What does love look like?

Transcript (Auto-generated)

Good morning everyone. Good Friday. Good to be here. Good to spend time in reflection. Welcome. If you're listening to us at home and participating with us, we bid you a great welcome as well and pray that the Lord will speak to you as we continue through our service this morning. It's always a hard one trying to contemplate what to speak about on Good Friday, because on Good Friday you have these mixed emotions. We have the goodness as Pastor Dave explained and we have this terrible sacrifice, this journey that Jesus undertook on our heart. We're going to unpack that today under the title of What Does Love Look Like? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord, as we come into Your presence today. That Father, it's not about us, it's about You. Father, it's not about what we have done, but it's what You have done. And Father, I pray, Lord, as we continue through the service this morning, so we open Your Word, Lord, that You will help us to drop everything of ourselves away and, Lord, come into Your presence wholly. Father, if You challenge us today, Lord, give us the heart to respond. Lord, if You're firm, Lord, let us praise Your name. But Father, as we continue through, Lord, and look at these different aspects of the journey to the cross and what it meant, that, Father, that You did it because You loved us, never take that away. Father, we can never deny that. And, Lord, I pray as always for the words that speak of Your words and Your name. Amen. So, what does love look like? Well, when you think about the world's been speaking about love for quite a few years now, and in that there, it's become an understanding that love is sort of this morphed understanding. It's taken away from the biblical understanding of love, and it's tried to twist it around to some perversion. We need to come back to what love is. And the love we're talking about today is unconditional love. It's the agai love. It's the love that has nothing attached to it. And so, when we think about it, it's nothing we can earn. We can't earn this love. We can't, we can demand it. And sometimes we say, if You loved me, You would do this. Now, husbands, I'm just going to ask a rhetorical question. Has you ever encountered that from your wife? It's rhetorical, means don't put your hand up, fellas, or else we'll be doing marriage counselling afterwards. It's between you and God. Well, perhaps wives, you've heard that from your husbands. It's not just going that way. Sometimes love is sort of set in a situation where it's like a sunset. It's so romantic, and it's beautiful. And, you know, we're hand in hand walking down the beach, and this is all sort of fit so well. And sometimes love is quite just impersonal like a post on Facebook or an emoji. And I'm going to ask you to participate. Now, put your hand up, and you've received a heart emoji in the last couple of weeks, at least once. Okay, righty-o. If you've never received a heart emoji, meet me afterwards or I'll send you one. Just so you feel loved. But sometimes love is pronounced, if I can use that word, in words and gifts and time and serving and touch. And my favourite, that's why it's in capitals, is love is shown in food, as you can tell by my shape. I think that's the sixth love language, by the way. They need to write a new book. I do it in couples counseling and pre-marriage class. We look at the languages of love, and we always talk about what that entails. And the question we have is, does love come with conditions? You know, human understanding it does, and God's understanding it's unconditional. And that is why when we understand what love is, we go to why we need this love. We've sung about it on the cross, we have a cross here today, we have crosses in the foyer, we have a beautiful setup, and thank you for the art team who did that. But it points out to us that our destination is a desperate condition. The world is in a desperate condition. If you've affirmed that and your heart prays God, if you're still trying to get your head around that, then I ask you to consider deeply what God is saying to you today. Is that people in general are fickle, they are just all over the job. It's manatee, it came from the fall, it came when we read in Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve, it came from that wanting to be in control and so people will perceive and have a worldview only what they think love is. But God's love is different to that. What does His love look like? We can see that in the crowd. We just spoke about it last Sunday in Church and Palm Sunday, how the people were praising saying, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna, to God in the highest, Jesus, here he is, see how Saviour's come into town, woohoo! And then several days later, not even a week later, those same people are yelling crucify Him, crucify Him, crucify Him. People can be fickle when love doesn't meet their demand. You see, people in general are in need. In 1 Clause 121 it says, once we are alienated from God and we're enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour, that might seem a bit harsh, but the word alienated means quite simply to be said apart from a total stranger from God. See, once we're all like that, we're all like that, even though as you grow up in the church and I see some familiar faces that I've known for a long time who grew up in the church and that doesn't mean that you're saved. It means you need a personal relationship with Jesus because we're all once like that. And that's what the Bible quite clearly points out. That's why we are in a desperate condition. We are born separated from God as the tragedy of the human condition. In Romans 3, 23 it says these words, for all of sin and full short of the glory of God, that is why we need the cross. That is why the cross, and more importantly Sunday also, Pastor Dave is going to speak about, is important. And that leads us to our desperate condition. If you haven't even seen this before and you probably think, wow, this is old school, Pastor Doug. But this next slide shows what it means. It means that even though we could be a good person in the inside, that we are separated from God because of the sin. And this is a capital as sin, as Jim Gibson used to tell us at Bible College. It's the big one. It's our selfishness. It's our choosing to do our own thing away from God. And when we have that between us and God, nothing can bridge that gap. We can try. The word sin actually means to fall short. It's an archery term from the old days. It means when you shoot that arrow and it doesn't hit the target, it falls short. And I've had young people over the years say, Doug, if you just move the cliffs a little bit closer, perhaps I could make the jump. And I say, yeah, it's not like