All right we are going to get
right into the word this morning i don’t
have
a a portion of scripture i’m going to
read for the sake of time and the sake
of our topic for the next three sundays
i’m just going to dig in if that’s okay
and we’re going to talk about this
morning
is love for god so we’re going to have a
little bit of a theme
for the next few weeks and it’s going to
be this love for god
love for life and love for people and i
think this
really those three phrases encapsulate
what christianity means where it began
well it begins with god
it comes to us and it flows through us
so i think if we take those three themes
and really just and and take some time
and focus for the next few weeks
we’re going to be encouraged and we’re
going to see something amazing transpire
in our own hearts
and in our lives amen so again i want to
say good morning
and i hope today finds you well yeah
so let’s just hope it finds us well
we’re again in the middle of that
stay-at-home order so
i’ve been contemplating this season for
a while and what this season looks like
and what this season
brings and you know we’ve been going
through this for
for a little while and i realized
something as i’ve been contemplating
this and thinking about this and i just
mentioned it earlier
i think we all have a choice to make in
this season
and maybe various choices but i think
here’s the choices we have to make
do we just wait and do nothing
you know we’re we’re mandated to stay
home we’re mandated to work from home if
you can
so we’re mandated to not to come to
church so what do we do do
we just wait or do we just wait for
things to get better
so we do we just wait for things to get
back to normal
or can we actually use this time
to prepare ourselves for what’s ahead
so i’m convinced of something i think if
we can spend this time
in preparation to be equipped
to be ready for what’s ahead so today
we’re going to choose here at poor
church
to spend our time getting prepared for
what’s to come
and i’m convinced of this i’m convinced
of this
we’re ending entering a season of
opportunity for the gospel
like never before our world is
hungry how will we prepare today
for tomorrow and here’s what this
love does so this theme that we’re going
to tackle about love
love prepares us to serve love
prepares us to give love prepares us to
sacrifice
so with that being said let’s use this
time during the lockdown
to really get equipped to be ready to
just hit the ground
running once this once this season lifts
amen
so i’m going to spend the next few weeks
doing just that equipping this church
to serve and to love amen so our theme
is love god
love life and love people and when we
the church not only understand in our
heads
but our hearts and when our hearts are
touched by
love something happens so it
it you could i suppose in one way
talk about love from a very mental
position
say love is this i love because i do a b
c and d
and that might be some truth to that but
i found this
love transforms us when it goes from
here
to here and our hearts are transformed
by love
and then i’ve noticed this whatever is
in my heart
oh guess what my world gets it so
if i understand god’s love up here and
if that love drops into my heart
guess what my hands now are the
expression of god’s love
so wherever i go whatever i touch
whatever i do
has a taste a smell a scent a presence
of god’s love on it
amen that’s the church friends
that’s the church so it must go from our
heads
to our hearts and flow out of through
our hands
and touch our world amen so what is our
ethos here
at poor church what is it that we want
people to experience
want people to know when when people
come or you’re hearing this for the
first time
who are we at port church well we’re
this
we’re people who are in love that’s what
we are
and we want to be known as people who
love
so what do we love who do we love so
we’re going to look at this in a couple
of different ways this morning
where does this love come from and who
do we just bestow this love on
you know we say it like this love god
love life
love people i think friends that little
phrase
there encapsulates the christian life
you know it’s if we can get again we can
get so spiritual
where everything in our life becomes
about loving god
loving god it’s it’s everything’s
directed towards god
well that’s true but in order to love
god we must love what god loves
amen so what does god love
well god loves people god loves his son
god loves the earth god loves his
creation
amen so we have to learn to love the
things that god loves
now i’m getting a little bit ahead of
myself but i love to give you a little
teasers as we go
so let’s begin if you have your bibles
you can go with me to john chapter 13
the gospel of john chapter 13 and again
our topic today is
love god so let’s begin by giving a
working definition of
love because i i think too often
especially in the western world
we love everything we love our dogs we
love our cats we love our homes
we love our cars we love our kids and we
don’t really necessarily have a
