WELCOME
Good morning First Baptist. We welcome you to worship this morning. Be sure to remember your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week as you pray for them, and as the Holy Spirit brings their faces to your mind. Be sure to also connect with them in the ways that are possible. And if you have any questions or would like to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to contact the church through the church telephone and leave a message. (519-733-4144)
Songs
Call to Worship
Today, on this first Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of
On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of love.
John 3:16 reads: ‘‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not die but have eternal life.’’
This famous verse reminds us that Jesus came to earth because
of love. God has always loved us and will always love us.
There is absolutely nothing we can do that will separate us from His love.
There is nothing that will make God stop loving us.
God loved us enough to send Jesus.
We can remember and rejoice in that love at Christmas.
Today we light the candle of love because….
“Our Messiah is a gift of love!”
GOOD MORNING FBK & WELCOME TO WORSHIP!
Songs
Prayer
Prayer of Confession & Assurance
The act of confessing our sin is not simply a recitation of our faults and wrongs, but also an opportunity to receive God’s mercy and share in that abundant grace. Confident of God’s love for us, let us offer our prayers, first in silence.
Lord, we confess that we are rushing headlong into Christmas. It’s only tomorrow and we still have so much to do. Our preparations are far from complete, and we are exhausted. We wish this whole thing were over so that we could rest. Forgive our shortcomings and our short-sightedness. You have poured upon us blessing after blessing, daily reminding us of your love and presence; yet we have chosen to jump onto this “greased slide” into Christmas. Give us patience. Slow us down. Remind us of the ways in which you are present with us–not in the wrapped packages, the abundance of food, but in the love and compassion that is brought to all. Forgive us, we pray. Make us truly ready to receive your love and the gift of the Christ Child. AMEN.
Assurance of Pardon:
The light of God’s love shines upon each of us in the gift of God’s love, Jesus Christ. This is given for you. Rejoice! You are loved by God, now and forever. AMEN.
The Names of Jesus
My Messiah Came for Me
Today's Message: Pastor Marlee Page
Welcome, to this season of Advent that has begun today.
This morning, I want to preach on the Advent of Love.
reminder of meaning of advent….The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” which is a translation of the Greek word parousia.
….but for me, this word Advent is so synonymous with LOVE.
We live in a society where so many other things pass for cheap substitutes of true, Godly, the-way-God-designed-it-to-be, biblical love.
If you closely study the gospels, you would discover that each defines love in a particular way.
In Matthew’s gospel we see that true love is a sacrificial love that puts the lives and needs of others before our own.
In Mark’s gospel, Mark portrays true love as a life of service to others that examines the cost and is willing to pay the price of being a humble servant.
In Luke’s gospel, the doctor tells us that true love is a healing love. It reaches out to those around us who are hurting whether they are the closest of family or even strangers, and seeks something better for them.
Here, in John’s gospel, the apostle tells us that true love gives everything it has. It holds back nothing. Our great example is God Himself – “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all.”
This kind of love is the essence, the core, the centre, the focus, of the Christmas story.
Love is what permeates every aspect of the Christmas story: God so loved the world that he send his Only Begotten Son, and Yahweh so loved us that he willingly chose to do something far beneath His dignity…. to become the Babe of Bethlehem – and later, as the man Jesus, to suffer, die, and rise again for us.
Yes, Christmastime is a season when love of God and of our fellow brothers and sisters fills us all, but the real challenge is to continue feeling and showing that love when Christmas is over so that it fills the entire year.
When John wrote, For God so loved the world, he was writing a truth that is for all people. He wrote for all races of people, all ages of people, and all conditions of people. John wanted his readers to know that this Heavenly Father has given his only Son for their sins. John saw the love of Jesus as a love which gives.
This last of our ‘My Messiah’ messages focuses on this aspect of Love that John is getting at…
For our first point….
1. TRUE LOVE ENCOURAGES US TO GIVE OF OURSELVES TO OTHERS
We live in a society where many people are suffering from what sociologists call compassion fatigue – a lot of people are just tired of constantly helping others in need, and repeatedly being asked to help others in need…they are tired of being compassionate toward others because they are, well … just tired
I think that the Apostle Paul recognized that even Godly people – Christian people – can grow weary because of constant ministry toward others.
Scripture Reading: Galatians 6:9–10
9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
And so, when Paul writes let us not become weary in doing good he know that weariness often comes with doing good toward others.
Yet notice that in the same breath he encourages his listeners to not give up because there is ‘a harvest’- we will reap because of our ministry and service to others in the name of Jesus.
We need to be willing to offer what is needed most – ourselves!
So many examples of that in this church – Look at our Sound/A.V. team- they are here each and every Sunday so that we can hear & experience the service both in-house but also on-line.
John 3:16, NIV
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever Believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
God gave us what we needed most – Himself!
