Good morning. How are you all doing this morning? It's good to be in the house of Lord, isn't it? Amen.
Let me get my iPad open. Well, uh, Fourth of July was yesterday. Happy Independence Day. Just like Stepan said, we get to live in a country where those freedoms that most don't get to experience in other countries.
I've been to other countries where that their freedoms are not like our country and it should make us appreciate those those freedoms that we have like the freedom to be in this church, the freedom to worship our God and the freedom to like how Stepan said to raise our children the way we would want to raise our children. Amen. So also and you might see me wearing a jersey right here. World Cup is going on United States and the round of 16 tomorrow watch it.
Share for him And that's all I'm gonna say because I could probably sit here and talk for about 40 minutes and then Pastor Ryan will get mad at me for that. No, he wouldn't. He's a loving guy. Well, today we are continuing in our Love Illuminated series and we are going to be continuing by reading a book of first John and today we're gonna be in first John 3 11 through 24 and this week we are going to be talking about love and specifically learning to love and y'all are probably saying that Pastor Rob didn't say oh, he loves us this morning.
Well, I did not forget because we're gonna talk about love and I would be remiss if I didn't say it. I love you guys. Love everybody in this room whether you've been here two seconds so we've just walked in the door or you've been here for years. My heart goes out to you.
I love you. That word love means a lot to me because I know who I am in that word because I know who I belong to. Amen. So before we jump into learning to love I want to ask you all a question.
Who are you? Who are you? If I had to if I asked you that question you had to respond to me. Most of you would respond saying well, hey I'm a doctor.
I'm a nurse. I'm a lawyer. I'm a teacher. I'm a pastor.
I'm a dad of a mom husband wife You know others might identify themselves by their past. They might say well, I'm divorced. I'm an addict. I'm depressed I'm a failure.
I'm not enough. Well, we all answer that question because our identity influences how we live and now we're in this book of first John and we're talking about love today, but John the Apostle John was incredibly accomplished and I love that he's he's specifically writing about love because he talks about love a lot in his book and anytime the gospel if you look up the word love in the Bible You'll see how many times it comes up it comes up over 700 times and it depends on which version you're reading But in the gospel of John and the book of first John is where love is concentrated So I love that about John now. He was accomplished. He was one of Jesus's closest disciples He witnessed miracles that most never got to see he wrote again the God His gospel three letters in the book of Revelation He stood at the foot of the cross when most other disciples had fled but yet when John wrote about himself He never drew attention to those accomplishments instead over and over his gospel He referred himself to the disciple whom Jesus loved and we see that in John 13 23 It says one of them the disciple whom Jesus loved was reclining next to him And then we see that in John 21 through 7 the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter it is Lord And I don't think John used this title because he believed that Jesus loved him more than the other disciples In fact his humility pop points to the opposite John wasn't trying to elevate himself.
He was reminding himself where his identity was found His identity was rooted and his identity wasn't rooted in what he had done for Jesus his identity was rooted in what Jesus had done for him Church that's where our identity has to begin before you are a husband before you are a wife before you are a mom before you're a Dad before you're successful before you start struggling before your greatest victory or your greatest failure You are deeply loved by God And if we don't find our identity in his love if we don't find our identity in his love we'll spend our entire lives Looking for it somewhere else And that's why John keeps calling believers beloved. Don't you love that word beloved? It's very it's most people and specifically guys will see that word beloved. Why would somebody call me good love?
Well, if you break the word down be loved We have to be able to be loved first John 3 2 says beloved we are God's children now first John 4 7 Be loved let us love one another first John 4 11 if God so loved us we ought to love one another Are you noticing the pattern here John is not beginning with a command? He is beginning with identity He's beginning with identity before he tells it tells people what to do he reminds them of who they are Before God calls us to love others. He wants us to know that we are loved by him And if we don't truly receive and believe the father's love we will always struggle to love others We will always struggle to because you can't you can't pour out what you haven't first received and you can't consistently give from an empty cup So everybody look at me give me your eyes. I want to see everybody's eyes look up repeat after me God loves me I don't know if I believe that Repeat after me God loves me Do you believe that?
