Video Ill.: Without Love from Shift Worship
What is love?
Love is the perfect expression of God.
I chose that video to start our new study, because I wanted just for a few moments to think about what life would be without love.
I wanted us to think for just a few moments about how important love really is.
Without love, we have nothing.
And so, I want us to think for the next few weeks about how to make sure we have love in various parts of our lives.
A few years ago, there was a movie titled, “For Love of the Game”, starring Kevin Costner.
Kevin Costner played a Detroit Tigers pitcher Billy Chapel. Billy has spent the last 19 years in the major leagues, playing for Detroit.
He finds out, however, that he is about to be traded. His one true love, Jane, is leaving, heading for a new job in London.
So Billy takes the field for probably the last time. When he should be concentrating 100% on his game, he is instead, thinking about Jane. As the innings end and a new one start, none of the opposing team players, the New York Yankees, have made it on base. He has pitched a perfect game so far.
Before the Tigers take the field for the bottom of the ninth inning, Billy has final thoughts about his career and his love for Jane. He autographs a baseball for Wheeler, a father-like figure to him throughout his baseball career. Along with a signature, Billy inscribes the ball, “Tell them I’m through. For love of the game.”
Ken Strout, comes up representing the last chance for New York. He chops up the middle just out of the reach of Billy, heading towards center field. The Tiger’s shortstop dives and throws to first in time to retire Strout, and Billy has his perfect game.
After the game, Billy sits alone in his hotel room as the realization sinks in that everything he has been and done in the past 19 years is over. Despite his amazing accomplishment, he weeps not only for the loss of baseball, but for the other love of his life, Jane.
Spoiler alert: the next morning, he goes to the airport to try to get a flight for London. Jane, though, missed her flight the night before so she could watch the end of his perfect game. Billy finds Jane waiting at the airport, and they end up happily ever after.
For love of the game.
He did all he did because of his love for the game of baseball. Because of his love for the game, he knew it was time to retire, instead of being traded.
Over the years he had made choices.
He had chosen baseball.
In the end, he chose Jane.
This morning, what do we choose?
I want to challenge us today, not to love the game, but to love the family.
For the love of family.
How does our love drive us to act? How can we love family better?
Over the next few weeks, that’s exactly what I want us to consider.
We will be looking at various aspects of family, including the family in general, then our spouses, our children, and our elders.
This morning, though, I want us to start at a higher level — loving the family of God.
The family of God — the church — is all about community — a community of believers.
Community in the Bible
Source: George F. MacLeod, Leadership, Vol. 2, no. 4.
Someone once said, “The Bible is all about community: from the Garden of Eden to the City at the end.”
When we look at Scripture, we see how this community — this family — loved each other. So let’s take a few minutes to see what it means to love the family of God.
As we begin, we start at the beginning of the church in Acts. To love the family of God means we need to take care of each other.
In Acts 2, we read:
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything || they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (Acts 2, NLT)
And from Acts 4, we read:
32 All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. 33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. 34 There were no needy people among them, because those || who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. (Acts 4, NLT)
Christian Fidelity Shown with a Lawnmower
Source: Jake Meador, “In Search of the Common Good: Christian Fidelity in a Fractured World,” (IVP Books, 2019), n.p.
Copied from Preaching Today
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2021/february/christian-fidelity-shown-with-lawnmower.html
In his book, In Search of the Common Good, Jake Meador writes:
Love … must be faithful because when we love we do not simply will the person’s good a single time and then stop. We see this in marriage and parenting, of course, but friendship should be faithful as well. In the aftermath of my father’s injury, one of the qualities we most appreciated in many of my parents’ friends was their fidelity. One woman from the church is still mowing their yard once a week over three years after Dad’s injury. We could depend on them not simply on the day of the injury but a month later, a year later, three years later.
This is the kind of love that the early church demonstrated in the book of Acts.
If someone needed something, the church, the family of God provided it.
If someone was having a hard time, the family of God chipped in and met the need.
