WEBVTT 00:07.135 --> 00:12.482 [SPEAKER_00]: Who is your favorite Christmas character? 00:12.502 --> 00:15.967 [SPEAKER_00]: Some of you might be thinking buddy the else. 00:15.987 --> 00:16.268 [SPEAKER_00]: Anyone? 00:16.648 --> 00:17.349 [SPEAKER_00]: I can't make movie. 00:18.831 --> 00:23.197 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe some other of you might be thinking Kevin from Home Alone. 00:23.618 --> 00:24.238 [SPEAKER_00]: Anyone seen it? 00:25.080 --> 00:26.041 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I don't think it's that. 00:27.443 --> 00:34.172 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe some of the parents out there might be thinking Hugh Grant from Love Actually. 00:37.122 --> 00:42.668 [SPEAKER_00]: Or maybe you are thinking of baby Jesus and the nativity characters. 00:45.211 --> 00:50.778 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is often at the star of the show at Christmas time, which is fair enough. 00:51.118 --> 00:53.901 [SPEAKER_00]: We are celebrating Jesus' birth. 00:55.263 --> 01:02.891 [SPEAKER_00]: But sometimes we forget to think about what Jesus coming down to earth meant for God, the Father. 01:03.953 --> 01:06.876 [SPEAKER_00]: God loves Jesus very much. 01:07.193 --> 01:17.285 [SPEAKER_00]: And yet, he still sent his son into the world where he knew that people here would treat him as an outcast and hurt him. 01:18.707 --> 01:24.694 [SPEAKER_00]: But he still did it because he loves us so very much. 01:26.836 --> 01:31.962 [SPEAKER_00]: Hi everyone, my name is Alyssa and I work in the Children's Ministry here at one. 01:34.445 --> 01:35.226 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. 01:37.552 --> 01:40.015 [SPEAKER_00]: This is also the first time I've spoken to this many people. 01:40.055 --> 01:43.278 [SPEAKER_00]: So, there we go. 01:43.939 --> 01:55.491 [SPEAKER_00]: Today, as we continue our advent theme of this is love, and look at our verses of this theme, first John chapter four, verses nine to 11. 01:56.172 --> 01:58.314 [SPEAKER_00]: I have three points for you today. 01:58.334 --> 02:05.702 [SPEAKER_00]: The first two points will look at the nature of God's love, and then we will look at what our response should be, 02:08.872 --> 02:11.335 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's start by reading the passage. 02:12.497 --> 02:12.837 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, sorry. 02:14.339 --> 02:17.303 [SPEAKER_00]: This is how God showed His love among us. 02:18.304 --> 02:23.991 [SPEAKER_00]: He sent His one and only son into the world that we might live through Him. 02:25.493 --> 02:26.535 [SPEAKER_00]: This is love. 02:27.416 --> 02:32.382 [SPEAKER_00]: Not that God loved us, not that we loved God, but that God that He loved us. 02:33.263 --> 02:37.849 [SPEAKER_00]: And since He's son as an attorney sacrifice for our sins, 02:38.420 --> 02:45.931 [SPEAKER_00]: Dear friends, since God loved us, we also ought to love one another. 02:48.014 --> 02:49.235 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to start by praying. 02:49.896 --> 02:53.461 [SPEAKER_00]: Look, God, I thank you so much for this amazing Christmas service. 02:53.481 --> 02:58.268 [SPEAKER_00]: I thank you for all the kids that came up on the stage, Lord for their confidence. 02:58.687 --> 03:11.699 [SPEAKER_00]: Lord, I just pray that as I speak today, that we'll open our hearts in our minds that I pray that you'll take away any distractions, Lord, and help us to focus on the words and the verses that I'm saying. 03:12.361 --> 03:12.882 [SPEAKER_00]: Amen. 03:14.836 --> 03:18.120 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, let's start by reading verse nine again. 03:18.741 --> 03:21.504 [SPEAKER_00]: This is how God showed his love among us. 03:22.305 --> 03:30.614 [SPEAKER_00]: He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. 