Do you believe that? Do you believe that in your spirit right in your heart that you know that you know that you know without any doubt in your spirit that God Loves you or do you feel dissonant in your heart right now? Believe me. I was there for a long long time God can't fix me God God can't God can't love me.
I've done so much wrong in my life I had so much depression so much fear. Oh, I'll just work and work and work God said let me love you the man you see before you today did not just become a Christian and start loving people from out of the box As I would say it I had to learn to love but I had to first learn to let God love me And when God started loving me more and more and more and I let him do that It started to illuminate in my heart It started to illuminate out of me and then when people said what is different about him Then I started to be able to light them up with the love that was illuminated from God's love God's love is meant for you to experience so deeply that it overflows into every relationship that you have Into your spouse into your kids into your friendships into your co-workers But you have to first let him love you so you can love others and that's exactly where John is taking us today Let's read first John 3 11 through 24. It'll be up on the screen or open up your Bibles This is the message you have heard from the beginning We should love one another we must not be like Cain who belong to the evil one and killed his brother And why did he kill him because Cain had been doing what was evil and his brother had been doing what was righteous So don't be surprised dear brothers and sisters if the world hates you if we love our brothers and sisters who are believers It proves that we have passed from death to life But the person who has not has no love is still dead anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart And yet know that murderers do not or don't have eternal life within that We know that real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us So we also ought to give our lives for our brothers and sisters if someone has enough money to live well And see a brother or sister and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion How can God's love be in that person? They'll chill dear children Let's not merely say that we love each other let us show the truth by our actions Our actions will show that we belong to the truth So we will be confident when we stand before God even if we feel guilty God is greater than our feelings And we know everything and he knows everything sorry dear friends if we don't feel guilty We can come to God with bold confidence And we will receive for him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him and this is his command We must believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another just as he commanded us Those who obey God's commandments remain in fellowship with him and he with them And we know he lives in us because the spirit he gave us lives in us look church John isn't telling us just to be nicer people here He's not saying just be nice and everything will be okay John is giving us one of the greatest tests of genuine faith We've been talking about tests throughout this series He's given us one of the greatest tests of genuine faith here He's saying if you've truly experienced the love of God if you have had a changed heart You have been saved by him the love in your heart that he has given to you It will change the way you love other people Look loving and I'm not saying loving people is not what saves you It just proves that you are saved Look this is this passage is where we really get the title to love illuminated So what does illuminate mean?
It means to shine a light on To reveal to make something clear to give an understanding and insight And look that's exactly where the apostle John is going today Or going in this book here He is shining a light on love He's clearing the way of all the world's confusion about what love is and isn't He's revealing what real biblical love looks like Because our culture says love is a feeling I mean Turn on the news and the word love gets thrown out in weird ways And you're like that's not real love Hurts my heart when it's used that way I'm not gonna let culture define the way I think about love I'm gonna let the word of God define what love means to me But John here says let me illuminate love for you Let me show you what God's love really looks like And we're gonna do that today y'all with me I'm gonna give you some truths today about what love Or how about how John defines love Y'all locked in with me y'all ready to do that? Because these truths are going to define love but they're also gonna challenge you today So I hope you're ready Alright so first truth that we're gonna be talking about today Is love is a verb It's a verb what does that mean? Action Love is action First John 3 18 says dear children Let us not love with words or speech but with action and in truth Biblical love is a choice It's a deliberate act It is not just feelings And it's always been this way It's always been this way since the beginning And that's what John is saying first John 3 11 for this Is the message you heard from the beginning We should love one another John is not saying this is a new commandment This is not Christianity 2.0 This has been from the beginning God's original plan love But sin brought hatred Sin brought murder We read it early when Cain murdered Abel Why did that happen? Because sin brought that into the world And hatred came out And that's what the enemy wants He wants us to hate Hate, hate, hate And our brothers hate our sisters Hate everybody in the world But oh we have our little community here in church And we love each other No we love everybody God wants us to love This is the message from the beginning Love is the foundation of Christianity It's where the Christian life begins That new life that you experience That new heart That new foundation You can really tell someone has changed Love is evidence when that change has happened Something's changed about this person They used to be this hateful person But all of a sudden something is different First John 3 14 says We know that we have passed from death to life Because we love one another He's saying love proves that you are saved So if you don't love other people Are you really saved?
