The More Excellent Way
🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Tom Van Kempen
Pastor Tom shared a powerful message with us this week about the true meaning of love, connecting it to our divine source, God Himself. He emphasized that love is much more than a mere feeling or a fleeting emotion – it's an intentional choice and a genuine commitment. He also reminded us with 1 John 4:8 that anyone who doesn't love doesn't know God, because God is love. He discussed the deceptive cultural definitions of love and urged us to look to God for the real deal. The key takeaway? Love never fails! But it must be rooted in our relationship with God, the very essence of love.
Additional Info
The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.
Introduction: The Need for Love in Today's World
The message of love resonates profoundly today, echoing the sentiments of the iconic song, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." Written during the turmoil of the Vietnam War, this timeless piece reminds us that even decades later, our world continues to grapple with issues of hate and division. As we approach Valentine’s Day, it’s an opportune moment to explore the true essence of love.
Understanding the True Nature of Love
Common definitions of love often fall short. Dictionaries may label love as merely an intense feeling, which can be misleading. A more enlightening exploration involves the innocent definitions provided by children, who highlight love as acceptance and selflessness. This brings us to a pivotal question: Do we truly understand love? To find clarity, we can examine the scriptures, particularly 1 Corinthians 13, known as the love chapter.
The Context of Love in Scripture
First Corinthians is a letter addressed to the Corinthians, focusing on the importance of love in the context of spiritual gifts. The culmination of Chapter 12 emphasizes the desire for spiritual gifts, yet transitions into Chapter 13, where a more excellent way is revealed—love. Love serves as a guiding principle in our interactions and relationships. Without understanding love in its biblical context, confusion and misinterpretation arise.
The Importance of Knowing God for True Love
To genuinely understand love, one must first know God. 1 John 4:8 states that God is love. This foundational truth is crucial for loving others, be it a partner, child, or friend. Only through knowing God can we begin to grasp the definition and practice of true love in our lives.
Common Misconceptions About Love
Misunderstandings about love abound in society. One prevalent idea is that love is an accident, often described as "falling in love." This conveys a lack of control over love, making it seem fleeting. Other misconceptions equate love with transient feelings or mere infatuation. True love, however, is intentional and a result of deliberate choices.
The Choice to Love
Biblically, love is described as a choice rather than a mere feeling. Romans 12:9 encourages believers to let love be genuine and not hypocritical, illustrating that love is an ongoing commitment rather than a momentary emotion. Authentic love requires effort, patience, and sometimes, enduring discomfort.
The Challenge of Love in Relationships
Love is not easy; it is often challenging and requires endurance. Human differences and sin contribute to difficulties in relationships, making it essential to commit to loving through struggles and misunderstandings. Real love perseveres, seeks the good of others, and remains steadfast in the face of adversity.
The Action of Love
1 Corinthians 13 outlines the actions that characterize true love: patience, kindness, and forgiveness. Love does not seek its own or provoke anger; it is not easily offended. Instead, love believes in the potential for greatness in others. It is rooted in grace and encourages a culture of support and understanding, rather than judgment.
Love's Enduring Nature
Ultimately, love endures all things. Whether in good times or bad, true love remains faithful and committed. The biblical portrayal of love is not one that shies away from adversity; rather, it embraces it with an open heart, drawing strength from faith in God. This understanding of unwavering love is critical for nurturing enduring relationships.
Conclusion: The Call to Action
As we explore the essence of love, it becomes evident that our world is still in desperate need of unconditional love, which is best exemplified through faith in God. By cultivating a relationship with Him, we are empowered to love authentically and generously. Love is a journey, encompassing patience, kindness, and commitment to others. As we take steps to embody this divine love, we can impact our communities and reflect the truth that the world truly needs love today more than ever.
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Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.
Small Group Discussion Guide: Exploring True Love
Icebreaker
Share a time when you experienced a loving act, either through giving or receiving.
Discussion Questions
Reflect on 1 John 4:8: What does it mean for God to be love? How does this alter or affirm your understanding of love?
Cultural vs. Biblical Love: How have cultural definitions of love influenced your life or relationships? How have those perspectives changed?
Choosing Love: In what areas of your life do you find it easiest and hardest to choose love?
Love & Sacrifice: Real love demands sacrifice. What sacrifices have you made for the sake of love? How did it impact you and those around you?
Living the Love: How can we practically 'walk in love' like Jesus throughout this week?
