Hope Church - Pastor's Newsletter

January 2012 Hope Church Newsletter

The Love Process

Every Christian would admit that “love” is important. The Scriptures are full of love verses and perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, speaks to this. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” But how does love become a reality in the life of a believer? We know that God is love (1 John 4:8), but how does that love begin to manifest itself in the life of the Christian? I would like to suggest that it is a process that follows a somewhat predictable pattern. What follows is not intended to be a rigid list, but is more of an outline. As God’s love fills our lives, this 4-step process takes place in our lives.

1. Knowing that God loves us.

What an amazing thing to think that the Creator of the universe knows me and loves me. Have you ever stopped to ponder that? God actually likes me. God is fond of me. God calls me His friend. God will never leave me nor forsake me because I am His child. This blows me away.

Many people have a hard time believing that God could ever love them. They know their past and they know that they are sinners. They are also aware that God is holy and just and cannot simply “wink” at sin and pretend everything is ok. Of course, the solution to this dilemma is the person and work of Jesus Christ. Through the electing grace of God, every believer is clothed with the righteousness of Christ. So how can God love us? Because the blood of Christ covers our sins and we are now children of God.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not share his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32) You mean God is actually for me? You mean God is actually pleased with me? God loves me? Yes, yes, and yes.

When we start to understand the love of God, it tends to be overwhelming for us. We can never fully understand the love of God, but as we begin to comprehend the redeeming love of God, we can’t help but be amazed. God was not required to rescue us…..but He did, by His grace. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God.

There are people who have faithfully attended church for decades who have never come to know or experience the love of the Savior. They are committed to doing what they can to please God and to “do things for God” but they have never come to understand or experience the love of God. Unfortunately, all their striving and toiling will count for nothing at the end of the day. The bible tells us, “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” (Isaiah 64:6) In other words, they are disgusting. Why we would ever think God would be pleased with us, apart from the perfect righteousness of Christ? There is a classic hymn that speaks of the love of God. You might have heard it before, but here are the lyrics:

The love of God is greater far?than tongue or pen can ever tell. It goes beyond the highest star?and reaches to the lowest hell.?The guilty pair, bowed down with care,?God gave His Son to win;?His erring child He reconciled?and pardoned from his sin. O love of God, how rich and pure,?how measureless and strong!?It shall forevermore endure?the saints' and angels' song.

The first step in the love process is coming to know that God loves you. Have you embraced that love through Jesus Christ? If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of your sin, God will forgive you and make you His very own. You will be part of the family of God. I assure you nothing can compare with this glorious reality.

The Love Process (Part 2)

2. Loving God

The bible says, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) God’s love always precedes our love. That is why this is number 2 and not 3 or 4 in the love process. Keep in mind that loving God is not simply a matter of doing our best to keep the moral law. Some people have this mistaken notion that if they don’t perform good enough, God will not accept them. I think it’s simply our default position to think that if we try to obey God, God will love us in return, and grant us acceptance into His kingdom. However, this is not a biblical understanding.

Ephesians 2:4-5 explains this amazing reality. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.” Here we see that God’s love always precedes our love. Cleary, that which is “dead” cannot love. But as the Spirit of God fills our lives, we begin to experience the love of our Heavenly Father. Over time this love begins to be reciprocated. We gradually fall in love with the One who saved us. We can actually say (and mean it) I love God.

I remember when my wife and I were still dating. For the first year of our relationship, we lived 2500 miles apart. I was in Vancouver and Stephane was in Ohio, so we talked a lot on the phone. After a few months, I began to realize that I was falling in love with this woman. I kept my mouth shut for a while, but eventually came to the point where I just had to tell Stephane (over the phone) that I loved her. Even though my understanding of love was much less developed at this point in time, I knew without a shadow of doubt that I loved Stephane. It wasn’t too long after that she expressed her love for me.

Clearly, love is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. Just as we continue to grow more and more in love with our spouse, so too do we grow in our love for God. It is true that we are commanded to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) But I don’t think anyone would say they mastered this immediately following their conversion to Christ. It is a process that God performs in our lives over months and years and decades. God turns our self-centered, world-focused hearts towards Himself, so that our affections and desires are rightly directed. Gradually, we begin to love God in place of the world and ourselves. What a beautiful process this is and we can praise God for this amazing work of grace in our lives.

