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[Applause]
so
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[Applause]
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so
[Applause]
so
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this is the day that the lord has made
let us
rejoice and be glad in it
livestream worship was not our plan but
it was clearly god's plan and as the
quote behind us reminded us god is
plotting for
our joy even in the setback
so let's hear god's call to worship in
psalm 146 at verse 1
praise the lord praise the lord
my soul i will praise the lord
all my life i will sing praise to my god
as long as i live
do not put your trust in princes in
human beings who cannot save
when their spirit departs they return to
the ground on that very day their plans
come to nothing
blessed are those whose help is the god
of jacob
whose hope is the lord their god he is
the maker of heaven
and earth the sea and everything in them
he remains faithful forever
and with that call to worship let's
stand to
receive god's greeting
grace mercy and peace from god the
father
and the lord jesus christ through the
holy spirit
amen we're back to virtual greetings
again
but maybe virtual prayers are equally
good
well let's pray for those who can't be
with us father we do want to ask for
your abundant grace today that though
our fellowship is hindered
uh lord that your word would not and
that our joy would not that we would
find
lord great rejoicing in what you have to
say to us through your word today
so give us listening ears give us
abundant grace to
remain attentive lord let our worship
not be hindered
by the separation and lord we pray that
you would
be honored in all we do and say today in
christ's name amen
well though we can't be outside we can
still
uh dwell upon the awe of
god and his creation and what he's made
and turn our minds towards
his majesty let's sing how great thou
art
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consider
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i
see the sounds
is my soul
my savior
then sings my soul
my savior
[Applause]
[Music]
but when i think
that god is
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is
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he bled
to take away my
[Applause]
how
[Applause]
my savior
how great thou art
with christ shall come
with shout of acclamation
and take this
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[Applause]
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sings my soul my savior
my savior
great thou art
[Music]
children oh please be seated um children
thanks for joining us on the live stream
today wish you would hear with us
but uh these days we'll we'll be back
again soon
er the good news that i have with you to
share is i am now
your pastor and that makes me
really happy i officially started
yesterday
and just so looking forward to getting
to know you
and helping you spiritually
and pointing you to the great god that
we've been singing about
i i know that you're you're thinking
about going back to school maybe some of
you are worried about that
you you've heard a lot about this virus
and it's been many months since you were
in school
but just just always remember that song
we've been singing when when fear starts
rising when you start getting anxious
and scared
you think how big this virus is god is
bigger
god is greater and so use these fears as
a
as a reminder to praise god and just say
to him god how great thou
art how great you are you're far greater
than covert 19. and pray for your
teachers as well pray for those who are
organized in school for you they've got
a lot of hard decisions to make
pray that god will give them wisdom and
courage as they make these decisions so
that
everyone can be kept safe and educated
at the same time
so let's pray for these things together
shall we
how great thou art oh god you are
greater than
the greatest disease the greatest plague
these are just small things to you and
you're able to stop this you're able to
limit this you're able to protect us
even when it rages all around and we
therefore pray that when
fear rises that praise would also rise
in our hearts
and that we would praise you for your
greatness you are greater than anything
and anyone
we pray also for our teachers and our
administrators as they make decisions
about
how to teach us and keep us safe at the
same time
that you'd give them great wisdom and
courage
and help them to be led and guided by
you and forgive all our sins in jesus
name
amen
we're going to use psalm 32 to guide
our renewal prayer today and we're going
to
pause where the psalm leaves a break
with the word selah
we're going to pause there for silent
personal prayer
but let me lead us through this psalm
let's pray
blessed is he whose transgressions are
forgiven
whose sins are covered blessed is the
man whose sin
the lord does not count against him and
in whose spirit
is no deceit when i kept silent my bones
wasted away
through my groaning all day long for day
and night your hand was heavy upon me
my strength was sapped as in the heat of
summer
selah so father we confess our silence
before you that we have indeed
experienced
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too much time between talking to you
the psalm continues then i acknowledged
my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity i said