different word to describe each love
but i hope you love your kids more than
your cat amen
here we go and now someone’s going to
send me an email and say oh
my cat is like my child let’s move on
here we go so let’s begin by looking at
this what is love how do we define
love what is our working definition for
the next
few weeks but not only that keep this
definition
in your mind this applies to your life
this applies to your marriage
this applies to your family this applies
to church
this applies to everything in our world
amen what is love
how do we define love here’s how i
define love
love is this to serve or
sacrifice for someone or something
i’m going to say that one more time love
is this to serve
or to sacrifice for someone or something
so friends there’s people who love their
career
who love the concept of of of corporate
advancement
that’s not such a bad thing but you know
what if you watch them
you can absolutely see it’s their love
they serve that thing
they make sacrifices for it they’ll wake
up early
they’ll stay late they’ll work on
weekends and evenings why
that’s sacrificial love man listen
at the end of the day we’re all knowing
we
we don’t have to really tell people what
we love
can we agree on that if i’m a wise
person
all i need to do is watch you
and figure out what you love so i’ll
watch you in a few ways
and you can do the same to me how do we
know what we love
what do we do with our time what do we
do with our treasure
and what do we do with our talent what
we do with those things i promise you
this
will always be projected toward the
thing we love
so now this love must drop from our
brains as a definition
and to our hearts so it’s not enough to
say yes
love is love is service and love is
sacrifice for someone or something
let that definition drop let it hit our
hearts
and i would say this most of us have
this functioning in our lives already
maybe for some of us this morning this
is a redirection of our hearts
maybe the holy spirit this morning is
challenging some of us
to redirect our love so we actually come
to a place where we can say
we love god well if i love
god the question then is how do i serve
god
what sacrifices am i making as an
expression of that love
do i have to no i want to listen listen
you don’t have to you don’t have to
convince most parents that they
they should sacrifice for their kids
they just do
why because we love
so a lot of times when love is present
the service and the sacrifice
is the after effect that doesn’t come
first
amen so let that love come out
let this definition of love of service
and sacrifice
let it come out of us and one of my
favorite verses we’re going to go there
john 13 35
34 and 35 john 13 34 and 35 you ready
it says just jesus speaking he says a
new command i give you
love one another this isn’t amazing i’m
gonna pause here for a moment this isn’t
in my notes
but it’s interesting nonetheless jesus
says a new
command i give you he doesn’t say a
suggestion
he doesn’t say you know what we should
do as nice christians
no he says i command you to love
wow that’s a strong word
that’s a powerful word that that there’s
there’s no subjection to that word
this is what jesus says i command you
i i get the command i give you is love
one another so
serve and sacrifice for one another
don’t just read this friends without
putting some
some into the terms amen since i command
you
i the command i give you is love
so what are we called to do serve and
sacrifice
for one another as i have loved you now
here’s the question that’s a simple one
rhetorical question did jesus serve us
did jesus sacrifice for his church
absolutely friends
he went to the cross and gave his life
a sacrificial death
god so loved the world he gave we’re
going to get there
so as i have loved you so you must
love one another sacrificially next
verse please roma
it says this now i love this look at
this
buy this by what buy this kind of
service and sacrificial love everyone
will know
that you are my disciples
if you love one another if
you serve and sacrifice for one another
friends
here is the these this is the two verses
that
mark the christian life see
again is it okay to tell people you’re a
christian
absolutely okay to tell people you’re a
christian but you know what i like
when people say why are you doing that
why are you serving people why do you
wake up every sunday morning and go to
church
why are you logging on to that guy
talking
what benefit is that you gave money to
that church why
see when people see our love
that’s another thing that’s a deeper
level
than hearing of our love see when people
can experience
our love that’s a love that changes them
come on can you think can you think back
far enough
before you were married or before you
had a meaningful relationship in your
life
before you fell in love with someone
i remember those days and people would
sort of say oh what about this person
what about that person
but you know when i met rachel i
fell in love with her and i think that
was god
because all of a sudden i started to
