Towels and Rights | Sunday, December 27, 2020

I think you could say without question that the most well-known verse, or maybe the most famous verse of Scripture, is John 3:16, where God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Very closely connected to John 3:16 is Romans 5:8, which states, "But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Connected to John 3:16 and Romans 5:8 is 1 John 3:16, which says, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

Do you recognize the theme in these verses? You are sensible people, so of course, you see the connection in each of these verses. Over the last four weeks, we have been returning to familiar themes that surround the Christmas season. In more traditional or liturgical expressions of Christianity, this season is called Advent. On the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, many Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Catholic churches observe Advent. It may not be as well known among Baptists and non-denominational camps of Christianity, but it is nevertheless a very important period of time.

Traditionally, on each of the four Sundays before Christmas, the church has zeroed in on the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love. In my message three Sundays ago, that's exactly what I did. In the previous three Sundays, actually three weeks ago, I shared that the coming of Jesus is the advent of joy. Two weeks ago, I shared that the coming of Jesus is the coming of hope. Last week, I shared that the coming of Jesus is the coming of peace.

So obviously, this week I want to remind you, or maybe inform you for the very first time, that the advent of Jesus is the arrival of love. That is a super simple point, but it's really important as well. The advent of Jesus is the arrival of many things—many things that we desire and many things that we actually desperately need. Hope, peace, joy, and love are not...

Just as there are things that we want, there are also things that we actually need. I don't believe that one can live in any real or abundant way without hope, peace, joy, and love. When people lose hope, when they lose peace, and when they lose joy and love, their well-being decreases sharply, and it goes downhill very quickly. Some of you know this in a very experiential way. In fact, some of you who are watching this right now may have found that it was the loss of one or more of these things that pushed you to seek and ultimately find Christ.

Perhaps you are watching today and are currently seeking something. The journey you are on right now may have begun with the loss of one of these four things: hope, peace, joy, and love. I want to encourage you with something that Jesus said, which is recorded in Luke's Gospel. In Luke chapter 11, we read in verse 9, "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

The advent of Jesus is the advent of joy, hope, peace, and, finally, at the top of the stack, the coming of love as well. The arrival of Jesus 2,000 years ago is truly the greatest manifestation and the greatest expression of love that we could ever comprehend. At the core of the incarnation—an important theological concept that refers to God becoming a man—was and is love. For God so loved the world that He gave His Son. Jesus came to this world because of love, and not only did He come to this world because of love, but He came for a very specific purpose. This purpose was motivated by love and meant to be a demonstration of God's love. Jesus came to the world to be a sacrificial lamb to take away the sin of the world. That's exactly how He was introduced to those who ultimately would.

Be his followers when John the Baptist was baptizing early, before Jesus' ministry really began. Jesus came to him to be baptized, and when he did, John said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Jesus came to the world to be that sacrificial lamb. Why? Well, everything that Jesus did and does is motivated by a demonstration of a very special kind of love.

Of course, Tina Turner asked the question, "What's love got to do with it?" As it relates to the coming of Jesus, the Scriptures answer: love has everything to do with it. Everything that Jesus did, everything that Jesus does, is motivated by and is a demonstration of a very special kind of love.

Now, what do I mean when I say a very special kind of love? When talking about love, I think we all recognize that we use the word "love" in our culture in both formal ways and also in rather casual ways. We may say that we love Chick-fil-A or we love our house, or we may say that we love our spouse. However, we all understand that your love for a chicken sandwich is on a different level than your love for your spouse. Hopefully, we all understand this intuitively, but it has also been demonstrated by science.

According to science, love can be broken down into three categories, each characterized by its own set of hormones that are released within your body. One form of love that science identifies could be categorized by the word "lust," which is revealed in the system by the release of testosterone in men and estrogen in females. Then there is another form of love that science identifies as "attraction," characterized by the release of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin within the body.

Finally, there's a third form of love that science is able to observe, and that's "attachment," characterized by oxytocin and vasopressin. We can see these things within the body and how they affect your neurological system; we can see how they affect your brain. Science recognizes that there are different kinds of love, something we understand intuitively because we experience that there are different kinds of love. The Scriptures acknowledge that there are category differences for love as well.