that. It's insurmountable unless we have the cross and as we have Jesus. That is why we're in our desperate condition. That is why we need to concentrate on that and say, well, okay, Lord, what's the answer to this? Because our efforts are really pointless. They're pointless as a sign that says, sign is not in use. It's as pointless as a very well crafted veranda rail that's taken many hours to make on a balcony that has no doors. It's as pointless as having a gate in a pathway with no fence. It's as pointless as putting three Roman centurion guards at the entrance of the tomb. And Pastor Dave is going to tell us why that's important. Are you Pastor Dave? Okay, he's nodding. He's convinced. You see, what we do in our humanity is pointless. What love looks like to us can only come from one source. It's a source we come today and we really do in some way shape or form to celebrate what it means that someone would die for us. And we have a need for a game changer because we can't do it on ourselves because this Bible tells us we are powerless in Romans 5-6. You see, at just the right time when you're still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Why don't you close your eyes for a moment and think of people you know who aren't with God, whether they were once and they've slipped away or whether they're just the hardest people in the planet that you know. God died for them and he died for us. He died for the folk who were struggling to know what it means to have peace in their life. And as you hold your eyes closed, you're thinking about, but just pray for them. Say, Lord, just please, just break down some of the walls they have. Let them see them for who you are because I know what that feels like for me. I desire, Lord, that your will be done. It's in God's heart that all would take the opportunity to respond. When we pray a prayer like that, we're really saying the words of 2 Peter 3.9 which says, the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but to everyone to come to repentance. Did you hear what the Bible says? Everyone comes to repentance, not just the chosen one, not like the good-looking ones with white beards and receding hairlines. He means everybody. And when everybody is in God's purview, there's only one way that can happen and that is through the cross of Christ. That is what love looks like. It's love that's never ceasing. It's always searching. You see, we can't earn it. We can't just be good into the kingdom of heaven. We can't come to church every Sunday, put our name down on a roster and be here. We can't even be gifted at doing sign language. You're doing a great job, by the way. We've had a chat. We've got to be good. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2, it says, for as by grace you've been saved through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God. It's not by work so that no one can boast. When you're involved in team sport, and you'll hear many, many Hawke's stories and apologies up front, but this is a great segue. When you stand with a team that's won the grand final, they think they're the king of the world. And one of the great joys we had as a church, in my previous church, was we sponsored the football team and we got on their sleeve, and so they wore on their sleeve Gatton Baptist Church. And they'd be in the dressing sheds and beard be going, everyone be going, whoa, look how good we are. Look how good we are. And I just go, boys, you need Jesus. And what's really interesting, they go, oh, and after a year or two, every time something happened that was good, they'd say, Doug, can you pray and give thanks for us? Because we understand that we're not part of the end or be whole. And so it was the way God broke down into that situation. God breaks people's hearts because He doesn't want us none to perish. He doesn't want them to work into salvation. He wants them to see the cross. He wants them to embrace the cross and what Jesus has done. That is what love looks like. That is why we have a Savior who has done what He has done. The Son of God takes our place in Hebrews 10 and 11. And by that will, you're made wholly through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ. So you're here because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Now, I've worked in some hard jobs in my life. I haven't always been a soft hand pastor and I've worked in some tough jobs. There's no one in the world that I would be able to do what He did in Jewel of the Cross. The pain is phenomenal. If you want to go down memory lane a little bit, look up the passion as a video or YouTube and just have a look at that just to see Mel Gibson's understanding of what it was. And understand too, the gentleman who played that Jim Caravus, who played that, he became a Christian through that process because he understood firsthand what the pain and punishment that someone died on their behalf was. That's what love is. Love is doing something for someone and you don't expect to return, but you do it because you love them. Anzac Day is next weekend. We hear a lot about the words of John that no greater gift is this than a man lays down his life for a friend. I've heard that said at so many lawn services. It comes back and reflects to this man on the cross for us, the one who went in our place. You know, it's not just new to us. The world has been waiting for a long time. Azai wrote and we've heard from Azai before about what it means to have a long-awaited saviour. And sometimes I think we go through this world and we think everything's about us and if I'm comfortable in my house, I've got a good job and people are nice to me at church and I've got a good car park and I feel like, yeah, things are great. The people have been yearning for Jesus for a long time. My heart is the today that you do business with God. As we go through this few words of Azai, he says, surely he took our pain before our suffering. That's what love is. