This Church Believes:  God Loves You!

Sermon Notes

September 7, 2008

Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor

Sun Lakes United Methodist Church, 9248 E. Riggs Road, Sun Lakes, Arizona 85248 - (480) 895-8766

 

John 3:16 NRSV

16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

 

II Peter 3:9 NRSV

9The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

 

A.  Introduction

    1.  Lottery Love Letter

        a.  A young woman wrote the following “Love Letter”:  Dear Jimmy:  No words could ever express the great unhappiness I’ve felt since I declined your marriage proposal and broke up with you.  Please say you will take me back.  No one could ever take your place in my heart.  Please, please forgive me.  I love you, I love you, I love you!  Yours forever, Marie.  P.S.  And congratulations on winning the recent Power Ball lottery.

        b.  Now some might question the sincerity of this woman’s love.  And certainly even the best of us humans fail to love, as we should at times.  But what about God?  Certainly at times it seems to us that God is not present in our world.  An airplane is blown up over Scotland.  A madman sets off a bomb at the Olympics.  A tornado destroys a Church and kills the pastor’s daughter.  Terrorists fly airplanes into the World Trade Center towers.  A woman is raped.  A man beats his infant son to death.  “Where is God?” we ask.  Can we believe that God loves us?

    2.  God on the battlefield

        a.  Two young soldiers watched a battle from the safety of a foxhole.  Their unit had not been ordered to attack.  Mortar rounds and artillery fire flashed before them in wicked madness.  The men of the battalion that had been sent out were being unmercifully mowed down and blown apart.  Broken and twisted bodies were everywhere.  Men cried out pitifully for help.  One of these two young soldiers was not a believer and had become quite cynical.  So he said to his Christian buddy, “And just where is God on the battlefield?”  After a pause the other soldier pointed to two medics on the battlefield.  They would rush out, place a wounded man on their stretcher, and then carry him to safety.  “There is God.” He said. 

        b.  God’s love is there, if we are willing to see it.  That is the belief of this Church:  God loves you!

 

B.  God loves you.  This is the testimony of CREATION!

 

    1.  Pontius Puddle

        a.  In the Comic Strip, Pontius Puddle, Pontius is outside looking at God’s creation.  He says, “Wow!  A carpet of lush Kelly green grass dotted with turquoise lakes lined with emerald trees set against a lavender mountain range… all showcased under an azure sky!  God makes a great exterior decorator!” 

        b.  When it comes to Creation the preponderance of evidence, the predominant testimony, and the majority of witnesses all state that God loves you!

 

    2.  Creation Statistics  (from a Stewardship handout, author unknown)

        a.  A Stewardship handout from a few years back entitled, YOU CAN DEPEND ON GOD, says it well:  “You can depend on God to keep our planet Earth rotating on its axis at 1,000 miles per hour.  If God slowed it down to 100 miles an hour, days and nights would be ten times longer.  You can depend on God to keep the temperature of the sun’s surface at 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is exactly right for its distance from Earth.  What if it changed slightly?  Everything on Earth would be roasted or frozen.  You can depend on God to keep the Earth traveling around the sun at 18 miles per second.  What if that rate changed to, say, six miles per second?  Life here couldn’t exist.  You can depend on God to keep the moon 240,000 miles away.  What if it moved within 50,000 miles?  The tides of the oceans would be so enormous that even the mountains would be washed away.  And you can depend on God to keep our atmosphere just right.  What if the oxygen content were 50% instead of 21%?  All combustible objects would burn or explode.”

        b.  All of creation, from the Super Nova to the snail, is sustained in some way by the dependable hand of God.  God has fashioned it all and entrusted humankind to be stewards of the universe.  Creation works and sustains us, because God is a loving God

 

C.  God loves you.  This is the testimony of LIFE!

 

    1.  Hunting Dog  (This story came to me from Blanche Richards, a friend from Glendale, Arizona.)

        a.  There was a farmer named Joe who was an optimist.  Nothing seemed to get Joe down.  He could always see the possibilities.  His neighbor, Tom, was just the opposite.  Grim and gloomy Tom could always find the negative in any situation.  Joe would shout over the fence, “Look at that beautiful sun and clear sky!”  Tom’s quick reply, “Yea, but it will probably burn our crops.”  When the clouds would gather and deposit much needed rain Joe would say to his neighbor, “”Isn’t this great!  God is watering our corn today.”  Tom would say, “Yea, but if he don’t stop it’ll wash everything away.”  One day Joe our optimist decided to do something so wonderful and amazing that even Tom would have to respond positively.  Joe bought the smartest, most expensive bird dog he could find.  He trained this critter to do things no other dog on earth could do.  It was truly an astounding animal!  Joe invited Tom hunting with him.  They sat hidden in the duck blind.  Toward them flew some ducks.  Both men fired and three ducks fell into the water.  “Go get ‘em!” Joe told his dog.  The dog leaped out of the duck blind and walked ON TOP of the water, and then one by one he picked up the birds.  The dog then walked ON the water back to the two men.  Smiling Joe said, “Well, what do you think of that?”  Unsmiling the pessimist answered, “He can’t swim, can he?”

        b.  If you want to you can focus on the negative.  And certainly life does not always treat people well.  Some people suffer with terrible illnesses or disabilities.  Young children tragically die, and people do terrible things to other people.  On the other hand, if you are honest, you know that the blessings far outweigh the negatives.  The preponderance of the evidence, if we count our blessings, is that life is good.

