A Call to Christ

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 15th of March, 2026, and our 4th blended service.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Family, do you understand what a “call” is?  That word call – C-A-L-L – has many meanings, both as a verb and a noun.  As a noun, a call is a summons, invitation, or bidding.  It can even be a demand or a claim.  A common usage of the word is in a request or invitation to a minister to become the pastor of a church, like when you called me to Pilgrim.

So a “calling” is just such a call or summons, or even a strong impulse or inclination, like an inner calling.  You’ve heard me say before that being a Deacon or an Elder is not just an elective position within the church, it is a calling to serve Jesus and His church with the special gifts given the called ones.

And family, we Christians are all called.  Called by Jesus to go into the world sharing the Gospel message and making disciples.  This is our calling, yours and mine, to call others to Christ.

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome lately.  It’s not been by design so much, but more by interest.  I guess you could say I’ve been called to the letter, to Paul’s insights and thoughts expressed in it.  There is one passage where he writes about calling people to Jesus.  He helps us understand our calling and even provides some useful points we can share with others as we issue the call to them.

Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote in the 10th chapter of his letter to the Romans, the Roman epistle, verses 8 through 17, as read by Myrna Davis from the Easy-to-Read Version of our Holy Bible…

8 This is what the Scripture says: “God’s teaching is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.” It is the teaching of faith that we tell people. 9 If you openly say, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from death, you will be saved. 10 Yes, we believe in Jesus deep in our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we openly say that we believe in Him, and so we are saved.

11 Yes, the Scriptures say, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be disappointed.” 12 It says this because there is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is the Lord of all people. And He richly blesses everyone who looks to Him for help. 13 Yes, “everyone who trusts in the Lord will be saved.”

14 But before people can pray to the Lord for help, they must believe in Him. And before they can believe in the Lord, they must hear about Him. And for anyone to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them. 15 And before anyone can go and tell them, they must be sent. As the Scriptures say, “How wonderful it is to see someone coming to tell good news!”

16 But not all the people accepted that good news. Isaiah said, “Lord, who believed what we told them?” 17 So faith comes from hearing the Good News. And people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.

--Romans 10:8-17 (ERV)

Before going further, I’d like to clarify that in verses 11 and 13, when Paul writes “Anyone who trusts in Him” and “Anyone who trusts in the Lord”, he is literally saying anyone who calls on the name of the Lord.  We show our faith and trust in our Lord when we call on His name, when we worship Him and pray to Him for help.

Let us call on Jesus now as we pray…  Lord Jesus, our Father God has given each of us a measure of faith to believe that You are the Son of God and our Redeemer.  And we are exercising and showing our faith when we come together in Your name, when we pray to You, when we call on You for help when all seems hopeless.  This is the full measure of our faith, that we put all our trust in You, lay our troubles at Your feet, place our lives in Your hands.  Jesus, we accept You as our Lord and do our best to carry out Your commands, but sometimes, maybe too often, we fail miserably.  We tend to forget that all of mankind was created in the image of God, not just we believers.  When we fail to show love or act in a loving way, we are disrespecting our heavenly Father and His creation.  Please help us put aside all bitterness, all pettiness, and all the ways of the world so that we can be better disciples.  Help us return hatred with love, violence with prayer and forgiveness.  Help us be more like You, Lord Jesus, as we walk through this life.  In Your beautiful name, Jesus, we pray.   Amen.

Christian apologist and author G. K. Chesterton once said:  "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it's been found difficult and not tried."

I wish I knew who penned this equally pithy statement, but the source is unknown:  "It is not what men eat but what they digest that makes them strong; Not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; not what we preach but what we practice that makes us Christians."

Being a Christian, a true follower of Christ Jesus, is not easy.  It requires work and sacrifice, and sometimes forcing ourselves to do something we don't really want to do.  So we just have to keep practicing and exercising our faith.  And calling out to Jesus when we need Him the most.

Paul opens our morning passage saying that God’s teaching is in our mouths and in our hearts.  Let that sink in a bit.  God’s teaching is in our mouths and in our hearts.