Prayer Prompts
Pray for wisdom and strength to love beyond feelings and to act consistently in God's love.
Invite members to share personal prayer requests focusing on relationships where they wish to apply this message.
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Historical Context of 1 John 4:8 and 1 Corinthians 13
1 John 4:8: This verse comes from a letter attributed to John the Apostle. It's traditionally believed to have been written in Ephesus around AD 90. This was a time when the early Christian church was defining itself in relation to both Judaism and the Greco-Roman world. The concept that "God is love" challenged both pagan and Jewish ideas of gods as capable of both good and evil, framing the Christian God as inherently good and loving.
1 Corinthians 13: Written by Paul the Apostle around AD 53-54 during his third missionary journey, 1 Corinthians was addressed to the church in Corinth, a major city in Ancient Greece known for its commercial prosperity, cultural diversity, and notorious immorality. Corinth's bustling and pagan atmosphere posed numerous challenges to the fledgling Christian church. Paul wrote to correct misbehaviors and doctrinal confusion, focusing here on love as the foundation of spiritual gifts and community life, challenging Corinthian Christians to pursue love above all else for genuine faith and unity in their diverse community.
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Introduction
Hi, kids! Today, we’re going to talk about something super special: LOVE! Love is something we hear a lot about, especially with Valentine's Day coming up soon. But do we really know what love is?
What is Love?
Funny quotes from kids about love:
Chris (7 years old): "Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he’s handsome!"
Elaine (5 years old): "Love is when Daddy gives mommy the best piece of chicken."
Dave (8 years old): "Love will find you, even if you're trying to hide from it."
These kids have cool ideas about love! But love is much deeper than just feelings or funny moments.
The Real Meaning of Love
Real love doesn’t just come from our feelings. Instead, it comes from God because the Bible tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8)! That means to really understand love, we need to know God.
How Can We Show Love?
Here are some important things about showing love:
Love is a Choice: Sometimes, we have to choose to be kind to others—even when we don’t feel like it! It’s not always easy, but we can decide to be loving.
Love is Kind: Real love means we need to treat everyone kindly, even if things are tough. We can help others and be nice to them!
Love is Patient: This means waiting and being understanding with others. Real love gives people time to grow and change.
Love Never Fails: This means that when we truly love someone, we don’t give up on them. Love is strong and sticks around, no matter what happens.
How Can We Practice Love?
Be Helpful: Help your parents with chores or classmates with homework.
Be Kind: Share your toys or invite someone to play with you at school.
Forgive Others: If someone makes you mad, try to forgive them instead of staying angry.
Conclusion
So remember, love is more than just flowers or chocolates on Valentine’s Day. It’s about actions, choices, and showing kindness to everyone around us. Just like how God loves us, we can share that love with our families and friends!
Let’s pray: "Dear God, help us to love like You love. Teach us to be kind, patient, and forgiving. Thank you for Your wonderful love! Amen."
Now go out and share some love this week!
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So a long time ago there was a song, it went like this.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It's the only thing that there's just too little love. You guys know it? Wow. So that song was written by Burt Bacharach and another guy back in the early 60s.
It was recorded in 65 and it's been recorded literally hundreds of times since. And the reason why that song was written was because Vietnam war was going on and there was so much hate. They said, what the world needs now is love. Has anything changed? No, actually it seems more hateful and vindictive and mean spirited than it ever has.
And so with Valentine's Day just a couple of days from now, I figured that it would be appropriate to preach on the subject of love. It seems like a fun subject. It seems like a good subject. An appropriate subject. So I think there's a problem, though, and the problem is we don't really fully understand what love is.
I turn to the dictionary, and the dictionary defines love as an intense feeling. And although I'm sure love involves feelings, how is that the number one definition in the dictionary? I have a book that has these silly child quotes. And so I decided to read some of the children's definitions of love. And this is what Chris, age 7, said.
Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he's handsome.
Not bad. Elaine, age 5, says, Love is when Daddy gives mommy the best piece of chicken.
Mark, age 6, says, Love is when mommy sees daddy on the to toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.
Sorry, Robin. I don't love you that much.
Dave, age 8. This is my favorite. Love will find you, even if you're trying to hide from it. I've been trying to hide from love since I was five, but the girls keep finding me.