i will confess my transgressions to the
lord
and you forgave the guilt of my sin
salah so father we confess our
transgressions
the psalm continues therefore let
everyone who is godly pray to you
while you may be found surely when the
mighty waters rise they will not reach
him
you are my hiding place you will protect
me from trouble
and surround me with songs of
deliverance
salah so father we give you thanks for
deliverance
indeed father how good it is that that
uh in in
uh in breaking the silence and
confessing our transgressions to you
lord there's blessing blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven
uh in you there is refuge and so we
come to you today um not fearful
not um keeping our distance lord but
um seeing that you welcome us with open
arms
that you long to forgive our sins that's
something you delight and so we
uh joyfully run to you for um
this assurance of salvation that through
christ
we have the promise of swift forgiveness
so it's in uh christ's name that we pray
these things
amen then the psalmist continues but he
turns his attention to the congregation
in verse 8. he says i will instruct you
and teach you in the way you should go i
will counsel you and watch over you
do not be like the horse or the mule
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you
many are the woes of the wicked but the
lord's unfailing love
surrounds the man who trusts in him
rejoice in the lord and be glad you
righteous
sing all you who are upright
in heart so let's just do just that as
we give thanks
for christ our savior let's stand as we
sing oh the deep love of jesus
oh the deep deep love of jesus
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underneath
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all i need and trust
is the deep deep
love of jesus
oh the deep deep love of jesus
spread his praises from shore to shore
[Music]
how he watches
those he died to make his own
how for them before
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[Applause]
all i need and
[Applause]
is the deep deep
love of jesus
[Applause]
is
oh the deep deep love of
jesus for surpassing
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all the
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mighty save your precious friends
will never
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is
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is
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is the deep deep love
of jesus
[Music]
i cast my mind
to calvary
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he says
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the entrance
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oh praise the name
of the lord
forever
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a trampoline
is
oh
is
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the blazing sun
shall kiss the night
and i will rise
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upon
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jesus
[Music]
oh praise the name
of the lord our god
oh praise his name
forever
i love that line uh the blazing sun will
pierce the night though it may be dark
for now it may be dark there is darkness
uh around us
uh someday it will all be light all the
darkness will be defeated amen
let's take our seats
let's go to the lord in prayer
great god of light and great god of
love we so enjoy
singing about your light and love
in a dark and a hate filled
world we pray that you would
shine into our hearts with your light
and that you would
warm our hearts with your love
this day for we desperately
needed in these days
we pray for a spirit of worship even
though the circumstances
are not what we would desire or choose
but you are able to meet with us in our
hearts and our homes
as well as in this house of worship
we confess lord that we
don't deserve your presence but we ask
it
out of your mercy and out of your grace
that you'll be pleased to dwell with us
and meet with
us so that we can go into the coming
week
encouraged and strengthened
to face the the challenges and setbacks
that we will meet
but also to remain humble when we do
have successes and we do make progress
we do have much to give you thanks for
we thank you for
progress made in various fronts
in the midst of personal suffering we
thank you for the successful surgery for
wrong ron springblood and we pray that
his healing would continue
we thank you for testing that's
available for marv hypma
and artist jansma and pray for these
tests that they would
reveal problems and direct the medical
personnel to
good solutions we do though have ongoing
needs and
pray especially for the sake and the
weak for
buddy young and julie hydma
for frank brooke and ron barbrick
as treatments are ongoing and surgery is
upcoming we pray for success
and we pray for peace in the midst of
these
worrying and often painful times
and we also come to the end of life as
well
despite many prayers you do
it is your plan that we also die and
we therefore pray for those who have
come to that
stage in their lives that you prepare
them for that
and for those who mourn the passing of
loved ones we also
remember them before you and ask you to
be their strong comfort their mighty
strength their
upholder and sustainer
in these days of sadness
and therefore we pray for jeremy
and carrie herrer and also ali and ziva
we pray for phyllis and lisa witt and