We have been given the great gift of God’s own Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, in our hearts.  He guides us, directs our path, prays for us, gives us the words to say when we can’t come up with any, and He gives us further insight into God’s holy word.  Through His Holy Spirit, God has given us everything we need to carry out Jesus’ command to go and make more disciples.

And Paul follows this up with further assurance for us and the first assurance we can share with others.  Just confess Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved and made right with God.

The advice continues.  Anyone who trusts in Jesus, anyone who calls on His name, will never be disappointed.  The Lord is the Lord of all people – ALL people.

And then Paul reminds us of our calling.  I think I mentioned this years ago, but there was a point when I was dithering as to going into the ministry or not.  After wandering over 40 years in a wilderness of my own making, I finally realized that God had been calling me all that time.  But I just never thought of myself as a minister, or a preacher, or a pastor.  And then one day I picked up a book in our church library and opened it to a random page and began to read right where the author began quoting Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 10, verses 14 and 15.  It was a different version, but the message was the same.

“Before people can pray to the Lord for help, they must believe in Him. And before they can believe in the Lord, they must hear about Him. And for anyone to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them.  And before anyone can go and tell them, they must be sent.”

God finally got through to me, leading me to that book, guiding my hands to that page, forcing my eyes to that passage, writing His words on my heart.  Family, before anyone can come to know Jesus, they must be told about Him, and told in a believable, loving way.  It truly is Good News we share.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul reminds us that no one is perfect.  This is important because we must be careful how we present ourselves to others when we are out sharing the Gospel.  Some non-believers disparage Christians by saying we think we’re better than anyone else.  Well, we’re not, and Paul makes that clear, while also giving us more insight into how to approach others.

In the next two passages I want to share, Paul is speaking to converted Jews for the most part, but everything he writes applies to us as well.  And after all, through our adoption by God, we can say we’re children of Abraham, too.

Please hear what Paul writes in the 2nd chapter of his letter to the Galatians, verses 17 through 21…

17 We Jews came to Christ to be made right with God, so it is clear that we were sinners too. Does this mean that Christ makes us sinners? Of course not. 18 But I would be wrong to begin teaching again those things that I gave up. 19 It was the law itself that caused me to end my life under the law. I died to the law so that I could live for God. I have been nailed to the cross with Christ. 20 So I am not the one living now — it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God. He is the one who loved me and gave Himself to save me. 21 I am not the one destroying the meaning of God’s grace. If following the law is how people are made right with God, then Christ did not have to die.

--Galatians 2:17-21 (ERV)

We are all sinners, even we Christians.  But Christ washed us clean of our sin in God’s eyes.  He died to this life for that very reason.  He died, because we are incapable of obeying God’s Laws.

If we could be made right in God’s eyes simply by following His law, then Jesus did not have to die.  But we can’t, and we never will be able to.  Believers and non-believers alike – we are all sinners.  Christ died so that we all might be saved.

One last point about calling to Christ, and being called by Christ.  For this I’m going back to Paul’s letter to the Romans, to verses 28 and 29 in chapter 2…

28 You are not a true Jew if you are only a Jew in your physical body. True circumcision is not only on the outside of the body. 29 A true Jew is one who is a Jew inside. True circumcision is done in the heart. It is done by the Spirit, not by the written law. And anyone who is circumcised in the heart by the Spirit gets praise from God, not from people.

--Romans 2:28-29 (ERV)

Putting this more into perspective for us Gentile Christians...  You are not a true Christian if you are only a Christian in your physical body.  True baptism - our outward sign of our inward faith - is not only on the outside of the body.  A true Christian is one who is a Christian inside.  True baptism is done in the heart.  It is done by the Spirit, not by religious procedure.  And anyone who is baptized in the heart by the Spirit gets praise from God, not from people.