The New Testament was originally written in Greek, specifically in what is referred to as Koine Greek. There are several different words that are translated into English as "love," and each one identifies a different kind of love. For a really great resource on this topic, I highly recommend C.S. Lewis's book, "The Four Loves." In his book, Lewis writes about these four different kinds of love, which correspond to four different words in the Greek language: Eros, Storge, Philea, and Agape.

Eros is an intense longing or lust; it is connected to our English word "erotic." Storge is a natural or instinctual affection. It is the love that mothers have for the little baby that begins to grow in their wombs immediately upon learning that a baby is developing within them. Philea refers to brotherly kindness or brotherly love. The city of Philadelphia derives its name from this word, as it is known as the city of brotherly love.

The fourth word, Agape, is considered to be the highest form of love. It is the love that is most frequently used in the New Testament scriptures. The greatest description of this love is found in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, specifically in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. There, we read in verses 4 through 8: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud. It is not rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged

God is love. That word for love is Agape. This Agape is the very nature of God. Now, all four of these expressions of love are important. In fact, I'm not sure that there would be any continuation of human life on earth if we did not have Eros, Storge, and Philea. However, understand this: there would be no abundant or eternal life if it were not for God's Agape love.

The Advent happened because of God's love. Jesus coming to this world was motivated by and a demonstration of God's Agape love. This is that special kind of love that I was talking about. Here’s something to remember: earthly life depends upon earthly expressions of love—Eros, Storge, and Philea—but eternal and heavenly life depends upon a heavenly Agape love from God. There is no ultimate or abundant life without an abundant outpouring of God's ultimate love.

Christmas is the beginning, or the entry point, of that love coming to this world. This love is most clearly seen in and through Jesus, beginning with Christmas and culminating in Good Friday and Easter. We read in the Scriptures, "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

With all this in mind, I want to take some time this morning for us to remember, in a very material and tangible way, God's love. Just as Jesus taught His first followers to do two thousand years ago when He led them in the Lord's Supper, or communion as we know it, it's been many weeks since we partook of communion together.

So, this is a great time just before Christmas. I hope that you have some bread and juice to use for communion. If you don't have anything in your home to partake of communion right now, I want to encourage you to maybe pick up the elements at the store for communion sometime this week prior to Christmas and partake with your family some evening this week. You can even watch the end of this service again online on YouTube to lead through communion, unless you want to lead through communion yourself.

But if you do have the elements of communion, then I want to encourage you to get them either right now or in a few minutes when our worship leaders lead us in another song.

Following that song, we'll partake together. But before we do that, I want to highlight one more important point this morning about the love that God gives to us in and through Jesus Christ. Over the last few weeks, we have talked about joy, peace, and hope. I believe these things are all the results of God's love given to us in and through Jesus Christ.

We have sure and steadfast hope because of God's love given to us in Jesus Christ, due to what Jesus accomplished on the cross when He died for our sins. This is the demonstration of His love for us when He laid His life down. Because of His work on the cross and His justifying grace, we now have a sure and steadfast hope in Him. Not only that, we have increasing joy unto abundance forever, for eternity in Christ, because of God's love.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would have eternal life in God's presence. In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. The joy that we have, this increasing joy unto abundance for eternity, is a product of God's love.

Additionally, we have peace—a peace that surpasses understanding to guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus—because of God's love. All of these things are connected to love. As 1 Corinthians 13 says, the greatest of these is love. The love of Christ, manifested for us in the incarnation, demonstrated for us on the cross, and given to us through the resurrection, is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This love should compel us to share this great love with others.

2 Corinthians 5:14 tells us that it is the love of Christ that compels us. It should stir us to want to share the love of God with other people. This is the great blessing that Christmas speaks to us about and the opportunity that Christmas affords us. It is an opportunity for us to share the love of Christ with others.

That is what it means to do evangelism. To be an evangelist is to share the love of God with others that you have freely received, giving it to other people. As we finish up our time in the Scriptures this morning, I want to...

I want to share with you a point I've shared before: the gift of God's love in Christ is meant to be shared with all people. I hope that you will make the most of this opportunity over the next five days leading up to Christmas to share the love of God. What your friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors need more than anything else in their lives is the joy, hope, and peace that God's love in Christ Jesus brings.

Sadly, as we look around our culture, it's very clear that people are lacking joy, hope, and peace. Core to all of these things is the love of God in Christ Jesus. When Jesus came two thousand years ago, the little baby born and laid in a manger came as an expression of God's love, motivated by God's love, to demonstrate God's love so that you and I could have joy, peace, and hope in Christ according to His love.