Oh well pastor that's pretty pretty harsh You know I love God Me and God have a really great relationship We have a really great relationship Ah but loving other people I'm an introvert I'm introverted That's why me and God are good No Loving other people is what proves That you have been saved Love is the outward evidence of inward transformation How is anybody supposed to know That you've changed If you stay in your house and watch TV all day And become a recluse Oh me and God are good We love each other Go out and love people Show them That you've changed First John 1335 says Or no John 1335 Not first John sorry By this evidence We'll know that you are By this evidence We'll know that you are my disciples If you love one another Jesus doesn't say People will know who you are Because you attend church every Sunday They will know who you are Because oh man you have some great theology Oh you can quote scripture Oh man Oh man that person on Facebook Post some great bible verses That's No He said they will know That we are his By our love for other people Church love is Christianity's greatest witness I'm going to say it again Love is Christianity's greatest witness See church love is a choice Before it's a feeling You have to choose to do it And the Greek word John uses here Is agapahu It means to actively seek Another person's highest good To choose sacrificial love To love with your will Not merely your emotions Notice it's not passive It says act You need to act it serves It gives it sacrifices That's why biblical love Is not something that we fall into It's something that you choose Every single day You choose when you get up You have to choose to love other people Choose The world says that love is a feeling I'm going to keep repeating Because the world keeps saying it When you do not listen to the world But John keeps repeating it Over and over and over Love is a verb Love is action Verse John 3 16 This is how we know what love is Jesus Christ laid down His life for us Look John is not using a dictionary To define love He's just pointing to the cross He's pointing right to the cross That is what love is Imagine John 3 16 Saying for God so loved the world That He felt sorry for us We'd be some lost people We'd be so separated from God We'd have no hope But God didn't just feel compassion He acted He sent His One and Only Son And Jesus came Jesus came He served He suffered and He died And He didn't wait for us to love Him first He died for everyone of us Even before we knew Him or loved Him Come on Jesus love wasn't just an emotion Jesus love was a verb It was action And we need to do the same thing Stop feeling and get into action We need to put it into action I just think of it this way Imagine every time I got up here to preach Or you guys talked to me I said, oh I love you guys Love you so much And then I got my car and left and went home Man, is that guy really even love me? No, it's an action I stay behind I talk with you I ask you how your day is going I do all those things Because love is an action It's not just feelings It's not just words And look John again He makes it incredibly practical Makes it incredibly practical In 1 John 3 17 through 18 It says if anyone has material possessions And sees a brother or sister in need Dear children, let us not love with words or speech But with actions and in truth Love isn't simply saying again I'm praying for you Hey man, I have this big need coming up I have this big thing coming I'm praying for you brother I'm praying for you No, love asks How can I help you? How can I help you in this moment? Imagine your spouse in this room right now And you start saying Well, I love you But I don't really want to help you Husbands, think about that I love you but I don't want to help around the house I love you but I really don't want to listen to you I love you but I don't have time for you right now I love you but I don't feel the need to pursue you Never listening Never serving, never sacrificing Eventually men are wise When we say the word I love you Well, they're going to tell us Hey, why don't you prove it to me?
