Prisonchaplain Shares the Love: audio

[prisonchaplain]

Three times a year I am privileged to speak in my home church. This time around, the sermon is a conclusion of our "Summer Lovin'" series. The subject seems appropriate given the political climate, both at home and abroad.

Assemblies of God Online Sermons and Podcasts | Angle Lake Neighborhood Church | Angle Lake Neighborhood Church

Sermon notes:

God’s love becomes our love

Proposition: God loves us and his love allows us to love.

Introduction: In most cases I find that prisoners tend to have more love for their mothers than they do for their fathers. For example, we used to offer greeting cards through our chapels. The cards were donated. Two months before Mother’s Day we’d start getting requests. “Are the cards here yet?” The week before Father’s Day I’d ask the prisoners, “Doesn’t anyone want to send out a Father’s Day card?” One responded, “If I knew who he was I’d probably kill him!”

OK, prisoners sometimes have a distorted view of life. However, I also recall taking part in a therapy group for clergy. Everyone in the group was diagnosed as mentally healthy, and, in fact, all participants were graduate students at the Assemblies of God Seminary. My group was all females, except me and the Christian psychologist. Every single one of them had “Daddy issues.” They felt that their dads looked down on them, did not approve of them, or that in some other way they failed to communicate their love. To put this rather simply, moms are generally good at sharing the love. Many of us dads are not so expressive. Despite what we hide in our hearts, our children just aren’t “feeling the love.”Fortunately, whether we are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, or children, today we can establish within ourselves a fountain of love that will never run dry!

Scripture: 1 John 4:7-19: 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son[b] into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[c] our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

TRANSITION: OUR THEME THESE PAST FEW WEEKS HAS BEEN “SUMMER LOVIN’,” AND THERE IS CERTAINLY A LOT OF LOVING IN THIS PASSAGE. WHERE DO WE START?

God first loved us. The passage tells us…Love comes from God. On the simplest level, we must say of course. After all, God created the world out of nothing, and he created us in his image! And, of course, this passage tells us that God is love. God showed his love by sending his one and only Son: so we could live through him as an atoning sacrifice. Yikes! Love is sacrifice? All the parents said… (Amen!) Did I just say that love means sacrifice and loss? If I do that how are my needs going to be met?

What’s that? Seek first Jesus’ kingdom and all my needs will be taken care of? Who came up with THAT? OH…Jesus…

God’s love is made complete in us. After all, is there any love more perfect than God’s? He has given us of his Spirit. How many have felt the warmth of God’s Spirit? How many believe that the Spirit is with us—even when we don’t feel it?

TRANSITION: IT IS WONDERFUL THAT GOD LOVES US. THIS TRUTH MUST BE A GOOD THING. BUT, WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

God’s love helps us. The passage tells us that we live through his Son. The power that Jesus demonstrates is in us—and can shine in our lives!

Recently I was involved in a car accident. The other person was backing out of a parking space, and the sun blinded her—so she slammed into me. How many recognize that it is difficult to feel the Balm of Gilead in such a circumstance? Once I was certain that our girls were okay, I began listening to the other driver. Almost immediately I started to pray silently. She shared that the last year of her life included several traumatic events, and even her marriage appeared to be on shaky ground. As we resolved how to handle the incidentals of this accident, I felt emboldened to ask if my wife and I could pray with her. She responded that we could, although she informed us she was an atheist. So we did—we prayed for God to open her heart to His presence, and that God would reveal himself to her and her loved ones. Afterwards, my missionary wife urged her to find a good church.

I did not and do not know this person. God does. God loves her. And, he used my wife and I to love her. In your prayers you may want to add in Lauren—a young lady who needs God.

Jesus is an atoning sacrifice for us. Don’t the best things in life come at a price? Jesus died so we can live? The scripture tells us that there is no greater love. And that is the love that abides within us!

God has given us his Spirit. Sometimes life is so lonely. Sometimes life is difficult…even miserable. Then I feel it. The problem is not gone. The situation is the same. But, I know and feel that God is with me. And so…it is well with my soul.

TRANSITION: GOD LOVES ME AND THIS LOVE HELPS ME. BUT DOES IT CHANGE ME?

