Thursday, September 14, 2017

Sunday September 17, 2017

Speaker: Pastor Diego Rodriguez
Message Title: To the Moon He Created and Back
Scriptures:  Isaiah 64:6; Romans 8:28; Luke 15:20-24; John3:16


We often hear parents tell their young children, “I Love You.” When the Child gets older they return the phrase. As the child gets even older and among adults this phrase gets added to with words like, “I love you more.” At this point it becomes a playful banter of words. I love you more than Chocolate, I Love this much, (with arms stretched out as far as possible. My personal favorite is, I Love to the moon and back 10,000 times. We say these things to each other to prove, in a playful manner, that our love is more than the person we are speaking too.
If we continue this conversation, and gets a little more serious, we might even start giving examples of why our love is more. Examples like I always do…for you. When you wanted…I got it for you. The problem comes when we start to keep track of what we did in order to get something we want. Not that there is anything wrong with doing these things for someone you love. However, we can be hurt by the fact we’ve done something for a loved one and expected something in return and did not receive it. We could feel that our work was not good enough, our gift was not good enough, and eventually the person we are trying to be loved by doesn’t think we are good enough to love us back. That will either cause us to work harder or give up completely. If we work harder we become bitter about every task, it is no longer done due to our love toward the individual but trying to gain acceptance and love from the individual. So, when we burn dinner we didn’t just burn dinner we burned a chance to be loved. Perfection equals love. At least that what we tell ourselves. Although, we can admit that no one we love is perfect. We must be perfect to be loved. This is how some of us look at God also.    
Lord, I read my Bible I should have a great day. Lord, I’ve prayed, gone to church, invited someone to church, now it’s time for my blessing. When the blessing does not come, prayer not get answered, we become bitter and eventually stop going to God. We base our gifts from God, on our gifts to God. Worship, church attendance, bible knowledge, maybe even tithing are our gifts to God. If their good, then God should be good back to us. When in actuality God never bases his gifts on our good works or our love for him. He bases this on his Love for us and his good works for us. 

 Isa 64:6 ¶ But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.


Therefore, if God looks at our good works as filthy rags, why would he use those works to determine if he should bless us or not. In reality he chooses to bless us due to his love for us.
 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

 Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.



Simple because we love God we follow Gods commandments. We pray to him. We sing songs to him and about him. We attend church. Not out of obligation but out of love.
When you love God you know this, that if God never did anything else but to save us from our sin, he did more than we deserved. Goes back to when we love someone. We spend time with, we buy for, defend, the list goes on and on for someone you love. Without any tab of, now you do for me. As a result the person we are loving is at liberty to love us back without feeling obligated as there is beautiful harmony between the two, of give Love and receive Love. This is where God really gets to show off. God will never be out loved by us. 



Look at this biblical example:

·                  The prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32

In The prodigal son story. The son leaves his father. Spends all his inheritance. Realized he should have never left his Father house. On the way back home the father in the story sees him a far off and runs to him.

  And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luke 15:20kjv
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Luke 15:21-24 kjv
The rest of this story was all done due to the fathers love for the son.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
That’s God loving us way before us loving God.


Music Worship Leaders:
JW & Sharon Peck

Songs:


 



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