We LOVE Because He First Loved Us

1John 4:19

Introduction--

• God's Love (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8)

  • Train with two tracks illustration

    • Utilitarian moral philosophy uses this illustration to show we need to act for the greater good.

    • The argument against asks the question: Can such a sacrifice be expected of us?

      • I think the most persuasive answer when you think about it is "yes" but what a challenging situation.

    • God's love is different and on a much greater level

      • God didn't do it out of obligation, compulsion, following some moral standard

      • God didn't even have to do it and He would have been perfectly righteous if He didn't—because we sin and thus deserve spiritual death

        • If we misunderstand this we misunderstand God: He is most gracious and compassionate, loving on a level we stand in awe of!

      • Some other Theological Challenges to understanding God:

        • Humans ask the questions, "Would a loving God send souls to hell? Would someone be eternally separated from God (hell) if they sinned in ignorance—trying their best to be a good person but not knowing any better?"

        • Some of the questions the Scriptures might ask us: "Does God send people to hell or (when we break it down) is it our choice? Is it not a humanistic argument to a spiritual issue we do not understand? Are we spiritually enlightened to the nature of sin, what is sin and how does it affect our relationship to God?"

      • The lights must come on spiritually to begin to understand our loving God

        • God's saving, train and two tracks, is spiritual—involving the deepest, most important issue: dealing with our sin!

        • God is our hero, dealing with our sin by putting it's deserved punishment on His perfect Son!

        • We get to stand in awe of how is saving sacrifice shows the glory of His love!

        • We're also most grateful—a dying to self to become more increasingly grateful—for how He has loved us, choosing us to hear the good news, to have a new birth spiritually, and to come into a relationship with Him!

• We LOVE

  • L for Lord First

    • He takes supremacy

    • His will now trumps ours

    • This doesn't happen without sacrifice, without us denying ourself—putting to death the sinful flesh with the help of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:13)

  • O for Others Focused

    • Your salvation is welling up in you to preach the good news

    • Paul saying, "Woe to me if I don't preach!"

    • The impact of His love is that you can't keep it to yourself

  • V for Volunteering

    • No one has to run after you because you volunteer

  • E for Enthusiastic

    • Rhetorical: Does that mean we're always hopped up on energy drinks or starbucks?

    • Colossians 3:23

• Conclusion

  • Sum it up:

    • We LOVE because He first loved us

      • We put the Lord First because He first loved us

      • We are Others Focused because He first loved us

      • We Volunteer because He first loved us

      • We are Enthusiastic because He first loved us

  • Practical statement that ties it in to a more practical focus for our Semester:

    • We, as the Campus4Christ Campus Ministry, know our 4 points of focus is all out of a heart for God and a response to His love:

      • Connecting to God—Our deepest conviction as disciples is our first love

      • Connecting to one-another—John 13:34-35

      • Connecting the lost to God—It is our Lord's mission statement and therefore ours

      • Connecting to the poor and needy—James 1:27

  • Thanks for coming!

  • Let's have a prayer, a final song, and dismiss for some great fellowship