Called to Love

Pastors Joe & Shelly - 17th anniversary & love story

Partner in family and ministry

• Genesis 2:18 “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”
• Mark 10:6-9 ‘God made them male and female’ from the beginning of creation. ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” (see also Romans 8:35-39)

Marriage as a picture of Christ & the church

Ephesians 5:25-32 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. And we are members of his body. As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

Strength in Unity in Christ

• The world says, "We are only as strong as our weakest link;" the Bible says, "some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary (1 Corinthians 12:22)," and that we are to "take tender care of those who are weak (1 Thessalonians 5:14)." The world says "survival of the fittest;" God says, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9)."
• Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
• Romans 12:4-5 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

Satan's scheme - divide & conquer

• Adam & Eve, Husband & wives, Believers & Christ, Body of Christ

Marriage & the church - Whole is greater than the sum of its parts

• John 13:34-35 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
• Illustration of human body - value of elements (oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, etc. - less than $5); value of body parts - millions; value of a person - priceless

Called to Love

• As husbands and wives are called to love each other, so Christians are called to love one another and to be representative of God's love for the world.
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! … Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
• Romans 13:10 Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God's law.
• 1 John 4 God is love.

Called to Peace

Peace - the Message of Christmas

• Luke 2:13-14 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others-the armies of heaven-praising God and saying, "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."

• Acts 10:34-36 Then Peter replied, "I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right. This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel-that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

• Colossians 1:19-20 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross.

• John 14:27 "I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid."

“It Is Well with My Soul” – Horatio Safford

Called to Peace

• Colossians 3:15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
• Romans 12:18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
• Philippians 2:14-15 Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.
• Ephesians 6:15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.
• Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
• 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.

Called to Hope

I. Fading Hope in the 21st Century

• "Hope deferred makes the heart sick…" (Proverbs 13:12)

II. 1st Century Palestine

• Matthew 12:18-21 (prophecy of Isaiah) “Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases me. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious. And his name will be the hope of all the world.”

III. Called to Hope

• Ephesians 1:18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called-his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.
• Ephesians 4:4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.
• Romans 8:23-25 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
• 1 Peter 3:15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.