feel things that i’d never felt before
now maybe i had a working definition in
my head
of what that might look like and feel
like but until i experienced love
i didn’t really know love friends
how are we going to change our world
how are we going to hit the ground
running once this pandemic
ends how are we going to love and serve
the world
our communities our neighbors our
friends friends
they must experience this love this is
why jesus says
by this love this service the sacrifice
that we have for one another
everyone will know that you were my
disciples what is disciple
someone who’s trained and equipped after
god
if you love one another okay i i i’ve
exhausted my my time on there i can’t
spend it anymore
so here’s the reality people don’t know
what we believe
until they s until they see how we live
so as we live our love for god
it must be seen to be understood
it must be experienced to be to be
enjoyed amen john 3 16 and we’re going
to spend a little bit of time there
john chapter 3 verse 16. here we go you
ready
it says this for god so loved the world
now look at this again service and
sacrifice
for god so served in sacrifice for the
world
that he gave his one and only son
there’s the service and sacrifice that
whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life
friends i’m going to try to break this
down a little bit for us in the in the
next 10 or 15 minutes are you ready
for god so loved the world so there’s a
few things that we can learn about
love from this one verse and this
friends is maybe
the most famous verse in the bible roma
if you can just leave it up behind me
that would be awesome
john chapter 3 verse 16 is arguably
the most famous verse in the bible and i
believe it’s famous and it should be
famous
for the some of the reasons i’m a layout
for us this morning amen
so here’s a few things we can learn
about god from this verse the first
thing we see
we see is this for god so loved the
world i’m not going to talk about love
because love is service and sacrifice
so who did god serve and sacrifice the
world
so what do we learn about god’s love by
his love for the world well god loves
it god’s love is never selective
that’s what i love god’s love for the
world is not selective
christian the god of christianity
doesn’t say
make yourself good and then i’ll love
you
no no no friends that’s the god of a lot
of other religions
but it’s not the god of christianity the
god of christianity says no
i’ll love you when you’re not lovable
i’ll do for you
when you’re unable to do for yourself
i’ll give to you
when you have nothing to give back to me
that’s the god of christianity and who
does he just
bestow that love on the world
so god’s love is never selective god’s
love is all-inclusive
that means all people are worthy of
respect
and love whatever their race
religion color creed gender
all people are worthy of this love
because that’s what the verse tells us
for god so loved
the world amen there’s no exception
there’s no one person that is so bad and
so far gone
that god’s love cannot reach them no no
friends god
loves all people amen so at poor
church here’s how we love we express
this love that god has given us
the same way by loving all people
we love all people see i think sometimes
as believers
here’s where we can get a little balled
up because we say well
can we love an alcoholic
can we love a workaholic
can we love someone who’s struggling
with their sexuality
can we love someone who’s been divorced
because if we love them pastor andy are
we not condoning their sin
no on the contrary see when people under
when people receive god’s love friends
that’s the transformative power of god
come on come on it’s when they receive
god’s love that their lives are
transformed
come on you and i struggle with sin you
and i know
people in our lives who struggle with
sin what’s the answer
it’s the answer to kick them out i say
go find god get yourself right no the
answer is to say come
come let us love you let god’s love
transform your life because friends
remember this
god loves us too much to leave us how we
are
thank god come on thank god he loves me
too much to leave me as i am thank god
he’s always calling me
and challenging me and bringing me
closer to him and when i come closer to
him guess what
all those other things that i’m going
after and all those other things i get
involved
they start to fall away but the further
i get from him oh those
those things become more enticing so
listen
listen the key is this bring people into
your
world bring people close
let them touch feel taste and see the
love of god
and don’t worry so much that you’re
trying to fix them
you can’t fix them and i can’t fix them
oh but the love of god
is transformative amen
here we go second thing he says this
for god so loved the world that he gave
everybody say he gave
you’re at home i hope you said he gave
to someone someone thinks you’re talking
to yourself right now
here we go he gave so this love this
god’s love
therefore our love is sacrificial
listen any time you give
