The Advent of Love | Sunday, December 17, 2023

Amen, amen. Thank you very much, Anthony and the worship team. Good morning, Cross Connection Church. You can be seated. Welcome! We're so glad that you're here. That is such a great song—a classic old Christmas carol. In fact, that Christmas carol was written just before the Great Awakening in America in 1739. That song came from George Whitefield and Charles Wesley. You may not know those names, but they are very important in Christian history, especially here in the early United States.

The Great Awakening started in 1740, and that song came about from them in 1739. So, that song has been sung for a very long time, and I just love the theological richness of it. It's good to sing familiar songs that have great theological depth to them.

In the announcements today, as I mentioned, we are giving gifts to all the kids in the children's ministry. I kept saying "a couple of weeks," and then it occurred to me this morning while I was watching that Christmas is just eight days away. It's not a couple of weeks! The time just goes by overwhelmingly fast. It always feels like things are just going faster and faster.

Do you remember when you were a kid? Thanksgiving would come at the end of November, and it would seem like an eternity until Christmas arrived. It felt like it would last forever. Now, January 1st comes, and you blink, and it's Christmas again. It just goes by so fast.

Over the last four weeks, we have been celebrating this season as we've been in a series on Advent, remembering some of the important themes that surround this time of year. In many Christian churches for centuries, the church has approached Christmas by rejoicing in these themes over the four weeks leading up to Christmas, thinking about the concepts of peace, hope, joy, and love.

So, over the last three weeks, we have been doing that very same thing leading up to today. Three Sundays ago, I shared with you about Christ's coming and how the Advent, the arrival of Jesus, is not just the arrival of the Messiah—the one that the prophets had been looking forward to for many centuries and predicting his coming. In the coming of the Messiah, the arrival of Jesus is the arrival of peace. The peace that Jesus brings is, as the Scriptures reveal in the New Testament, a peace that...

Surpassing our understanding, it is a peace, a rest that we experience even in tumultuous times and difficult circumstances. We can't exactly explain where it came from or how we have it, but that peace is available to us in Jesus Christ. It is a peace not only that surpasses our understanding, but it is also a peace that comforts us at a soul level. It strengthens our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. I think that every single one of us needs that kind of peace, not just those of us who know about Christ and understand the Scriptures, but also those around us.

When we're at work, school, or just in our neighborhood, every single person we know is desiring that kind of restful peace. This becomes all the more clear to us when we see in the news media or on social media all the things happening around the world, especially conflicts like those that have been occurring in Ukraine over the last couple of years or in the Middle East over the last several months. When we see these things, we realize anew how much we desire, at a very deep level, for hostility, enmity, and war to be done away with.

What Christ brings to us is that kind of peace. That is why He is referred to by the prophet Isaiah in that predictive passage found on Christmas cards as the Prince of Peace. He is the ruler and Prince of Peace. The concept of peace in the Old Testament, which was originally written in Hebrew, is represented by the word "Shalom." It doesn't only speak of the cessation of violence; it also, as I shared three weeks ago, speaks of total universal human wholeness and fullness.

One Christian philosopher, a man by the name of Cornelius Plantinga, wrote that Shalom is universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight. It is the way that things ought to be. When we see all the chaos that happens in the world, there is something in us, whether we are believers in the Bible or not, that says this is not the way it ought to be. When you hear about a person who has died young or see wars happening or various conflicts, there is this recognition that this is not how it ought to be. In that recognition, there is a desire for the coming of the peace of God that is spoken of in the Scriptures. The Prince of Peace is the one who brings that peace.

Brings an everlasting peace. The promise of the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 9:6 is that our Lord, our Christ Jesus, will establish a kingdom. When Jesus came in the Gospels, as you read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the New Testament, He is constantly preaching what is called the Gospel of the Kingdom—the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God. He uses those terms interchangeably.

He is preaching about the coming Kingdom, and we look forward to the coming Kingdom. Of the increase of His government, His rule, and His peace, the Scriptures say in Isaiah chapter 9, there will be no end. God, in Christ Jesus, brings us peace from God, and Jesus brings us peace with God. We, who once were in conflict with God, find that Jesus makes it possible for us to have peace with Him. Once we have peace with God, we are given the peace of God because now we are in a relationship with the God of Peace.