It is my prayer that the love of God shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit would be the very thing that compels you to speak that love to other people. You may not be getting together with family members and friends like you normally would at Christmastime. Maybe you're doing a Zoom call with family members. I don't know how you're doing Christmas this year, but I do know that this is a great opportunity to share the love of God with them. People need hope right now; they need joy and the peace that God gives, and it's available to us in Jesus Christ. Since we have it abundantly in Christ, we should share it with others.

Father God, I pray that you would be working in my life and in the lives of my brothers and sisters. Enable us by your grace to be bold, by your Holy Spirit, to share the good news of your love that brings joy, peace, and hope to all people. God, give us boldness to speak up and share this good news with others because this is what people want and what they desperately need. Would you cause your church to shine brightly like a city that is set on a hill, a city that cannot be hidden?

Let our light so shine before men that they would see our good works and glorify You, our Father in heaven. Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters that You would give them opportunities this week, over the next few days leading up to Christmas. Give them opportunities to share the good news of Your grace, Your love, Your peace, and Your joy with their neighbors, co-workers, family members, and friends. Make Your love flow forth from our lives to other people. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

As we consider this morning, John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life." Romans 5:8 says, "God demonstrates His love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." This is God revealing how great His love is for us, as Jesus came to the world as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. All of your sins and my sins were placed upon Him, and He was crucified in my place and in your place as our substitute, the propitiation for our sins, so that we could be forgiven, that we could have God's grace and forgiveness, and that we could experience His love, joy, peace, and hope.

On the night before He was crucified, the night that He would be betrayed, Jesus gathered with His disciples for the Passover meal. The Passover was a very clearly scripted meal that the Jewish people had been observing for over a thousand years by that point in time. However, Jesus did something different on that night. As they were gathered together in an upper room in Jerusalem, we are given some details about what happened in the Gospels. The Apostle Paul also writes about it in 1 Corinthians 11, stating, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you.'"

I hope that you have a cracker or some bread or something to partake with. As we take this, we want to remember Jesus' body that was broken for us. He took it, blessed it, broke it, gave it to His disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you." If you have bread, would you partake with me?

As we remember His body broken for us, Scriptures say, "In the same manner, after they had eaten, He took the cup and He said to them, 'This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me.'" The grape juice, the wine that they had on that night, was a reminder of Jesus's blood that would be shed. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission, forgiveness, or removal of sins. His blood had to be shed so that your sins could be dealt with. He said, "I want you to remember My blood shed for you."

So, if you have the grape juice, would you partake with me as we remember His blood shed for us? Lord Jesus, we thank You for the demonstration of Your love on the cross 2,000 years ago. Your love is demonstrated not just in the cross, but in the fact that You came to the earth as that little child. "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." You came so that we could have grace, forgiveness, and be saved from our sins. We could experience Your love, Your joy, Your peace, and Your hope.

So, Lord, we remember. We remember Your body broken for us. We remember Your blood shed for us. We pray, God, that You would keep us mindful of these things, not just today, not just this week through Christmas, but every single day. Lord, remind us of Your grace for us. We thank You and praise You for Your grace. In Jesus's name, Amen.

Now, a couple of things before I give a benediction this morning. This evening at 5 p.m. on the patio at the church, we are having our outdoor services, and I would invite you to come. It's socially distanced. We have been encouraging people during this period of time to wear masks because of all the things that are happening in our county. We will be having service tonight at five o'clock. It will be a wonderful time. We have heaters out there and little gas fire pits, so even if it's cold, you'll be okay. Come on out at five o'clock for socially distanced worship, fellowship with one another, and we will glean from the Scriptures together.

Also, this week on the 23rd...

Christmas Eve Eve at Cross Connection Church is a special tradition. We don't really do a Christmas Eve service; instead, we have been holding a Christmas Eve Eve service, the night before the night before Christmas, for many years—since before I became the pastor of the church. We will continue this tradition this year.

On December 23rd at 5 o'clock p.m., we will gather in the patio area at the church for a socially distanced time of Christmas music and scripture readings to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christmas. We will also have something special at the service, so I hope to see you there at 5 o'clock on the patio for Christmas Eve Eve.

Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. May the God of peace be with you all.