Living Love: Part 1

Terry Detwiler

LIVING LOVE • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Living Love is God with us and us being with someone else. It is being Salt & Light. It is quitting the things that really don't matter and saying YES to the things that really do matter.

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📷LIVING LOVE – Lesson 1 – 10/25/20

Have you ever had to do something you were afraid to do?

Everyone has! It’s a part of life!

Learning to swim. Jumping of the high dive. Riding a bike. Trying a trick for the first time on your skateboard. Speaking in front of a crowd of people. Witnessing to someone about Jesus.

Everyone at some point has had to do something he or she was scared of . . . and that’s a good thing.

These experiences we have in life teach us something . . . important lessons about life and being human and about our life with God.

Out of these experiences we learn three things:

1) When we do things that we are afraid of we learn that courage is not the same things as the absence of fear.

a.Think about the first time diving into a swimming pool . . . maybe for you it was a terrifying experience and no amount of explaining or hand holding, or even encouragement would make it go away.

b. To dive into the pool the child must act in spite of their fear. That is the definition of courage.

i. Courage is to act in spite of fear.

c. Acting, even when you are afraid, is something that those who follow Jesus have to do all of the time.

2) After we do something that frightens us the first time, the second time is never as hard. And it gets easier each time we do it after the first. The first time is terrifying, but the second gets easier, the third easier yet, and so forth, until it is just downright fun.

3) The third thing we may be thinking . . . I’ll avoid risky situations at all costs!

a. No one has that much control over life

b. Moments of risk are when we truly feel most alive.

i. Have you ever watched a kid go over a skateboard ramp for the first time?

ii. Or someone who is afraid of heights go on an amusement ride for the first time?

iii. Or someone lead someone to Jesus for the first time?

1. Often you’ll find them screaming in celebration or overwhelmingly excited because the feel so alive. Because they did it!

iv. When we try things that seem daunting, our lives actually become more full and vibrant.

HOW DOES GOD FACTOR INTO ALL OF THIS?

What I’m about to lead you through today and over the next few weeks will encourage you to get out there and “do” things . . . to do some holy risk taking . . . and the more that you try the less scary they will become.

I’m hoping that we take where we are right now in our “LOVE” walk with Jesus and that it explodes because we are stretching ourselves to hear God’s voice and training ourselves to act creatively to be the person who “DOES” love effortlessly just like Jesus did.

Question: HAVE YOU EVER FELT STUCK TRYING TO INTEGRATE YOUR LIFE AND YOUR FAITH?

When you first experienced Jesus and started following Him, a time when following Him was exciting and vibrant, but now maybe things have started to grow stale

You see, one of the reasons our life with God gets stagnant is because we stop taking Jesus’ invitation to live risky, courageous lives. We stop trying to do the things Jesus calls us to because they seem too scary.

LET’S DIVE INTO THE WORD AND THEN MAKE SOME PRACTICAL APPLICATION:

HEARING THE WORD:

Matthew 1:18-23 (Immanuel – God With Us)

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,a because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”b—which means, “God with us.” [1]

Isaiah 7:14

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give youc a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, andd will call him Immanuel.[2]

Isaiah 7:14 is set during the Syro-Ephraimite war in the 730s bc.[3]

1) In 734 BC, the neighboring nations of Syria (also called Aram) and Ephraim (the northern kingdom, Israel) pressured Ahaz of Judah (the 12th king of Judah) to join a military coalition in response to a threat from the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III, who wanted to create an empire out of surrounding states.

2) King Ahaz refused to join the coalition, and instead appealed to Tiglath-pileser to support him by invading his aggressive neighbors’ territory, voluntarily pledging his allegiance to the Assyrian king.

3) By 732 BC, Tiglath-pileser had subdued Damascus – the leading Aramaean state – and Israel, and brought the whole area under Assyrian control. Thereafter, the kingdom of Judah survived only as a permanent vassal state, first of Assyria and later of Babylonia and Persia.

a.Ahaz -- The 12th king of Judah. Placed his trust in Assyria when faced with military threat. His actions led to divine judgment upon Judah.[4]

This whole sequence of events anticipates Judah’s forthcoming experience of judgment and salvation. In short, what we see if the declaration “DO NOT FEAR” with the offer of divine assurance ‘I AM WITH YOU”.