and i want to i want you to hear this as
clear as a bell
any time you give of your time your
treasure
or your talent into the gospel the work
of god or somebody else’s
life it is sacrificial and the reason
it’s sacrificial
is because you could put that time your
treasure or your talent somewhere else
and you could use it to serve you come
on
i say this almost every sunday when i
receive the offering
i say thank you for giving sacrificially
because i know you have bills where this
money could go
but you know what drives us love see
religion says you better give or god’s
gonna get you
no no
christianity says no i get to give oh it
doesn’t make sense
but i get to give i get to serve i get
to
i get to use my talents and utilize my
talents for somebody else’s good why
because love is compelling me
love compels not only does love draw
not only does love transform now love
compels me to do something
it compels me to give it compels me to
serve
it compels me to go the extra step it
compels me to carry your burden
it compels me to pray for you come on
that’s
love man so when we say love
god we’re it’s it’s not a cliche to us
it’s a lifestyle it’s who we
are and you know what our world will be
touched by
that see what you and i are convinced of
is what our world gets touched by what
are you convinced of
well i’ll tell you what you’re convinced
of you’re convinced of
whatever you give your time treasure and
talent to that’s you’re convinced that’s
what you’re convinced of
and you’re convinced the more you give
to that thing you’re going to get the
life you want
i don’t know but i do know this
the more we follow after him oh we get a
life we never dreamed of
the more i serve him god opens doors and
opportunities for me
that i never dreamed possible
that’s the life with him amen
come on may his kingdom come may
his will be done for your life
you know the friends confession time i
think i spent too many years of my life
asking and praying god to give me the
life i wanted
do you know what changed for me when i
simply said this god i don’t want the
life i want
i want the life you have for me come on
will you be bold enough
to ask god for the life he has for you
no no not the life you want the life he
has
because friends he’s got a life set
aside for you
you may say ah but i’m too old i’ve lost
so much of my life
no no you got life ahead of you friends
and you know what in a moment god can
bring you into a place
where you begin to serve him with every
ounce of your being
and you’ll see something happen that you
never dreamed possible but you know what
you’re gonna realize
somewhere deep inside of you that was
always there
that little hope that little dream that
little belief was
always way down there and then all these
other things start to over
overpower it christ takes us back to who
we are
how do we know who we are because god
made us who we are amen
come on he gave so you’re
every time you do this you’re
sacrificing you’re making a sacrifice
every time you give
our world it knows what we value by what
we sacrificially give to
we give to the gospel because we know
that god’s
god loves people therefore loving people
and the gospel
reveals god’s love for people so listen
when you and i give when we serve when
we love
when we do these things sacrificially in
church
for believers in christ for people who
are not yet believers in christ
it shouts our life speaks listen to this
our sacrifice our sacrifices
scream to our world what we love
they shout to our world what we love
how we serve people shouts to our world
listen you have a platform man you have
a megaphone and you know what your
megaphone and platform is
your sacrifice and your love your
sacrifice
and your service that shouts something
to your world
let it shout here we go point three
for god so loved the world that he gave
his only
son what does that tell us about god’s
love
love friends is costly
listen god gave his only son
his best his treasured possession
to love god we will be called to give
our best
our treasured our treasured possessions
but let me say this the reward
from god when we give our best
is almost mind-boggling god
gave his son and now god has redeemed
billions of sons and daughters because
of jesus
the fruit that god received
after he gave his son to die on a cross
is you and i friends
god has received billions of in in his
harvest
so when you’re called from time to time
in your life
to give serve love forgive
sacrificially what does that mean
what a sacrifice means it hurts a little
bit
you feel it see it’s not a sacrifice
unless you feel it have you ever had to
forgive
sacrificially we’re saying look
i’m forgiven but they should be
forgiving they should be forgiving
i’m the one forgiving but they they they
need to understand forgiveness
so you feel that have you ever had to
love sacrificially where you’re loving
and loving and loving and getting no
love in return
come on see that’s the kind of service
that’s the kind of sacrifice that we’re
talking about that we must give from
time to time
oh this is our lord this is jesus amen