God’s love produces love in us—especially for our fellow Christians! There should be a special bond between Christians—the love of God! If you find that you get along better with non-Christians, something may be wrong. It is good to love the lost. God does! However, if you love them more than God’s people, could it be that you do not love God’s people enough? Maybe you’ve been disappointed by hypocrisy, harsh judgment, or poor behavior? God calls on us to forgive and to love. After all, He forgives us and loves us, and do we not disappoint him by our hypocrisy, our harsh judgments, and by our poor behavior?

When we love then we show that we are born of God and that we know God. We also demonstrate that God lives in us, that his love is complete in us, that we acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, and that we will have confidence on the Day of Judgment. In so doing we become like him. We do not fear. We love our brother. Hey! I want to love like that! Amen?

In contrast, if we do not love we show that we don’t know God. Therefore we fear—especially God’s punishment. We become liars, and God’s love is not in us. In reality, when we do not show love for others we do not love God

TRANSITION: GOD’S LOVE HELPS US LOVE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

Conclusion: We can all think of a time when we succeeded in love. However, can we not also think of a time when we failed in love? How is it with our souls today? What is our success/failure ratio? Maybe you are a powerful hero of God, with a 90%+ love rating. Maybe you have to struggle just to register a blip on the love chart. Family, we need a fresh infilling of God’s Spirit…of God’s love.

The world needs what we’ve got. For them to get it, we’ve got to give it. For us to give it, we’ve got to keep on getting it.

Jesus says that He will be in us a fount of living water that shall never run dry. God won’t plug the spout, but perhaps we do. We neglect God’s love. We may even suppress it.

Today, if you desire to let God’s love flow freely through you—so you can bless the church, and be a sign to the loss, . . . Then stand with me…and let’s pray.

Edited September 13, 2012 by prisonchaplain

[SteveVH]

Three times a year I am privileged to speak in my home church. This time around, the sermon is a conclusion of our "Summer Lovin'" series. The subject seems appropriate given the political climate, both at home and abroad.

Assemblies of God Online Sermons and Podcasts | Angle Lake Neighborhood Church | Angle Lake Neighborhood Church

Sermon notes:

God’s love becomes our love

Proposition: God loves us and his love allows us to love.

Introduction: In most cases I find that prisoners tend to have more love for their mothers than they do for their fathers. For example, we used to offer greeting cards through our chapels. The cards were donated. Two months before Mother’s Day we’d start getting requests. “Are the cards here yet?” The week before Father’s Day I’d ask the prisoners, “Doesn’t anyone want to send out a Father’s Day card?” One responded, “If I knew who he was I’d probably kill him!”

OK, prisoners sometimes have a distorted view of life. However, I also recall taking part in a therapy group for clergy. Everyone in the group was diagnosed as mentally healthy, and, in fact, all participants were graduate students at the Assemblies of God Seminary. My group was all females, except me and the Christian psychologist. Every single one of them had “Daddy issues.” They felt that their dads looked down on them, did not approve of them, or that in some other way they failed to communicate their love. To put this rather simply, moms are generally good at sharing the love. Many of us dads are not so expressive. Despite what we hide in our hearts, our children just aren’t “feeling the love.”Fortunately, whether we are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, or children, today we can establish within ourselves a fountain of love that will never run dry!

Scripture: 1 John 4:7-19: 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son[b] into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[c] our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

TRANSITION: OUR THEME THESE PAST FEW WEEKS HAS BEEN “SUMMER LOVIN’,” AND THERE IS CERTAINLY A LOT OF LOVING IN THIS PASSAGE. WHERE DO WE START?

God first loved us. The passage tells us…Love comes from God. On the simplest level, we must say of course. After all, God created the world out of nothing, and he created us in his image! And, of course, this passage tells us that God is love. God showed his love by sending his one and only Son: so we could live through him as an atoning sacrifice. Yikes! Love is sacrifice? All the parents said… (Amen!) Did I just say that love means sacrifice and loss? If I do that how are my needs going to be met?

