Monday, November 28, 2011

"The Gracious Deeds of the Lord"
Isaiah 63:7-9
Second Sunday of Advent- 12/4/11

Introduction: As December has come upon us do you find yourself busy with the business of Christmas? We talk about Christmas Joy, but it seems hard to be joyful when you are so busy with all that the Christmas season requires. This season is supposed to be joyous, but is often overwhelming. It can be a challenge in our world to remember that Christmas is really about the birth of Jesus Christ. That is why it is good to come to church, so that we might talk about and remember why Jesus came here to earth. In the birth of Jesus Christ, we remember that Jesus came to be with His people; to love them and to be an example for them. But even more, Jesus came to bring joy to those who were suffering and lost by becoming their savior. Jesus knew what He was here to do, and what was going to be coming His way. This morning I want to talk about how joy comes to us because Jesus came to suffer on our behalf. What Jesus did was gracious on our behalf!

I. Jesus the Sufferer- (Matt. 2:13-15; Heb. 2:10-13, 18;

1 Peter 1:6-7; Mark 14:34-36)

a. The hardship of suffering- So, let’s first look at Jesus’ role as a

sufferer. You would think that when God the Son chose to take on flesh, and come into the world, it would be a wonderful experience. He was coming to dwell among His people. But this isn’t how it was. Jesus didn’t have a soft, cushy, easy life. From the very beginning, it was challenging, and there was suffering.

It started when Mary, Jesus’ mother, had to give birth to Jesus in a stable. This was not the place anyone would expect the Son of God to be born. Why not a palace? Why not in a safe and protected setting? Because Jesus was born to suffer on our behalf, and to show us that in life there is suffering.

Think for a moment about the stress of Jesus’ life; the travel to Bethlehem, the birth in a stable, and then having to travel to Egypt.

1. Why did they have to go to Egypt? Well, Jesus’ life was in danger the moment King Herod heard about Jesus. Herod heard that Jesus was the answer to the prophecy about the birth of a savior. Egypt was outside of Herod’s jurisdiction, so God led Mary and Joseph to Egypt. More traveling; more danger; more stress; more worry. We read about it in Matt. 2:13-15, “When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." 14So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son.”

2. Galilee- Mary, Joseph and Jesus stayed in Egypt until Herod’s death in 4 b.c. After Herod’s death, Joseph again received a message from God through a dream. Matthew 2:19-23, “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead." 21So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’”

WHAT A FIRST FEW YEARS JESUS HAD: ONE OF

STRUGGLE, HARDSHIP, TRAVEL, AND DANGER.

However, if we remember how Jesus suffered, and that God was there to watch over Him and protect Him, then, maybe we will accept the suffering of our own lives and know that God is there to watch over us and protect us. To bring us joy in the midst of our suffering.

b. Made perfect through suffering- In Hebrews 2:10 we read, “In

bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” We read these words together, “perfect,” and “suffering,” and it doesn’t make sense. How can suffering cause one to become perfect?

Think about a pearl. Pearls are formed inside the shell of certain bivalve mollusks. As a response to an irritant inside its shell, the mollusk creates a pearl to seal off the irritation. Pearls are formed by the suffering of irritation.

Or how about gold? Gold is refined in a hot fire to burn away its impurities. The suffering of the heat causes the gold to be more perfect. As we are told in

1 Peter 1:6-7, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Sometimes our suffering leads us in a new direction. Sometimes our suffering gives us new insight. Sometimes our suffering teaches us an important lesson. But if we allow God to be there with us, and we seek to persevere, suffering always makes us stronger. We can be joyful about this!

God allowed Jesus to suffer so that all could be saved. But Christ’s suffering also gave Him a more complete understanding of what we experience when we suffer. In this way, Christ is here for us in our time of suffering.

c. Suffering helps us in our temptation- The book of Hebrews also reminds us that Christ suffered in the temptations that He faced. In the Gospels, we read about the distress that Jesus was in, when He faced His temptation of not going through with the crucifixion. Mark 14:34 (Jesus tells the disciples as He goes off to pray alone)- “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” And then in Mark 14:36 we hear Jesus praying: “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me./ Yet, not what I will, but what You will.”

