Advent
Your Love Came Down
Sunday, December 22, 2024
Welcome:
Call to Worship
We are here to worship a remarkable God.
The love of God welcomes us,
the grace of Christ awaits us,
the joy of the Spirit enfolds us.
Don’t come as slaves, come as the truly free.
Don’t come as petitioners, come as those who are already heard.
Don’t come as the outsiders, come as much-wanted children.
The love of God emboldens us.
The grace of Christ redeems us.
The joy of the Spirit uplifts us
Come as the hopeful, come as the eager, come as the thankful,
come as the recipients of amazing grace.
The love of God overflows our hearts,
The grace of Christ liberates our spirits,
The joy of the Spirit sings in our hearts.
Praise Songs
Advent: Love, Alena, and Kade
It is only because of God’s love that we are able to feel and give love at all. He loved us first and showed us what love is. Without Him, we wouldn’t know love at all and what kind of world would this be if there were no love in it?
In light of the great tragedy that happened this past Monday at Abundant Life, we might wonder where is love in that kind of evil and darkness?
Love is there and love is ever present. Look at what happened in the midst of great darkness and horror. Students were helping others to remain calm in the chaos and pray together. Hundreds if not thousands gathered at the capitol in a prayer vigil, at various churches around Dane county throughout this week, people are donating to United Way who will be offering resources, Billy Graham prayer support teams showed up and spent the week at City Church, thousands join together on social media offering up prayers, and locally we’re all more acutely aware of our loved ones and we’re sharing messages of love and encouragement to one another.
Love doesn’t vanish when hell invades-it only shines brighter. We must remember and stand in this truth as darkness tries to conquer and consume, that the Light of heaven shines in the darkness and the darkness has not, nor will it ever overcome it! We do not live by what we see, we live by what we know is truth and we call forth the Light of Love all the more.
So while we are all grieving with these families and this community, let us not believe the light has diminished or faded-for surely it has not. Let us look for the light and let us be vessels of the Light and shine all the brighter. Let us send a message that the enemy has not won and never will because Jesus has come to shine love’s pure light into this dark world and no evil can extinguish it. He has the victory, now and forevermore.
As we are grappling with many feelings of this week’s events and so many others in the recent past like this, let us be reminded who our God is, let His truth speak over our many emotions and keep us grounded and abiding in faith. Let us look to His love this morning and be reminded why Jesus came-for God so loved the world. He came to bring love’s pure light down to earth; to push back the darkness; and to show us how to love, as God loves us.
On this final week of Advent and in light of the emotions we are all feeling, let’s be reminded of God’s deep and abiding love for all of us and this is why we can and must still celebrate Christmas; this is how we continue to stand, and this is how we continue to build His kingdom-only through love’s pure light. Let’s focus on truth today.
1 John 4: 9-18 NLT
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. 13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.
- Jesus’ Birth is the Manifestation of God’s True Love.
God has always loved us, His creation. He purposed out of His great love for us, to make a way for us to be saved from the righteous judgment for our sin-to save us from eternal judgment- to save us from eternal separation from Him, our Holy God. Out of love, He did not want to be separated from His creation; He wants to be in a close relationship with each of us, delighting in us and all that we encounter in life. But in our sin, we were separated from God. So God did what only He could do-He became the sacrifice our sin required. You see life is in the blood, so in God’s economy to atone for sin, the blood of an innocent being had to be shed-trading places with the guilty person or persons and taking their place in punishment. God is just and righteous so sin must be punished. God did not want any to perish-but for all to be saved and be in right standing with Him-so we could enjoy a beautiful, loving relationship together.
Enter in Jesus-the manifestation of God’s true love and the sacrifice required to atone for the sins of the world, once and for all. Literally, all sin was transferred and put-upon Jesus as He died on the cross-all of it- and out of love He took the punishment in our place, by the shedding of His blood.
In His holiness, He could have remained on high and sent forth judgment through all the earth for the sins we are all guilty of and let us perish in our sin. He would be right to do so. In His love and mercy, He came down Himself and said I’ll take this for you.
John 3: 16-17. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Ephesians 1: 4-5 NLT 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
Bringing us into His family, receiving us as a son or daughter, gives Him great pleasure.
Galatians 4: 4-7 NIV 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
This is why Jesus had to come and He had to die. He had to come in the flesh, taking on the full nature of man and be born of a woman who was held guilty under the law; so that in His death He could redeem all of humanity from the law through His innocent blood. Because He was without sin, He fulfilled the law in every way and in His blood shed He ushered in a new covenant of grace extended to all who believe in Him. We are not held to the law anymore and found guilty. We are under His grace and have His Spirit guiding us into righteousness. So in the birth of Jesus, we see the manifestation of God’s love and His divine plan to bring us into right standing and relationship with Him.
It’s easy to love God when we allow the truth of His love to move from our heads to hearts. How can we not return love to Him who gives His love so freely and wonderfully to all? But as we read in our 1 John 4, we are reminded that it is not enough to simply love God; we are called to love others too. Why?
To bring about the full expression of God’s love.
- Loving Others Brings the Full Expression of God’s Love.
1 John 4:12 NLT 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
So the manifestation of God’s love is only complete as we all receive and give of His love to Him and to others.