They visited each other. They had meals together. They worshipped together.
It wasn’t just about coming to church on Sundays.
There was an everyday loyalty — an everyday faithfulness — an everyday fidelity to the family of God.
There was an everyday kind of love.
What if we had that kind of dedication today — a dedication to the members of the body of Christ?
What if we made sure that there was no one in need?
What if we were devoted to each other the way they were in those first years after Jesus had come?
Our world would look so different!
The church would look so different!
And it’s not just about throwing money at problems. It’s a personal dedication to each other. It’s having the same kind of love that God had for us, to do whatever it took to fix our broken lives — to heal our broken hearts — to mend our broken souls.
To love the family of God means that we take care of each other — no matter what.
It’s visiting those who are alone.
It’s sharing with those in need.
It’s meeting needs that are not being met.
I challenge us today to look at our lives — are we taking care of each other? Or are we taking care of just ourselves?
2. Taking it one step further, we need to help each other — carry each other’s burdens.
Biblical Fellowship
By Sermon Central
(From a sermon by Dave McFadden, A Golden Lampstand, 6/8/2010)
Copied from Sermon Central
It starts when we as a community truly fellowship with each other — truly get to know each other — really begin to care about each other.
In his book, Rediscovering Church, Bill Hybels tells of a message by Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian, who said, "The only kind of fellowship many know in church is after a service when men stand around and ask each other superficial questions. Then they find their wives who are having similar conversations, and go home.
“But biblical fellowship has the power to revolutionize lives. Masks come off, conversations get deep, hearts get vulnerable, lives are shared, accountability is invited, and tenderness flows. People really do become like brothers and sisters. They shoulder each other’s burdens - and unfortunately, that was something that few of the people today experience growing up in church in America."
But that is exactly what Paul encourages us to do when he writes to the church in Galatians 6:
1-3 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. (Galatians 6, MSG)
There is no way we can truly share each other’s burdens if we are not willing to non-judgmentally listen to other’s burdens and share our own burdens and struggles.
But we are so afraid of what people might think of us if we open up.
We don’t want anyone to know what we are feeling — or not feeling.
We can’t let anyone in.
A lot of it is because of the way our society is. Everyone is judged by what they have, they don’t have, the way they act, the things going on in their lives.
Our society ranks people based on “how together they are”.
But the truth of the matter is that we are all a mess. You just can’t see it on the outside because we put on really good masks to cover up what is really going on inside.
What if church was different?
What if we let the truth be told? Matthew West very effectively described this in a song called Truth Be Told.
Video Ill.: Truth Be Told - Matthew West
While I think it was directed more towards how we approach, God, I think it’s a perfect illustration of how we should approach how we take off our masks in church. It’s a call to honesty.
It’s a call to openness.
It’s a call to loving each other.
It’s a call to be real.
When we become real in the church, when we allow ourselves to be truthful, only then can we truly help each other and carry each other’s burdens.
Burger King Offers Free Whoppers to People Who Have Been Fired
Source: Fox59 Web, "Burger King Offers 'Whopper Severance Package' with Free Burger for Fired Workers," Fox 59 News (9-1-17)
Copied from Preaching Today
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2017/september/2092517.html
Burger King, the quick service restaurant chain known for its flame broiled hamburgers, launched a PR campaign a couple of years ago with an interesting premise: publicly admit on LinkedIn that you have been fired, and get a free Whopper as part of a "Whopper Severance Deal." The instructions included posting on LinkedIn for everyone to see: "I got fired. I want a free Whopper. #WhopperSeverance." Burger King then would follow up with a link to receive a free Burger King gift card. The chain helped explain the quirky campaign in a statement to Business Insider. "For over 63 years, Burger King restaurants have used fire to flame grill. While getting fired sucks, for Burger King restaurants fire-grilling is a good thing." The promotion also included free career counseling for the first 100 participants in the campaign.