What’s that? Seek first Jesus’ kingdom and all my needs will be taken care of? Who came up with THAT? OH…Jesus…

God’s love is made complete in us. After all, is there any love more perfect than God’s? He has given us of his Spirit. How many have felt the warmth of God’s Spirit? How many believe that the Spirit is with us—even when we don’t feel it?

TRANSITION: IT IS WONDERFUL THAT GOD LOVES US. THIS TRUTH MUST BE A GOOD THING. BUT, WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

God’s love helps us. The passage tells us that we live through his Son. The power that Jesus demonstrates is in us—and can shine in our lives!

Recently I was involved in a car accident. The other person was backing out of a parking space, and the sun blinded her—so she slammed into me. How many recognize that it is difficult to feel the Balm of Gilead in such a circumstance? Once I was certain that our girls were okay, I began listening to the other driver. Almost immediately I started to pray silently. She shared that the last year of her life included several traumatic events, and even her marriage appeared to be on shaky ground. As we resolved how to handle the incidentals of this accident, I felt emboldened to ask if my wife and I could pray with her. She responded that we could, although she informed us she was an atheist. So we did—we prayed for God to open her heart to His presence, and that God would reveal himself to her and her loved ones. Afterwards, my missionary wife urged her to find a good church.

I did not and do not know this person. God does. God loves her. And, he used my wife and I to love her. In your prayers you may want to add in Lauren—a young lady who needs God.

Jesus is an atoning sacrifice for us. Don’t the best things in life come at a price? Jesus died so we can live? The scripture tells us that there is no greater love. And that is the love that abides within us!

God has given us his Spirit. Sometimes life is so lonely. Sometimes life is difficult…even miserable. Then I feel it. The problem is not gone. The situation is the same. But, I know and feel that God is with me. And so…it is well with my soul.

TRANSITION: GOD LOVES ME AND THIS LOVE HELPS ME. BUT DOES IT CHANGE ME?

God’s love produces love in us—especially for our fellow Christians! There should be a special bond between Christians—the love of God! If you find that you get along better with non-Christians, something may be wrong. It is good to love the lost. God does! However, if you love them more than God’s people, could it be that you do not love God’s people enough? Maybe you’ve been disappointed by hypocrisy, harsh judgment, or poor behavior? God calls on us to forgive and to love. After all, He forgives us and loves us, and do we not disappoint him by our hypocrisy, our harsh judgments, and by our poor behavior?

When we love then we show that we are born of God and that we know God. We also demonstrate that God lives in us, that his love is complete in us, that we acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, and that we will have confidence on the Day of Judgment. In so doing we become like him. We do not fear. We love our brother. Hey! I want to love like that! Amen?

In contrast, if we do not love we show that we don’t know God. Therefore we fear—especially God’s punishment. We become liars, and God’s love is not in us. In reality, when we do not show love for others we do not love God

TRANSITION: GOD’S LOVE HELPS US LOVE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

Conclusion: We can all think of a time when we succeeded in love. However, can we not also think of a time when we failed in love? How is it with our souls today? What is our success/failure ratio? Maybe you are a powerful hero of God, with a 90%+ love rating. Maybe you have to struggle just to register a blip on the love chart. Family, we need a fresh infilling of God’s Spirit…of God’s love.

The world needs what we’ve got. For them to get it, we’ve got to give it. For us to give it, we’ve got to keep on getting it.

Jesus says that He will be in us a fount of living water that shall never run dry. God won’t plug the spout, but perhaps we do. We neglect God’s love. We may even suppress it.

Today, if you desire to let God’s love flow freely through you—so you can bless the church, and be a sign to the loss, . . . Then stand with me…and let’s pray.

Awesome! God is present to the world and reveals Himself to everyone through the love we give each other. This love is the longing of every human heart and we are empty and meaningless without it. Thank you so much for posting this. Wonderful job!

[prisonchaplain]

144 people viewed this thread. Three people liked the sermon. Good think I tend to speak to captive audiences. :-)

[Anddenex]

God’s love is made complete in us. After all, is there any love more perfect than God’s? He has given us of his Spirit. How many have felt the warmth of God’s Spirit? How many believe that the Spirit is with us—even when we don’t feel it?

Thank you for sharing these words.