Maybe you have had thoughts or even said at times, “I’m fine with believing in God and relating with Him, it’s just everybody else I try to avoid.” Ever felt like that? Or maybe you have thought or heard others say, “I’d like church a whole lot better if it weren’t for all those people that are so difficult.”
Well Jesus has something to say about that.
John 13:34 NLT 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
First, we need to know when there is a commandment, this is not something we consider only when we feel like being nice. We are called to love each other-but not just love as we want to define it-for which I am thankful… because there are some dysfunctional definitions of love out there.
Jesus commands us to love others as He has loved us.
Let’s pause on that for a moment. Why do we need to love others in such a way? They don’t all deserve it. They certainly won’t all appreciate it or even return it. And isn’t this exactly what Jesus faced with all humanity and loved us first, extending compassion, mercy, grace and forgiveness to us-whether or not we received it or returned it?
So this time of year when patience runs short and people are scurrying about, we are to love one another as Jesus loves us; when families gather and all our dysfunctions are on full display, we are to love one another as Jesus loves us; when we are faced with a decision to help others, to give from what we have, we are to love one another as Jesus loves us; when we receive phone calls that interrupt our planned merry-making festivities, drawing us away from Christmas movies into the cold to help someone who is in bind-we are to love others as Jesus loves us.
There is more in how He calls us to love others as He loves us. He calls us to also forgive one another, for when we withhold forgiveness to others, we are blocking the flow of His love. We are hindering the full expression of His love. I want to encourage you to think in your hearts if you are harboring any unforgiveness, even to those who have passed on, and repent today and with the help of the Holy Spirit-choose to forgive those who have wronged you. Forgiving doesn’t sweep something under the rug as it if never happened, it restores the free flow of God’s love to your heart as you remove the barrier of bitterness, hate, and resentment. Allow His love to be fully expressed in you. This is the Father’s gift to you.
Even Jesus chose to forgive those who hurt and mocked Him on the cross, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Not only are we to forgive, we are to bless those who speak against us.
Romans 12:14 NIV 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
You see, we have authority given to us through Christ and the power of His Spirit within us-and we are to use it wisely. In our words there are life or death, blessings or curses. We must know what we say sends forth power over ourselves and to others. So Jesus says bless others, do not curse them. For when we choose to bless others who wrong us, we are allowing the full expression of God’s love to be seen and experienced. His love is being sent out through the words we speak. That includes our own personal experience of God’s love at work in us.
You might be thinking that sounds really nice PK-but you don’t know how awful this person is, or the horrible things this group of people have done…they disgust me and I want them to pay for what they have done. I just can’t forgive them. I can’t speak blessing over someone like that.
Or maybe that cursing and unforgiveness is held against yourself-and you just can’t forgive yourself for things you have done or said.
When we struggle to extend love- we aren’t looking at others or ourselves through the eyes and heart of Christ,… we are looking at “I” and what I feel and I think about a person, a situation, or even myself.
When we are caught up in this thinking, we will likely harbor unforgiveness and we will likely speak curses over others or ourselves. But this is completely opposite of God and His expression of love in this world. This is the opposite outcome for Jesus’ coming. This is absolutely in alignment with the enemy who brings in darkness and hate. We unknowingly further the kingdom of darkness when we harbor unforgiveness. Jesus came to shine light into this dark world. So we must allow Him to shine light into the darkness of our hearts.
So what is the only solution and way to help us love others as Jesus loves them?
- Live in God and Grow More Perfect in Love.
We have to purpose to live in God as our Scripture says, for as we live in God, we live in love. And as we choose to live in God, our love that is His love within us, grows more perfect. He is perfect-but we are being perfected day by day as we walk closely with Him.
How do we really do this? We must purpose in our heart to let go of self; to let our old self die and embrace the new creation that we are in Christ. To really believe we are no longer a separate entity, self-contained, operating in our own power, but we are fused together with Christ for eternity and have His Spirit dwelling in us as our constant guiding light. This will be a great struggle for some who are determined to be independent. But that is not of God. That is of the world, a broken world at that.
Galatians 2:20 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
This takes ongoing practice and intentionality. When we catch ourselves responding in an unloving way towards someone else or ourselves, we must stop, repent of that thought and action, and ask the Spirit to bring us back into the love of God. We then respond through His love by seeing those people or ourselves through the loving eyes of Jesus. What does He want us to see about them, about our government, about our community, our schools, our bosses, our spouses, our children, our parents…. See them as Jesus does and see them in the Light of Love. Then speak blessing, not curses; speak life, not death; speak love and hope.
For if we don’t live like this, what was the purpose of Christmas and Jesus’ coming to the earth? What really changed in His coming?
1 John 4:17 NLT 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
Conclusion: Love’s pure light came down from heaven, in the form of a baby to later become a sacrifice and salvation unto all the world. Let us receive the fullness of God’s love for it is His greatest gift, through His Son Jesus. Let us really love others as Christ loves them and bring the full expression of God’s love into this world. For this world surely needs to see and experience love’s pure light.
Let’s pray:
Offering:
Prayers: Abundant Life community, Rubi and Erin’s families, Natalie’s family,
Peace in gatherings; peace for those alone; Health with sickness
Final Blessing: 2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
