Sunday Worship Service - 12/07/2025 - What Love Does

And every single year, like, we treat image bearers as tools or obstacles getting in the way of our success and our fulfillment.And what I would submit to you and what I believe the Apostle John would submit to you in 1 John is that the reason we do crazy things like that is because we do not understand the love of God.We have not embraced the love of God.Now, here's what I know.I'm up against it as I preach this sermon.I know it.As I talk about the love of God. [00:30:53] (37 seconds)  #StopUsingPeopleEmbraceLove

Because if all of us in this room really believed that the God of the universe who set the planets in motion, who hung the stars in the sky, if we really believed that we were loved and accepted and satisfied by him completely, then we could forgive our neighbor.We could say the words, I'm wrong.I'm sorry.And yet, so often, those words, like we know the English language, but it's so hard for us to spit those words out.I believe if we all really believed God loved us, it would change everything. [00:32:39] (35 seconds)  #LoveLeadsToForgiveness

And it's not just a statement.Like, I find many times when I talk to people, they'll say, hey, man, I love the whole idea.Like, love moves.Yeah, that's what it's all about.Like, we should be the hands and feet in our community.Like, social justice.Like, we should actually care for people and be a light in the darkness.And I'm like, hey, brother, I believe all that.But that's not inherently what love moves means.Love moves doesn't start with us.It started with God.This is describing how God loved us. [00:36:27] (25 seconds)  #LoveMovedByGod

God, the one who started the whole universe, broke into human history.And he came and he moved toward us.He did not love us and shout that from heaven.He loved us and came and lived amongst us.This is the meaning of the incarnation.This is the entire season of Advent.And we know, as believers, Jesus didn't just come once.He will come again.Amen?He is coming again.So our second Advent is looking toward Jesus moving to us once again to make all things right.No more tears, no more pain, no more death.That day is coming, friends.And we look forward to God moving once again. [00:37:30] (40 seconds)  #AwaitingSecondAdvent

Yet many times, we'll start our story a different way.We'll start a testimony a different way.Some of us will have a testimony like this.Some of you who don't have that story, you'll say, hey, I was running away from God.And I was running into all sorts of rebellion and addiction and substance and sex.Looking for belonging, looking for success.And yet I realized my sin and God broke through and he rescued me.And typically, the way we even share our story, it starts with us.The Bible shares a different sequence.His sequence starts with him. [00:38:58] (51 seconds)  #GodStartsTheStory

Why?Because he knows he's pleased with, he's loved, he's accepted by the Father.This changes everything.When you realize God first moved to you.While you were indifferent, while you didn't go to church and chose to stay home and watch football.While you thought that thing, did that thing, didn't do that thing.And then had a cycle of that for a large portion of your life.God saw that and said, yeah, I'm coming.I'm coming for you. [00:41:23] (32 seconds)  #GodCameForYou

Do you look to others and love them freed up with that amazing love that first came to you?Do you love others with that in view?Or do you use other people as a tool to network with and find some success or perception of success from them to feel some longing that you already have in Jesus Christ?Imagine if we knew, if we lived with the idea of God loves us so much he moved towards us in the midst of our rebellion or our self-righteousness.Imagine how that would free you up to love others because you wouldn't need to use other people. [00:42:08] (41 seconds)  #LoveFreesUsFromUsingOthers

They wouldn't need to be obstacles that you've got to fight over at Black Friday to get that thing to fulfill you this Christmas.Or to make sure you look like your father of the year to your kids.You would know there's already a father of eternity and he loves me.And so I can take a breath this Christmas.Amen.I can forgive somebody this Christmas.I can say the words I'm sorry this Christmas because my identity is not found in whether these people think I'm awesome.My identity is first found in the God of the universe who loves me.It would change everything. [00:42:50] (36 seconds)  #IdentityFoundInGod

And once a year, only once a year, and only the high priest was able to go into the dwelling place of God.Was able to go into the presence, the holiness, the love of God.But the way he did it, just once a year, was he had to take a lamb, an innocent lamb, and he had to sacrifice it.And he had to take that blood of that lamb, and he had to put it on that box.And that was called the mercy seat. [00:46:32] (31 seconds)  #MercySeatAndLamb

Because it was in that moment, because of innocent blood covering our ugly sin, that man could be in the presence of a holy and loving God.And here's what John just said.Jesus Christ, he's not just a lamb.He's the perfect son of God.And he, on the cross, he provided for you propitiation.And some of you, if you really knew what that meant, you would say amen to that.Thank God for propitiation.That he provided for you in that moment, propitiation, which exchanged the wrath of God for all of your sin, for favor with God. [00:47:05] (44 seconds)  #JesusProvidedPropitiation