family
we pray for matt and jan burgess that
you would be
near all these families and as we go
through that
long list in our daily update we
we cannot but confess that it's
impossible for us to carry
all these needs all the time in our
hearts but
your heart is so big your mind is so big
your power is so great that
you're able to carry not just our
congregation's needs but
every church of christ around the whole
world how is this possible
that all these names are are ever
in front of you not in sequence but
continually
all of them present in your mighty mind
and heart and we pray that
your mighty power would respond in a
wonderful way
we do ask for your blessing upon my own
father
we thank you for the prayers of your
people and
pray that you would give him continued
faith and
peace in his days of great weakness and
distress
we thank you for joining mercies in
recent days as well
we pray lord for your blessing on the
ministry begun
here today in a more official way
thanking you for all the ways you've led
us and provided for us as a congregation
and ask that you would give great love
and
great prayer for one another as we begin
this new phase in our relationship
that you would
give these first days your evident
blessing
and that we would be greatly encouraged
by your provision and leading
that you would give wisdom and give
strength
give patience as well as we get to know
one another better
get used to one another and that
this would be a continuation of
much blessed ministry over recent years
and we therefore pray for tom and sherry
as well and their family
as they continue to adjust that you
would give them all the grace and help
they need
and that tom would continue to see
continued fruitfulness from all the
seeds sown over many years
we pray for our nation that you would
unite us
and that you would bring us back
together
somehow or other it looks impossible to
us but you are able to do this
we pray for researchers who are working
on treatments and vaccines
that you would give them success and
that you would ultimately drive back
this virus
and return this to normal but not to
what we were before often godless and
thoughtless about you but
that you would have used this to deepen
the spirituality of this nation and our
dependence upon you
we ask all these things in jesus name
amen the offering will
be taken and it's for the operating
expenses and student
seminary fund
so
[Music]
let's turn in our bibles to the first
letter of john
first letter of john and chapter 4
and we'll read from the beginning of
this chapter
to the end of verse 12 first john four
at verse one before we read i just want
to express my deep thanks to
you as a congregation for your call
it's difficult to know when i actually
begin
to be your pastor officially i'm now
employed as your pastor although we're
still awaiting of course
final steps on the classes front so
i'm going to regard this as my first day
and
the rest of it's just details that will
be worked out
and i can't tell you how excited i am
how hopeful i
am how much i'm looking forward to this
i feel
like the lord has given me a new lease
of life
and new motivation and
i just hope i can serve you well and
present christ to you well and that
together we can all make
spiritual progress in our pilgrimage
through this world so i so look forward
to ministering god's word to you both
from this pulpit and
also personally as we get together
in various places homes in my office and
just so
so look forward to building
relationships with you in the coming
years if god wills
so let's turn to god's word at first
john 4 verse 1.
dear friends do not believe
every spirit but test the spirits
to see whether they are from god
because many false prophets have gone
out
into the world this is how you can
recognize
the spirit of god every spirit that
acknowledges that jesus christ has come
in the flesh
is from god but every spirit
that does not acknowledge jesus
is not from god this is the spirit of
the antichrist
which you have heard is coming and even
now is already
in the world you dear children are from
god and have overcome them
because the one who is in you is greater
than the one who is in the world
they are from the world and therefore
speak
from the viewpoint of the world and the
world listens
to them we are from god and
whoever knows god listens to us
but whoever is not from god does not
listen to us
this is how we recognize the
spirit of truth and the spirit
of falsehood dear friends
let us love one another for love
comes from god everyone who loves has
been
born of god and knows god
whoever does not love does not know god
because god is love
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 this is love
not that we loved god
but that he loved us and sent his son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins
dear friends since god so loved us
we also ought to love one another
no one has ever seen god
but if we love one another
god lives in us and his love is
made complete in us
amen may god bless that reading of his
precious word to
each and all of us
what is first barn center crc
all about what's the
reason for our existence
what's our primary purpose
or our primary message what's our
heartbeat i wonder if you could answer
that question in in just one short
sentence if we just took a moment and
you were to write it down what would you
write down what's
our heart beat