and remember this whatever sacrifice god
asks you to make
the reward will far outweigh
the sacrifice amen here we go
point four for god so loved the world
that he gave his only son
that whoever believes in him so whoever
believes this is what we talk about love
it’s so
open you can almost when you read this
verse you feel
god’s arms like this wide open
just ready to wrap up the whole world
so whoever believes can receive this
love
so whoever believes in god’s love
receives god’s love
the more we believe god can be trusted
with our lives
the more of god we will see i’m going to
say that one more time
the more we believe god can be trusted
with our lives friends do you trust him
with your life
do you really trust him
no no really trust him we say yeah yeah
but god this this thing is in my life
that’s a disaster yeah
do you trust him see
life is perfect god don’t touch anything
i love it everything the way is
can you trust him in that
you trust him in every season
whether whether life is in disarray or
life is perfect
you know it’s many times when life is
perfect there’s this little fear
that something’s going to get messed up
soon it can’t be this good forever
maybe that’s true can you trust him
can you trust them when you’re going
into a storm
can you trust them in the midst of the
storm can you trust them when you’re
coming out of the storm
can you trust him and friends the more
we trust
god with our lives promise you this the
more
of god you will see in your life
so today i want to end with this i want
to end with this question
how does my love for god grow
how can this grow because listen friends
i want the love of god to grow in my
heart
not just for selfish reasons but i need
to be able to love
my world better amen
so how does this love for god grow well
my love for god grows
when i love what he loves the more i
love what god loves
the more my love for god grows god loves
so what does god love who does god love
god loves his son jesus intensely
and god loves people immensely
so the more you and i fall in love with
jesus
the more we understand who he is right
now
and the more we love god and in turn the
more we can love people
you could never separate listen go
through your entire bible i challenge
you on this
you can never separate people who love
god
and people who love people you can’t
separate the two
whenever people say i love god you know
you
you always see a love for people
you always see a love for people and i
promise you this if you say i love
people
you’re going to come to a place where
you say i love people so much
but i need god to love them man people
are so hurting i need god to intervene
in this hurting person
so you see how there’s this there’s this
perfect tension
there’s a perfect tension this is so
spiritual and i’ve been saying this for
a couple weeks
it’s so spiritual yet so practical
to love god seems so spiritual and it
is it’s intensely spiritual it’s deeply
spiritual
but to love god is so intimately
practical
amen how serve them and sacrifice for
them
hold on hold on so if i serve and
sacrifice for people
i’m demonstrating love for god yep
how’s the world gonna know god loves
them how’s the world gonna be touched by
god’s love
unless you and i begin to serve and
sacrifice for people
and you know what they say charity
begins at home
so begin to love your family that way
begin to love your church that way amen
and watch god will open doors for you to
love other people in the same way
so three ways we’re gonna end with this
three ways we can grow in our love for
god
you’re ready number one fall in love
with god’s word
the word is all about jesus john chapter
one verse one
number one three ways to fall in love
with god fall in love with his word
john 1 1 says in the beginning was the
word
and the word was with god and the word
was
god that means the word is eternal
this isn’t a cute book friends this is
the eternal
living words of god fall in love with
his book
friends the more you fall in love with
this bible the more you’re going to see
god’s love
the more you’re going to see jesus in
the bible listen friends
jesus is from genesis to revelation
jesus is the anchor of this book
jesus is the one this is written about
amen it’s him
so the more we love the more we read
this word the more we’re going to fall
in love with jesus
and who does god love god loves his son
come on second point is this fall in
love with his
bride the church
come on fall in love with his bride
now can i speak to some people
and and this this is the part that
breaks my heart
the fastest growing christian
denomination
if you will is the churchless christian
friends let me help you the church isn’t
perfect
the church is a work in progress the
church has human beings who are
imperfect
that’s what the church is made up of so
for you to say
i’ll find a church when it’s the right
church or a perfect church
i say this sincerely good luck you won’t
have that church till heaven
but you know what we can demonstrate our
love
for god from john 13 john chapter 13
verses 34 and 5.