Dave, I know how you feel. I had the same problem in elementary school. Well, if I'm going to talk about love, it's probably appropriate to go to what we call the love chapter. And who can tell me where that is, right? First Corinthians, chapter 13.
But did you know there are no chapters? There are no verses in the original Bible, Corinthians, First Corinthians is really a letter written by one man to a group of people called the Corinthian Church. And so the thoughts just flow from one sentence, one paragraph to another. So sometimes a thought from the previous chapter needs to be included in the one that you're reading. This is one of those times the scripture tells us in First Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 13, the last verse of chapter 12, but earnestly desire the best gifts.
So obviously, if you're familiar with the scripture, you know that First Corinthians, chapter 12 is all about spiritual gifts. It's about speaking in tongues and prophecy and faith and healings and miracles and all of these cool things. And basically, what Paul is trying to communicate is that the church will work a little bit better, it'll become a little healthier, if every individual operates in their unique spiritual gift. And then he comes to the end of the chapter and he says, you know, it's good to desire those gifts, but however. Yet I show you a more excellent way.
Way literally means path or road on which you walk this life. So love is the super highway of life. But only say only, only if you know what love really is. If you don't know what love is, you're going to be confused. And that's why there is so much confusion in regards to this one word in the English language.
Confusion occurs when we look for definitions for love outside of the Bible. See, if you're not a follower of Christ, you might be thinking, pastor, you're being silly. Now. I can go to the dictionary, I can go to culture, I can go to a psychiatrist. I can go to somebody who can give me a real, reasonable definition of love.
And I'm here to say, no, you can't. And the reason that you cannot is because First John, chapter 4, verse 8, says this. He or anyone who does not love doesn't even know God. For God is love. Did you get that?
God doesn't just love. God, by definition, is love. That means if you want to love your spouse, if you want to really love your children, if you want a loving relationship with any other human being in the world, you have to first and foremost know God, because it's only through him that you understand what love really is. It's only through the God of the Bible who will help you to understand how to act in love, think in love, speak in love. That's how it takes place.
And this is how we get all of these silly cultural definitions for love. The first one is this. Love is falling. I know. I did it.
Okay? I remember calling my parents and saying, I've fallen in love. But I want you to think of that phrase for a second. I'm walking along, just enjoying life.
What happened, Pastor Tom? I just fell in love. As if it's accidental or beyond your control. You just happen to fall in love with another human being. I'm sorry.
Sorry. That is nothing more than a cocktail of hormones that attracts you to another person. It is not love. Now, hear me. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with attraction.
Attraction is normal and natural. It is not love. Love is never accidental. Listen to this. Okay?
Who was a teenager in the 60s? Be proud. Raise your hands. Look at all those proud old people.
And this is the music that they grew up on. Who put the ram in the Rama Llama ding dong?
Who put the bop in the bop shoe bop shoe bop who put the dip in the dip da dip da dip who was that man? I'd like to shake his hand for making my baby fall in love with me this is an old, old cultural idea and it's not gone away. Selena says, I could fall in love. The Backstreet Boys say, how did I fall in love? The Carpenter said, I just fall in love again.
Demi Lovato says, I don't want to fall in love. And John Denver sings a song entitled I'm Falling out of Love. How in the world do you fall out of something once you've fallen in it?
A number two weird idea is love is a feeling. This was in the dictionary, if you remember. But the reason why I don't buy into this is because feelings are wishy washy. I'm just being honest here, okay? There are times that I think my wife is the most wonderful, glorious creature on the face of the earth.
And then there are times when I wonder what I did 40 years ago as I walked down the aisle. It's like, who is she? That's not the woman I married. And I know she thinks the same thing about me, but that's what feelings do. One day they're hot and heavy, and the next day they're cold.
If you decide I don't love a person because the feeling's gone, you won't stay in a relationship with anyone. That's not love in any way, shape or form. I mean, love can be confused with sentimentality. And here's the danger in that. Sentimentality is a feeling that is often manipulated by people to coerce Christians to accept sinful behavior.
Romans chapter 12, verse 9. This is really important for us to understand. This is a whole section on how we're supposed to love. Okay? This could be the other love.
Chapter Romans, chapter 12. Let us love without hypocrisy. Look at the next phrase. Abhor what is evil. Even though we love somebody, we do not have to love the evil behavior.
Who can say amen? We have to cling. The Scripture says cling to what is good. First Corinthians 13 says the same thing in verse 6. It says, Love does not rejoice in iniquity or sin, but it rejoices in the truth.