The Bible is clear that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, yet almost everyone tends to be reluctant to admit when they have made mistakes in their lives. We want to appear strong and put-together, despite the reality that not one of us fits the bill. The Bible, however, tells us also that we ought to confess our sins to one another and then pray for each other, rather than trying to pretend like nothing is wrong.
Only then will we find healing.
Only then will we find forgiveness.
Only then will we feel the love that God has for us.
3. Regardless of anything else we might do, loving the family of God means praying for one another.
Paul writes in Ephesians 6:
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. (Ephesians 6, NLT)
https://lifehopeandtruth.com/god/prayer-fasting-and-meditation/how-to-pray/intercessory-prayer/
Praying for each other is one of the greatest unselfish acts of love that we can do. There’s no special skills or talents required. There’s no special location required.
It is just us talking with God, lifting up our brothers and sisters in the family of God, asking God to meet their needs.
It’s something that is not about us.
It’s all about others.
In Revelation 5:8, God compares the prayers of His people to the sweet smell of incense — something that pleases Him greatly.
It pleases God, you see, when His people take time to pray for each other.
It raises our awareness of the needs of others.
It takes the focus off of ourselves.
It is a true demonstration of love when we lift up others to God.
Jesus modeled intercessory prayer for others when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, in John 17. Jesus prayed for His disciples, and those of us who would follow. He prayed that God would take care of us. He prayed that we would be united. He prayed that we would love God as much as God had loved us. He prayed that one day His disciples would be with Him. He prayed we would see God’s glory one day.
If Jesus prayed for us, we really ought to be praying for each other.
So this morning, here are some principles for praying for each other:
Pray for others from the heart, with deep feeling and sincerity. Do not let our prayers and prayer requests be ways that we become gossips. Do not judge the people for whom we are praying. Simply sincerely lift them up to God for whatever their need is.
Pray for others regularly. As we have said for the past few weeks, work to make it a habit. Schedule the same time each today to pray for others. Keep that commitment just as you would any other commitment or appointment. Soon, a habit will form.
Pray for others in detail. Do not pray in generalities. Pray in specifics. Sometimes that is difficult when we do not know all of the details. And that is fine. Pray for what we do know. God knows the needs anyway. However, do not just gloss over needs when we do know them.
Pray for others with faith. As James says, the fervent prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much. Pray in faith, expecting that God will act, move, and answer. Anticipate with thanksgiving the actions of God in the lives of those for whom we pray. Keep a journal that will help us to remember the answered prayers that God has done.
Pray for others with love. Pray out of love and concern for those on our prayer lists. Remember that God loves everyone for whom we pray. We should have that same concern and love for them as well.
Pray for others fervently — with intensity, with zeal, and with passion. Be genuine in our prayers. Be moved with compassion.
Pray for others with a desire to help where we can. Open up our lives and our hearts. It may be that God will use us to minister, to heal, to comfort, to strengthen. Be attune to God and His will. Listen for God’s call to action.
Finally, pray for others with occasional fasting. When a situation is very serious or hits close to home for you, you may decide to fast and pray to draw close to God to present your requests to Him.
Conclusion
This morning, we need to love the family of God — the church.
We can only really do that when church is more than just something we do once or twice a week.
The church should be real — like a family.
Larry Crabb Wrote In His Book Connecting, ...
By Andrew Chan
Copied from Sermon Central
Larry Crabb wrote in his book Connecting, “We have made a terrible mistake! For most of this century we have wrongly defined soul wounds as psychological disorders and delegated their treatment to trained specialists. Damaged psyches aren’t the problem. The problem is disconnected souls. What we need is connection. What we need is a healing community.”
If we approach the family of God from a perspective of love, that’s exactly what we can be — a healing community — a place of safety — a place of security — a place filled with love for each other and for God.
Mark Buchanan on Real Community
Source: Mark Buchanan, "This Is It, " Leadership journal (Spring 2008)
Copied from Preaching Today
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2008/may/1051208.html
Mark Buchanan writes in Leadership Journal that:
“A few years ago, a friend assembled a weekend work party to lay sod in his yard. The sun was shining. He had fresh coffee and cinnamon buns. And the crew he'd called together were all good friends. We liked each other immensely.