 

    2.  Counting the stars

        a.  The Sunday School teacher began a study on Genesis 1, and talked to the children about the awesomeness of God’s creation.  For a class assignment she asked the boys and girls to count the number of stars that they could see in the sky that evening.  They were to write down the number and share it next Sunday.  Sunday came and teacher asked the children to report on how many stars they saw.  One by one they shared:  “I counted 190.”  I counted six times and it was never the same, but it’s somewhere over 200.”  I counted 187.”  “I counted 221.”  “Too many to count.”  Then Bobby shared, “I saw three.”  The teacher asked, “Bobby, how is it that you saw so few stars when the other children saw so many?”  Bobby thought a moment and then said, “Well, my backyard is real small.”

        b.  If you refuse to really look, you will not see many stars in the sky.  Likewise, if you refuse to look, you will not see your blessings.  Don’t do that.  In this moment, will you think of some of them?  Will you name them in your heart right now?  If you do, you will acknowledge the goodness of life.  Let me help a little:  Do you have a family that loves you?  Do you have friends?  Do you have a roof over your head?  Do you have food to eat?  Do you have some kind of health?  Do you know Jesus as your Lord, Savior and friend?  If you answered, “Yes” to any of these, you have been blessed by the goodness of life.

(3)

D.  God loves you.  This is the testimony of JESUS!

    1.  God leads a pretty sheltered life  (This story comes from my personal youth ministry files, author unknown.)

        a.  A short story entitled, GOD LEADS A PRETTY SHELTERED LIFE, says it well.  “At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God’s throne.  Some of the groups near the front talked heatedly – not with cringing shame, but with belligerence.  ‘How can God judge us?’  ‘How can he know about suffering?’ snapped an angry brunette.  She jerked back a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp.  ‘We endured terror, beatings, torture, death!’  In another bellicose group, a Black man lowered his collar.  ‘What about this?’ he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn.  ‘Lynched for no crime but being black!’  ‘We have suffocated in slave ships, been wrenched from loved ones, toiled till only death gave release.’  Far out across the plain were hundreds of such groups.  Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering He permitted in His world.  How lucky God was to live in heaven where all was sweetness and light, where there was no weeping, no fear, no hunger, no hatred.  Indeed, what did God know about what man had been forced to endure in this world?  ‘After all, God leads a pretty sheltered life,’ they said.

        b.  So each group sent out a leader, chosen because he or she had suffered the most.  There was a Jew, a Black, an untouchable from India, an illegitimate, a person from Hiroshima, and one from a Siberian slave camp.  In the center of the plain they consulted with each other.  At last they were ready to present their case.  It was rather simple:  Before God would be qualified to be their judge; He must endure what they had endured.  Their decision was that God ‘should be sentenced to live on Earth — as a man!’  But because He was God, they set certain safeguards to be sure He could not use His divine power to help Himself:  Let Him be born a Jew.  Let the legitimacy of His birth be doubted, so that none will know who his father really is.  Let Him champion a cause so just, but so radical that it brings down upon Him the hate, condemnation, and eliminating efforts of every major traditional established religious authority.  Let Him try to describe what no man has ever seen, tasted, heard, or smelled… let Him try to communicate God to men.  Let Him be betrayed by His dearest friends.  Let Him be indicted on false charges, tried before a prejudiced jury, and convicted by a cowardly judge.  Let Him see what it is to be terribly alone and completely abandoned by every living thing.  Let Him be tortured and let Him die!  Let Him die the most humiliating death — with common thieves.  As each leader announced his portion of the sentence, loud murmurs of approval went up from the great throng of people.  When the last had finished pronouncing sentence, there was a long silence.  No one uttered another word.  No one moved.  For suddenly all knew… God had already served His sentence.”

        c.  We need no other proof that God loves us.  The suffering of Jesus upon the cross to save us is a perfect and absolute witness to the truth of God’s love for each of us!

    2.  Today’s Scripture

        a.  Today’s Scripture lessons still say it best:  “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9 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.” (John 3:16 NIV)

        b.  Jesus, alone is full and sufficient proof that God loves you!

E.  Conclusion:  Recap

    1.  This Church believes:  God loves you.  This is the testimony of CREATION!

    2.  This Church believes:  God loves you.  This is the testimony of LIFE!

    3.  This Church believes:  God loves you.  This is the testimony of JESUS!

 

This Church Believes:

  God Loves You!

 

1.  This is the testimony of CREATION!

 

2.  This is the testimony of LIFE!

 

3.  This is the testimony of JESUS!

 

John 3:16 NRSV

16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

 

II Peter 3:9 NRSV

9The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.