So we have to understand the difference between feelings and what love really is.
Love is a finding. That's what Dave said, right? That love is going to find you. This is another silly cultural idea. Some people call it love at first sight.
Now, I know. I tell the story, too, so I'm guilty. I had one date with Robin, and I knew that she was the one I was gonna marry someday. I actually tell that story. But it wasn't love that I had towards her.
It was this appreciation that she was beautiful. And she actually went on a date with me. Man, she must be half blind or something, because there's no way. And so I didn't love her. I loved how she made me feel.
Are you seeing the difference here? We don't love other people like that the way that we really should. And soulmate. Here's another idea that I can't stand. Well, I shouldn't say that.
I shouldn't say that, because the problem isn't looking for a soulmate. We need to understand we will never find a soulmate. We have to become the soulmate. Does that make sense? Because the longer you're with someone, your love is supposed to grow and mature, and you become that soulmate.
Now, those are just the cute little silly definitions of love. Did you know that there's sinful counterfeit motivations for love, too? Go back to Romans, chapter 12, verse 9. It says, Let love be without hypocrisy. How can love be without hypocrisy?
That occurs when you understand that Greek word is not. It's not staged, not faked, not pretend. In other words, there are things that we do that we want people to think that we love them, but we're really doing is manipulating them. Or we're putting ourself at the center of everything that's going on. So watch what it says in First Corinthians, chapter 1231.
And following once again, but earnestly Desire the best gifts. So gifts are good. But I show you something even better than gifts. I show you a more excellent way. Verse 1 of chapter 13.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I've become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. Are you getting what he's doing here? He's saying that every spiritual gift, if it is not operated in your love for other human beings, it's inappropriate. That if you do a vocal tongue in the church and your motivation is not because of the love you have for others, and your motivation is rather because it's an emotional expression. Expression.
You are sinning because what you have done is you've become a clanging cymbal. You've become a sounding brass. And God doesn't even listen to it. So neither should anybody else. What a harsh way for the love chapter to begin.
It gets worse. Okay, verse two. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. Do you know what he's saying here? He's saying, be very careful when you claim to be operating in the gifts of the Spirit because the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
In other words, this excuse. I couldn't help myself. That's not true. You need to be so in sync with God even before you show up for church on Sunday morning that you are prepared to either give a word or not give a word. You can do it either way.
You are measuring what the Holy Spirit's saying. You are measuring what is taking place during the praise and the worship and the singing. And you're making a logical, reasoned determination based on hearing God's voice. I can or cannot do this at this moment. Prophecy can be nothing more than pride.
It can be nothing more than an exercise in false spirituality. And verse three goes on to talking about giving your life to be burned at the stake. In other words, giving can be nothing more than a show. We need to be careful whenever we're doing good works, whenever we're acting in the gifts of the spirit, that if the motivation behind it is not love, we are out of order. And that's why I say that love is always.
Say always. It's always a choice. It's always a choice to mimic and act like God in every situation. Romans chapter 12, verse 19 says, Let love. That means you have the capabilities of controlling love, of using it for how good it's supposed to be used.
Clarity Colossians 3:14 says, Put on love. You have the choice. A young girl was with her mom at a wedding. And so they're at the wedding, and it gets to the vow section and the pastor goes, do you, Steve, promise to keep Samantha in good times and in bad times, in sickness and in health, in riches and in poorness? And the girl piped up and goes, mom, mom, you chose poorness, didn't you?
No, she chose to love. No matter the circumstances, let love be without hypocrisy. This word means a genuine love, an undisguised love, a sincere love. The real deal, and the only 100% authentic love is what we receive. Say receive.
Receive from God first. John 4:8. Again, he who does not love does not know God. For God is love. So we have to first.
Before we can love another human being, before we can love even our own children, we can appreciate them. We can need our children, and our children can need us. There can be this reciprocity that takes place. You scratch my back, I'll scratch your back. But real love begins when we connect with the God of the universe, when we connect with the God who is love through salvation by being born again.
That's what the scripture says. Romans 5:8. But God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Did you know it says later that while we were still enemies. Enemies, God died for us.
So when Jesus says we should love our enemies, he wasn't kidding. Because you and I were his enemies at one time before we accepted him, we were his enemies, and he still died on the cross for you and for me. Who can say Amen to that? Wow. So when we connect with God, then we can become the conduit of God's kind of love.
