Rooted and Grounded in Love

Rooted and Grounded in Love!

Sermon Notes

January 27, 2008

Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor

Sun Lakes United Methodist Church

9248 E. Riggs Road, Sun Lakes, Arizona 85248

(480) 895-8766

Ephesians 3:14-21 NRSV

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. ¹⁶I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, ¹⁷and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. ¹⁸I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

A. Introduction

1. Love did it!

a. Aleida Hussein of Rotterdam, Netherlands is 78 years old and has been smoking for 60 years. And for 50 years she has been trying to give up her harmful habit without success. That is until recently. She has now given up cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. The secret?

b. Leo Jansen, 79, proposed marriage to her, but refused to go through with the wedding until Aleida gave up smoking! Says Aleida, “Will power was never enough to get me off the tobacco habit. Love did it!”

2. Today’s Scripture: Ephesians 3:16-17

a. Love is important. In today’s Scripture, Paul says, “I pray… that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.” (Ephesians 16a & 17 NRSV)

b. Paul is informing us that love is mighty important for our lives. This morning, I lift up three truths that the Bible tells us.

B. Everyone needs love.

1. Today’s Scripture: Ephesians 3:19

a. Today’s Scripture says: “Christ’s love is greater than any person can ever know. But I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19 ICB)

b. Without love we can never know the fullness of God, or have a full understanding of ourselves. Without love we will never treat ourselves and others as God’s children. We need love.

2. Kind Marine

a. An elderly man lay dying in a hospital in California. He asked for his son, who was a Marine still in Boot Camp in South Carolina. Word was sent to the Marine Base, a drill sergeant awakened a young service man, took him to the airport, and put him on a plane flying to the West Coast. The young Marine was escorted to the hospital and a nurse took him to the dying man’s bedside. He sat there all night, the old man’s shriveled hand holding his tight. Not a word passed between them. The elderly man died just before dawn. At the nurses’ station when it was over, the Marine asked, “Who was that old man?” A shocked nurse replied, “He was your father!” “No, he wasn’t,” the young soldier said. “I never saw him before tonight. I knew there had been some kind of mistake, but I, also, knew he needed a son, so I stayed.”

b. A mistake had been made. The wrong Marine had been summoned. But this young Marine knew the dying man needed somebody. We all do.

3. King’s Banquet

a. There is an old fable about a great King who was holding a fabulous feast in honor of his son’s wedding. The King sent out invitations far and wide, to everyone in the kingdom. In one small village there was a large and robust man, who was, also, blind. He too received an invitation to the feast. However, when it came time to leave it seemed as if all his friends and fellow townsfolk had forgotten about him and already left! The man cried out, “Please, please help. Remember I am blind. Who will lead me? Who will lead me?” As he stumbled through the village, he was sure that he had been left behind, all alone, till he bumped into another man lying on the ground, who was crying, “Help me! Help Me!” The man on the ground had two paralyzed legs and was unable to walk. He, also, wanted to go to the feast, but had no one to transport him. The solution was obvious. The paralyzed man was very small, but had two good eyes. So the blind man carried him, and the paralyzed man guided them both down the road to the King’s castle for the feast!

b. Everyone needs somebody. And we all need each other. We were created for love.

C. Love is not always easy.

1. Today’s Scripture: Ephesians 3:18

a. Paul says, “I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love.” (Ephesians 3:18a ICB)

b. Paul prays for us to have the power to get love right. That’s because love is not always easy.

2. Balding Middle Aged Man

a. There was a balding, middle aged man named George. He still thought he was that high school hunk of his youth. However, his chest muscles had long ago gone down to his stomach. One morning he and his wife were walking down the street, when a pretty young co-ed jogged by. George turned to his wife with a big smile and said, “Did you see that pretty girl smile at me?” “Oh that’s nothing, dear,” said his wife, “The first time I saw you this morning I laughed too!”

b. Loving others is never as easy as we think it should be. People have disagreements, and sometimes even seriously hurt each other. Communities are divided, and nations have disputes, and too often go to war. However, even in our closest of relationships we are sadly aware that kindness and love are not always easy.

