, we are a family built in God’s Love.

How do you accept God’s love? Ephesians 2:8,9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Believe in the Him, Believe in Jesus, Step out of the darkness into God’s gracious light. Let your evil deeds be exposed.  Sure this may be humbling, Sure this may be embarrassing, sure this may bring you ridicule, sure this may cause you and your family and friends suffering. Your sin is worse than you think, it is more damaging than you could imagine, it is offensive to a Holy God, it is generational it isn’t only hurting you, But God’s Grace is so much deeper, so much wider, so much fuller and freeing than your sin.
Accept God’s gift and the finished work of Jesus Christ, for your evil deeds. Accept God’s holiness for your “un”holiness, His righteousness for your unrighteousness. Believe that God is THE GOD, that He is THE Father, That He is God the Father, that so loved the world he gave his one and only son…

 16"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ARE YOU SERIOUS THIS IS AMAZING NEWS, JESUS HIMSELF IS TELLING US OF THE FATHER’S LOVE, JESUS WANTS US TO KNOW HIM>>>FOREVER…17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Are you rejecting or accepting JESUS this morning? Has Jesus saved you from your sin, if your answer is no, TRUST IN HIM TODAY!!! Because without believing in the only Son of God you are already condemned. There is no in between, you are either rejecting God’s Love, God’s Son or you are accepting The Father’s Love, you are accepting His free gift.

3. The Love He gives.
            A. filled with truth and light
            B. takes away fear, guilt and apathy and replaces it with hope and perserverance and action.

His love is pure, His love is Holy, His love is right, His love is true, His love is steadfast, His love endures, His love overcomes, His love knows no tears, His love heals, His love redeems, His love restores, His love is clearly seen, His love is radical, His love is freeing, His love is overwhelming, His love is filled with truth and light.

His love draws you near, His love drives fear away, His love leaves us guiltless, His love destroys doubt, His love fills us with aspirations, His love compels us to love, His love is hope secured, His love is eternal, His love encourages us to keep loving.

20For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

Are you living in fear this morning? Are you standing in the darkness? Are you scared? Are you hoarding or rejecting God’s varied grace? God’s love is ready to break through, His love is at work. His love is filled with truth and light. Listen to Him this morning.

Ephesians 5:13But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible

Romans 13:12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Job 24:13"There are those who rebel against the light,
   who are not acquainted with its ways,
   and do not stay in its paths.

There is no better News today… The Father’s Love, takes away fear, guilt and apathy and replaces it with hope and perseverance and action.

Ephesians 3:14-21Prayer for Spiritual Strength 14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Do you see the Hope we have been given, do you understand how we can persevere through anything, Isn’t His Love, The Father’s LOVE AMAZING in Action..

Romans 6:20-23 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.           

The Father’s Love, what an AMAZING LOVE, how can it be? We can’t love when we are living in fear and guilt, we can’t love when we don’t care, but The Father’s Love gives us hope, a hope eternally secured in Jesus, The Father’s Love gives us the perseverance to endure today, to run the race He has set before us, the perseverance to Love Him and others, and most of all the Father’s Love gives us the ability to actively Love, to accept His Love from an unending fountain and share it, to come to the Light that needs no sun, but that is powered by THE SON, and reflect His glory to everyone we meet. The Father’s Love The Love you want, The Love you need, The Love He gives. Now go and Live LIKE YOU are Loved, by the Father.

Sermon on May 15th-- 1 Peter 4:1-11 GOD THE “Father”

May 15^th-- 1 Peter 4:1-11   GOD THE “Father”

God THE “Father”

I.               Being like-minded with Christ

A.     Suffering in the Flesh w/ victory over  sin

B.     Placing our focus on the Father

II.             Pray, Love and Serve as a response to the Father’s Love.

A.     Spend time praying to your Father, in Christ

B.     Spend time loving your Father, in Christ

C.     Spend time Serving your Father, in Christ

III.           God THE “Father” in everything

A.     Complete surrender = Complete Freedom

1 Peter 4:1-11 

In 1 Peter 4 we see how we can be Stewards of God’s Grace by Living for God

 1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

 7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen

Last week we talked about the God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, Today I want to talk about one person of the trinity God the Father.