maybe it's harder than you think
shouldn't be but it can be
we can get confused about
things like that uh maybe even at times
the church can confuse us
and if we're confused or if our church
is confused
then the outsiders are going to be even
more confused
about what we're all about
so what are the what are some of the
possible answers to this question what's
the heartbeat
of first byron well
somebody might say something like um
human sinfulness
we need to tell people they're sinners
we need to talk about
human sinfulness human guilt human
misery
human frailty human vanity we need to do
all these things that's true that's
that's definitely a major theme in the
bible
but it's not the primary theme
or maybe you might say well we're all
about the bible
we're about the bible's truthfulness and
reliability and authority and inerrancy
for sure that is what we are about but
it's not what we are all about it's not
it's not again the primary
message that's a supporting message
or perhaps you might say we're about
christian service we're about
not just getting but giving we want to
be those who are
in our homes in our communities in our
nation in the nations
serving again
that's a big theme of the bible it's a
big theme of this church but it
isn't or shouldn't be the primary theme
of this church
or maybe you might say it's we're all
about
god god's character and here we're
getting closer to the answer
we might think of you know the
attributes of god
we want to talk about god's holiness and
god's justice and
god's power and god's wisdom yes
all of these things these things are
very close to the bull's-eye
they're close they're around it
but they're not in it
there's a four letter word
in the bull's eye and it's this
l o v
e love especially
but not limited to especially
god's love the love
of god the apostle
john here is at the end of his life and
he's leaving a final message with the
church and he's basically saying
you know there's lots we're to be
concerned about but whatever else
remember
love as i leave you remember love
and i would say as i begin with you we
want to remember
love it's easy to get confused it's easy
to make
the secondary primary it's it's easy
just
even by neglect to to lose our focus
on the bullseye of the bible the bull's
eye of god the bull's-eye of what
our church should be all about love
and in this section of paul's of john's
letter he's been
speaking about evidences of god's
adopting love in chapter three and in
the chapter four
and now he's beginning to really
look at the implications of that the
application the consequences of god's
love
and and that's what we want to look at
today
and and it's interesting isn't it so
thinking about this
churches have um chosen certain
bible words in their names
so you'll see in various places grace
church
or or faith church or hope
church i don't know any church that's
called
love church isn't that strange
you'd think you know that that would be
really common
i'm not proposing on my first day of
pastoring here that we change our name
but whether our name
is that or not that's what we should be
it wouldn't be great to be known as the
love
church why is it that there's something
in us sometimes thinks i'm not sure
about that
is it because liberal christianity has
sort of claimed that word
and and they've over emphasized it
and that's all they talk about and
therefore we say well
you know we we can't go there and we end
up
a precious word perhaps the most
precious word is stolen from us
and we want to steal it back no we just
want to reclaim it back
we want to put it back in the central
place and
keep it in the central place that we
would be known as
the love church the church of god's love
and
not just that but a church that loves
one another
as a result and that's what john keeps
doing here he keeps connecting these two
things
so let's look at this
and try and recenter and here's where we
begin
we don't love god
strange place to begin but that's where
the bible begins
that's that's that's where john begins
in various
places here in this letter
and he talks about it even in
in verse 8 whoever does not love does
not know god
and then verse 10 this is love not that
we loved god
not that we loved god we didn't love god
and this is so strange isn't it god's
love
is our greatest need
isn't it to love and be
loved is the highest human experience
to love and be loved is is our greatest
human longing
you look at songs poems
movies books
99 of the time the theme
is love and the human
longing for it the human desire
for it the human experience of it
and it's saying again this is our this
is our greatest need this is our
highest experience this is the apex of
being human
is to love and to be loved
and if that's true on a human level how
much more on a heavenly on a divine
level
to be loved by god and to love
god that is higher than the highest
human experience
that that satisfies our deepest longings
and i mean all of us know
to some degree tastes of this great
need being satisfied whether it's in a
marriage
whether it's the love we have for our
children or the love we have for our
parents whether it's
friendship love whatever it is we all
know it's just such a
beautiful experience to love
and to be loved
and here the apostle john is saying to
us
this is love he's pointing us to
to this greatest love not that we loved
god but that
he loved us so christianity offers