Ephesians, chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us. So if you're born again, whether you're 10, 30, 50, 70, 100, you become a child again, spiritually speaking. And this scripture tells us that as children, we have to relearn to walk. We have to learn to walk in love.
We have to learn to mimic God, copy our older brother Jesus, and act like them through sacrificial giving of ourselves again and again and again. So if you choose to love, let me tell you what you're actually choosing. Okay, you're choosing, yes, the more excellent way, but you're choosing the hard road. You're choosing the Road less traveled. Why do you think it says at the beginning of verse four, love suffers long?
Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. My Bible doesn't say that. My Bible says, love is patient. Love is kind. Do you know what the Greek for patient is?
Here they're being kind by calling it patient. Suffers. Long is a much better translation. Nobody wants to suffer long, so the translators have taken that out and replace it with patience. Patience is the result of suffering long.
The word literally means long before you blow your top. That's what it means. Long before you boil over. Long before you lose control. In other words, you're suffering a long time with someone else's behavior and you're not losing your cool.
That's what it says. I mean, the Everly Brothers here, we're going back to the 60s again. Pastor, would you stay out of the 60s? That's so long ago. Well, I can go to the 70s.
I can go to Nazareth. They both sang the same song, except here's how the Everly Brothers did it. Love hurts. Love scars Love wounds and mocks Any heart not tough or strong enough. That's the Everly Brothers.
Now, if you're a. Who was a teenager in the 70s, okay, 70s, babies. This is how Nazareth did it. Love hurts. Love.
Scarlet. Love wounds.
I can't even go on. I've lost my voice.
Now, listen, listen. In both cases, the song at the end says, love is a lie. No, it isn't. Their understanding of love is a lie. And let me explain it to you.
We have the misconception that if we fall in love, everything will be easy. We believe based upon movies, based upon fairy tales. And they lived happily ever after. No, they didn't. It's a lie.
That kind of love does not exist. Because love. Love is hard. Love has to be tough and strong and persevering. It doesn't give up on people.
It doesn't quit. It hangs in there. Despite the challenges, who can say amen? That's love. That's real.
That's authentic. And you might say, pastor, it doesn't make sense. Why is love so hard? And I can give you two reasons. Number one, people are weird.
Actually, that's not even in my notes I wrote down. People are different. And we interpret it as weird. And the second is people are sinful. And when we take those two in combination, it creates something not very good.
How many women out here? You're looking for the perfect man. Anybody? Any ladies over here? You're looking for the perfect man.
How about here? Robin, Keep your hand down. Over here. Anybody looking for the perfect man? Well, if you are, you're out of luck, okay?
Because there are none, as there are no perfect women either. But Robin and I were at Ocala last Saturday, and we went into this candy shop, and there was this piece of candy, and it said, the perfect man. Sweet and rich.
I'm like, great. A candy bar is the perfect man. What tickles me is when a young couple comes up to me and they go, pastor, we're getting married. And I'm like, oh, great. And I always ask them why I do, and, you know, they give me the same answer every single time.
We're so in love.
I can't imagine life without him. I can't imagine living without her. And it just goes on and on. It's sickening. Okay?
I mean, I'm like, you're. Get ready for a rude awakening, buddy. You know? And you might say, no, that's not gonna happen. Yeah.
Differences cause annoyance and sin. Listen, sin exaggerates the differences. I have seen this again and again. I've had more couples who've been married for less than three years come for couples counseling than you'd ever imagine. And the reason is, is because one day she found Mr.
Right, Mr. Wright. A year and a half later, he's Freddy Krueger.
You think I'm kidding? Her Prince Charming has turned into Homer Simpson because all he does is he sits in front of the couch farting, watching games.
Pastor said a bad word in church.
I'm sorry. But listen, listen, listen. The other side is not exempt. I'm here to tell you she goes from the girl of our dreams to a fire breathing her dragons.
I've seen it. One moment you're singing Pretty woman walking down this street, Evil woman.
It can change that quickly. Why? Because we don't understand what love really is. Verse 4 tries to help us understand. Love does not envy.
Okay, what does that mean? Envy is ill will towards another because of his or her perceived superiority. You've heard the phrase green with envy before. We literally mope around and sulk because we think somebody has it better than us. In marriages, it's like this.