Do you hear the struggle? Do you hear the distress? There in the garden, the Bible tells us that Jesus sweated blood as He agonized over this decision. We read of its affect on us, in Hebrews 2:18- “Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Have you ever tried to help someone who was struggling, but found it difficult because you couldn’t relate to what they were going through? This is not the case with Jesus. Jesus has been there; He has experienced temptation. He knows what you and I are going through when we suffer in our temptations. And He is here to help! In the midst of our weakness, we have One who is strong, and who can make us strong.

II. Jesus the Savior- (Hebrews 2:14-17; Isaiah 63:7-9)

a. Redeemed by Jesus- So we come to understand that there is a

reason that Jesus went through this suffering, and why He chose to come here and be with us. The reason is so that He could be our Savior. Hebrews 2:17 tells us, “…that He might make atonement for the sins of the people.” And Isaiah 63:9 says: “…In His love and mercy He redeemed them.”

EX. “A Picture of Atonement,” p. 34, Illustrations Unlimited, #1.

Think about a one-room school house, in a time where severe discipline was used, to keep students from getting rowdy, and to keep students in check. It was just after lunch and the teacher was interrogating the class about the disappearance of Sally Jane’s lunch. A small cry was heard; it was little Billy; a thin, undernourished boy. His family was the poorest of the poor. “Did you take Sally Jane’s lunch?” demanded the teacher. “Yes, sir,” Billy struggled to say through his tears. “I was hungry.” “That is no excuse,” replied the teacher. “You stole the lunch, you must be punished.” The teacher ordered Billy to the front of the room as he went to get the leather strap. Billy’s shirt was removed, but just before the teacher hit Billy a shout came from the back of the room. “HOLD IT TEACHER. LET ME TAKE THE WHIPPIN’ FOR HIM.” This comment came from big Jim. The teacher reluctantly consented. So big Jim took the whipping, and Billy never forgot it.

ATONEMENT is the sacrifice that Jesus made to free the people from the penalty of our sins. REDEMPTION is buying a slave out of their slavery. So in our case, Jesus’ sacrifice paid the penalty for our sins and bought us out of our slavery from sin. Without Christ, we would be forever slaves to our sinful nature. And just as Billy remembered what big Jim did for him, so we should never forget what Jesus Christ did to pay the price for our sins.

b. Jesus lifts us up- But Jesus goes even further than that, as the

Scriptures tells us in Isaiah 63:9- “…He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”/ As our savior, He doesn’t just take care of our punishment for us, He also carries us throughout our life. EX. If you have ever tried to climb a rock climbing wall, you know how challenging it is to move from one small rock to the next. You know how difficult it is to keep your footing and keep hold of the rocks as you slowly move up, and as you take the time to decide where to move your hands next, and where to move your feet next, all the while hanging there and getting tired. Yet when you slip and fall you don’t fall very far because you are attached to a harness and secured by the Guide. And so even if you make it up almost to the top, because you were saved by the guide, you give thanks to the guide who kept you secure. Then you can swing back to the wall, and continue on in the climb.

That is what Jesus does for us. Jesus is our GUIDE, here for us to help us when we fall, and to lift us up when we stumble, and to carry us when we are too weak and tired.

We should never speak of Christ/ His purpose, His mission, without thinking about how we should respond. To talk about it without responding to it, is merely information without action; reason without purpose. SO, what should our response be?

Our response is not only to be grateful, but it should also be one of action as well. Most of all, our response of action should be to talk to people about Jesus, the One who has come to make a difference here in our lives; the One who makes a difference in this world. We should be telling others of His love, mercy, and sacrifice. We should tell them how Jesus came to suffer and be tempted, so that we could have One who is able to help us in every way. One who can bring us joy in all situations! We should tell people that Jesus is the One who has made it possible for us to live eternally with God in heaven.

I’m not here today just to tell you about what Jesus did. I want this message to impact your life. I want you to know that Jesus loves you so much that He did allow Himself to suffer and be tempted and to struggle. Jesus wanted to provide a way for us to experience the joy of this life, and the joy of our life in heaven. Without Jesus we could not experience any of this.

