ThoughtShades - Sermon Notes

Romans 5:6-8 “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” KJV

Oh, how He loves you and me,
Oh, how He loves you and me.
He gave His life, what more could He give;
Oh, how He loves you, Oh, how He loves me,
Oh, how He loves you and me.

Jesus to Calv’ry did go,
His love for mankind to show.
What He did there brought hope from despair.
Oh, how He loves you, Oh, how He loves me,
Oh how He loves you and me.

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 16 — An outburst of gunfire at a Virginia Tech dormitory, followed two hours later by a ruthless string of attacks at a classroom building, killed 32 students, faculty and staff and left about 30 others injured yesterday in the deadliest shooting rampage in the nation’s history.

The shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, wore bluejeans, a blue jacket and a vest holding ammunition, witnesses said. He carried a 9mm semiautomatic and a .22-caliber handgun, both with the serial numbers obliterated, federal law enforcement officials said. Witnesses described the shooter as a young man of Asian descent — a silent killer who was calm and showed no expression as he pursued and shot his victims. He killed himself as police closed in.

He had left two dead at the dormitory and 30 more at a science and engineering building, where he executed people taking and teaching classes after chaining some doors shut behind him. At one point, he shot at a custodian who was helping a victim. Witnesses described scenes of chaos and grief, with students jumping from second-story windows to escape gunfire and others blocking their classroom doors to keep the gunman away.

What causes a shocking, grisly scene like this to take place in the USA, or the world?
What causes a Jim Jones or a David Koresh to induce hundreds of followers to commit suicide or die with him in a fiery inferno?
Why does every day bring us news of homicide bombers or car bombers who blow themselves up along with hundreds of innocent victims?
Why does riot, burning and looting crop up every time a disaster strikes somewhere?
Why do the headlines and the newscasts constantly blare out the theme of murder, mayhem, abuse, rape, kidnapping and rebellion?

Hatred, bitterness, rejection, anger, jealousy, loneliness and lack of self-esteem seethe like a witches brew in the cauldron of society. We have expelled God, the Bible, and judgment from our society. In their place, we have enthroned man, his rights, his self-determination and his opinions. It should be no wonder that we are reaping the harvest of crop that we have so wantonly planted.

Paul writes, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19-21 “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” NIV

We live in a ruined paradise, wrecked by sin.

We live in a world of guilt-ridden, self-hating, angry people. Some people are angry because their parents tore their home apart. Some because they were abandoned, used and abused. People are so confused and hurt that they cannot believe in the simple gospel. They cannot believe in a God who loves them, a God who is trustworthy, and a God who is not going to hurt them in the end.

When Jesus says, I love you, they say, “I don’t believe you.”
When trials come, they use it as evidence that the Gospel doesn’t work.
When the church reaches out, they reject it as a phony ploy.
When God’s truth penetrates their hearts, they harden their hearts so they won’t be hurt again.
But that’s why there is a place called First Apostolic Church.
That’s why there is a 5701 Sylvania Avenue, Toledo, OH.
That’s why there is a pastor who keeps preaching behind the pulpit.
It’s because there is a message that won’t go away.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

But the question is not just IF God loves you.
The question is, How much does God love you?
One of the most striking statements in the bible is found in our text.

Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church.”

Here we have more than a simple declarative statement.
We have a baseline given; a frame of reference; a context in which we can see a depth of field to gauge the statement.

“…as Christ loved the church.” You can’t know the answer to the first question until you know the answer to the second. Once you know how much Christ loved the church, then you can know how much he loves you.

So? How much did he love the church?

“…and gave himself for it.”

He loved the church enough to give himself for it.
He turned down the kingdoms of the world to save the church.
He turned down the leadership of a rebellion against Rome to save the church.
He turned down a place of prominence among the Jewish hierarchy to save the church.

In fact, the real story is found in Philippians 2:5-8. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” KJV

Jesus loves you, that’s true. But, how much? He loves you more than fame, fortune, kingdoms, or even his own life. He loves you more than the acclaim of the Devil, more than the political ambitions of Judas Iscariot, more than the approval of the hypocrites. You, your love, your life make up his sole driving force in the universe.

First, God loved you enough to find you.

Did you ever search for something and when you found it, it disappointed you, even disgusted you? You know, you ransacked the closet for that sweater you knew you had, and when you found it and put it on, you saw that hole right there in front. Or you rummaged around in the refrigerator for that leftover lunch only to be greeted by the pungent odor of green mold growing on the meat?

I remember hearing the heart-wrenching story of a man who was abandoned as a little boy. His lifelong dream was to locate his mother. He searched arduously until he found her. Imagine his reaction when he saw her, in the back of a dumpy tavern, drunken and filthy. He slowly backed away from her, turned around and never went back.

I want you to understand tonight that Jesus came to this planet on the same kind of mission. I wonder what his reaction was when he actually found you and me?

Ephesians 2:1-8 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: KJV

He never gave up. He never abandoned the search. He never called off his angels.
He searched until he found us.
When he found us, and saw our pitiful condition, he didn’t back away and leave us in our sins.

Jesus is the Good Samaritan.

Luke 10:33-34 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. KJV

Second, God loves you enough to make you over again.

God may have found you in sin, but he’s not going to leave you that way.
The healer is not going to leave you in your suffering and pain.
The Savior is not going to let you slip into eternity lost and undone.
God has taken us on as his labor of love, the piece of clay that was marred…so the Master Potter makes it over again.

Hebrews 12:5-11 “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?. … 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

If God’s grace saves a man, God’s grace also makes a man!

Finally, God loves you enough to place you into the body of Christ.

Do you feel like a misfit? Odd man out? Fifth wheel? Loner? Afterthought? Square pet in a round hole? Fish out of water? Unwanted?
Your feelings—if you allow them—will dictate your doctrine to you. Your feelings will try to undermine Christ’s gospel. Your feelings will try to discredit the Word of God! If you choose to believe your feelings instead of the Word of God, you may as well reach up and pull the world in on top of you.
Let me give you a partial list of the kind of people Jesus reached out to a brought into his fold:

Unlearned, uneducated disciples.
Common, ordinary blue-collar working people.
Zaccheus, a scheming, fraudulent thief.
Matthew, a tax-collector.
Mary Magdalene, a prostitute.
The woman at the well, an adultress.
A woman taken in the very act of adultery.
Bartimaeus, a blind beggar.
Lepers, ostracized from society.
Simon, a known sinner.
A Syrophoenician woman, societal outcast.
Another thief on the cross.
Luke, a Physician.
Joseph of Arimithea, a wealthy man.
Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling class.

Whosoever will may come.

You belong. Here is his name. Here is his blood. Here is his Spirit. Here is his Word.

John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” KJV

God wants you to be a member of his family.
God wants you name to be written down in the family album, the Lamb’s book of life.
This is how much he loves you.
Tonight, he sees you from the cross. He sees you from the throne. He sees you from eternity.

O Love of God!

The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star, And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled, And pardoned from his sin.

When years of time shall pass away, And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray, On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure, All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above, Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure The saints’ and angels’ song.