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, another word for sin. That's what love is. That's what unconditional love is. That's what the love is God has for us, for you today. For those who are contemplating, those who are walking already, affirm that love in Christ. They are words of hope and then it gets towards the end of this passage of this bit I'm looking at. It says, the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed. The punishment was brought, the peace for us and the wounds of him. We're going to come around the table in a few moments and we're going to do this a bit differently and we're going to go through how we do communion, breaking the bread and pour the wine. But the idea is that a lot of times part of our commitment to God has been how he comes to us. I'm going to ask you today to come to him. I'm going to ask you today to come to the foot of the cross, to come and take the elements, take the wine and the bread, the juice and the bread and go back to your place. Because it's the journey to the cross that helps us to understand what that true sacrifice is, what true love is. Because we can channel so many channels into our house on apps and smart TVs now and all sorts of things, but to actually get up and walk and say, yeah, Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I want to remember what he did for me and I'm going to come to the table today. There's one here, there's one there, there's two here and there's a couple of stewards at the back. If you can't do it, if your heart is there with your body, it's letting you down, just put your hand up and say, can you help me out please? And those guys are loved to serve you. That's what true love is. It's about the journey to the cross that Jesus took and he took for us and we can take it for him. And that brings us quite quickly to the end of the message. I don't know where you're sitting with that. I know it's one of those days where probably things are happening in your life. But the first part of 1 John 3.16 says this, this is how we know what love is, that Christ laid down his life for us. Let me just read that again. This is how we know what love is, that Christ laid down his love for me. Is that your heart today? Is that what God is saying to you today? Is what Jesus is saying today? I died for you, man. I want to make a difference in your life. I want to continue making a difference in your life. I want you to be a Jesus freak and walk with me. And as you come today, as you come to the table, we're going to have some music playing, we're just going to set the scene of just taking that in remembrance. During the last week or so, the ladies in their ministry group with Penny were really laid upon their hearts about an opportunity to write down their prayer needs and their things they struggle with and they wanted to make a concrete way of doing that. So they've put them in a bottle and bought them forward and put them here on the table. And I'm just going to read a few out now. No, I'm not. I promised Penny I wouldn't do that too. And that was conditioned that these will be destroyed later on because they're given to God. And a piece of paper looks like this. If you've got one of those and God has said to you today, you need to write this down because I know you're struggling with this. Please write it down. Just fold it in half and bring it forward when you come to communion. Pop it in the jar. And then we'll look after it later. We'll seal it up, we'll destroy it, we'll just put it at the foot of the cross because the Bible tells us we bring our burdens to Him that His yoke is light. And so when we're struggling, when we want to show true repentance in our hearts, we come forward and we participate in what's happening today. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians his reflection of the Lord's Supper. And this is what it says, for what I received from you, I passed on to you the Lord Jesus on the night He was betrayed, took the bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, this is my body. I do this for you in remembrance of me. In the same way, after supper, He took the cup saying, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink in remembrance of me. Wherever you eat or drink, this cup you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. And see, folks, when we have that understanding what Jesus went through on the cross, it's always very poignant to me that just to think, well, you know, did Jesus sit down, don't get me wrong, cut up little squares of bread? No, they're just a symbol. See, the brokenness of the bread speaks about the brokenness of His body. You read the Scriptures and it tells that He went through all sorts of things for us, because that's what love is. Love is going through that torture. This is tough bread. And so His body was broke for us. And in that symbol, if you want to take a piece of this, you can. Don't be shy. And when we think about His blood for us, I always think it's being poured out. I've done a bit of butchery in my time. I can tell you when blood starts to flow from the right spot, it has a color that is just surreal and only the Creator could create it. And the blood leaves a reminder both on your skin, your clothes, that something tragic has happened. And so even though we take a cup and it's in a really sort of, I don't know, civilized manner, I suppose, please reflect on what that means to have the blood poured out for you. I'm going to ask you to come forward in a moment and we're going to do this quite simply. I'm going to, I'm going to pray first, but when you come forward, I'm going to ask you just to come into the center aisle and go out. If you're on this side, you want to beatle through to there, please feel free. If you're on this side, if you need someone to do it before you on your behalf, if you've got, if you're a family and you're sitting there with four kids, perhaps someone, your husband or wife, whatever can go forward and grab something for you, we're going to serve each other if we have to. And can I ask you to do that today? This is what love is. Love is reflection upon what Christ has done for us. And we come in the table of remembrance for that. We say, Lord, it says, until you come again, you know, when it comes again, it's going to come quick. It's not going to give any sort of indication, it's just going to come. If God's spoken to you today and you need to do business with him, because the Bible says, if you do it in an unworthy manner, it's not right. So if you need to pray first, that's fine. You need to take the elements first and sit down and say, Lord, I just want to say sorry. I know I did this last week or I said this yesterday or whatever, even this morning. And then we'll hold the cup together and we'll drink together. Is that okay? So if you've got someone who needs help, just have a look around you. Let me pray. Father, we thank you that your Son showed us what true love is. It's not a motion that we have, it's a verb, it's an action. Father, it's what He did on our behalf, what He did on each person's, here's behalf, what He did on each person's behalf at home, watching and watching in weeks to come. Well, we pray that your message will resound clearly through your spirit, that Jesus died for us. That's why we come on Good Friday, Father, we come to remember that, to reflect upon that and what it means to us personally. And as we take this cup and this bread, Father, we pray that, Lord, you'll just continue to speak to us through this process, that Father, as we come forward, Lord, the Lord, that just even that action says that you are our God and our King. Well, we just thank you for this in your name. Amen.