Because all I hear are words Not actions And wives, if you're here in this room And your husbands are telling you I love you And there's things right here Hey, honey I hear the words Prove it to me You have my permission I think about the last two weeks With my wife I could have been incredibly selfish In these last two weeks My wife, she just went Took our son to the restroom She's not there But she'll be back Her grandma passed away a couple weeks ago And it was the weekend of Father's Day And she's like, hey, I don't know how much time Well, my mom said I need to get here And again, I could have been extremely selfish In this moment It's Father's Day weekend I kind of want to just relax Taking care of the boys is not my priority right now I just, I mean, I get one day a year, honey One day a year No, I said, go, go to Houston And she said, but it's Father's Day I'm not, her heart was still thinking about me I said, don't even worry about it And the grand scheme of Father's Day I'll have plenty in the future Go and see your grandma Go spend time with her That's time you'll never get back And she did And me and the boys had a great time Great time by ourselves Eating, playing, wrestling Doing all the things that And it was probably one of the best Father's Day You know, just spending time with these guys And then she comes home But before she comes home I knew that she was coming home late Sunday night And I knew that she was going to be thinking about Getting the boys ready for school Lunches, washing dishes, washing clothes Taking care of the house So what did I do? I said, all right boys, we're going to clean the house We're going to wash clothes We're going to keep this house tidy And we're going to pack our lunches We're going to get ready for Monday She got home Sunday night Late night after her grandma had passed away She had her grandma passed away on Father's Day And she came home and she started thinking Oh my God, I'm like, it's done Oh my God, it's done I got to do it's done Hey, why don't we just go lay down and bed And cuddle and we did She cuddled and she cried And it was a great moment And she was, had to shut down her brain So she could grieve For her grandma Because she was already thinking about the week ahead And finally, that same thing As the week progressed, we go to the funeral And I'm looking at our week And I'm saying, all right Well, I have to preach this coming Sunday I have a wedding that I have to officiate But I said, you know what? I'm not leaving my wife's side And the men in this church stepped up for me They put their love in action Ryan stepped up and taught last Sunday Casey stepped up on Saturday and officiated the wedding And I was able to be there for my wife That is love in action That is love in action Love Don't just tell people you love them Show them Look, Mother Teresa said it this way Love cannot remain by itself It has no meaning Love has to be put into action And that action is service Love isn't something I declare And it shouldn't be something you declare It should be something that you demonstrate Amen? So what's the first truth?
Love is a verb Which means love is action There we go All right, truth number two here Love is a command 1 John 3 23 says This is his command To believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ And to love one another as he commanded us Look, John has already talked about Love being a verb Now he's reminding us that it's also a command So this means it's not optional So if you are a born again believer You believe that Jesus Christ was raised to life again He isn't heaven sitting next to the Father You have no option here not to love You are commanded to love Let me repeat that If you are a Christian, a born again believer You are commanded to love There's no option here There's one option And that's to love others And look, it's not based on feelings Well, man, I just feel depressed today, Robin I just, you know, man, this is my week's not been going good And I have all these emotions going on And you know, all that Stop, you are commanded to love Well, his personality is just not good today Are there personality at work? You are commanded to love Well, you know, I don't think they deserve my love They hurt me They haven't said the most kindest things to me You are commanded to love It's based on obedience And look, Jesus said it, John 1334 I a new command I give you A new command I give you It says a new command I give you It doesn't say a new suggestion This is a book of commands Not a book of suggestions You agree with me that? Love one another As I have loved you So you must love one another John 1512, my command is this Love each other as I have loved you Look, Jesus is talking to his disciples here But this command is not just for his disciples It's not just for the disciples Why do I say that? Because his disciples were echoing Jesus commands throughout the New Testament To the early church And again, notice Jesus doesn't say Love one another if I feel like it Love one another if they apologize Love one another if they vote like you Love one another if they are easy to love It's a funny thing when you talk about love And how to love people Some people are like, man, I just that person is really hard to love I feel like most Christians drive around with a bumper sticker on their car That says, I only love people that are easy to love And people see that right on your bumper sticker And they don't have anything to do with you Which gives you no chance to be able to illuminate God's love to them We need to drop that defense Jesus simply said love one another Because it love is a suggestion from Jesus It's a command So who right now?