This is what you find when you read through the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul, writing to the church in Rome, said that when we were still without strength, at just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. By His death, you and I have been justified; that is, we have been made right with a holy God. We were once in opposition to Him, but we have been justified by faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Not only does He make it possible for us to be joined back together with God to live life in connection with Him, but now we have the opportunity to be joined together with one another. Because of sin, in the opening chapters of Genesis 3, there is a separation between God and man, and there is a separation between human beings; we are disconnected from one another. However, in Christ Jesus, we are reconciled back to one another.

Paul speaks about it like this in the New Testament book of Ephesians chapter 2: Jesus is our peace, who has made both one. He has joined them together and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His body the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man, thus making peace.

Jesus reconciles you and me to God and to one another. In Christ Jesus, the Prince of Peace makes peace and makes it possible for us to be joined together with one another. It is an awesome and wonderful thing that Jesus does. So, when we celebrate Advent, when we celebrate Christmas, we are celebrating that reality: the peace that Jesus brings.

Every single person you know is desperately desiring and looking for something that is ultimately found only in Jesus Christ. Once we have peace from God, peace with God, and a relationship with the God of Peace, we are renewed and given great hope. This hope, which we discussed a couple of weeks ago, is promised to us in Jesus Christ. The coming of Jesus reminds us of a hope that does not disappoint, as the Scriptures declare.

However, all of us have, at some point or another, had our hope in this world and the things of this world shattered. The things we hoped for did not come to pass. You probably even have a memory of this from your childhood. There was something you desperately hoped for as a Christmas gift. You may have even had the Wishbook catalog. Do you remember the Wishbook catalog? You would go through it, circle things, and highlight them, leaving it in a place where your mom or dad might find it, hoping they would see what you wanted.

Then, you woke up on Christmas morning and didn’t get it. Your hope didn’t come through. Why? Because that was a wishful thinking kind of hope, and those kinds of hopes often fall apart in this world. The Scriptures, however, speak of a hope that is sure and steadfast. The author of the book of Hebrews says that this kind of hope, given to us in Christ Jesus, is an absolute certainty. It is like an anchor for our soul—the part of you that experiences worry, anxiety, fear, and depression. Many people are wrestling with these feelings in our culture more than they perhaps should or ought to, and we see it in a huge way.

The hope that we have in Christ Jesus is a hope that, as Romans chapter 5 says, does not disappoint. We have all been disappointed by hope and things in this world because the things of this world are not enduring or steadfast. But Christ Jesus is enduring and steadfast, and hoping in Him gives us a hope that does not disappoint. As a result of this sure and steadfast hope, we have ultimate comfort. We have an anchor for our soul, and this increases in our lives what we talked about last week: it increases joy. The joy that the Scriptures predict or promise, which is accessible to us in Jesus Christ, is a joy that endures.

Into eternity, we begin to experience it as we come to know salvation in Jesus Christ. We begin to comprehend it more fully as we abide in Him, as we walk with Him, and as we get to know Him in His Word. We begin to abide in His Word, and His Word abides in us. Then, we begin to abide in His love by living out His Word and doing the things that His Word commands or calls us to. We experience a joy that is growing or increasing unto abundance, and that lasts forever.

Now, all of the happy experiences that you can have in this life have a beginning point and an end point. They do not continue on and on for a very long time. The fact that they have an end point is what causes despair and depression for so many people. Sometimes, people even get depressed before they experience any joyful happenings or happy things because they think, "It's not going to endure; it's just going to end." In this life, we all recognize that the joy and happiness we could experience do not go on forever, and that can lead to despair.

However, the joy that is promised to us in Jesus Christ is a joy that is increasing unto abundance for eternity. I am on a group text with a group of pastors who are friends of mine all over the country. One of them, this last week, sent a text in that group and said, "I'm going to be teaching on joy this Sunday." Today, he is in Florida teaching on joy, and he asked the group of pastors how they would simply define the joy of the Christian.