Sitting in the pew on a Sunday morning does not make anyone a Christian any more than sitting in a garage makes them a car.  Being a Christian involves transformation, a shift from sinful living to be sanctified, set aside and made holy, and living for God.  It involves purpose, living a life that reflects the character and values of Christ.  And it involves building a relationship, not merely following the rules but a personal, abiding relationship with Jesus.

So yes, being a Christian is tough.  But the rewards make it all worth the efforts.  This is the message we must share.  This is our calling, to call others to Christ.  Call on the name of the Lord!  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, You give us faith to believe in Jesus, and when we do, You give us Your Holy Spirit to help us carry out our mission of calling others to Christ.  But sometimes, Father, we don’t follow Your Spirit’s guidance.  We struggle with our calling, hesitating to approach others and give witness for Jesus.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  We thank You for the faith You’ve given us.  Please strengthen us to put that faith into action and carry out our call.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your and our Lord’s commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving of Yourself to make us right in God’s eyes.  In return, You ask only that we love others and go out making more followers.  For us poor humans, this isn’t as easy as it sounds.  We’re afraid, we hesitate, we struggle, and too often we don’t even try anymore.  Please help us do as You command us, Lord.  Help us reach out to others and be more open in showing our faith, in sharing Your mighty works, in repeating Your beautiful promise of life everlasting.  Help us in our calling to call others to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

What Is Faith?

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 8th of March, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Last week, we looked at what the Apostle Paul wrote regarding love.  Today we’ll see what he has to tell us about faith.

I mentioned before that Paul wrote to the church in Rome as a way to introduce himself before visiting there.  The main thrust of the letter, though, was our justification by God’s grace through the selfless act of Jesus who washed us clean of our sin.  Along with the unearned and undeserved gift of God’s grace is His gift of a measure of faith, so that we might recognize the sacrifice Jesus made for us and accept Him as our Lord.  As we heard in our invocation, Paul reminds us that “God gave Jesus as a way to forgive people’s sins through their faith in Him.”  (Romans 3:26 (ERV))  Through our faith and belief in Jesus, we receive God’s wonderful grace and are justified in His eyes by the blood sacrifice of Jesus.

So let’s hear just a little of Paul’s message on faith.  Please listen and follow along as I step back just a little in Paul’s letter to the Romans from last week’s passage, to chapter 4 and verses 1 through 5 and 13 through 22 and I’ll be reading from the Easy-to-Read Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 So what can we say about Abraham, the father of our people? What did he learn about faith? 2 If Abraham was made right by the things he did, he had a reason to boast about himself. But God knew different. 3 That’s why the Scriptures say, “Abraham believed God, and because of this he was accepted as one who is right with God.”

4 When people work, their pay is not given to them as a gift. They earn the pay they get. 5 But people cannot do any work that will make them right with God. So they must trust in Him. Then He accepts their faith, and that makes them right with Him. He is the one who makes even evil people right.

13 Abraham and his descendants received the promise that they would get the whole world. But Abraham did not receive that promise because he followed the law. He received that promise because he was right with God through his faith. 14 If people could get God’s promise by following the law, then faith is worthless. And God’s promise to Abraham is worthless, 15 because the law can only bring God’s anger on those who disobey it. But if there is no law, then there is nothing to disobey.

16 So people get what God promised by having faith. This happens so that the promise can be a free gift. And if the promise is a free gift, then all of Abraham’s people will get that promise. The promise is not just for those who live under the Law of Moses. It is for all who live with faith as Abraham did. He is the father of us all. 17 As the Scriptures say, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is true before God, the one Abraham believed — the God who gives life to the dead and speaks of things that don’t yet exist as if they are real.

18 There was no hope that Abraham would have children, but Abraham believed God and continued to hope. And that is why he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “You will have many descendants.” 19 Abraham was almost a hundred years old, so he was past the age for having children. Also, Sarah could not have children. Abraham was well aware of this, but his faith in God never became weak. 20 He never doubted that God would do what He promised. He never stopped believing. In fact, he grew stronger in his faith and just praised God. 21 Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what He promised. 22 So that’s why “he was accepted as one who is right with God.”