Think about it Who right now in your life has been really difficult to love Anyways, oh man, that coworker at my work is just unbearable All they do is talk, talk, talk, talk They talk about the liberal news, they talk about love is love And husbands, oh well my wife, she's just been You know, it's too hard to difficult Too hard to difficult, she gives me so much, so many tasks And she's not loving to me and I just stop Well, they're not kind to me, stop Who is that person? Is it your spouse? Maybe it's your kids Oh man, they're just so unbearable right now We are called to love, so who is that person right now That's in your life that you can love And make that hard choice This reminds me of a story Mother Teresa was traveling around the world And she was in Australia and she was meeting with this Aboriginal man I think I said that right And he was very, very mean to people He went open his door to everybody And of course Mother Teresa comes knocking on his door And he's like, oh wow, it's Mother Teresa I'm gonna have to open my door And she asks, sir, can I clean your house? You know, I want to come in and love on you and clean your house And he's like, well, I guess you can clean my house Some other Teresa comes in and starts cleaning the house And there's a lamp by the window And the lamp is turned off and it's completely dirty And Mother Teresa is one of the things that she points out in the story And she tells the man, how come the light is not on?
And he's like, well, it's dirty And anyway, nobody would even come see me You know, nobody ever will come to me Well, if I clean the lamp and I turn it on for you And I send some of the nuns over here weekly, would you keep it on? And he's like, well, I guess Well, what happens in that story is that That light, the nuns coming over, the light being on People started to come seeing him The love that was poured into this man Over the years, changed his life And years later, he sent a letter to Mother Teresa And he basically, I mean, there's a long letter, but at the end of it It says, tell my friend the light she lit in my life Is still burning One simple act of obedience, immediate love, changed a life Mother Teresa could have said, well, that guy's hard to love I'm not going to knock on his door He's turned everybody else away But she said, no, I am commanded to love Jesus pours out his love through the love that we show to others So he's pouring into you so you can share it with others And change a life Never underestimate what God can do Through one simple act of obedience So we are commanded to love So we have love as an action We are commanded to love You already move on to the next point? Alright, next truth Love will cost us something 1 John 3 16 This is how we know what love is Jesus Christ lay down his life for us And we, and we, and we, uh, lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters Real love always requires sacrifice And John, John doesn't ask us to invent this love He just, again, he points to Jesus He points to the cross This is how we know what love is He says How Jesus lay down his life God's love for you wasn't cheap God's love for you wasn't cheap It cost the Father, His Son It cost Jesus His life It cost Him rejection It cost Him suffering It cost Him cross Love has always been expensive And John says, we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters Jesus isn't just our Savior He's our example Because love is a verb It's an action Love will always cost something It may cost you your time We all know this It may cost you your time It may cost you your comfort It may cost you convenience Well, I just, I have a lot of stuff going on I have this plan, this plan It may cost you canceling some plans It may cost you your money It may cost you your sleep It may cost you your pride It may cost you your right to be offended It may cost you your forgiveness Love always asks What am I, uh, love? Always asks What am I willing to give?
Not what am I willing to keep? And again, church, John is very practical When he's telling us that it costs something He's saying it here John 1st, John 3 17 If someone has enough money to live well And sees a brother or a sister in need But shows no compassion How can God's love be in that person? John again is not talking about feelings Well, hey, I feel so sorry for you I feel it No, he's talking about action So sometimes that looks like writing a check Oh man, a pastor can up here talking about money Everybody in the room got stuck down The air got stuck out of the room I've had so many people in our church That are so loving and giving with their money They'll come and say Hey, I know youth camps are coming up I want to give two or three memberships Or two or three camp fees So they can go this year I don't want them to know it was me I just know there's a need And this is what that check is for Hey, I know that the church has equipment needs I don't want this to know I don't want anybody to know this came for me Here's a check So you guys can get that equipment Hey, CRTC, feminine appeal Oh, hey, this person needs a bill to be paid Here, this is the check that I'm writing For when that happens You guys put this away This is the money that I want to give To make sure that that person's bills are paid We have people in our church