God established a covenant with Abraham, but He knew that wouldn’t be enough …
God gave the Law to Moses, but He knew that wouldn’t be enough …
God gave the sacrificial system to Israel, but He knew that wouldn’t be enough …
God gave His word to the prophets, but He knew that wouldn’t be enough … but in the fullness of time according to the Scriptures, God gave us exactly what we needed most – His very own presence
Romans 5:6-8, NIV
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God loved us so much, that He invested His own life in ours by becoming one of us in the form of His son, Jesus who is the Christ, as we’ve talked about.
And if that wasn’t enough, JESUS then expended great personal effort in teaching the people of his day about the Kingdom of God, in healing the sick, in ministering to the afflicted often to the point of human exhaustion.
Ultimately we know, He poured out His life’s blood as a sacrifice for our sin so that we might know true forgiveness and redemption…and love.
This is how, according to Paul, God demonstrated His love for us – God loves us because He chooses to love us.
For our second point:
2. TRUE LOVE ALWAYS GIVES REGARDLESS OF THE PERSONAL COST
That’s one of the measures of true love – our choice to do so….even in the face of what may sometimes be a high personal cost.
You see, true love is never cheap, because it will always cost us what we rarely want to invest ourselves.
If you are going to live in the service of others, ultimately down the line somewhere it will cost us something.
You will meet with more base ingratitude from other humans than you would from a dog.
Mark Twain, who was not a Christian, understood the real nature of humanity. He is quoted as once saying,
“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and man.”
Here’s a harsh truth for us to accept church, when you minister to others you may well meet with unkindness and ungratefulness….and if your motivation for this selfless service is love for others, you will become exhausted in the battle of life and you will be tempted to throw in the towel.
But…. if the motivation of your service is love for God, can I just tell you this morning that no ingratitude, no sin, no person, no devil, will keep you from serving your neighbour, no matter how they treat you.
If you love Jesus Christ, you will serve humanity, though men and women treat you like a doormat!!!!
And why would any of us be willing to put ourselves through this?
Ah, Paul has an answer for that question:
1 Cor. 10:31–33.
“31 So, … whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God – 33 even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
True love always gives regardless of the personal cost.
Third point:
3.TRUE LOVE ALWAYS GIVES EVEN AT THE POTENTIAL COST OF ONE’S OWN LIFE
Do you know Pastor Dave has a tattoo….?? It’s this verse of scripture right here:
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
To be a servant of Christ is not easy.
Do you remember back to the fall when we read together the Book, Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. A model of servanthood can be found in the example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was born in 1906 into an upper middle class family. As a teenager, he felt called into the ministry and became a respected scholar and theologian at a very young age. Bonhoeffer had foresight, and knew that the Nazi party was an evil plague upon Germany and the world. He became a powerful voice of German resistance. Shortly before WW2 broke out, Bonhoeffer visits and studies in the United States. He was offered a comfortable teaching position at one of America’s distinguished seminaries. But Bonhoeffer declined the offer in order to return to Germany to minister and to serve his own people. He knew that if he returned to Germany he was a marked man, but he returned anyway.
I often wonder what I would do in the same circumstances facing certain death like that?
But you see, for Bonhoeffer there was no choice. He was a servant of Christ, no matter what the circumstances. He was arrested by the Nazis in 1943 and on Apr 8, 1945, after conducting Sunday morning worship for fellow concentration camp prisoners he was hanged. As he was being led away, he remarked to an English officer who was also a prisoner of war: “This is not the end, but for me the beginning of life.”
True love always gives even at the potential cost of one’s own life.
This morning we even have a fourth point….
4.TRUE LOVE ENCOURAGES US TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT OUR JESUS
Do you know that one of my favourite interactions with Jesus and someone happens one day while on He is on a journey.
Jesus and his disciples came to a well by the side of the road.
Jesus stayed there, while the disciples went into the next town to buy something to eat. While he was there, a women of a very questionable reputation and character came to the well to draw water.
You all know this story….
Jesus asked this lady if she would share a cup of water from the bucket she had just raised from the well and as she did so, Jesus looked at the ladle of water she had just drawn from her bucket and told her:
JOHN 4:13–14.
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jesus, himself, is the water of live he was referring to – when we quench our spiritual thirst with Jesus, we shall know true love, a true spiritual satisfaction.
The Bible calls that spiritual satisfaction -being born again….as Baptists we like calling it ‘getten’ saved!’
That day at a well by the side of a dusty road, a woman got saved and then she hurried back into town to tell her friends and family and the scriptures say that many others came to Jesus and they also GOT SAVED.
The apostle John repeatedly tells us that Jesus came to give eternal life to all those who come to him…
JOHN 5:24 & 6:40.
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
If theses verses are true, how can we at least not be like this woman at the well and share the gospel story with them? She carried so much guilt & shame but Jesus showed her love, care and acceptance!