in response to this human need for love
christianity offers this greatest
experience of love
so it's our greatest need it's also
everywhere in the bible it's the
motivation for the gospel
god so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten son
it's it's demonstrated in the gospel as
john
puts it here 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
it's the explanation of the gospel as we
see in verse 10
this is love what he loved us
and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice
for
our sins god's love is the
end of the gospel it's the whole purpose
of the gospel is to bring us into the
love of god
to make us loving to other people and
ultimately to
end in a heaven of love
as described in first corinthians 13
and and it's interesting love is not
merely something god does it's something
god is
as john tells us here god is love
so here here we have our greatest human
need is for love
and here in the gospel in the bible
love is everywhere
and yet we
don't love god
isn't that weird it's what we must need
it's what god has provided and yet we
don't love god why is that
we're taught in the scriptures that we
are born without loving hearts to god
indeed with an enmity an opposition a
hostility in our hearts to god
why is that is it because we don't know
him
you know obviously you can't love
someone you don't know
no we know him he's made himself known
in creation
and providence and in the scripture so
it's we can't say well i
i didn't know god is it because he's
unlovely unlovable
not at all when you read about god the
father the son the holy spirit you see
a beauty an attractiveness
a loveliness it's nothing to do with god
being unlovely it's quite the opposite
he is the most lovable and lovely being
in the universe
is it because we were not made to love
one another
you might think see of children you can
maybe identify with this
um think of think of yourself and a
spider
a spider a bug
you weren't made to love spiders
where are you you feel it i mean you're
you're revolted
by it you run from it
or you try and squash it
because you weren't made to love one
another
but god has made us in his image so that
we can love one another
so he's made us for this love
so we can't say well you know i wasn't
made like this
is it because we've got better options
you know it might be
you see someone you think well they're
pretty nice you know i wouldn't mind
loving them but you know i think i'll
just hang on a bit and
see if someone better comes on the scene
no there are no better options
so we have this great need for love
there's this great provision of love
and yet we don't love god
not that we loved god we didn't
so where does that leave as well it
leaves us with confession
and and so we want to we want to fall on
our knees and we want to acknowledge
we need this love so much and
god has provided so much of this love
and yet
by nature left to myself i do not love
god i'm blind to your beauty i am deaf
to your voice i'm
hard to your heart
i do not love god it's like
the most if you're a man
it's like the most beautiful woman in
the world stands in front of you
and and proposes marriage or the other
way around
if you're a woman this most handsome man
stands in front of you there's just no
one like him and all the world who
stands in front of you
and they're not just physically
beautiful just beautiful characters and
personalities as well
and and it's just a stunning
overwhelmingly
beautiful sight
they stand in front of you and they say
how about
spending the rest of our lives together
and our response is meh whatever
whatever isn't that how
the vast majority respond to god's love
meh whatever
let's confess that and even as
christians
there's there's there's a residue of
that
that we need to confess
indeed let's go further not just we
don't love
we let's confess this we hate god
by nature that's what paul teaches in
romans eight that
the natural heart is enmity with god
that's that's the strongest word for
opposition in the whole bible
and sometimes that's dormant
so you can actually have hatred in your
heart for someone but
like you can forget them that's i'm sure
we've all got people in our past we can
think of they've done something terrible
to us
and we really disliked them at the time
but you know time passes
time heals so on but then something
happens maybe you see them again or you
hear from them again or just the memory
comes back to you and it
rises in your hearts you feel that
adrenaline you feel that anger
well this is one of the devil's great
tricks
because although there's natural
hatred in the human heart for god he
kind of keeps it subdued
most of the time he doesn't let us see
it clearly or
feel it deeply because he knows that if
we did feel this we might think
oh that's not good i have to do
something about this
and so it sort of lies they are dormant
unseen unfelt unnoticed
but sometimes there can be flare-ups it
might be a sermon
we hear that is preaching god's word is
clearly teaching the word and yet we
feel this resentment this anger rising
within us what is that where did that
come from
or it might be providence it's easy to
think we love god until god crosses our
will isn't it
till god does something that we don't
like
and and again we can feel that hatred
and we need to confess
it again that can be as a non-christian
but even as christians we can have a
a surge of of anger
and resentment against god and and