I sent this to him as I had been already thinking about it, and I taught him about joy last week. I said, "Joy is the deep abiding sense of contentment in Christ Jesus." That's the first thing, and I just want you to think about this for a moment: the deep abiding sense of contentment in Jesus. That word "contentment" is hard for me, and maybe it's hard for you as well, especially living in the culture that we live in.

We live in a market-driven culture; we all know this. The market-driven culture is designed to make you realize or think that you don't have what you really want. Everything in this commerce-driven economy is focused on you. All the advertising is meant to make you feel like you are lacking something, that you would be much happier and your life would be much better if you just had this thing. Now, you already have that thing, but you have the old version of it. If you just had the new version of that thing... Are you guys following me?

Following me, you all know that our culture is driven to make you feel like you have a lack, even though you don't really have a lack. It makes you want to feel that if you just had that thing, you'd be happy. Then we get that thing, and we're not happy. We're especially not happy when we get the bill for that thing and realize that we're going to be paying for it in many payments plus interest, and it costs far more than we thought it would. As soon as we get that thing, three days later, a new version comes out, and we realize that we should have waited just a few days to get it. So, we're never happy. Contentment is really difficult.

Paul the Apostle wrote about this in his letter to the church at Philippi, in the book of Philippians, my favorite book in the Scriptures. In Philippians chapter 4, he says, "I know what it's like to abound, to have a lot, and I know what it's like to be abased, or have nothing." He then says, "I have learned, in whatever state I am in, even if that state is California, to be content." I've learned to be content. Now, he's much further along than I am because I'm still trying to learn to be content, and I wrestle with that.

He says something in that passage that I think is so key and important, and it's a verse that many people take out of context. In Philippians 4:13, as he's talking about contentment, he states, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." What is the context of that? A lot of people take it out of context, like the football player getting ready to play a big game saying, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength," and all the Christians go, "Look, he quoted a Bible verse!" Yes, he did, but it's totally out of context.

What I need God's strength for is to be content. Amen. I am not, in and of myself, but joy—what is it? I got a little hung up there. I suppose I should give the definition. Joy is the deep and abiding sense of contentment in Christ, which gladdens the heart and rejoices the soul. To be content is a joyful place to be, totally satisfied and not feeling a want for anything. Paul says, when he's in prison, "I've learned to be..."

Content gladdens the heart and rejoices the soul in and by Christ. This joy is increasing unto abundance for eternity. It is produced by the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5 says the fruit of the Spirit is love, and the second one is joy. It is the evidence of God's presence by His Spirit in my life that He gives me this inner sense of contentment, which is increasing unto abundance for eternity. This joy is independent of external circumstances. That's an awesome reality! It means that you can be in the midst of troubling difficulty and still have this joy, whereas the happiness that this world gives is totally based on external circumstances.

This joy is rooted in God's love, His grace, and salvation through Jesus Christ. In Christ Jesus, we have access to fullness of joy. Jesus said, "I have spoken these things to you that my joy might be in you and that your joy might be full." As we begin to abide in God's Word, learn who Christ is, and understand what He has done for us, through us, and in us, we begin to experience a joy that is full. It is not the kind of joy that this world can give. When we have this joy, based on an absolutely certain hope and the peace that God has given to us, we can rejoice with great rejoicing and joy in Christ Jesus.

I hope that all of these things serve as another reminder of the same message you have heard over and over again. When I share these things every year, I hope they are an encouragement to you; they are certainly an encouragement to me. I recognize that it may seem redundant and repetitive, and I am perfectly fine with that. There is nothing new or novel in this. This is what Christian ministers have been sharing with the church at this time of year for centuries, and I will continue to say the same things over and over again.

As the Apostle Peter says in one of his letters, it is good that I remind you of these things, even though you are established in the present truth. I hope you are established in these truths, knowing so well that in Christ you have a joy that is increasing unto abundance for eternity. In Him, you can have fullness of joy and the peace of God that surpasses understanding, as well as peace with God in Jesus Christ. The God of peace is in relationship with you, and I hope you understand what hope is in contrast to what the world can give.

In hope that is absolute and certain in Christ, I hope you know all of this. Every single time I say it, you seem to be at the point of mocking me when I say it's joy increasing unto abundance for eternity, which I've said like a thousand times in the last ten years. I hope you get to the point where you're like, "Oh, he always says the same thing."

