Love Heals Your Heart
Sunday AM – Lynn Haven Church – 11/18/07
FOCUS:
• Thanksgiving
• Love Heals Your Heart
FUNCTION:
• To motivate the broken-hearted & un-loved to come and accept the love God has for them.
A. Pleasantries
B. I look forward to have lunch with you today.
1. Call it our pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving.
2. It’s a good thing for us to gather around the table regularly like that.
C. Of course, as nice as it is, most of us would agree it’s not like the Real McCoy.
1. Many of us have family coming in. The rest of us are probably going to be with family.
2. And it seems to me as if it’s the last tradition we have that isn’t entirely corrupted by being exploited by corporate America.
3. It’s family. It’s a table. It’s food. And it’s reflecting together on thankfulness.
4. It’s as pure a holiday as we have left.
D. My very favorite Thanksgiving tradition I won’t be able to be a part of this year.
1. Over at Jenks Avenue Church… “Thanksgiving Service.” Men of the congregation, new male members, get up and share what they are thankful for.
2. Easily the most moving service of the year almost every year.
i. It’s a “Bring Your Tissues” service.
ii. Grown men in the pulpit crying.
iii. Making the rest of the audience cry.
iv. All of us realizing how blessed we really are.
3. Its ok, I’ll get a tape of it.
4. But it is the best.
E. And so I thought we’d have our own sort of service this morning…
1. Don’t worry, men.
2. I’m not going to call on you to come up; I wouldn’t do that to you…
3. But we can imagine some of the things that would be said.
4. THANKFUL FOR…
i. Some of us are just glad to be here.
1. To have the measure of health we have.
2. To be with our Christian family.
3. There’s a lot to be thankful for in just being here.
ii. We have a couple families that are thankful for a couple of new additions
1. And I can tell a difference.
2. I said this to John Wednesday night, and you might have noticed it as well, that John & Angie just seem like happier people these days when I see them.
3. We can tell that Cassie has brought a lot of joy to that household.
4. And, of course, the Crawford’s have that same pride & happiness written on their faces these days.
5. It’s more of a tired happiness; but the joy is evident there as well.
iii. We could go on & on counting them…
5. But as I considered what we have to be thankful for, what I have to be thankful for… I began to wonder…
“If some men & women of the Bible had the opportunity to be with us this morning, what would they tell us that they are thankful for?”
I picked out a handful for us to consider…
I. Gomer
A. [Tell Gomer’s Story]
B. Hosea went to purchase her on the auction block.
1. And he won her, for 15 shekels of silver & a homer and a half of barley
2. He purchased his own wife back.
C. Scripture doesn’t address it.
1. We don’t know what happened between Hosea & Gomer from there.
2. I’ll tell you what I think: I think Hosea won her over.
3. That level of love, that kind of determination – I think he broke through & reached Gomer’s hard heart and melted it.
4. I think he finally won her affection.
5. LOVE HEALED HER HEART
II. Woman Caught in the act of Adultery
[Tell the Story]
Love Healed Her Heart
III. Zaccheus
[Tell the Story]
Love Healed His Heart
IV. Peter (John 21)
[Tell the Story]
Love Healed His Heart
V. Paul
[Tell the Story]
Love Healed His Heart
What am I thankful for?
You… your love & acceptance.
To be completely frank, I’ve had a couple bad experiences with churches before being
here.
It had broken my heart, and I wondered if ministry was what I was meant to do.
But your love has helped heal my heart.
And I thank you for that.
CONCLUSION
And if you’re here, but you’re really not here.
If you are hear in body, but you’re really on the fringes, not really interested.
That is what is hear for you if you choose to embrace it.
There is hope for the hopeless.
There is peace for the restless.
There is love for the broken hearted – and THAT LOVE CAN HEAL YOUR HEART.
