When I think about Christmas, well, the thing that I'm most reminded of are gifts. When I was young, I honestly thought Christmas was the most loving time of year because people gave each other so many gifts, gave ME so many gifts. But as I've grown more in God these last months, I've been learning to love, and I'll tell you it's way more than gifts; learning to love is hard. Of course it's easy when people smile back, when people love you back, when people appreciate you back, when people give you a pat on the back back. It's real easy then, to love. But when people make fun of you in return, ignore you in return, and some times out right abuse you in return, it's hard to love.
1 John 4:19 says
Isn't that what Christmas is about? We don't love because God told us to, because God commanded us, to love the undeserving, the outcast, the hard to love. We love others because WE are undeserving, WE are outcasts, WE are hard to love, and in spite of all of that, each of us here knows that Jesus gave up everything He had and came to this world for us. That's why we love people, simple out of our joy and our gratitude towards the one who loved us first, and our eagerness and enthusiasm to share that with the world; to shout on the rooftops that God was birthed in a horse stable to save US.
In the end, we have little love of our own. If we put aside some of the cute things we do for each other, how many of us have any real love? We're here this afternoon not to bless the world, as weird as that sounds; we unto ourselves have nothing to bless them WITH. We're just sharing the blessing that has been so abundantly poured out onto us by Christ. It is not about our mercy, our love, or our grace; whew thank goodness it's not about us, I'm not sure I have very much of any of those 3 things. It's about God's love, God's mercy, and God's grace.
I liked when Pastor Greg said he loves ON people. That makes love sound like something that's physical, tangible, that we pour onto other people, rather than some feeling that we need to create from our own hearts. The only reason I have any love to give at all is just because God loves me and gave Himself for me; that His supernatural love overflows in me. And his calling for us to love one another isn't that we need to do it ourselves; as if to love whoever walks through that door today till it kills us. He simply calls us to point our overflow at someone...overflow to that quiet guy who found our flyer lying on the ground somewhere, and just felt compelled to come, but is nervous to the point of shaking, surrounded by people he doesn't know...overflow to that girl in the 3rd row, whose friend had invited her to come, but that friend is now spending most of her time talking with her other friends...overflow to that person at the food table who was so excited by the gospel that he just spilled the entire pitcher of lemonade over ALL the food.
Close your eyes, as we prepare our hearts for prayer, think for a moment how God has loved you, how He gave up everything for you. He did it it regardless of how utterly retarded you've been, or how incredibly rebellious you'll become. Run through the faces of everyone you invited to Christmas service, run through the faces of those you wished you invited to Christmas service. How many of them do you think want to know that sort of unconditional love? How many of them do you think need that sort of love today? The expression of that love begins with us, don't let the love that God is always pouring into your life drip to the floor and go to waste. Won't you spend every drop on someone today? Let's ask God to prepare our hearts, that if we could be anything today, we'd be loving.
1 John 4:19 says
We love because he first loved us.
Isn't that what Christmas is about? We don't love because God told us to, because God commanded us, to love the undeserving, the outcast, the hard to love. We love others because WE are undeserving, WE are outcasts, WE are hard to love, and in spite of all of that, each of us here knows that Jesus gave up everything He had and came to this world for us. That's why we love people, simple out of our joy and our gratitude towards the one who loved us first, and our eagerness and enthusiasm to share that with the world; to shout on the rooftops that God was birthed in a horse stable to save US.
In the end, we have little love of our own. If we put aside some of the cute things we do for each other, how many of us have any real love? We're here this afternoon not to bless the world, as weird as that sounds; we unto ourselves have nothing to bless them WITH. We're just sharing the blessing that has been so abundantly poured out onto us by Christ. It is not about our mercy, our love, or our grace; whew thank goodness it's not about us, I'm not sure I have very much of any of those 3 things. It's about God's love, God's mercy, and God's grace.
I liked when Pastor Greg said he loves ON people. That makes love sound like something that's physical, tangible, that we pour onto other people, rather than some feeling that we need to create from our own hearts. The only reason I have any love to give at all is just because God loves me and gave Himself for me; that His supernatural love overflows in me. And his calling for us to love one another isn't that we need to do it ourselves; as if to love whoever walks through that door today till it kills us. He simply calls us to point our overflow at someone...overflow to that quiet guy who found our flyer lying on the ground somewhere, and just felt compelled to come, but is nervous to the point of shaking, surrounded by people he doesn't know...overflow to that girl in the 3rd row, whose friend had invited her to come, but that friend is now spending most of her time talking with her other friends...overflow to that person at the food table who was so excited by the gospel that he just spilled the entire pitcher of lemonade over ALL the food.
Close your eyes, as we prepare our hearts for prayer, think for a moment how God has loved you, how He gave up everything for you. He did it it regardless of how utterly retarded you've been, or how incredibly rebellious you'll become. Run through the faces of everyone you invited to Christmas service, run through the faces of those you wished you invited to Christmas service. How many of them do you think want to know that sort of unconditional love? How many of them do you think need that sort of love today? The expression of that love begins with us, don't let the love that God is always pouring into your life drip to the floor and go to waste. Won't you spend every drop on someone today? Let's ask God to prepare our hearts, that if we could be anything today, we'd be loving.
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