--Romans 4:1-5, 13-22 (ERV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, You have given us two wonderful gifts in Your grace and our faith.  Thank You for giving Your Son so that we can be forgiven of our sin through our faith in Him.  Father, we admit that we don’t always put our faith into action in service of You and Jesus.  Too often we hesitate to witness for Jesus when we get the opportunity.  Sometimes we let the fires of our faith grow dim and weak from not being exercised.  Please forgive us, those times, Father.  Please help us be more righteous in our daily walk.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  This we humbly pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

In his book, The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges writes:  "Faith and holiness are inextricably linked.  Obeying the commands of God usually involves believing the promises of God."

That's a pretty obvious yet profound statement.  God promises both rewards and punishment for how we live.  If we didn't believe in His promises, why would we obey His commands?  The gift of faith would be wasted on us.

One of those promised rewards is salvation through our faith in Jesus.  And the worst punishment is eternal damnation for disbelief in Jesus as Lord.  Let’s keep believing and obeying God’s commands, keeping our faith strong.

To add just a little extra clarity to our passage this morning, in verse 14 Paul writes, "If people could get God’s promise by following the law, then faith is worthless. And God’s promise to Abraham is worthless".  We can replace the word "worthless" with "pointless".  If we could receive God’s grace by following His law, then faith would be pointless.  It would have no meaning, no benefit, no purpose.  And there would have been no reason for Jesus to come and give of Himself for our sake.

Abraham and Sarah were in their 90’s and childless when God promised to make Abraham the father of a nation, with more descendants than the grains of sand upon the shore.  Though both he and his wife were well beyond child-bearing age, they accepted God at His word, believing in His promise, even if it sounded impossible.

So, what is faith?  This, Family… this is faith: believing, trusting that God can do the humanly impossible.  And God can make the humanly impossible possible for a human to do.

In verse 17 of our scripture passage Paul writes, "This is true before God, the one Abraham believed — the God who gives life to the dead and speaks of things that don’t yet exist as if they are real."  God gives life to the dead and speaks of things that don't yet exist as if they are real.  God of the impossible made possible.

We know that the Apostle James, half-brother of Jesus, also writes about faith in his letter to the early church.  He says we show our faith in how we act, in what we do, in putting our faith to work.  Some folks mistakenly believe that when James says faith alone is not enough, that he contradicts Paul when he says that we are saved by faith.  What James is actually saying is that unused faith is worthless, or pointless.  It’s a faith that has become dried up and fallow.

Maybe this passage will add a little insight.  Please listen as I read verses 14 through 18 from the 2nd chapter of James’ letter to the far-flung church…

14 My brothers and sisters, if a person claims to have faith but does nothing, that faith is worth nothing. Faith like that cannot save anyone. 15 Suppose a brother or sister in Christ comes to you in need of clothes or something to eat. 16 And you say to them, “God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat,” but you don’t give them the things they need. If you don’t help them, your words are worthless. 17 It is the same with faith. If it is just faith and nothing more — if it doesn’t do anything — it is dead.

18 But someone might argue, “Some people have faith, and others have good works.” My answer would be that you can’t show me your faith if you don’t do anything. But I will show you my faith by the good I do.

--James 2:14-18 (ERV)

Faith that does nothing is worth nothing.  James goes on to repeat that phrase in verse 20, "Faith that does nothing is worth nothing."  (James 2:20b)  And we know that when something is repeated, it’s important for us to understand and remember.

We are commanded to witness to Jesus, to go out and tell others all about Him, to share the Gospel and make more disciples.  The easiest way we can do this is to put our faith to work, to show our faith, to let others see our faith in action.  And the easiest way to show our faith might simply be to put all our troubles in God’s hands.

With all the madness going on in the world right now, many people are terribly worried about what might happen.  How can I stay safe?  Are my loved ones OK?  What’s going to happen next?  We show our faith by not being one of those worriers.  We put all our trust in God, in Him who can do the impossible.  We don’t worry about tomorrow – we trust fully in God.  This is faith.