03:32.957 --> 03:39.645 [SPEAKER_00]: God didn't just send some random angel, but he sent his one and only son. 03:40.537 --> 03:46.665 [SPEAKER_00]: And he didn't just send Jesus to be our friend, which would have been so amazing in itself. 03:48.127 --> 03:56.358 [SPEAKER_00]: And he didn't just send Jesus to be our teacher and teach us the way of life, which would have been way more than we've deserved. 03:57.860 --> 04:07.894 [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, he sent Jesus to come down to earth and die the death of a criminal to save us from our sins. 04:09.764 --> 04:13.649 [SPEAKER_00]: What an amazing display of love. 04:15.732 --> 04:23.383 [SPEAKER_00]: As it said in 2 Corinthians 9, 15, thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. 04:24.384 --> 04:28.650 [SPEAKER_00]: God gave us His indescribable gift. 04:30.132 --> 04:33.700 [SPEAKER_00]: God gave us his best, and that is love. 04:34.382 --> 04:35.745 [SPEAKER_00]: Love gives it's best. 04:36.447 --> 04:39.394 [SPEAKER_00]: Not some knockoff third, and that will do the job all right. 04:40.276 --> 04:46.471 [SPEAKER_00]: But love gives it's best, and that brings us to our first point today. 04:47.132 --> 04:48.816 [SPEAKER_00]: Love gives it's best. 04:51.023 --> 04:53.827 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want you to quickly think for a moment now. 04:53.847 --> 04:57.672 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you giving your best to the people who you love? 04:58.513 --> 05:01.096 [SPEAKER_00]: Or is there more you can give? 05:08.626 --> 05:17.537 [SPEAKER_00]: The second point I want to talk to you about today is how God's love is not based on our love for Him but by His nature. 05:18.597 --> 05:22.842 [SPEAKER_00]: Verse 10 says, this is love. 05:23.503 --> 05:27.308 [SPEAKER_00]: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us. 05:28.109 --> 05:33.255 [SPEAKER_00]: And sent his son as an attorney sacrifice for our sins. 05:36.439 --> 05:38.322 [SPEAKER_00]: God loved us first. 05:39.583 --> 05:44.149 [SPEAKER_00]: While we were sinners or didn't know him, he loved us. 05:45.378 --> 05:51.325 [SPEAKER_00]: God's love for us does not turn on when we decide to love and follow Him. 05:54.048 --> 05:57.752 [SPEAKER_00]: God's love is always there and has always been. 05:57.792 --> 06:05.021 [SPEAKER_00]: God's love is not based on our love for Him but by His nature. 06:07.844 --> 06:12.229 [SPEAKER_00]: There's nothing we can do to make God love us any less. 06:13.762 --> 06:18.869 [SPEAKER_00]: Your love for God at the moment is not a representation on how much He loves you. 06:18.909 --> 06:24.777 [SPEAKER_00]: God will always love you unconditionally. 06:24.817 --> 06:34.010 [SPEAKER_00]: In the highs and the lows in life, no matter how close or far away you feel from Him, God loves you. 06:36.554 --> 06:43.363 [SPEAKER_00]: As we saw in the drama just before, 06:44.137 --> 06:45.980 [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't even put him first. 06:47.061 --> 06:52.789 [SPEAKER_00]: The Ken still took the pressure and shame off Bobby, making her feel lighter and freer. 06:57.075 --> 07:03.324 [SPEAKER_00]: Ken's actions weren't based on her love for him, but by his nature. 07:04.425 --> 07:09.452 [SPEAKER_00]: In the same way, God takes on our shame and our sin 07:10.765 --> 07:14.872 [SPEAKER_00]: not because we love him, but because he loves us. 07:16.254 --> 07:19.480 [SPEAKER_00]: And we don't deserve that, but this is love. 07:20.802 --> 07:24.508 [SPEAKER_00]: Love that doesn't require acknowledgement or gratification. 07:24.548 --> 07:27.633 [SPEAKER_00]: Love that can never run out. 07:29.316 --> 07:32.121 [SPEAKER_00]: Love that can be relied on no matter what. 07:32.882 --> 07:35.727 [SPEAKER_00]: Love that puts others first. 