by this they will know your love
listen i’m going to be straight when
when you come to church
it’s going to tax you at times to serve
and sacrifice other people
but that’s love you and i need that
you want us to grow in your in your love
for god find
a church fall in love with the bride of
christ
fall in love with church ephesians 5
25-28 let’s look at this quickly
husbands love your wives just as christ
loved the church now he’s giving this
picture
and gave himself up for her
to make her holy cleansing her with the
washing with the water through the word
what happens when we come oh sorry verse
26 roma what happens when we come to
church
we’re cleansed by the washing of the
water through the word
the word of god being taught to us does
something to our insides
amen it helps us verse 27
and to present her to himself as a
radiant church
without stain or wrinkle or any other
blemish but
holy and blameless hold that there first
for a second roma
see this is the goal of church friends
the goal
is to let the word of god so
so fill us so renew us so strengthen us
so wash us so correct us so comfort us
that we become closer together and we
become more perfect in what our love
our love because love is service
love is sacrifice friends if you truly
love you know this love can be hard
oh this is why we need the eternal word
of god
taught to us every week find a church
find the bride next verse and in this
same way husbands ought to love their
wives
as their own bodies he who loves his
wife loves himself
so what’s he saying what does that mean
friends the more we love the church
is a demonstration of our love for god
you can’t it’s impossible to say
i love jesus and hate his church
that’s impossible those two statements
can never be reconciled
no no if you love jesus you need
a church and if you’re looking for a
church
i offer you port church oh we’re not
perfect
we’re a bunch of people who are in
process amen
but i promise you this we will love each
other with
grace and truth amen
and look to jesus friends you need
people to celebrate life with
you need people to be reminded and be
encouraged by
you need the church but you know what
the church needs you
right now there’s probably churches
limping along because your
gift is so needed in that body
you’re robbing the church come on of the
gift you are
so it’s not always just about you it’s
about others as well amen
here we go last point we end here
how do we fall in love and grow in our
love for god
fall in love with his word fall in love
with his bride
and fall in love with his mission
here on this earth what is his mission
at matthew 28
18-20 fall in love with his mission
look at what jesus says before he leaves
the earth he says then jesus came to
them and said
all authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me i love this
now look what he says to do therefore go
see go isn’t stay that’s deep
that’s a deep one goal is to go
somewhere go do
something therefore go and what do you
do when you’re going
make disciples train people
disciple people disciplined help people
be disciplined
after jesus disciplined after his word
go make disciples of all nations don’t
stop
never stop keep going wherever you where
go to the ends of the earth if you have
that much energy
and will to do so then he says baptize
them
what does that do baptism brings us into
that family
reminds us that oh we’re one together i
love
water baptismal services because it
reminds all of us
it reminds our community our family our
friends we in our
the old randy died whoosh and the new
randy rises
not with the purpose of his on his life
but the purpose and mandate of god on
his
life amen that’s the mission friends we
are
mandated by god to go and make disciples
baptizing people in the name of the
father the son
and the holy spirit look at this in
verse 20 and teaching them to obey
everything
why do we continue to people say well
you know if people get born again then
just leave them alone
just get people saved no you get people
saved to get them in a church
because they need to be continually
taught the word
and that teaching them to obey
everything i’ve commanded you and surely
i am with you always to the very end
of the age
i just stuffed us full of all these
verses this morning
but i got one more and then we’re done
how do we hit the ground running with
our with our faith and with our mission
and with our love
when this pandemic ends first john
chapter 4 verse 19 one of my favorites
and we actually were saying about it
this morning look at this
we love because he first loved us
friends never forget
that at some point in your life you
hadn’t yet received the love of christ
you didn’t know about god’s love and
then you received that
and when you receive that love you now
have a love to give
but let me ask you a question this
morning come on every head bowed every
eye closed
have you received the love of god
do you know that you’re first loved by
him
come on right where you are right now
receive that
love in jesus name open your hearts
repeat these words after me say heavenly
father
i need your love i want that
love i want that love to transform me
i want that love to renew me i want that
love to compel me
and i want to share that love with my
world
in jesus name we pray and everybody said
amen