         After reading our passage you may find it a stretch to see exactly what I’m trying to show you in the short time we have here this morning but I want you to remember the Series, THE FATHER’S LOVE,

Last week we talked about THE GOD, that love was from God and because God loved us we can love others. This week we will see how Jesus, fully God and fully man, saw God as Father, he did NOT think that equality with God was something to be grasped.

Philippians 2:5-11 

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:6 Who, being in very nature God, 
   did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 
7 rather, he made himself nothing 
   by taking the very nature of a servant, 
   being made in human likeness. 
8 And being found in appearance as a man, 
   he humbled himself 
   by becoming obedient to death— 
      even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place 
   and gave him the name that is above every name, 
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
   to the glory of God the Father.

Let’s begin by taking a big picture view of the first two verses of our passage,

 1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

Jesus suffered to end the penalty of sin for us, He suffered to defeat the power of sin over us, He didn’t live in the flesh for human passions but for the will of God, (GOD THE FATHER!)

So what if we suffer, SERIOUSLY, WHAT DOES IT MATTER? I’ve suffered a lot lately, so have you, some of your suffering is what makes me suffer, so what are we to make of it? DOES IT MATTER that we suffer?? YES it matters to God. He has given us victory of sin! He has given us His Word to arm ourselves with the mind of Christ. He has given us Jesus HIMSELF! When Jesus suffered in the flesh what did he do? He cried out to his Daddy! His Father! God the Father please take this away, if not please help me through, because I know my Dad cares, my Dad loves, my Dad gives.  What should we do when we suffer, blame everyone around us, blame ourselves, or run to God the Father and bow the knee to our selfish pride, our self centered, limited, myopic view and ask that His will be done.

WHAT GREAT NEWS,      point one on the outline should cause us to exhort one another, to enjoy one another and erupt with thankfulness…We aren’t dead in sin, yet we are living for the will of God, in Christ Jesus, and not just living we are living with blessings upon blessings, with grace upon grace from our heavenly Father, we have been made holy priests, co-heirs with Christ, we have been given the Helper in the Holy Spirit, we are children of the living, everlasting Father.

Next let’s look at verses 3-6.

2      3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

NEXT in the outline you see Pray Love and serve as a response to the Father’s Love Pray, Love and Serve as a response to the Father’s Love.

D.    Spend time praying to your Father, in Christ

E.     Spend time loving your Father, in Christ

F.     Spend time Serving your Father, in Christ

3     < People will be surprised when you do this, We are not to engage in Sensuality, passions, drunkenness, origies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. Don’t join in this flood of debauchery. But preach the gospel to the dead,  so they might come to know the FATHER! So they might come to live in the spirit the way GOD DOES.

God the Father will be the final judge. Not us. Not me. Not you. This is why we must pray to our Father that in Christ he would bring the lost to himself. This is why we need to spend time loving God the Father, just spend time thanking him and rejoicing that He is your Father and that from right now through eternity that will never change, That is much more permanent than the fleeting high we get from immoral behavior listed above. If we look at Jesus he took time to talk to His Dad, he took time to love his Dad, he took time to serve his Dad, Everything he did was to serve his Dad. EVERYTHING  he thought, taught, or took part in was to bring about God’s will, because JESUS UNDERSTOOD INFINITELY MORE THAN WE DO that GOD LOVED HIM!

Do you see it yet, THE FATHER’S LOVE? Are you starting to get a picture an idea and inkling… that THE GOD, God the FATHER, loves you… well hold on there’s more.

Maybe you are not there yet, maybe you are like some of the old testament believers that, God is Master and Lord, but Father is a stretch.

I think he has to be everything to us before we can totally submit, even saying totally submit is kind of a ridiculous statement  

once you have …

you see it’s not really submitting as much as it is rejoicing over what you have received.

Let’s look at the last several verses,

  7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

IN ORDER THAT IN EVERYTHING---GOD may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

What gift, God’s varied Grace, GOD’s RICHES AT CHRIST EXPENSE… His grace is so varied and so overwhelming and so unbelievable at times we feel like we can’t receive it, but we must not only receive this gift of grace we must be good stewards of it, we must be grace dispensers, not lawless idolators!