07:36.753 --> 07:49.545 [SPEAKER_00]: As it said in 2 Corinthians 9-8, for your sake, he being Jesus, became poor, so that you, through his poverty, might become rich. 07:52.268 --> 07:55.130 [SPEAKER_00]: How amazing is God's love for us? 07:57.433 --> 08:00.796 [SPEAKER_00]: So that brings us to our third and final point. 08:01.617 --> 08:04.279 [SPEAKER_00]: What should our response be? 08:05.373 --> 08:07.515 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, we're told in the following verse. 08:08.096 --> 08:15.504 [SPEAKER_00]: Verse 11 says, dear friends, since God so loved us, we ought to love one another. 08:16.465 --> 08:17.506 [SPEAKER_00]: It's pretty clear, isn't it? 08:20.069 --> 08:26.797 [SPEAKER_00]: The proper response to God's love for us is to go out and love others how he loves. 08:31.082 --> 08:33.304 [SPEAKER_00]: And that means loving everyone. 08:35.056 --> 08:43.648 [SPEAKER_00]: You might say, oh, but that person over there who I'm supposed to love, they hurt me. 08:44.049 --> 08:45.030 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm the one who's hurt. 08:45.972 --> 08:55.605 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, so was God, and yet he still doesn't hesitate to forgive us, you might say, oh, but that person over there, they insulted me. 08:56.066 --> 09:01.654 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm insulted, but so was God, and yet he still sent his son for us. 09:03.052 --> 09:13.426 [SPEAKER_00]: You might say, oh, but they are so unworthy, but so are we, and yet God still sent Jesus to die for our sins. 09:20.395 --> 09:25.181 [SPEAKER_00]: Because this is love, and we need to reflect this love to those around us. 09:27.624 --> 09:32.130 [SPEAKER_00]: Loving others is our response to God's love for us. 09:32.920 --> 09:33.761 [SPEAKER_00]: Think of it like this. 09:34.703 --> 09:40.291 [SPEAKER_00]: If you had a pipe that was clogged, water would come into it, but nothing would come out. 09:41.613 --> 09:43.916 [SPEAKER_00]: That would be useless, and you would replace it. 09:45.258 --> 09:51.908 [SPEAKER_00]: Just so, God pours his love into us so that it will flow freely out and into the world. 09:59.718 --> 10:03.462 [SPEAKER_00]: So I've got a question for you today, and it's a little bit strange, so bear with me. 10:03.723 --> 10:06.045 [SPEAKER_00]: But what kind of pipe are you? 10:07.006 --> 10:07.867 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah. 10:07.887 --> 10:13.594 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you the kind of pipe that love comes in, but then get clogged along the way? 10:13.614 --> 10:21.523 [SPEAKER_00]: Or are you the type of pipe that your, that God's love comes into your life and flows freely out? 10:26.667 --> 10:29.710 [SPEAKER_00]: This is how God showed His love among us. 10:30.491 --> 10:36.017 [SPEAKER_00]: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. 10:37.038 --> 10:41.303 [SPEAKER_00]: This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us. 10:42.384 --> 10:46.208 [SPEAKER_00]: And sent His Son as an attorney sacrifice for our sins. 10:47.409 --> 10:55.678 [SPEAKER_00]: Dear friends, since God so loved us, we ought to love one another. 10:57.042 --> 11:09.846 [SPEAKER_00]: Lord God, thank you so much for how much you love us, you love us so much that you gave your best, Lord thank you for giving us Jesus. 11:11.108 --> 11:15.416 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for sacrificing your son so that we are free from sin. 11:16.659 --> 11:19.624 [SPEAKER_00]: Help us to be like a mirror to this love. 11:20.026 --> 11:24.532 [SPEAKER_00]: Lord, I pray that your love will flow freely through us and into the world. 11:25.594 --> 11:29.939 [SPEAKER_00]: Help us to be a beacon of light and love to those around us. 11:31.201 --> 11:48.244 [SPEAKER_00]: Lord, I pray that we too will love unconditionally, reveal to us the people who we are not truly loving and give us the strength to change that. 11:48.983 --> 11:51.298 [SPEAKER_00]: In your mighty name, Lord God, amen.