For a number of years, I have intended to do this, but I just don't have the kind of time that I wish I did. I own the website Lineuponline.com, and eventually, I'm going to put all my teaching notes and materials up on that site. The words "line upon line" are taken from the prophet Isaiah, who lived 2,800 years ago. They were originally used as a phrase of derision aimed at Isaiah by the people who didn't like him.

In Isaiah 28, the people mocked Isaiah in his day because they did not like him. There was a group of people that did not appreciate the prophet Isaiah because he was always predicting hard things for them. They would mock him, saying, "Oh, Isaiah, he always says the same thing." If we were to use modern language, I might compare it to a skipping record, but that reference may not resonate with everyone today.

They mocked him, saying, "Line, line, line, line; precept, precept, precept, precept." They portrayed him as a redundant, repetitive machine, saying the same things over and over again. Isaiah, however, said he would wear that as a badge of honor because God's word is to you as "line, line, line, line; precept, precept, precept, precept."

We need to hear things over and over again. Every parent knows this because you have to say things repeatedly: "Don't hit your sister, don't hit your sister, don't hit your sister." It's like on repeat. Why do we have to say these things so often? Perhaps it's because we have thick heads—I know I do. We need to be reminded of these truths, even if we are established in the present truth.

The key to unlocking fullness of joy, a hope that does not disappoint, and a peace that surpasses understanding is Jesus Christ.

We celebrate Advent. Hopefully, these are the things that we understand: fullness of joy, a hope that does not disappoint, and a peace that surpasses understanding.

If this were an infomercial, this would be the point at which I would say, "But wait, there's more!" So, that's right—order now! But you don't even need to do that; just turn in your Bibles to the Book of Romans. Romans is in the New Testament, the last third of your Bible, right after the Book of Acts. So, we have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and then Romans.

I have gone back to this passage every single week for the last few weeks because these concepts—joy, peace, hope, and now love, which we are going to talk about today—are all found in this very important passage of Scripture.

In Romans 5:1, Paul says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith." That word "justified" is a big theological term that means you and I have been made right with a holy and righteous God, even though we are not right in and of ourselves. We all have fallen short of God's glory; we all have sinned. As the Book of Romans says, "The wages of sin is death." That is our only ultimate outlook apart from the outside work of Jesus Christ.

But you, having been justified and made right with God by faith, now have peace. There’s that concept of peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice. There’s that joy and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. We are rejoicing in God's coming.

Now, before you were justified, you were not hoping for the coming of God. A few years ago, I saw a billboard that said, "Jesus is coming, and boy is He angry." I thought, well, okay, maybe you could make a case for that, but that's not exactly how I would lead with this. If you're not justified, if you're not made right with a holy God, you should be fearful.

Maybe, like me, when I was in 10th grade, I had to read Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" in my 10th-grade English class at a regular public high school. What was that all about? Well, it was about the idea that Jesus is coming, and boy is He angry, and you should be really fearful.

Jonathan Edwards' whole aim was to hang you over the fires of hell and scare you to death so that you wouldn't go there. He emphasized that Jesus is coming, and boy, is He angry. Apart from the justifying work of Jesus, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. However, having been justified by faith, you now have peace with God, and you rejoice in hope of the glory of God. You are looking forward to His coming. We rejoice and hope in the glory of God.

Not only that, but we also glory in tribulation. Who is happy or rejoices in difficulty and hard circumstances? We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. This hope does not disappoint. You will not be disappointed if you hope in God because the love of God has been poured out in your hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

There are all of those concepts: peace, hope, joy, and now love. In verse six, we read that when we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more than that, having now been justified, made right with God by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Before He justified us by His death, burial, and resurrection—which we are going to rejoice in when we get to Resurrection Sunday in about three months—we were under the wrath of God. All we had to look forward to was the wrath of God, and nobody looks forward to that with joy and rejoicing.

But now we have been saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. In and by Jesus Christ, we have hope, peace, and joy.

Point number one, if you're taking notes: Jesus is and brings the love of God to a dark and dying world. This is what this season is all about. It is my hope that you know this.