IN EVERYTHING!! In our marriage, in our parenting, in our jobs, in our friendships, in our families, in our society, we must be GRACE DISPENSERS not LAWLESS IDOLATORS!

HOW? BY THE STRENGTH THAT GOD THE FATHER SUPPLIES!! Why so HE MAY BE GLORIFIED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.

Because why, because the glory and dominion for ever an ever are HIS!! Not yours.

IV.            God THE “Father” in everything

B.     Complete surrender = Complete Freedom

Once THE GOD, is GOD THE FATHER! In EVERYTHING, then you can, no then you will want to, no then you will be  glad to receive his gift and gladly surrender your junk(life) and then you will be surrounded by the FATHER’s LOVE, you will have complete freedom in Jesus Christ to approach the Father, You can cry out to Him, love Him, rejoice over Him, share Him, serve Him, with no worries, no fears, no shame.

May 8th, 2011 Mother’s Day Sermon :Three Part Series: The Father’s Love

This is a sermon I preached o Mother's Day, Enjoy! It was a one in a three part series titled, "The Father's Love"

May 8^th-- 1John 4:7-12   “What “The” are you talking about?” I thought about theme”ing” this sermon around Mother’s Day and weaving in some type of encouragement for just Mother’s but I didn’t do that. This is for everyone.

1John 4:7-12 

 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

What “THE” am I talking about this morning? As most of you know or will shortly the word the or the, is a definite article, It means a specific one. So which Father am I talking about this morning on Mother’s Day? Well most of us assume we know, and even those of us who are right in assuming what we think; don’t really know. Yes I’m talking about the GREAT I AM, Our Heavenly Father, God the Father, the ONE and Only true God. But if you have not been born of God you do not know who I’m talking about. If you are born of God then only because of His love are you able to know Him and love Him and others. And even those of us that know God don’t know Him fully and don’t glorify and enjoy Him near enough, because we start to crowd out what we know about God with things, idols, cheap desires, thrills, lies, we start to build a God that isn’t real, that isn’t biblical and that isn’t God…

Listen to what this passage has to say about God.

*Love is from God

*whoever loves is born of God

*God is love

* the love of God was made manifest before us-

*God sent his only Son into the world-that we might live through him

* love isn’t us loving God

*Love is God sending Jesus on our behalf to make propitiation for our sins

*If God has loved/s us like this what should our response be—LOVE OTHERS

*God is unseen

*God abides in us          *His love is perfected in us.

Let’s Look at verse 7 a little closer!

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  The word dear here can also be,  beloved– an adjective that means, greatly loved; dear to the heart –

I can relate to John using the word dear or Beloved, I think it’s important to understand John loved the people he was sharing this with, they were dear to his heart, I imagine this made it even more difficult for him to share, but also so much more vital to communicate clearly the important message of the Gospel. Please here me this morning, I love all of you, but more important than you knowing that I want you to know that God loves you. It sounds simple, so simple we often brush it off and refuse to accept it. I hope today you will know THE GOD, the one and only GOD and that God would allow you to understand more and more exactly all that He is.

We could take verse 7 and preach a whole series on it, but we will try to look carefully and practically at this passage yet not stall out in it’s complexity.

The “The” I’m talking about this morning is, THE GOD,

1)    There is only ONE GOD, THE GOD…

a)God the Father

b)God the Son

c)God the Holy Spirit

In our text, when you look at the Greek, each time you see God, you have the word tou or tov in front of it, this is the definite article THE, it means the one and only! Here in this passage it is truly correct! Because we know that there is only one true God, because the Word of God, Jesus, is telling us SO, and Jesus is God. So God is declaring I AM GOD. So we see the love of God the Father in just being himself, because God is Love. John mentions God 11 times in these 6 verses. He wants you to see GOD, THE GOD! You know we sing, God in Three Persons, the blessed trinity.

WE also see God the Son, v9 says, 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

In John 15:9 (esv)Jesus the son of God says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

We also know God the Holy Spirit, 1John 4:2 says, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.”

So there is only one God, the true God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, THE GOD.