therefore again let's just confess it
let's be
totally honest and bring it before god
just put it in front of him and say this
is it i don't love you and indeed
sometimes i
hate you he knows anyway you can't
hide that say help me
forgive me this is horrendous this is
this is what i need i need you i need
your love
and and you've made it so clear and
obvious and evident you've put it
everywhere your love is everywhere
and my love is nowhere
we don't love god so
you say to yourself well that's pretty
bad
does that mean if i don't love this
lovely god that this lovely god
won't love me not
all because that's where john goes next
he says this is love not that we loved
god
but that he
loved us
and sent his son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins
is this a strange it's
it's like you would say god's love is
irrational in a way
because here on the one hand you get
people who don't
love him and yet he decides to love them
and and you might
say well what what is that in you in me
in us
that would make god love us and you
you'll you can search for that
all your life all your days and you'll
never find it
there's always something in the person
we love in a
human level isn't it that's you can't
love someone you're
unattracted to can you it's impossible
it's like if you don't like broccoli and
somebody puts it in front of you and
you know you could sit there all your
days and look at it and you'll never
love it
and it's the same with god and yet
god loves without there being any
attraction
without there being any appeal in us
now when i say irrational i'm not saying
god has no reason
it's that we can't find a reason
god has a reason a reason not in us
a reason that we will one day discover
i look forward to that you know
sometimes when you
you're in a relationship with someone
you you can
be doing something wrong or you've
disappointed person you might turn them
say i don't know why you love me why do
you love me
and then the person will say well yeah
that was bad but here's why i love you
say okay i can i can see it and
sometimes we turn to god and say why
why do you love me and and he said he
doesn't say i don't know
he says i know why and you'll know why
too eventually god has a purpose
god has a plan god doesn't love
in a in a pointless way a purposeless
way
and one of one of the great joys of
arriving in heaven i believe will be
going to god and saying okay tell me why
tell me why and why would be greater and
bigger than we can
ever imagine
but from our point of view it's
irrational we'll never figure out the
reason why we're here
and it's very personal love notice
what it says this is love not that we
love god but that
he loved us
well we know who the he is but who is
the others
that's very personal isn't it
if you read commentaries in these verses
you'll find
just pages and pages and pages
on defining the us
and and usually especially from a reform
perspective the concern is very much
to make sure we understand that this
does not mean god
loves everyone and is going to save
everyone
but in all our desire to guard and
qualify and protect
the electing love of god
we kind of lose the love of god in the
process
and so what i'd suggest to you is don't
don't when you read that word us
don't don't start thinking oh you know
who and what just say me just say me
just say me just keep the focus on that
very
personal love and and the me who does
not love god by nature i think that's
the focus of john here it's not so much
the numbers
of people but the nature of the people
he loves
he loves those who don't love him very
personal
very intimate very close
but above all it's sacrificial love and
that's where
john goes especially he does it in verse
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 so here
the focus is on
god's sending but he doesn't stop there
sending is not enough
he goes to sacrificing
this is love he says not that we love
god but that he loved us
and sent his son and he goes further as
an atoning sacrifice
for our sins god
sent the son of his love to sons and
daughters who did not love him
the most loving person in the world were
sent was sent to the most
unloving the lover was sent to haters
this is love he says
and and how do you measure this love
it well you measure it by what was given
what was sacrificed
his son was sent as an atoning
sacrifice
now the word in a number of the other
versions is translated propitiation it's
a
it's a biggest word an unusual word
doubt many of us use that normal
conversation
but it's very important theological word
and we need to preserve it
because it's the word that specifically
focuses on the turning away of god's
wrath
so you've got propitiation turning away
of god's wrath and you've got expiation
which is the removal of our guilt and we
need both
and maybe children i can help you to
understand this you can think of this
word propitiation as an umbrella
you know in scotland just back from
there
one of the things that people always say
to you as you leave the house almost
always anyways
have you got your umbrella with you even
in the summer
you know you think it rains a lot of
michigan it's it's like a desert
compared to scotland
and you always need to take your
umbrella because at any time of the day
even during the summer it was raining
continually
we were sitting i wasn't allowed my
parents house because of the quarantined
rules were sitting outside in the