That you know this so much that it's like, why do you keep saying the same thing every single Sunday? I hope I'm saying this to the point where you're like, "Gosh, line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept." I want you to be established in the present truth.

Then I'm going to remind you still, this is what Christmas really is all about. I heard, some of you may see this guy from time to time. He shows up in the little short videos of Bill Maher and his Politically Incorrect show, or whatever it's called. I don't even know what it's called anymore. He was ranting about Christians. The guy's an atheist, and he doesn't really like Christians. He just doesn't like God. Somewhere along the line, he got injured by something that didn't go right the way he thought it was going to go, and now he doesn't like God.

So, he waxes not so eloquently, just kind of like a jerk most of the time, about how much he doesn't like God. This last week, he was mocking Christians for believing in Christ. His big thing on his show was, "Well, don't you know Jesus wasn't born on December 25th?"

It's like, you know what? I don't know a single Christian pastor or theologian who will argue that Jesus was born on December 25th. I don't argue that. I've never said that. I don't know that he was born on December 25th. I don't care if he was born on December 25th. What are the odds? Well, they're 1 in 365; that's really what it is. It's not very high.

But whether or not he was born on December 25th just does not matter. That's not the point. We're celebrating what his coming to this world brings. We know with certainty, historically, every historian will agree to this point, even those who are skeptical. Those who are skeptical about Jesus will argue that he is a historical figure who was born about 2,000 years ago and lived in what we know of as Judea today. Every single skeptical historian will argue that point.

Probably the greatest, most well-known skeptical historian is a guy by the name of Bart Ehrman. Bart Ehrman has actually written a book against those who believe that Jesus is a myth. I don't care that he was not born on December 25th. The whole point is that he came. When he came, what did he come to do? He came to justify you and me, to give us peace with God, hope in God, and joy that is increasing unto abundance for eternity. And where does that come from? Well, it all is founded upon and based in...

The love of God is, without a doubt, the most famous verse of the Bible. Certainly, the most translated verse of the Bible is John 3:16. Many of you know it without having tried to commit it to memory: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

What is the basis of my hope, joy, and peace in God? It all is based upon the love of God in Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

Why did Jesus come into this world? Why Christmas? That's the question I wish we could have asked when Nick and I went out on Black Friday a few weeks ago to try and find Christmas shoppers at all the different retail establishments. However, there were no Christmas shoppers because everybody shops online or they just don't have any money.

In the past, when I would go out and do this, I would record these interactions and ask people, "Are you here to buy any Christmas presents this year?" They would say yes, and I would lure them in by saying, "Can I have five minutes of your time, and I'll give you a $5 gift card to Starbucks?" Most people don't want to give you their time until you offer them $5 at Starbucks, and then they agree.

I would then ask, "So, you celebrate Christmas?" They would respond, "I celebrate Christmas," and I would follow up with, "Why?" Many times, they would give me a stunned, blank look and not really be able to provide much of an answer. The answers they did give were often quite comical, which is why we would record them.

But why did Jesus come into the world? He came because of the love of God. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

To drive this point home, if you have your Bibles, open to Romans. Turn to the right, and you will pass First and Second Corinthians, then Galatians, and then Ephesians. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2, a passage we frequently reference here at Cross Connection Church.

Ephesians 2:1 states, "And you He made alive." Who is the "He" in this passage? Jesus. He made you alive who were once dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. Among whom you used to walk with this group of people in sin, among whom you also were.

Once you conducted yourselves in the lusts or desires of your flesh, fulfilling the desires of your flesh and of the mind, you were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. In times past, before you trusted in Christ, you walked in sin and were exposed to the coming wrath of God. That was your only expectation: the coming wrath of God.

Then, look at these two opening words of verse four: beautiful words—"but God." But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. He raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might reveal or show to you the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Because of His great love, even when you were dead in trespasses and sins, God redeemed and saved you. It is because of His great love that we can have peace with God, hope in God, and joy that is increasing unto abundance for eternity.

This great love is not just something God does; it has to do with His very nature. It is who He is. God is love, and Jesus is God incarnate, which means in the flesh. Therefore, Jesus is love incarnate. His coming to the world is the embodiment of love, and that love is expressed and demonstrated in what He did, which we will celebrate in three months. He is the demonstration of love. As 1 John 4 states, some of you know this.