I do all the work around here, right? And listen, even if it's true, it doesn't matter. That's what you signed up for. I'm just telling you, those vows don't say when things get bad. You can bail out.
The vows say forever. Unless it's not a Christian wedding, of course. Okay. While envy makes you feel inferior, pride makes you feel superior. The verse goes on Love does not parade itself.
It doesn't boast or brag. It doesn't puff itself up. It doesn't inflate or its head doesn't swell. It doesn't. It doesn't think I'm better than you.
Think of the context of this scripture. This scripture is not specifically written to husbands and wives. It's written to the church in the context of spiritual gifts. So what's he saying? He's saying the problem is, is all you Pentecostals think you're better than those who aren't.
Ooh. Ouch. Did you hear me? Do you understand that the number one complaint against the Pentecostal Church is arrogance? Number one complaint because we make people feel like they're less than a Christian.
Because we speak in tongues and they don't. Because we prophesy and they don't. Because we believe in healing and they don't. Or. Or maybe our faith is just a little better than theirs.
Never make people feel inferior. I'm just here to tell you, love will never say never. It will never do that because sin of any kind is inherently antisocial. First Corinthians 13:5. Love does not behave rudely.
That's hard because everyone's acting rude nowadays. I mean, I go into a restaurant and I'm getting ready to pay them money, and they're like, what do you want?
Can I have a seat? We don't have enough help right now. I'm just like, I'm being attacked on the roads. Someone cuts in front of me is my first response. Lord, they're awesome.
Bless them.
Yeah, the one finger wave, right? Listen, listen, listen. If we respond to rudeness with rudeness, we're no different than the world. The Bible says love suffers long and is kind. We're supposed to respond in the exact opposite way.
On the front page of Front Daily sun, it said, fruitland Park's Love Week showcases kind acts. I want to take it a step further. Let's have a love lifestyle where every day we seek out people to treat with kindness and goodness and love. Who can say amen to that? And I love that Fruitland park is doing this.
This entire week before Valentine's Day is. Is looking to show kindness in random ways and in small ways. But what we understand is there are no small acts of kindness. They're all gigantic. They're all big.
First Corinthians 13:5 says, Love does not seek its own. In other words, it's not selfish. I saw one of the saddest things last year. October of 2024, Britney Spears posted an Instagram video of herself in a wedding dress. And this is what she said the day I married myself.
I think it's the most brilliant thing I've ever done. No, no, no, listen. She had an official marriage ceremony where she married herself.
What's going on in our country? The problem isn't that we don't love ourselves enough. The problem is we love ourselves too much. There is a self centered epidemic in our world and it is destroying marriages, it is destroying families, it is destroying the culture in which we live. All because we want only what we want and we don't care what anyone else thinks.
James, chapter four, verse one. What causes fights and quarrels among you? Aren't they caused by the selfish desires that fight to control you? If you are saved and born again, you have the Holy Spirit and you can say no to selfishness. You can deny it.
You can say, it's not going to be a part of who I am. Why? Because sin shrinks, selfishness shrinks our world. Verse 5 goes on and says that love is not provoked. One translation says, love is not easily offended.
How often do you get offended? I'm just telling you I get offended too much. Yeah, I do get mad at drivers on the road. I get upset when I go to a restaurant and they treat me like I'm inconveniencing them. And so here's the problem though is we make the wrong decisions.
Rather than turning it around. The way God turns things around, we go, I'm never going back to that restaurant again. Oh, the pastor said something in the pulpit today. I'm never going back to that church again. You know what?
If people would stay in the church that they're a part of, the church would be the most powerful entity in the world today. I'm just telling you the devil has tricked us. The devil has tricked us by telling us that if we get offended, we have the right right to move on. No, you don't. If God's placed you somewhere, he's offending you on purpose.
You think I'm lying or kidding? That is for your benefit. It's to get you to grow and mature and strengthen yourself. Listen, I pastored in Las Vegas for almost a quarter of a century. I was there so long that I saw people who were on the church merry go round, come to my church for a third time.
That means I'd already offended them twice before, but everyone else had got to them again and they made it back a third time. Just stay where you are. Right now. Okay? Because I guarantee you we're not a perfect church and we never will be.
And God will empower us and enable us to grow through these seasons. Anger and offense build walls of resentment and bitterness that shrink our world. The living Bible. This is what it says about this same phrase. Love hardly even notices when others do it wrong.