Of course, there are many other ways to exercise and display our faith, and this church family is very good at those.  We just finished one fundraiser and are getting started on the next one, partly or fully benefitting the community around us.  But even if we can no longer physically serve, we can still show our faith by believing in the redemption of sin through Jesus and putting all our trust in God.

Let others see Jesus in us.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who gave His all for us.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for sending Your Son to save us from ourselves when we were lost in sin.  Thank You for justifying us by Your grace.  And thank You for giving us the wonderful gift of faith to believe in Jesus and be redeemed.  We believers exercise that faith to acknowledge that Jesus is Your Son, and to accept Him as our Lord.  But Father, we know that too often we fail to put our faith to work.  Maybe we just get too comfortable in Your promise.  Maybe we hesitate to put our faith to work out of fear of what others might say or how they might react.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  And forgive us when we hesitate to try and make more disciples for Your Son.  Please strengthen us to show the world the truth and share Your love with the lost.  And please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your word, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You came to this earth at God’s will as the only way we could be redeemed of our sin.  And You died to this life that we might live forever.  Through Your sacrifice, we are justified by God’s glorious grace.  By the faith God gave us, we believe in You and accept You as our Master.  But Lord, we don’t always put our faith into action.  We struggle to do as You command, we hesitate to show our faith to others, especially strangers.  Please forgive us our weaknesses and failures, Lord Jesus.  Please strengthen us to be more open with our faith and trust.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Help us, guide us in our attempts to bring the lost to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

All for Love

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 1st of March, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

So, if you would, please think back a bit and remember that we had two successive Sundays of ice and snow, forcing us to cancel worship services.  Well, today’s message was originally intended for the Sunday after Valentine’s Day, two weeks ago.  I guess you could say I’m finally catching up from the snow days.

But I feel this topic is relevant every day of the year, not just on Valentine’s Day.  And I believe it to be the main theme of our New Testament.  Jesus is the primary subject, but love is the main theme.  Everything that Jesus did was ultimately all for love.

One of Jesus’ most prolific apostles, both in terms of church starts and letter writing, was originally a great enemy of the church.  The young Pharisee named Saul traveled far and wide to round up Christians and bring them to Jerusalem for trial, and often for execution.  But then one day Jesus blinded him to show him the truth.  From that day forward, Paul became the number one proponent for the early church, going on three long missionary journeys, starting churches along the way, suffering beatings, hatred, and imprisonment, and writing letters.  Among those letters was one to the Christians in Rome.

Now Paul had not yet visited the church in Rome, but he badly wanted to.  So he wrote this letter partly as an introduction, to let the folks there know a little about him before arriving.  The main theme of the letter, though, was a thorough discussion of our justification with God by His grace.  Sadly, when Paul did finally make it to Rome, it was under arrest and in chains.

Please listen and follow along as Paul speaks of our justification, in the first 11 verses of chapter 5 of his letter to the Romans, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

--Romans 5:1-11 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You for being so merciful toward us poor sinners and sending Your Son to redeem us.  By Your grace and His sacrifice, we are made right in Your eyes.  Father, we are a prideful people, and too often our pride is our downfall.  We even let it get in the way of loving others as we know we should.  Sometimes we have trouble just showing love to our fellow Christians.  And then there are some people we just can’t force ourselves to love.  Please forgive us, those times, Father, when we are unruly and rebellious children.  Please help us be more righteous in our daily walk.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand our message today.  This we humbly pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Since today’s theme is “love”, I thought a little background on that word to be appropriate.  I probably mentioned this before, but the ancient Greeks had three words for love: eros, philia, and agape.  Eros refers to passionate, intimate, romantic love.  It is an intense love, often driven by desire.  Philia is what we would call brotherly love.  It is seen in deep, true friendships and shown in shared loyalty.  Think of the nickname for Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love.