Pretty well, because you either grew up in kids' ministry in a church or you served in kids' ministry in a church. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

You need to know that if you don't know that, you need to register to help out with children's ministry. We need your help, and I'm going to twist your arm in the new year to do just that. John goes on in 1 John 4:9, "In this, the love of God was manifested or revealed 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 payment, the propitiation for our sins. These words are so important. God is love; that is His very nature.

Jesus is God incarnate in the flesh; therefore, Jesus is love embodied in the flesh. By this, we know love. 1 John 3:16 states, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us." John says, "By this we know love." You need to know this. Not only do you need to know that God is love and that Jesus is love embodied, but He demonstrated and expressed His love toward you by dying for you when you were at your lowest in sin, so that He might reconcile you to Himself and to one another in Jesus Christ.

You need to know this for yourself, and you need to share this with others. I think it's so important that we understand this ourselves because, in my experience, many conversations with many Christians over many years have shown that a lot of people doubt this reality—that God actually loves them. Even Christians frequently feel like God just puts up with them, and they question whether or not God actually loves them.

A few years ago, I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is a marriage and family therapist. This was during all the COVID stuff in the last half of the year in 2020, a period of time many of us would like to forget. We were talking, and I was asking how things were going with all her work, and she said...

It's been a really rough time. I have so many people in my life, and my schedule is just crazy with a whole bunch of people coming who have anxiety, worry, fear, and depression. Many of you experienced some of that in late 2020 as well. I asked one person, "What are you finding?" She said, "It is the isolating reality of everything that's going on."

Here's what I've discovered: people have a hard time sitting alone with their thoughts. That's kind of interesting. Why do people have a hard time sitting alone with their thoughts? Many times, when you or other people sit alone with your thoughts, you are reminded—whether it's your own internal monologue or, I think, there might be a spiritual component to this—where the enemy also likes to come in and discourage us. We are reminded of all the things that we thought, did, and said that were just wrong, and we feel shame and guilt.

I want to say that shame and guilt are not necessarily a bad thing. If you did something wrong, or said something wrong, or thought something wrong, you should feel guilt and shame about that. But here's what that ought to do in Christ Jesus: it should drive us to the grace of Christ. He loved you when you were still dead in your trespasses and sins. Conviction is a good thing. The conviction of the Holy Spirit of God drives us to run to the throne of grace so that we may obtain mercy and grace in our time of need.

When we're sitting alone with our thoughts and feeling distressed and depressed by all the things we thought, said, and did—things we feel guilt and shame over—hopefully, it drives us to come closer to God and say, "I need your grace and your forgiveness." If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

However, many Christians doubt that God loves them because they say, "You just don't know all the things I've done." I don't want to know all the things that you've done, but God knows all the things that you've done, and He still loves you. He still loves you. A lot of people live not under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, which leads to confession and the receiving of God's grace and forgiveness, but they live under condemnation. This drives them to isolate from other people and from God.

They might say, "I can't go to church because you don't know all the bad things I've done." Well, listen, this church is not full of perfect people. Look around; we are an imperfect church. Not John, of course, but the rest of us. If you think you found a perfect church, you didn't, and you just made it more imperfect by coming. We're all in desperate need of God's love and His grace.

Love in the flesh incarnate is something you need to know. That's why it's good to be reminded of these things. When you begin to grasp and understand this, it increases your peace, hope, and joy—not based upon your goodness, but upon His goodness and His love. You need to share this with others. There is no greater gift that you could give to someone than to share the good news of the love, joy, hope, and peace that Jesus brings into this world and into our lives.

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for others. 1 John 4:7 states, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." In this, the love of God was made flesh, manifest for us, that God 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 payment, the propitiation, for our sin. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love others. That's the ethical imperative.

If you've received God's love and His grace, how should you respond? What ought you to do? We ought to love others. How do we love others? Well, point number three: God's love for us compels us to love others. One of the most loving things you could do is to share the love of God with those people in your life by sharing the good news of the Gospel.