“Then Al said, ‘Guys, do you realize something? This is it! This is it!’ We stopped.
“‘Al, this is what?’
“‘This is community.’
“We all murmured our assent and congratulated one another. Yes. This is it.
But then I said, ‘Al, this is great, but I don't think this is it. I like you all too much. Add a person or two to this company who lacks social graces, who looks different, who's needy, smelly, and irritating. If we truly loved a person like that, then that would be it.’
“Silence. Then one of guys said, ‘Uh, Mark. We've accepted you, haven't we?’
“We all laughed, but they granted my point.
We're always tempted to turn the church into a club. With our kind of people. With a strict decorum designed to keep up appearances and keep out the, shall we say, undesirables. But Jesus said it's no credit to us if we love those who love us—our kind of people. We don't need God to love them; natural affinities are sufficient. But you, Jesus said, are to love the least of these and the worst of these—losers, enemies. That takes God: a supernatural subversion of our own prejudices, and a heaven-borne infusion of God's prodigal love.
“I preach that. I try to live that.
“A year or so after our sod-laying party, Wanda arrived. Wanda was not our kind of people. She was thirsty alright, for beer, port, rum, vanilla extract, whatever. She had only one way to pay for that. I'll let you guess.
“But she was desperate, and thirsty for something else. She called the church one day, wondering if she could see a pastor, and now! Two of us met with her. She told us her troubled story. I told her about the woman at the well whose life, like Wanda's, wasn't going well. But she met Jesus and he offered her living water. I explained what living water was, and asked Wanda if she'd like some.
“‘Oh yeah!’ she said. We prayed. She confessed, repented, surrendered. Drank deep.
“The other pastor said, ‘Now, Wanda, this Sunday will be your first time in church. Don't feel you have to fit in right away. You can sit at the back if you like, come late, leave early. Whatever is comfortable.’
“Wanda looked at him sideways. ‘Why would I do that?’ she said. ‘I've been waiting for this all my life.’
“That Sunday, Wanda was the first to arrive. She sat at the front, and loudly agreed with everything I said. She was the last to leave. The next Sunday, same thing, except she brought a friend, one of her kind of people. I preached on servanthood. My main point: if you've tasted the love of Jesus, you'll want to serve. [Now Mark preaches at a denominational church. He goes on to say that] It was Communion Sunday. In those days, we called our elders The Servant Leadership Team. I asked the Servant Leaders to come and help with Communion. That day only two of our team were in church. They straggled to the front.
All Wanda heard was the word servant. And she had been listening intently to my sermon: if you've tasted the love of Jesus, you'll want to serve.
“She walked straight up to serve Communion with the other two ‘servants.’
I flinched.
Then I remembered Luke 7, Jesus' words to Simon the Pharisee as a woman, not unlike Wanda, washed Jesus' feet: ‘Do you see this woman?’
“Do you see her?
“I leaned over to Wanda and said, ‘Since this is your very first time doing this, do you mind if I help?’
“So Wanda and I served Communion. The best part was watching the faces of the people I love and serve and pray for and preach to.
“Not one flinched. They saw her.
“This is it.”
This morning, do we have “it”?
Do we love the family of God like that?
Do we love all who come, even the ones who do not look like us, fit in our groups, fit in our preconceived notions of who belongs in the church?
Do we love the family of God?
I hope that today we stop and remember that God loved us, no matter who we were, what we looked like, no matter what we had done. He gave His Son’s life for us.
How far are we willing to go to love His family?
Maybe this morning, though, you’ve not become part of God’s family here on earth. If that’s the case, I want you to know that God loves you! God loves you so very much, and so do we. Come this morning, and give your life to Him. Become part of the family — the family that belongs only to God. Become part of His family, feel His love, feel and be loved.