It goes on and says, love thinks no evil. Why? Because love is too busy thinking the best of others, believing people are valuable and made in the image of God and worth the extra effort. Who can say amen? They're worth it.
Finally, love can. Love commits. Love commits. So I don't know if you remember our education secretary, Dr. William Bennett.
This was like 20 years ago. He went to a wedding where neither the bride or the groom were Christians, but he was invited. So he went and he said, this is what was communicated in the vows. Do you promise to stay married as long as your love shall last?
Now, he said this. I didn't. He said he took his gift back home with him and sent them paper plates.
A gift commiserate or in keeping with how long the marriage was going to last. But look at what verse seven says. It says love bears all things. This word bears means to cover or to protect. So love commits to covering the hurting person.
Now, you can be hurting for a number of different reasons, but the number one reason we're hurting is because of sin. Listen to what it says in First Peter, chapter 4, verses 8, 9, 10. And above all things, things have fervent love for one another. Why? Because love will cover a multitude of sins.
Now, Peter's not saying that this is a cover up. Peter's not saying we're making excuse for sin. Peter's saying that the way we respond to sin, look at verse nine, is by being hospitable to one another without grumbling. Wow, that we're still welcoming people into our midst without talking about them, complaining about them, getting upset with them. In other words, we have the eyes of God himself and we see someone who's lost, someone who doesn't know Christ.
And if they just get saved, if they just get brought into the kingdom, they could be transformed overnight. In the name of Jesus, who can say amen. That's what we're hoping for. So the Bible goes on in verse 10 as each one has received a gift. We're back to the gift again.
And here's what's so interesting. The gifts that are mentioned in First Peter, chapter four are service gifts. The ones that are mentioned in First Corinthians 12, 13 and 14. They're more spectacular spiritual type gifts. The ones that are mentioned In Romans chapter 2:12 are a combination of gifts.
Hear me, these are not exhaustive lists. These are exemplary. They're to give you a picture of what spiritual and heavenly and godly things are supposed to look like. And so with that said, we need to understand that love is like a cloak that covers over sinful people. Not because you're covering their sin, you're just quick to forgive it.
I want you to remember the story of Adam and Eve because it's so relevant to this love story. They were placed in a perfect situation. They violated the commandment of not eating the fruit and their first response was to cover themselves. Do you see that? First thing they do, they put food, fig leaves on.
They covered up their mistake, they covered up their sin. They covered up their violation. And we're still doing it today. We're covering it with excuses, denials, justifications, blame shifting. And we've become really sophisticated because we cover up our sin with good works.
Good works can't get you into heaven. Only Jesus can do that. So what happens in this story? God comes down, asks them where they are, they make all their excuses and he says, you know what your self work, your fig job here isn't going to do. And listen to what the scripture says.
The Lord made clothes from animal skins, so some innocent animals had to die.
Your comfort, if you're going to love somebody is going to have to die. What you want, your desires are going to have to die. Your selfish disposition is going to have to die. That's what it takes to love another human being. That's the example given God gave us for the man and his wife.
And listen, he dressed them, God dressed Adam and Eve, he dresses us with the blood of Jesus Christ. And when he looks at us, he does see the perfect man. He does see perfect women all across this aisle because he sees the blood of Jesus and he wants us to take the grace. That's what it said in First Peter, Chapter 4, Verse 10, that as we minister in these gifts that we are giving God's grace to different people. So we need to give this grace like a coat that protects people from the cold.
In other words, we're quick to serve. Love wins out. Not the offense, not the action. It's love wins over and over and over again. And we serve the brokenhearted, the defeated, the guilty, the fearful, the lost.
And it can be said of them, which Isaiah said of himself, God has covered me with clothes of salvation and Wrapped me with a coat of goodness. Like a bridegroom dressed for a wedding. Like. Like a bride dressed in jewels. Love believes all things and it hopes all things.
Love commits to believing in its own power. If you're a loving person, you've probably seen how love transforms other human beings. What's it say in the proverbs? The soft answer turns away wrath. That's right, because that's love.
Rather than responding to an angry person in anger. I'm sorry, maybe there's a misunderstanding. And nine times out of 10, the tone comes down. Because love wins in an individual. Love has the power to transform a life.