do that all the time And it's so amazing You guys love people You guys love people Sometimes it's sometimes the sacrifice is taking someone to meal Oh man, everybody in this church knows how to cook well We have meal trains going out There should not be a meal train Where there's a day missed In this church And if you see it And you're like, oh man, I've done it I've already done it two or three times this month Hey, go ahead and love sacrificially It's going to cost you something But I guarantee that meal Will be a loving meal Because it came from your heart Sometimes it looks like babysitting Man, I can't tell you how many times We've had the young girls in this church Come and babysit for our kids And they're like, yeah, we don't want anything Don't charge me anything Am I like what? No, no, we don't want anything Thank you for allowing us to come babysit your kids I love our church When that happens I just love our church Sometimes it'll cost you just sitting In a moment with somebody And grieving with them Look, church, this last couple of weeks Again, my wife lost her grandma And I'm telling you Pastor Ryan and Kate The day that Madison got back They knew we hadn't gone to The grocery store And they brought us a meal The day we got back from the funeral Javier and Crystal Munoz Just showed up with food Same thing I'm so grateful for this church And one more story Because I just have to say it Because I'm sitting there on Father's Day The day before Father's Day Or not the weekend before Father's Day I'm meeting with Andrew and Don And we're talking And they're hearing that Madison's leaving And they're like, oh, you're going to be alone on Father's Day I'm not going to be alone, I'm going to have the boys And then Don starts asking me questions About my favorite dessert And I'm like, oh, I love key lime pie It's one of my favorite desserts I just love every variation of it I scream a key lime ice cream I scream pie ice cream Whatever, I'm a key lime pie Jello, all this stuff It's going over and over and over again She starts asking me questions And the next day, the Saturday before Father's Day Andrew and Don showed up to my house With a key lime pie, this is happy Father's Day I'm such a blessing Hey, we're loving with food I love it Number one, because it's food, but you know, it's love And it's key lime pie If you don't like key lime pie, just repent Repent And then try key lime pie again, okay?
Just say Love will cost you something James, 214, 317 says What good is it? Dear brothers and sisters If you say you have faith, but don't show it by your actions Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you have a see a brother or sister Who has no food or clothing and you say Goodbye and have a good day, stay warm and eat well But then you don't give that person any food or clothing What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn't enough Unless it produces good deeds It is dead and useless John would say love without sacrifice is empty If we're not sacrificing, what are we doing?
Are we really loving people? What? Think about the Good Samaritan, you all know that story, right? It's in Luke 10 Think about it, it's a really great story But think about what it cost him Think about what it cost him Don't miss that, he stopped He risked his own safety He used his own supplies He put a man on his donkey He paid for his lodging And then he left extra money To cover future expenses Look, his compassion wasn't free, it was costly That's biblical love Imagine taking your credit card And going downtown Austin And picking up a homeless man And saying, I'm going to take you out to dinner I'm going to feed you, clothe you And I'm going to put you in a hotel room And I'm going to leave my credit card And whatever you want You can buy on that credit card Don't worry about it Some of us would be like That is crazy That is pretty crazy And I'm not saying go do that We're going to be good stewards with our money But what I'm trying to say is That's what happened here in this story That was sacrificial biblical love Sometimes we have people in our own house That go without food Or have a can't pay a bill Sometimes it's like hey Till you get back on your feet I'm going to pay that bill until you get back on your feet Just let me know, send the bill to me I got you, I'll take care of you Hey, you need extra food Or hey, you need formula for a baby Hey, all the formula that you need Don't go to the store, don't pay for it I'll pay for it until that baby's done with formula Those sound a little bit more practical, don't it?
If you have the needs, if you have the funds Hey, love into action It's going to cost something And I guarantee that person Is going to understand love in a different way By you doing that You know, over the years, Madison and I have poured so much into this church So much in this church We poured our time We poured our energy We poured our finances Our prayers Our tears I've got to invest in people with this church I've got to invest in missions around the world Madison has stayed at home Well, I was in Georgia And I've got to experience the time in Ukraine And if you ask me today, if you ask us today Do we regret any of it? Our answer would be not one second Do we regret? Not one dollar, do we regret? Not one sacrifice Why?