Now, a week from tomorrow, or whatever your tradition may be—maybe a week from today on Christmas Eve—it's very likely that you're going to exchange gifts with people. Why do we do that? What's that all about? Where does that come from? Why is there this impulse in us to give to other people or to receive?

I think we all recognize that receiving gifts is wonderful. We all like to receive a gift; we love that. But as life goes on and you begin to mature or age a little bit, you realize that the scriptures, or the words of Jesus, are true from Acts 20:35: it is more blessed to give than to receive. You find that it's a joyful blessing.

To give a gift to other people is a wonderful expression of love. We love to receive gifts, and we love to give gifts. But why do we do this? Where does this impulse come from? I want to suggest that the reason we have this desire to give and receive gifts, especially at Christmas time, is because we were made in God's image. God is the greatest Gift Giver. For God so loved the world that He gave. He is the greatest Gift Giver.

The reason you have this impulse to give and exchange gifts with people is that God made you in His image. In some marked way, you are like God in this aspect. May it be that the love of God, which you have received as a gift, compels you to give gifts to others.

You will probably exchange gifts at Christmas, and that's wonderful. I think that's great! If you want to give a gift to someone, do it now. Hopefully, you can pay for it and won't just put it on credit, trying to pay the bill at some point in the future while accumulating a lot of interest. If you give them a physical, tangible gift, make sure you also give them the greatest gift of the Gospel. That is so much more important than something you can buy with one click on Amazon.

If you have experienced the love of God that has given you peace, hope, and joy, make sure to share it with others. May it be that God's love has been so poured out upon you, as Romans chapter 5 says, that it begins to overflow from you to other people.

Point number four, and I'll close with this: God's love is meant to be shared with others. It is meant to be shared. Before Jesus demonstrated His love towards us in His death on the cross, He gathered with His disciples the night before He was crucified. He gave them a tangible way to remember the demonstration of His love, one that they could experience with many of their senses—touch, sight, smell, sound, and taste—through communion.

We are going to partake of communion today. The bread and the cup of communion are significant. We do this regularly here at Cross Connection, about every seven weeks. We partake of the bread and the cup of communion to remember His body that was broken for us and His blood.

That was shed for us all as a demonstration of God's love. Jesus told His disciples to do this in remembrance of Me, which we'll look at in just a moment in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. He told them to do this so that they would remember in a very tangible and sensory way God's love.

I'm going to invite Anthony and the worship team up, and they're going to lead us in a song that reminds us of what God has done so that we can remember what He's done for us and rejoice in it. While they're leading us in this song, I encourage you to sing. Our ushers are also going to bring these; if you didn't get this when you came in this morning, they'll bring these, and then we will partake together. So just hold on to it, and we'll partake together in a few minutes after we have distributed these.

God, I pray that You would help us to focus our hearts and our minds upon You and what You did for us. The words of this song are going to direct our attention to what You've done for us, and the passage of Scripture that we've looked at and are going to consider in just a moment reminds us of what You've done for us. All of this is a demonstration of Your love. The bread that we're going to partake of and the juice that we're going to drink—these things are intended to remind us of Your love. I pray that we would be so encouraged and strengthened by it that, in some maybe even just small way, it would increase our joy, our hope, our peace, and our love enough to share it with other people. There are so many people that we interact with on a regular basis who are in desperate need of Your peace, Your hope, Your joy, and most greatly, Your love. God, stir us by Your Spirit to be bold and to share these things with others, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Apostle Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, said, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the same night on 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. Do this in remembrance of Me.'"

Let's partake together. In the same manner, He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This is the cup of the New Covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

Let us partake together, Lord, in a very simple way. You have given us something sensory and tangible to remember what You've done for us: Your love demonstrated, Your body broken, and Your blood shed for us. All of this, Lord, is an expression and demonstration of Your love.

All of it is essentially necessary so that we could have peace with You, hope in You, and joy that is increasing unto abundance for eternity. As we celebrate this holiday, as we celebrate Christmas a week from tomorrow, I pray that You would keep these things on our minds and in our hearts.

In some opportunity this week, would You challenge each of us to share this reality with someone—maybe multiple someones, but at least one? Lord, we thank You, Father, for the gift that You've given to us because of Your great love. We rejoice in You and thank You for Your goodness.