It also warns us in a couple of ways “HAVE FIRM FAITH, OR YOU WIL FAIL TO STAND FIRM”; and “JUDGMENT WOULD FOLLOW DELIVERANCE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO RESORTED TO FEAR INSTEAD OF FAITH IN GOD”.

Do you think it is good news to learn that “God is with us”?

Back to Joseph and Mary . . . God was saying to Joseph . . . you can and need to be with her through this! I’m coming to be with you!

Has someone ever said to you, “I’m with you”? Who was it and what was the occasion? How did it affect you? Have you ever said the same words to someone else? What was that like?

You see . . . God never quits us! He didn’t want Joseph to quit Mary! God didn’t quit on us when Adam and Eve sinned . . . yes there were consequences . . . but He didn’t quit us! He was there!

“God will never quit us”! Does that sound like good news or bad news to you? That God is always there!

Let me ask you . . . Have you ever had a dream die? When it died . . . were you alone or with someone? If you were with someone . . . did it help?

Sometimes we have to much stuff in our lives . . . like hoarders.

Quitting stuff can be a beautiful thing . . . if we quit the right things.

But . . . Don’t ever quit Jesus!

PUTTING LOVE INTO ACTION:

Have you ever had somebody that has been there for you? That was “WITH YOU”! As a mentor, a counselor, someone who poured out his or her life into you. Someone who may have talked you out of making a bad choice or talked you into making a good one?

Here’s what I want you to do . . . I want you to contact that person today . . . whether it be by a phone call, a text, an email . . . however! And I want you to express your heartfelt thanks to them for them being there through whatever event it was that they were there. Tell them thank you!

AND, Identify someone that you are going to be there for! “I AM WITH YOU”!

BEING A QUITTER:

Matthew 5:13-16

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

14 “You are [the light] of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. [5]

Salt & Light

Jesus tells His hearers that they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. You may be familiar with some of the background in these two metaphors. More than it was known as a flavoring, salt was primarily used to dry and preserve meats in the ancient Near East. Jesus’ followers will act in ways that preserve and sustain the earth because God’s mission is one of healing and restoration – and that healing and restoration includes the creation itself. If (WE) the people of God aren’t working to sustain that agenda, WE are not doing much good and might as well be tossed out.

Furthermore, Jesus claims that His people are the light of the world. He draws on the common image of a lamp to describe the way that, like light shining into a dark corner, God’s people are supposed to reveal things as they really are. Christians believe that God’s kingdom is here now, and that things can be here on earth as they are in heaven. This is something we don’t simply assert with our lips but actually demonstrate with our lives.

What is so compelling about both of Jesus’ metaphors here is how functional they are. Jesus seems to expect that the faith of His followers will manifest itself in lives of action that are useful to and positive for the here and now.

As salt & light . . . Pick something you need to give up (i.e., texting while you drive) or something you enjoy but decide to put aside for a certain amount of time (i.e., breakfast and lunch for one day, television during the evening, checking email/Facebook after dinner).

When we quit “STUFF,” it makes space for Jesus to bring “NEW STUFF” into our lives. Don’t’ rush to fill any new time or emotional space you have with replacement noise, activity, or entertainment. Pay attention in prayer to what Jesus brings into your life so you can say yes to it.

Is it possible to snuff out your light with the way you try to be salt?

Where are you being “salty” in your Christianity? Where do you want to grow?

So, 3 things to live this out

1) Identify someone you are THANKFUL FOR that has made an impact in your life . . . contact them and tell them you are thankful for them and why.

2) Identify someone that you can be there for . . . “I AM WITH YOU”!

3) QUIT SOMETHING . . . and

4) SAY “YES” TO JESUS in what He brings into your life.

a Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the Lord saves.

b Isaiah 7:14

[1] The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (Mt 1:18–23). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

c The Hebrew is plural.

d Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls and he or and they

[2] The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (Is 7:14). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] Allen, L. C. (2016). Immanuel. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[4] Pettus, D. D. (2016). Ahaz, King of Judah. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[5] The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (Mt 5:13–16). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.