I had trouble with my eyes this morning. They felt scratched and instead of immediately soothing them I rubbed them. It is probably due to the heater running all night. I ended up watching service online.
We celebrated with the Fourth Advent candle representing The Love of God.
Pastor's Message was from John 3:14-17 which includes one of the best known verses of the Bible.
“God so loved” – is the only way He can love. Some scholars interpret the passage as ‘God loved the world, SO He gave….’
When you are at your worst, God loves you.
When you are in rebellion, God loves you.
God doesn’t love our sins, but He loves us.
We often struggle to serve as God wants us to, but He still loves us.
John tells us that God is Love. 1 John 4 (verse 16 but read the full chapter)!
The enemy will try to tell us that our behavior and our thoughts make us unlovable; that God can’t love us. These are lies. God loves us in spite of our issues.
God’s love does not condemn. There is a difference between conviction and condemnation.
We do not deserve God’s love. We cannot earn God’s love. God loves as His nature. He loves us by His Grace! The coming of Jesus has nothing to do with who we are, but with who He is.
“4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
God isn’t arrogant. God doesn’t get irritated with us. He isn’t resentful
God does not need our worship, nor need our relationship. He is complete in who He is. But He desires our worship.
Contrast God’s love to man’s love of others: Jonah didn’t want to take God’s message because he thought Nineveh should be punished. Jonah was judgmental and then resentful. But God loved even the sinful Ninevites and He gave them a chance to repent.
Trust God’s love. His love bears with our failures. He always wants what is best for us. He may be rejected, but He still loves.
This sweet song fits this message: Love’s Pure Light.
John 3:14-17 NIV
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Heavenly Father – I give thanks that You loved me so much that You sent your only son to save me from my sins. Thank you for the example of Your unconditional Love. Help me to show Your Love to others.
