Sermon Category: English

When was the last time you heard your father say I love you? Some of us grew up in homes where these words were regularly said but others may have heard these said sparsely, if ever. To be loved means that we are held in someone’s greatest esteem. To be loved says not only that we belong somewhere but that we are wanted and cherished. Love is what provides us with a sense of security telling us that even though we live in a broken world, love will carry us through thin and thick. Growing up, our love and self-worth were constantly challenged and conditioned by our performance. Many times we sensed loved was always followed by if. In Christ, God’s love has provided us with the greatest of all assurances. Not if but because. Because of Christ, God has committed himself in a sacred covenant of loyal love to do whatever it takes to provide for our welfare. His love has replaced our fear. Because of Christ we know there is no fear in love, his perfect love casts out all fears allowing us to live lives of gratitude and love. Because God loves us, we are free and secure to live in love.

At the core of our deepest longings is a desire to know we truly are. Who we are depends very much on who God is for, after all, we were made in his likeness and in his image. God is our Creator but in Christ, he is also our Father. Our sense of identity and ultimate dignity comes not from us or from our sense of self-entitlement but from the blessing bestowed on us by God. Because of sin, God’s image in humanity was distorted. We’ve all grown up believing lies about who we are or are not. Those lies have kept us captive unable to experience the Father’s purpose for our lives. In Christ, the image of God is restored when we are adopted and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. To be adopted by God means that we have a place and a family where we truly belong forever. The church is that family where we grow in Christ in the security of who we are in him free from condemnation and free to please him.

Not what I expected. Whether we are disappointed or pleasantly surprised things are not always what they seem. As we go through life, experience preconditions us to see others and circumstances in light of our expectations or personal experiences. As we go through life, our expectations become a deep hunger deep inside directing how we live our lives. God wants us to have expectations but he wants our expectations to adjust to make room for his unfathomable greatness. In this passage, we will see Jesus’ encounter with John the Baptist where Jesus will invite John to let go of what has defined him so far to make room for God’s greater plan. In doing so, Jesus will reveal the tension between our deepest hunger and longings and his provision to fulfill them.