Sermon Tone Analysis

*The Gift of Love (and why Christians imitate it) PGBC-12~/16~/07      Bill Glick*

Recently, I interviewed three people involved in ministries to the poor.

“Project H.O.P.E. is an interdenominational Christian service organization dedicated to meeting the immediate physical needs of impoverished people, while sharing with them the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

In a nutshell, to share the gospel, while providing physical needs.

Project HOPE’s ministry helps supplies homes, food, clothing, medical and~/or spiritual relief to the needy of Nicaragua.

They work through local pastors, churches, and government officials to assist in providing pastoral seminars, preschools, and to literally build homes.

Director Cook feels called to go everywhere all the time with the gospel and believes

every Christian needs to do something besides sitting in a pew since all believers are

 

called to Missions.

The primary verse that inspires Project Hope is

 

Matthew 25:35-36.

35: ‘For ‍a‍I was hungry, and you gave Me /something /to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me /something /to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 ‍naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you ‍visited Me; ‍‍I was in prison, and you came to Me.’[1]

 

Nicaraguans are different than Americans; we have so much, and they have so little.

They are poor in spirit and poor in physical needs.

Providing for their physical need opens the door to help them spiritually.

When a house is built for them, they ask, “Why are you doing this?”

By providing hope to survive and live, eternal hope is given a door into the heart of the Nicaraguans.

Jim Hocking with “ICDI” in Central African Republic has a mission to help the poor.

If a people are literally dying of hunger and thirst, they aren’t going to listen to anyone tell them the gospel.

They need hope that they’re going to live.

Then, they’re willing to listen to the gospel of eternal hope.

The first critical issue is building trust.

They know a white person from the states has food, water and most necessities of life, while they don’t.

The death rates in the C.A.R. are staggering.

Eighty-five percent of the people have no pure drinking water.

Twenty percent die from lack of good drinking water and malnutrition by the age of five.

Additionally, AIDS, and other preventable diseases cause high death rates.

ICDI’s main purposes center on drilling wells in small villages to provide pure drinking water.

They also maintain and repair wells.

Because of the tremendous death rates, providing care, assistance and education to orphans is a primary way to show the love of Christ.

To complete the mission of ICDI, short-wave radio programming is used as a way to educate and communicate throughout a broad area (many Africans have access to radio).

Education through radio helps to change habits; habits which lead to unsanitary conditions.

Communicating effective ways to become sanitary is only the beginning, the gospel is spread through radio also.

Relief efforts, such as giving food and water, is kept in balance with development efforts, such as sustainable wells

Often, upon seeing the drilling take place and receiving pure water, locals will then ask, “why did you come”?  “To give you something basic to live, to bring hope.”

An open door to the gospel is presented, “we came because God told us to.”

Relationships must be built with the people so they have hope.

They need hope for today, basic needs to live, and to be presented with hope for eternity.

Once they have hope, they can understand how God values them because God loves everyone.

One verse that Jim presented was 1 John 3:16-17:

We know love by this, that ‍He laid down His life for us; and‍ ‍we ought to lay down our lives for the ‍‍brethren.

17 But ‍‍whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and ‍‍closes his ‍‍heart ‍‍against him, ‍‍how does the love of God abide in him?

Love INC (Love In the Name of Christ), works locally with area pastors and churches to assist the needy.

“Our mission is to mobilize the Church to transform lives and communities In the Name of Christ.”

They value such things as following Christ’s example of valuing the poor and needy.

And valuing the body of Christ living out the two great commandments to love God and love their neighbors.

Essentially, they meet the needs of the community through the resources of local churches and public agencies.

Love INC acts as a clearinghouse for anyone requesting help.

The individual or family is then connected to the best source of help.

Love INC has extensive networks of community resources, including local churches.

This service goes beyond public assistance by providing many physical needs such as clothes, furniture and financial management.

By pooling resources from several groups, the individual church or agency becomes stronger and less over-whelmed.

Local churches have limited resources in finances, material goods and available skilled laborers.

Like Love INC, local churches are compelled by scripture to “love thy neighbor” and together the goal is realized.

Churches may feel more confident that their gifts of love are being honestly received and impacting lives.

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The web and wikipedia:

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara.

At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey.

His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young.

Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering.

He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man.

Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned.

The prisons were so full of bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no room for the real criminals—murderers, thieves and robbers.

The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration, St. Nicholas Day.

/ /

/Saint Nicholas Day/ is a festival for children in much of Europe related to surviving legends of the saint, and particularly his reputation as a bringer of gifts.

The American Santa Claus, derive from these legends.

*/Does God care about the poor/*/?/

God has always been concerned and compassionate about the poor.

All men have been spiritually poor since the fall.

Man has been described as being thirsty, hungry and needy, but without the bread of life and the water of life and the eternal life through Jesus all men will perish.

We are poor when we don’t have our basic needs met-that which sustains true life.

God lovingly provided a way of fulfilling our need through Christ His son.

Within God’s plan, having the poor with us has significance*/.

/*

Deut.

15:7-11         “If there is ‍a‍a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your ‍‍towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, ‍b‍you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but ‍a‍you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need /in /whatever he lacks.

“Beware that there is no base ‍‍thought in your heart, saying, ‘‍‍The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and ‍‍your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he ‍‍may cry to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you.

“You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because ‍a‍for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all ‍‍your undertakings.

“‍a‍For the poor will never cease /to be /‍‍in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’

Matthew 26:11: “For you always have ‍‍the poor with you; but you do not always have Me.”

*/ /*

*/Proposition: The poor are here so that God’s love may be demonstrated as Christ demonstrated His love for the poor./*

From these passages we may learn that the poor will always be with us and by honestly and freely giving to them will result in a blessing from God. 

God never gives a command without it demonstrating some aspect of His nature and character.

God has abundant resources and is joyfully willing to give.

We are needy and He fulfills our needs.

God’s love toward us is overflowing.

When God loves us, His abundance overflows into our lives and into the lives of our neighbors.

His love demonstrated toward others reminds us of Christ’s total self-sacrificing love for us.

However, this love we show is an identifying trademark.

For if we truly have been loved and redeemed and have thus become children of God, then, as part of His family, we too demonstrate the nature and character of God through imitation of our father.

We are like-minded with God to love others and visibly demonstrate this love.

God is the giver and sustainer of all life.

Through our own choice we are impoverished and require the giver and sustainer of eternal life, Jesus.

By replicating this act of giving “life” (providing basic needs), Christians direct attention to God.

*(1 John 3:1–3)*

*God the Father gives the gift of Love *

*God gives the gift of kinship (this is who we are)*

*God gives the gift of completion (this is who we shall be)*

1 John 3:* 1*/     /See ‍‍‍a‍how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called ‍b‍children of God; and /such /we are.

For this reason the world does not know us, because ‍c‍it did not know Him.