3. Happy Ground Hog Day!

a. One morning at breakfast, Amanda looked up at her husband Harvey and asked, “Honey, do you even know what day this is?” Harvey did not have a clue, but as he quickly left said, “Sure I do, and I’ve made big plans.” That day at the office, he ordered flowers, and made reservations at an expensive French restaurant. As he and his wife finished their deserts, Harvey said, “See, I did remember what day this is.” And Amanda replied, “You sure did. Thanks for making this the best Ground Hog Day I’ve ever had!”

b. Love, even true love never runs smoothly. That’s true between husband and wife. It’s true between parent and child. Neither does love run smoothly between friends and Church members. There are times it is just not easy. Sometimes circumstances such as illness make love more difficult. And certainly many here know the pain of death, and the hurt of still loving that special one who is gone.

D. We must, also, be willing to receive love.

1. Today’s Scripture: Ephesians 3:19

a. Today’s scripture implores for each of us: “May you experience the love of Christ…” (Ephesians 3:19a NLT)

b. We are called to share love. We are, also, called to be open to receive and experience love. We are called to welcome into our lives the love of God, and the goodness of other human beings.

2. Edward Sheldon: “The Man Who Lived Twice” by Anne Morrow Lindberg

a. In Anne Morrow Lindberg’s book THE MAN WHO LIVED TWICE, she describes her friendship with a man named Edward Sheldon. Mr. Sheldon had been blind for over twenty years, and endured other physical difficulties. Yet listen to how she describes him as a man who had leaned the art of giving as well as receiving love: “He gave abundantly: advice, encouragement, stimulus, and even sometimes criticism, but he, also, allowed you to give to him! He knew how to receive so graciously that the gift was enhanced by its reception. It was the rarest pleasure to bring things to him, books one had found, passages of poetry or philosophy, comments on life by a soldier one had met in a train, or the words of a child in a school bus. He took them all in sincerely. Warmed by his welcome, how beautiful became the things one brought him. So often one has the opposite experience. Gifts shrivel under the critical glare of the recipient. One is like a child running in from the beach with a jewel found in the retreating tide, only to have it fade to an ordinary stone on the dry palm of another. With Edward Sheldon everything became more beautiful in the light of his appreciation! Seashells became pearls; ordinary stones were jewels.”

b. There is a great lesson in this story. Because of misplaced pride or a false sense of what it means to have faith, many of us are poor receivers. We are not very good at accepting the kindness of others. We brush them aside as of little importance. We may even refuse to let other people love us, because somehow we think that may show weakness or lack of faith on our part. Truly faithful people are not too filled with pride to welcome the loving gifts of others. And on this Stephen Ministry Sunday, I remind each of us to be open to having a Stephen Minister to help us in our times of need.

3. I John 4:19

a. Of course, it all begins by our being open to receive the love of God. On our own we cannot earn salvation, or even the right to be in God’s holy presence. However, God loves us so much that the Almighty sends Jesus to give his life for us. We can reject this love, or we can accept it and ask Jesus into our hearts.

b. Those who have received the loving Spirit of Jesus in their hearts know the meaning of John’s words: “We love because He first loved us.” (I John 4:19 NIV) This little verse from I John 4:19 says a lot! Followers of Jesus understand that God is the author of real love. Only in receiving the love of God are we able to truly love ourselves and others. When we are filled with the “fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19) that is when we become the most effective in our living and loving for ourselves, and to and for others. If you have not done so, please today receive the greatest gift of love ever offered: Jesus Christ!

E. Conclusion: Recap

1. Everyone needs love.

2. Love is not always easy.

3. We must, also, be willing to receive love.

(4)

Ephesians 3:14-21 NRSV

Rooted and Grounded in Love!

“I pray… that Christ may dwell

in your hearts through faith,

as you are being rooted & grounded in love.”

Ephesians 16a & 17 NRSV

1. Everyone needs love.

“Christ’s love is greater than any person can ever know.

But I pray that you will be able to know that love.

Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.”

Ephesians 3:19 ICB

2. Love is not always easy.

“I pray that you and all God’s holy people

will have the power to understand the greatness

of Christ’s love.”

Ephesians 3:18a ICB

3. We must, also, be willing to receive love.

“May you experience the love of Christ...”

Ephesians 3:19a NLT

“We love because He first loved us.”

I John 4:19 NIV, RSV & NRSV