Jesus Is Love!
I John 3:16-18
Good Morning from the Voices Of Hope Evangelistic Team! It’s such a blessing to be able to worship with you today wherever you are! I thank God for the opportunity to serve Him and to share His message with the world through today’s technology!
We are concluding our series on the four Sundays of Advent. The theme for the First Sunday of Advent was Hope; the theme for the Second Sunday of Advent was Peace; the theme for the Third Sunday of Advent was Joy. Today, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look at the fourth candle representing Love and the Christmas Eve candle representing Christ. The title of today's Message is “Jesus Is Love!” Our scripture comes from the New Testament Book of I John, Chapter 3, verses 16 through 18 and you may want to turn there in your Bible.
Many of us have seen a bumper sticker on cars that reads “Smile, God loves you!” These are simple words, but they convey the greatest and most liberating truth the world could ever know. God loves me, God loves you, God loves each and every one of us!
Now reading from I John 3:16-18 (KJV):
16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Let’s Pray: Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of light, shining upon us in the face of Jesus our Savior. Lead us now, by the light of Your love, that we also may follow You to new life in Him. May the light of Christ shine brightly in our hearts, guiding us through life and leading us to Your truth.
May we always remember to put You first as we follow Christ’s footsteps, that we may know Your love and show it in our lives. As we prepare for our celebration of Jesus’ birth, fill our hearts with love for the world, that all may know Your love and the One You have sent, Your Son, our Savior. We pray, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Love is a word we use a lot to describe our affection for things and in America we love a lot of things.
We love our kids.
We love our spouses.
We love our freedom.
We love our sports teams.
We love chocolate.
We love steak.
We love ice cream.
We love pizza.
We love our pets.
We love so much that there are over 100 songs that were number one hits that have the word love in the title.
Back in 1956, Elvis wanted people to “Love me Tender,” and then a few years later, he sang that that he “Can’t help falling in Love” (1962). Even though he couldn’t help falling in love, some obviously could because there were those who had “lost that lovin’ feelin’” according to the Righteous Brothers.
The Supremes wanted people to “Stop in the Name of Love” while the Beatles told us that “All You Need is Love.” A few years later, while The Partridge Family sang, “I think I love you,” Olivia Newton John could say, “I honestly Love you.”
In 1975, the Eagles were willing to give the “Best of my Love” and Captain and Tenille told us that “Love will keep us together.” By 1976, Paul McCartney was decrying all the “Silly Love Songs,” but REO Speedwagon vowed in 1981 to “Keep on Lovin’ You.” It was the only thing they wanted to do.
Lionel Richie and Diana Ross knew that they would keep on loving because they sang about their “Endless love” in 1981 while Tina Turner wanted to know “What’s Love Got to do with it” in 1984.
In 1985, Whitney Houston was “Saving all my love for you” even as Foreigner said “I want to know what Love is.”
Today’s scripture gives the answer to Foreigner’s statement. Reading I John 3:16-18 from the New Living Translation:
16” We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? 18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”
Today we light the fourth candle of Advent. This is the candle of LOVE. Jesus demonstrated self-giving love in His ministry as the Good Shepherd. Advent is a time for kindness, thinking of others, and sharing with others. It is a time to love as God loved us by giving us His most precious gift. As God is love, let us be love also.
In the Book of Deuteronomy, we find these words: “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”—Deuteronomy 10:17-19a
From the Gospel of John, we hear:
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”—John 13:34-35
Since Christmas Eve will have occurred before I share another Message, we’ll also look at the Christ Candle, which is in the center of the Advent Wreath. The four candles we’ve previously discussed are all focused around this candle in the center of the Advent Wreath, which is the Candle of Salvation: The Hope in Salvation; the Peace in Salvation; the Joy in Salvation; the Love in Salvation.
Romans 5:6-8 (NLT) says:
6 “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners”.
Love is important to God, for He does not merely love, He IS love. Christmas is the ultimate expression of God’s great love for man. Jesus did not come to condemn BECAUSE those who do not believe already stand condemned. Christ died for us while we were enemies. Think about that. Would we die to save a terrorist or some other criminal who had no love for us? Would we be willing to give up our life to save one of them? Maybe this sounds a bit extreme, but God says we were once enemies and alienated from Him. The analogy is a very fair comparison to make. Christ died for us when we were on the opposing side; that's how much and how deeply God loves. He sent His own Son to earth, knowing He would be beaten and killed. Why? Because He loved us that much.
God’s love is the same for us yesterday, as it is today, and as it will be forever and forever. God’s enduring love cares for us, treats us all as equals, and is always there no matter what we do, what we have done, or what we will do; God will always love us. Do we realize that? Do we KNOW that we are loved by the One who created us, this world, this universe with His words? Do we love Him in return, or do we turn a deaf ear, a blind eye, and a hard heart to the One who calls us to be part of His family, one of His children.