Because others invested in us As we were growing up in this church Others invested in me personally And then when I got married and started investing in my wife And us as a couple I just can't think of where my life would be If I didn't have Ryan Beverly and Kate Beverly right here Amen I can't tell you When I came into this church I was alone I was by myself And I can't tell you how many weekends I spent at their house It cost them something Their time Their talent Their finances Putting their lives on hold So they could Sing happy birthday to a guy That had no family from anywhere And let me celebrate it with their newborn baby That they had just had They sacrificed for me And then when my wife comes in the picture Our marriage would not be where it would be If I didn't have Ryan sitting there Talking to me constantly And then having Kate talk to my wife To where we can have a marriage that's modeled after them And our kids weren't be there Be where they are right now If we didn't have a model of the two kids They have right there They sacrificed They invested in us I think about Casey and Tanya The conversations that I had with both of you before When I was just a single sad hateful little man Is what I call myself I felt about this small all the time And you guys elevated me all the time You kept me in a place where you were like I don't want you to feel that way You are loved by God I can't help any times You Tanya and Casey told me that You invested in me Nate Melissa Can't count how many thanksgivings I got invited to You invested your time Your talents, your treasures Stefan, Utah This example that you set for me I wouldn't be married to Madison Because Stefan wouldn't say Rob, that one's not your wife And then he meets Madison Oh Rob, that one's definitely your wife Thank you Stefan Thank you It cost him the time It cost him their talents It cost him their treasure What? It cost you something And last truth today before we end Loving others actually draws you closer to God First John 3 2324 And this is his command Believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ And to love one another Those who keep his commands and remain in him And he in them Look, loving people doesn't earn God's love It deepens our fellowship with him John closes this section by bringing everything together He says believe in Jesus Love one another, remain in him These are not three separate commands They are all connected When we trust in Christ His love changes us That love changes us We begin to love others And when we continue walking in that love We enjoy deeper fellowship with him And again, that's what Jesus is telling us Saying in John 1421 It says whoever has my commands and keeps them Is the one who loves me The one who loves me Will be loved by me Or loved by my father And I too love them and show myself to them Look, Jesus isn't saying If you obey my commands I'll finally love you No, he's saying When you walk in obedience When you love others You'll experience my presence in a deeper way You'll experience a closeness with God That you've never experienced before in your life You'll experience a confidence A joy in God And that will grow as you walk in obedience One of the clearest acts of obedience In your life Is just loving people You want to grow closer to God? Love that difficult person That might be your spouse No elbows please Love that difficult person Forgive that person that hurts you All pastors, it's just really too Forgive Serve someone who can never repay you Meet someone's need Encourage somebody this week And pray for somebody Because every act of love Is also an act of obedience And every act of obedience Church opens up our heart to experience God's presence More deeply I didn't just become The guy that loves people because Again, it didn't just happen overnight It just didn't happen God loved me first And I had to experience his love And as I started to Let that love come into my life I started to illuminate that And I was like, well man, I have I have love for people that I've never had before I love you brother Ooh, what's why you saying that to me? I love you brother No, I love you brother Oh, I love you brother I love you And people were like, man, what's wrong with this guy?
He started changing me And changing me Changing me And the next thing you know That love brought me closer to God And I've ever been before Where all that stuff All that identity Just started shedding off of me There's nothing from my past That holds me back anymore Because of how much love I give to others That illuminates and grows me closer to God Look at this triangle up here God, you others And you can put others, it could be your spouse It could be co-workers I just put others because it's others The more you love others The closer you will grow to God It's like this I love, I love, I love Oh, wow, am I so close? Why do I feel God's presence so much? Why am I so different in change? Because you started to love other people Well, I'm on the brink of divorce Pastor Robin, it's really hard to love my spouse right now Well, why don't you just try loving each other?
More than you ever have your... It's really difficult Well, love is a command Put it into action Make some changes Start loving on a different path And watch how that will start changing your marriage One single act of obedience Can change the way someone believes Do it Amen? Church, the world doesn't need Christians Who simply just talk about love The world needs Christians Who love through action So this week This week do this for me Don't just say you love, live it Don't just wait to be loved first Take the initiative Don't just admire love, put it into practice Don't just receive God's love, reflect God's love Because love illuminated Isn't simply God's love shining on us? It's God's love shining through us Would y'all stand great with me?