Love believes that people can be loved into the kingdom of God. That consistent love is impossible to ignore. Yes, impossible. It can be rejected, but it's impossible to ignore. And that's why we sing.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love. Because we think the world still needs love today. And finally, verse seven, it endures all things. I love how it literally begins. If you look at verse four and the end of verse seven, it begins with perseverance and ends with perseverance.
It begins with suffering and it ends with suffering. It's a suffering sandwich, basically, that love commits to disdain despite the circumstances. Real love desires permanence. It wants permanence. When two people really love each other and are not using each other for sex or status or self actualization, they never want the status to change.
And they will make promises to each other over and over and over again. That's why it's called tying the knot. We don't want to be liberated. We want to be in this relationship till death does its part. Ball and chain does not scare us.
We want to be permanently connected through vows, through promises, through to another human being. And the word literally means I will not run away.
When do spouses typically run away from their spouse? When the spouse gets really sick. An altering car accident, loss of a child, something tragic happens. And one spouse. I'm out of here.
I didn't sign up for this. Yes, you did. You signed up for this. There's A Story of Dr. Robertson McQuicklin.
He was the president of Columbia Bible College for 22 years. And during the last few years of his tenure there, his wife came down with a dementia type disease. And she started losing her memories and. And she would wander, she would get lost in the neighborhood. She would show up at college in the most inappropriate times, dressed in the most inappropriate ways.
And one day he announced his resignation to take care of his wife. And everyone tried to talk him out of it. They said, oh, no, you're too valuable. The students need you. The faculty needs you.
The college needs you. You don't have to take care of your wife. You can put her in a home where everything will be okay. They'll take really good care of her. And this was his response.
I don't have to take care of Muriel. I get to. If I took care of her for 40 years, I would never be out of her debt.
My prayer is, if that happens to me, that that'll be my wife's love for me and my love for her. That no matter what, I'm going to hang in there every step of the way. And don't forget, our Savior set the example. He went to the cross and he saved, stayed. He didn't have to stay nailed to the cross.
The scripture says he could have called angels. He could have said, no, I'm not going through this. They're not worth it. But he didn't. He stayed, suffered and died for you and I.
And that's why First Corinthians 13:8 says, Love never fails. Would you bow your heads, please?
I'd like to ask the prayer partners to come forward.
Pastors, if you'd come forward, too.
We had some fun today. We laughed a lot. But I hope you got the message. Love is the most incredible thing in the world if it's understood properly. And the only way we can ever understand that love is to be connected with the one who is love.
If you have never been connected to God in that way, would you just wave at me right now and Pastor, would you remember me in prayer? Is there anyone? Yeah, I see. Anybody. Yes, I see you.
Anybody else? You want to connect with God in this loving way that never, ever gives up on you, that is there every step of the way? Anybody else? Sure, I see you. I see you.
You can put your hands down.
How about the rest of us? Remember the rebuke in Revelation chapter 2 to the Ephesian Church? How far we've fallen from our first love. Is there anyone here who just needs their love to be rekindled again? Whether it's for God, for their spouse, for their family, maybe even for their job.
If that's you, would you just raise your hand and say, pastor, remember me? Sure. Thank you. You can put it down. Sure.
Anybody else? Yeah. Heavenly Father, you see hands all across the auditorium. But more than that, you see our hearts. Sometimes it's scary to raise a hand.
I understand that. But, Lord, the scripture just talks about heart decisions. The proof is in the actions that take place after the fact, not in what we do beforehand. So I'm asking that you would make your love clear to everybody here, anyone who's not accepted you as Lord and Savior. I pray that today will be the day that they will sense that love that is so deep and wide and.
And crazy that they are being pulled towards it in a way that they can't even explain. But, Father God, I pray that they would understand that as they repent of their sins, confess and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, they are now in position for a brand new life. Bless them today. And for the rest of us, Father God, I think we all could do with a little recharge in our love. Light the fire for our spouses, Light the fire for our families.
I pray that we aren't just going through the motions, but that something real and substantial is taking place in our hearts and that it's so obvious. Father God, I just ask that people will look at us funny and like, what do you want? But it's not what we want. It's what we can give. We can literally, through service, give the love of God to people all around this world.
So may we be the greatest examples of God's kind of love the world has ever seen. I pray today in Jesus holy and precious name and everyone together says amen. Would you stand as the team sings one concluding song? And if you raised your hand and you'd like prayer, we've got prayer partners here. Or even if you need prayer for anything else, please feel free to come down and have someone pray with you.
God bless you.