backyard under a huge big
yard umbrella and it was great
even though it was cold and we were all
wrapped up and we had blankets on
we're protected from the worst of the
elements the rain
the rain was coming down either side of
us
that's who jesus is he's an umbrella
and god's wrath was poured down
upon him our umbrella on calvary on the
cross
and we can shelter underneath that
knowing that
not one drop not one drip
of god's anger will touch us if we are
under the umbrella of christ
we can see god's wrath being exhausted
upon him
this is how we discover god's love above
all
sheltering there feeling totally born
dry
this is love
the son of his love in other words
became the son
of his anger
so that we angry sons and daughters
could become
the sons and daughters of his love
his love was serious enough to deal with
a serious problem
and he he took one-sided action to deal
with a two-sided problem
this is love it's very objective isn't
it very factual but
the facts produce a feeling i hope
the facts produce faith i hope
this he says is love
how do how do we measure we measure it
by what was
given i was
hearing a song recently it went like
this how many
kings stepped down from their thrones
how many lords have abandoned their
homes
how many greats have become the least
for me and how many gods
have poured out their hearts to romance
a world that is torn all apart
how many fathers gave up
their sons for me
only one did that for me
how do you measure this love by what was
given up i mean
think of it would you give up if you
have a son would you give up your son
for your
best friend
how about for your worst enemy
that's what he did
how many only one did that
for me for you
there's a a song as a secular song and
there's a
i remember it from many years ago and
there's a line in it that goes like this
i want to
know what love is and i want you to show
it
i want to know what love is and i want
you to show it and
i think that's the cry of the human
heart isn't it
i want to know what love is and people
turn to one another and say and i want
you to show it
they'll never be able to show you it
perfectly
never this is a this is a prayer
this is a longing this is a complaint
that should be directed towards god i
want to know what love is
and i want you to show it
and god hears that cry this is what john
is saying
john is saying here's god's response you
want to know what love is and you want
him to show it
this is love not that we loved god but
that he loved us
and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice
for our sins
it's just it's such a wow moment isn't
it
and and if you are not
expressing that i want to know what love
is and i want you to show
god's expressing this i want you to know
what love is and i want to show it to
you
that's what he's doing here in the
gospel he's pursuing
unloving unloved and unlovable people
indeed
he's pursuing haters with his love
saying through the gospel every time
it's preached i want
you to know what love is
and i want to show it to you
god loves haters so that haters can love
god
this passage is calling us to
know god's love and
make it known clearly
and practically so with a clear
message that clears away the confusion
but also with
clear practice that's what he goes on to
say here isn't
it he says in verse 11 dear friends
since god so loved us we
also ought to love one another
i said we're right in the bullseye here
aren't we
he's saying know god's love and
make it known clearly
and practically
let's be that kind of
love church
i mean let's pray
great god of love we
rejoice in your love indeed it is so
wonderful to love and to be loved by you
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shed your love abroad in our hearts more
and more or maybe even for the first
time
and enable us to respond with a love
and to make known your love with our
words and with our deeds
we pray that this community and maybe
even wider a field would come to know
first byron crc as the love church
that whatever else we communicate
whatever else we do
that your love
would be at the very bull's-eye of
everything we do
help us to keep one another accountable
for that
in both words and deeds
so that the message goes out loving loud
and clear
god is love
in jesus name we pray amen
well let's respond with praise let's
stand as we sing christ our hope in life
and death
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is
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us
is
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[Applause]
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[Applause]
what truth
god is good
in our grace
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the rocks
oh
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[Applause]
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what shall we see christ
is christ he is
[Applause]
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is
[Applause]
is
hallelujah
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[Applause]
thank you what a great note to go out
into the week
with christ our hope in life and death
thou receive the blessing of the lord
and go in
peace and love the grace of the lord
jesus christ the heartbeat of god
and the fellowship of the holy spirit be
with you all
amen
hallelujah
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and
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you