The Love Process (Part 3)

3. Loving our fellow Christians

In the second of this four-part series we looked at “loving God.” In this post, we are going to look at one of the natural outcomes of genuine love for God. If we truly love God and are born of God, it will result in loving our fellow Christians. As 1 John 4:20-21 explains, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” In using “brother,” the apostle John simply means a fellow Christian. What this tells us is that there are certain outcomes we can expect to see when we truly love God, and this is one of them. We are deluded if we claim to love God, yet fail to love and serve our brother in Christ.

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) This is a remarkable statement. What this tells us is that true love is so rare that when people actually see it, they will take notice. It will be a powerful testimony to the watching world. Instead of trying to take advantage of one another, disciples of Jesus will strive to love and serve one another. The world can’t help but notice this.

The apostle Paul expands on this by listing several ways we can serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” (Romans 12:10-13) Safe to say, we have a high calling as Christians. We are responsible not only to God, but also to the saints in Christ. Without question, our love for God will manifest itself in love for fellow Christians, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Does this mean that love among the brethren is where the love process stops? You already know the answer to that and next time we will look at “loving the world around us.” Anytime the church becomes a “holy huddle” with walls separating us from the outside world, we are falling short of God’s purpose for His Body. Once again, Paul is instructive in this. “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:10) Simply put: do good to everyone, but especially Christians.

The Love Process (Part 4)

4. Loving the world around us.

Recently we had a guest speaker at our church who reminded us that when we understand God’s amazing grace and mercy in our lives, how could we not have a burden to share the gospel? When truly believe that Jesus is the hope of the world, how could we not be compelled to share that good news? This was a great challenge for us to hear because it is easy to settle into our comfort zones. But if we truly love God, we also love those created in the image of God.

Part of “loving the world around us” is sharing with them the greatest news in the world. The apostle Paul is a good example of this. He writes, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:4-5) This is the gospel in a nutshell. Paul could have kept it to himself, but he didn’t. He chose to share what was so graciously delivered to him – the good news of Jesus Christ.

Every once in a while, we sing a hymn at our church called “Set My Soul Afire.” The lyrics to the first verse are as follows: “Set my soul afire, Lord, for Thy holy Word, burn it deep within me, let thy voice be heard; millions grope in darkness in this day and hour, I will be a witness, fill me with Thy power.” One of the pianists at our church, Gerry Sherman, suggested that we make a slight change. Instead of “millions grope in darkness,” to make it, “loved ones grope in darkness.” I agreed with Gerry’s suggestion and so we made the change.

Is it true that millions grope in darkness? Unfortunately yes. In fact, there are billions still in darkness all over the world. But when we say “millions” it sounds distant to us. What could I possibly do about the millions and billions who don’t know Jesus as their Savior? However, when we say, “loved ones” it brings it a little closer to home. We all have loved ones who don’t know Jesus. And most of us have family members who are resistant to the gospel. Do we pray for them? It’s hard to pray for the “millions” who grope in darkness, but we can pray for cousin Billy-Sue who needs Christ in her life.

Let’s extend this a little further. There is no such thing as a “Christian” gated community, and that’s a good thing. This is the beauty of God’s plan for the church. The people of God are spread out all over the world, which means we live among the heathen. Whether at work or home, there are non-Christians around you. This is not something to be fearful of, but something to embrace. God has placed you in a particular context for a reason and He will use you, if only you are willing.

All too often, Christians cut themselves off from the outside world. They are not willing to do the hard (and sometimes messy) work of building relationships with those around them. This means they won’t have the opportunity to share the love of God. If you are a follower of Christ, that means someone in your life loved you enough to share the gospel with you. We can praise God for sending messengers into our lives – people who were willing to tell us the truth about God, man, sin, and salvation. My question for you is this – are you willing to be a messenger of truth? The bible teaches that it is not the messenger who does the saving – that’s God’s work. But if you are willing, God will use you as a bearer of good news. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:15)

There are many ways we can “love our neighbors.” But perhaps the most loving thing you can do is to share Jesus Christ with the world around you. After all, it is only Christ who can save us from the power of death. You have a unique circle of friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors, which means you have a unique opportunity. It is not an accident you are where you are today. Why not pass on the truth that was so graciously delivered to you?

Pastor Daniel Stegeman – Standing for the Truth
www.danstegeman.wordpress.com