At the turn of the century, Alexander Whyte was a popular Scottish minister who pastored a large church in Edinburgh. He was known for his powerful sermons. A semi-regular attender of Whytes’ church was a salesman by the name of Allen Rigby. He did not live in Edinburgh, but his business frequently took him there. Rigby would often stay over on the weekends just to hear Whyte preach. Rigby also had the habit of inviting other businessmen to accompany him to the services. One Sunday morning he asked a fellow traveler to go to church with him. Reluctantly, the man said yes. When he heard Whyte’s message, he was so impressed that he returned with Rigby to the evening meeting. As the preacher spoke, the man bowed his head and accepted Christ as his Savior. The next morning, as he was leaving for home, Rigby decided to stop by Alexander Whyte’s home and tell him how his message had affected the other man’s life. When Whyte learned that his caller’s name was Rigby, he exclaimed, “You’re the man I’ve wanted to see for years!” He went to his study and returned with a bundle of letters. Alexander Whyte read Rigby some excerpts all telling of changed lives. They were all men Rigby had brought to church to hear the gospel.
Like the Samaritans who had been led to Jesus by the woman at the well, these men believed in Jesus because of the witness of a man named Allen Rigby.
True love encourages us to tell others about our Jesus
Why did God come in the flesh? God sent His Son to die, not only for Israel, but for all who would hear His calling and respond to Him by faith.
How is a person born from above? How is he or she saved from eternal perishing? By believing in Jesus Christ; by looking to Him in faith.
On January 6, 1850, a snowstorm almost crippled the city of Colchester, England; and a teenage boy was unable to get to the church he usually attended. So he made his way to a nearby quite primitive Methodist chapel, where a less than well prepared layman was substituting for the absent pastor.
His text was Isaiah 45:22 –
22 “Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
For many months this young teenager had been miserable and under deep conviction; but though he had been raised in the church, in fact both his father and grandfather were preachers, he did not have the assurance of salvation.
The unprepared substitute minister did not have much to say, so he kept repeating the text. “A man need not go to college to learn to look,” he shouted. “Anyone can look – a child can look!”
About that time, he saw the young visitor sitting to one side, and he pointed directly at him and said, “Young man, you look very miserable. Young man, look to Jesus Christ!”
The young man did look to Jesus, and by faith he was saved, and that was how the great Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon was converted….in a primitive chapel on a snowy night because of a faithful person wanting to share Jesus with him.
You know, Jesus could well have come to this world as a Judge and destroyed every rebellious sinner; but in love, He came to this world as our Savior, and He died for us on the cross!
The cross is so many things.
Today, it stands as an example for us of how to love.
Is this kind of love easy? Not by a long shot: it cost Jesus His very life.
He died for those who were jeering at him and calling him names.
He died for those who abandoned him and denied his name.
He died for those who beat him, spit on him, and pierced his side.
He died for you and me, who could never deserve his love.
This is our standard of love. If we claim to know Jesus then we must choose to love like Jesus did.
We must forgive those who wrong us.
We must love those who don’t deserve it.
We must sacrifice for those who can not repay us.
We must be willing to lay down our lives each day in love.
Jesus Christ’s command is this, that we love each other as I have loved you.
He showed his love by opening his arms and dying on the cross.
We show his love for us by opening our arms and embracing our others with that same sacrificial, true love.
The world can’t understand this kind of love, it can only be seen by the eyes of faith.
This is the gift that our world needs this Christmas – True Love.
Love is personal. Love gives of itself. Love creates.
Of all the names of Jesus we’ve shared with you this month – this is the one that is most special to me – LOVE.
God loves each one of us personally.
God has given himself to us in Jesus Christ.
God creates new life in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
…and in all of that, we become equipped to love as He first loved us.
Prayer
Restore us, O Lord, we pray,
bring us back to that place where we once met,
as shepherds to the stable after hearing angels sing.
Bring us back to that place
when our love was fresh, not embarrassed to express itself in praise to our heavenly King.Restore us, O Lord, we pray.
In this season of expectation
We prepare to welcome Christ Jesus, Messiah
Into the bustle of our lives and the hard to find moments of solitude
We prepare to welcome Christ Jesus, Messiah
Into our homes and situations along with friends and families
We prepare to welcome Christ Jesus, Messiah
Into our hearts, and those often hidden parts of our lives
We prepare to welcome Christ Jesus, Messiah
For beneath the surface of your story is an inescapable fact
You entered this world as vulnerable as any one of us
in order to nail that vulnerability to the cross.Our fears, our insecurities and our sins- all that can separate us from God exchanged by your Grace for the unending peace
that can only come from your Love.We cannot comprehend the reasoning but only marvel that Salvation comes to us through a baby born in a stable,
and reaches out to a world in need.Father, He’s almost here…. Let us never those the hope, peace, joy and love that we’ve been expectantly awaiting but is truthfully here for us every day of the year.
AMEN!
Song
Benediction
God asks us if we will be God’s people. Our hearts want to shout yes!
Go into the world, feeling God’s healing presence in your lives.
Tell others about God’s love.
Do not be afraid! For God is truly with you. AMEN.