Christmas is the story of God's love-gift to mankind. That is Christ Himself, the present that continues to give to everyone who calls on His name. He is alive and well, and is near to all who call on Him and trust in Him. How great the Father's love that He sent His only begotten Son, so that we could become His children too. That's love worth celebrating, not just at Christmas, but the whole year through.
Before Jesus came, the world lay in darkness. People were far from God, not understanding His Word. But then, “the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” Jesus came to us as a light for a darkened world. And He told us that we, too, were to be lights for the world. Let us remember that we are called to be light, reflecting the greater glory of the Son of God.
In II Corinthians 4:7 Paul says: “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”
This Christmas season and beyond, may we share the light of Jesus with the world around us. May we realize that whatever is going on in our lives right now – guess what – it’s not about us, it’s about God wanting to break into our lives; into our homes; into our holiday; into our hearts. God has a purpose for us. God has a purpose for what we are going through – He wants to be in the middle of our lives. He doesn’t want our problems to be the center of our lives. He doesn’t want our circumstances to be the center of our lives. He doesn’t want our situations to be the center of our lives. God - Himself - wants to be the center of our lives.
John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
And I John 5:13 tells us: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
Jesus has provided the gift of salvation to us which gives us not only hope for today, but hope for eternity. Have you believed on Him from your heart? Have you acknowledged Him as your Lord and Savior this morning? If you’ve never accepted Christ into your life, then this is your opportunity. You can receive God’s grace and begin a relationship with Jesus today.
In Romans 10:9, we are told that “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
We receive salvation when we:
(1) Repent of our sins.
(2) Trust Jesus Christ as our Savior.
(3) Confess Jesus Christ as Lord.
If you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, invite Him into your life right now.
Or maybe there are those who are far away from Jesus. Have you allowed your comfortable, personally focused desires to act as an eclipse between you and God? Is Jesus obscured or completely blacked out of your life? Do you miss him?
All it takes is to open yourself and say "I want things to be different. I know things need to be different. I know what’s wrong, what doesn’t belong and I invite You, Jesus, to come and change me. I want you back."
When we turn back to Jesus in repentance, when we ask for forgiveness, intending to live a godly life, God’s mercy reaches out to us with a message of love. God is a God of mercy, of redemption, of restoration and of renewal. Just come by faith to the throne of grace to receive it. He is waiting for you with open arms. Repent all over again and get back to fulfilling God’s plan in and through your life.
I’ll close with this story from Charlene M. Speer and ‘Christian Life Ministry’ on Facebook.
“In 1965, Charles Schulz, a devout Christian and creator of the Peanuts comic strip, was asked to create a Christmas special for CBS featuring the Peanuts Characters. He agreed with one requirement, that they allow him to include the story of the birth of Jesus. Although the stations’ executives were hesitant and tried to convince him otherwise, Schulz was insistent. As a result, for the past 50 plus years, millions of people have watched “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and heard the story of Jesus and “what Christmas is all about.”
It wasn’t until a few years back that I realized a “hidden message” in the film. Linus is a child who seems to have some insecurities as he carries a security blanket with him at all times. In fact, Linus NEVER drops his blanket, except once....
While sharing the message of “what Christmas is all about,” Linus drops his blanket at the exact moment he says the words, “fear not!”
In this seemingly innocent moment, Linus delivers a powerful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. We are to “fear not”, for Jesus is born. We needn’t rely on material things for security, we have God with us, “Immanuel”, (Matthew 1:23) Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior - the true meaning of Christmas.
Awhile back, someone informed me, indignantly so, that Linus picks up his blanket at the end of the speech so my interpretation must be wrong. Well, he was right, Linus does pick up his blanket at the end of his speech. However, he “drops” it again later...
Amid big, bright, colorful, shiny artificial trees, Charlie Brown chose the least of these, a little, wooden tree with just a few branches. Shortly thereafter, Linus uses his blanket to wrap about the base of the tree and says, “Maybe it just needs a little love”. In that moment, the tree “awakens”, stands tall and firm. A reminder that no matter who we are, how many mistakes we’ve made, a “little love” can make all the difference.
Let’s strive to “fear not” (Luke 2:10) and “love one another” (John 13:34), not just at Christmastime, but the whole year through.”
This Advent you may encounter Grinches who will try to steal the true meaning of Christmas away from you and I pray that you won't let them. Keep asking yourself the question throughout Advent, "What is it that I am truly hoping to receive on Christmas day?" "What is it that God has promised to all of us that no one can ever remove?
As Christians we know that it is our faith and hope in the child that was born that night who brings our salvation and the promise of life everlasting...let no Grinch take that away!
Let us pray: Thank You, Father, for being a perfect Heavenly Father for us, for sending us Your Son to save us from our sins, and for putting Your Holy Spirit into each one of us so that we are never without Your presence. Help us to depend on You, to trust in Your truth, and to serve like You. Help us to find time to slow down this Christmas season; say “no” to the things that distract us from Jesus and say “yes” to the gift that You want us to experience. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.