In that moment, on the cross, the perfect son of God shed blood for every sin you've ever committed or will ever commit.Your sins of commission, your sins of omission.The sins that you don't like to speak about of lust, of gossip, of greed, of anger, but also the respectable sins of pride and self-righteousness.Because Jesus Christ took God's wrath for all of your sin, and he threw it on Jesus instead of you. [00:47:50] (31 seconds)  #JesusPaidItAll

And now, you don't just get to come and be in the presence of God one time of the year, because you get the animal, and you get the blood, and you wipe it on a box.You get to, as John says, over and over and over, the word he uses is abide, abide.You get to abide.Make your home in the presence of God.You get to live in the holiness of God, the love of God.When you're in the shower, when you're in the car, when you're in a church house, when you're in the White House, no matter what house you're in, you're in God's house if you know Jesus Christ. [00:48:23] (34 seconds)  #AbideInGod

And what John is showing us is that love is free to you, but it costs him greatly.And the reality is, to love like this for us, it costs us greatly.So I think a sermon like this, as I studied it, you know, God is love, and we love because he first loved us.And it's just like, it could just be all feely, and God loves us.It could be all therapeutic.And I just want you to know, no matter where you've been, no matter what you've done, God loves you, and we can all walk out of here with the warm fuzzies.And yet, that's not how John portrays this.There is a sequence to this thing. [00:49:10] (34 seconds)  #LoveIsFreeButItCosts

And we love, not just with love is love, affirmation, encouraging, I just want to sprinkle love all over this room right now.We love with a costly love because it's the love of God.So, friends, listen to me.If you love your spouse, it will cost you.If you love friends, it will cost you.If you love the world who doesn't know God, it will cost you. [00:50:46] (31 seconds)  #CostlyLove

And guess what?It's true love.Because you're loving someone who has been indifferent to you.You're loving someone who has rejected you.This is the beauty of the local church.Do you know why people stay in churches?Do you think it's because nobody ever hurt them?Do you think it's because they liked every single song we ever sang?Let me just tell you, that church does not exist.At some point, we're imperfect people moved by perfect love.At some point, we're imperfect.Therefore, if we rub shoulders together longer than three hours, we will hurt one another. [00:54:27] (37 seconds)  #ImperfectPeoplePerfectLove

The way my relationship started with my wife is we saw each other in a chemistry lab.She did this walk.I did this walk.She turned, waved slightly, and smiled at me.And I came home and told my roommate, I think I may be in love.And he's like, bro, she didn't even talk to you.I'm like, but you should have seen this girl.And do you know what I did not do in that moment?I did not stay on my couch watching the Dallas Cowboys.You know what I did?I got up off that couch.And I began to move. [00:56:31] (30 seconds)  #ActForLove

Here's the last thing.Love frees.John doesn't, in the midst of all this, some of us are feeling convicted right now.Amen.Hey, we should love people more.We should love people even when it hurts.We should extend not just like thoughts and words.We should extend deed to one another, sacrificial love to one another.We should do that more, but John doesn't say, hey, stop being so selfish.Get your act together and love other people like it's a burden.No, John talks about it like it's a freedom. [00:58:54] (26 seconds)  #LoveIsFreedom

John says you should love one another.If your brother isn't loving somebody else, he's a liar.And yet he doesn't say, you hypocrite.He just goes deeper and deeper into how God loves you.And to how you need to embrace this love.There is no fear.His love silences fear.You do not have to be anxious or worried about finding your success or your significance in the love of another.You do not have to be anxious at Christmastime to get the right experience, to get the right gift,to get some kind of achievement and acceptance.John is saying you already have it perfectly in God. [00:59:47] (42 seconds)  #HisLoveSilencesFear

If you will embrace that, if you will experience that, if you will receive that, you will be freed from fear, freed from anxiety.You will be freed up from using people and you will be able to love people.And it's the people who never get that, who never get the love of the Father, that it's so hard for them to love somebody else. [01:00:45] (27 seconds)  #LoveFreesFromFear

And at the end of that, I was like, well, that's good.That's why I paid you.That's true.How did you do that?And I just realized, man, even as a pastor, I'm preaching about love all the time.I don't know that God loves me.And that's inhibiting the way I experience love with my wife and my kids and my church.And what started to unlock for me was the love of God. [01:05:48] (21 seconds)  #GodsLoveUnlockedMe