And then there's agape.  Agape is often described as the highest form of love.  It is the unconditional, selfless, sacrificial love for others, often associated with God's love.  The thing is, the word "agape" seems to have virtually been coined for Christians - a new word for a new concept.  The word draws its meaning from the love of God for humankind revealed through His Son Jesus.  It is completely unlike eros and philia.  It is not a form of natural affection or attraction.  It is brought about by a force of will, not by feelings or emotion.  Christians are commanded to love others, even those they dislike.  This is not love as the world defines it or knows it.  This is love as God expects it and shows it.  This is agape.  And when we speak of love in the biblical context, it is agape we’re talking about.

Paul opens this chapter reminding us that our redemption, our now good-standing with God, is a gift from God.  Nothing we have ever done, nothing we could do, could bring this about; only God’s grace.  Then he makes a statement that, while true, many have trouble accepting: that troubles and trials ultimately benefit us.

And then Paul mentions love for the first time, God’s love for us.  He alluded to love at the start, the love of God through Jesus, through the gift of faith, through God’s grace.  But here he makes clear that God loves us because He gave us His Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

Of course, that’s not the greatest gift, for that comes next.  While we were utterly helpless, while we were lost in our sin, God sent His Christ at just the right time, and He died for us sinners.  By Jesus’ death, by His blood, we were restored in God’s sight.  And it was all because of love, agape love, God’s love for His creation.

As I said, Paul wrote many letters.  We know of two that were sent to the church in Corinth, the first to retore the holiness of the church, and then a later follow-up to correct some misconceptions that arose since his visit there, especially as regards his apostolic authority.  But scholars believe there may have been a third letter, written and delivered in between these two.  If so, it has long been lost to time.

But there is a passage in that first letter that is fairly well known, at least in paraphrase, and that is very pertinent to our discussion this morning.  Please listen as I read the first seven verses and verse 13 from chapter 13 of Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians…

1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

13 Three things will last forever — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is love.

--1 Corinthians 13:1-7, 13 (NLT)

Love is patient and kind, not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  It does not demand its own way or keep a record of wrongs and hurts it suffers.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, never loses hope, and endures anything and everything it faces.

Does this sound like romantic love, that usually fades over time?  Or like familial love, that can be destroyed by a single harsh word?  No, this is agape, the love we Christians are called and commanded to give and to live.

You don’t have to like someone to show them love.  You don’t have to agree with their politics or theology.  You don’t have to approve of their lifestyle.  You just have to show them God’s love.  Affection and romance have nothing to do with it.  This is agape: intentional, maybe even forced, unconditional, selfless, sacrificial love.  The kind of love Jesus has for us.  The same love that led God to send His Son to save us.

The Roman poet Virgil penned the phrase "Love conquers all" around 37 BC, 30-some years before Jesus was born.  Did Virgil know that love would soon visit the world?  Virgil followed that phrase with "let us, too, yield to love".

Our challenge, family, is to do what Jesus commanded us to do: to love others and make disciples of them.  Let us then yield to Jesus, who came as love in the flesh.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the true God of Love.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for showing Your love by sending Your Son to redeem us.  And thank You for giving us faith.  We believers exercise that faith to acknowledge that Jesus is Your Son, and to accept Him as our Lord.  But Father, we know that many of our actions displease You.  Too often we fail to love others as we love ourselves.  Even agape love seems out of our reach.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  And forgive us when we hesitate to show the courage and strength to try and make more disciples for Your Son.  Please strengthen us to show the world the truth and share Your love with the lost.  And please help us do a better job of sharing our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.  

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your word, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You loved Your Father God and carried out His will.  And You showed His love for us by giving of Yourself for us.  By Your sacrifice, we have been made right with God, reconciled back to Him.  You came to us when we had no hope, no chance of redemption, and You redeemed us.  It is this selfless, sacrificial love that You expect us to show others.  But Lord, You know how difficult this can be for us.  We struggle to show agape to all, even sometimes to our fellow believers.  Please forgive us our weaknesses, Lord Jesus.  Please strengthen us and encourage us to go out into the world telling others all about You.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Help us, guide us in our attempts to bring the lost to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.