2)    Without God’s Love, without the love of the God, you won’t love.

a)     you won’t know love

b)    you won’t feel love

c)     you won’t give love

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Jesus has a conversation with a Samaritan woman, a scandalous encounter in an of itself, but Jesus didn’t care about that, He cared about the truth, he cared about sharing the Gospel. This woman didn’t know love, she couldn’t even feel love and she wasn’t able to give love, YET!  John 4: 19-2619 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Without God’s Love we perceive all sorts of un truths about God. If you don’t know God’s love you won’t love Him, nor will you love others, also if you don’t know God you won’t feel love, and lastly you won’t be able to give love because you’ve never experienced what it is.  When we have been loved by God amazing Grace becomes a reality, we are able to share the Glory of God by sharing Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:6 says “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

So what happens to the Samaritan woman? She saw the face of Jesus Christ, her heart was changed by the knowledge of the glory of God, God had shone the light on her dark unbelieving heart and she believed, not only that she experienced love, she knew Jesus loved her, she felt it, she went and shared it to everyone she came into contact with.

How is this Possible? Because there is a new covenant, one filled with Glory! By accepting Jesus and his righteousness we have a freedom to enjoy it and share it. We aren’t bound to follow the law out of fear of failure but we are set free to live in Christ’s righteousness and obey Him out of love.

Listen to this description of what the ministry of the Spirit is doing…2 Corinthians 3:7-18The Glory of the New Covenant

 ⁷Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, ⁸will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? ⁹If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! ¹⁰For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. ¹¹And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

 ¹²Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. ¹³We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. ¹⁴But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

As we look back at the text we know that there is only one true God, that without His Love, without His Son leaving us the Spirit of God to comfort us, we wouldn’t know love, feel love or give love,

7Beloved,^(A) let us love one another, for love is from God, and⁽B⁾ whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8⁽C⁾ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because^(D) God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that^(E) God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10In this is love,^(F) not that we have loved God⁽G⁾ but that he loved us and sent his Son to be⁽H⁾ the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12⁽I⁾ No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and^(J) his love is perfected in us.

but with the Spirit we are able

3)What “the” are you talking about? How are you loving? When you love, you are talking about the God!

a)Know God loves you

b)Let God’s love shine through you

c)Love One another with God’s love

It’s pretty obvious and simple I know, God loves you, but do you know it, accept it,  believe it, are you abiding in God? Are you spending quality  time with  THE GOD and not a god that you like to worship, Well my God wouldn’t do this or that, well my God doesn’t care if I do this or that, or I have to do this or that or my God won’t love me??? Know this GOD LOVES YOU! THE GOD, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He loves you more than you will ever comprehend.

Let God’s love shine through you.  How do I do that? This is the part that seems easy but is extremely hard! Love one another with God’s love that He has given you. You can’t hoard God’s love, you have to give it away. You have to glorify Him with your life and enjoy Him with your thoughts, words and deeds. By doing this others will see God’s love shining in this dark world, it is uncommon to love unconditionally, it is uncommon to care about others when they have persecuted you, it is uncommon to love people who have slandered your reputation and have beaten and spat upon you, it is uncommon to die for the sins of people who mock your very existence. It is uncommon to forgive people who are cold and dead to you, but not only forgive them but restore them into a right relationship with you, and not just any relationship but a relationship that is unending, one that gives them a kingdom, one that offers them no more pain and suffering, one that promises a hope of holiness. Yes this love is worth sharing!

Love one another with God’s Love.

Let’s end the sermon by reading 2 Corinthians 13:11 together:

Final Greetings

 11Finally, brothers,^[a] rejoice.⁽A⁾ Aim for restoration, comfort one another,^[b^](B⁾ agree with one another,⁽C⁾ live in peace; and the God of love and⁽D⁾ peace will be with you.

Let’s Pray!!!

 An outline that was provided.

Part 1: WHAT “THE” ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT,

The “The” I’m talking about this morning is, THE GOD,

1)   There is only ONE GOD, THE GOD…

a)God the Father

b)God the Son

c)God the Holy Spirit

2)   Without God’s Love, without the love of the God, you won’t love.

d)   you won’t know love

e)    you won’t feel love

f)     you won’t give love

3)   What “the” are you talking about? How are you loving? When you love, you are talking about the God!

a)Know God loves you

b)Let God’s love shine through you

c)Love One another with God’s love