Conclusion: You might wonder why I am talking about Jesus’ suffering and temptation. How does this fit with the Advent season? Well, even before Jesus was to be born, God made a plan for all this to take place. Advent is a time to remember who God is, how He came into the world in the person of Jesus Christ, and why He came into this world.

Illus. “Legend of the Taj Majal,” The Applause of Heaven, by Max Lucado, p. 131.

There is a story of the legend of the Taj Mahal. The story goes like this: the favorite wife of the emperor Shah Jahan died. The emperor was devastated at this loss, and so he resolved to honor her by building a temple that would serve as her tomb. Her coffin was placed at the center of where the tomb was to be constructed, and the temple was begun around it. The place was to be magnificent, no expense spared. Weeks turned into months, and the Shah’s grief was replaced by a passion for the project. It no longer was about being a memorial to his wife, but it was about the magnificence of the temple. One day while walking the site, his leg bumped into a wooden box. Angry that he had been injured by this box, he ordered for the box to be thrown out; the box of his dead wife’s coffin. The one, who was to be honored, had been forgotten.

Does this sound familiar? Do we remember that Jesus is the reason why Christmas exists? Do we worship Him as He deserves? Do we allow His gracious deeds to bring us joy? Today is the Sunday of Joy, the day to remember the Joy we receive because Christ was born. Because of Christ’s existence, He suffered so that we might have Joy. The Joy of Christmas is in honoring the One who is here for us. Let us never fail to do this. Let us give ourselves over to Christ, and to His deeds, this day and forever. Amen.

Monday, November 21, 2011

"Hope is Found in Jesus"
Luke 5:1-11
First Sunday of Advent, Sunday of Hope, 11/27/11

Introduction: I have said this many times, but Advent season is my favorite season of the year. This is because it is a time when people seem to be more open to who Jesus is. People seem to want to experience God in a deeper way. The Advent season consists of the Sundays of hope, joy, love and peace, and concludes with Christmas Eve when we remember the birth of Jesus Christ.

The text we are looking at today is not your typical Advent text. It is not a text about Jesus’ birth, or the angels, or the wise men, or even Mary and Joseph. But it is about hope: how hope is found in Jesus. On this first Sunday of Advent, I want us to have a clear understanding that hope for this life, and in the life to come is only found in Jesus Christ. This is the reason that Jesus came into this world, to bring us hope. This is the reason why Jesus has called us to Himself, to give us hope.

I. The Word of God Spoken- (Luke 5:1-11; John 6:64-69)

a. The hearing of the word of God- Our scripture passage opens up

with Jesus by the Lake of Gennesaret. Jesus is teaching the word of God, and they were so enthralled by what He was teaching that they began to crowd around Him. Jesus realized that He didn’t have much space and wanted to find a way to separate Himself from the people, so He goes over to the boats on the shore. He gets in one of the boats and asks Simon to put the boat out a little ways. Now with newfound freedom He teaches the people.

It is interesting to see how the word of God was so stimulating to the people. I’m sure some of it was the charisma of Jesus and how He taught it, but God’s word is indeed captivating. This is because it is the Word that changes lives. It is the Word that challenges people’s thinking. It is the Word that brings hope to the hopeless. It is the truth of God!!

After Jesus is done teaching the people He decides He is going to teach the disciples. Jesus is going to use an object lesson to teach them. He has them put out for the deep water so they can let out the nets and do some fishing. Now you need to know that at this point the disciples have been fishing all day and haven’t caught anything, so they aren’t too excited about doing more fishing. They are tired and frustrated, and they probably just want to go home.

b. The Gospels reveal three types of disciples- Using this passage and

one from John chapter 6, we can see that there are three kinds of disciples, or followers of Jesus. This is important for us, because the truth is: hope is only found in those who truly seek Jesus. Those who walk away from Jesus walk away from hope. Those who can’t stay on the path Jesus sets cannot stay on the path of hope.

The first kind of disciple is the CURIOUS. We can see an example of this in the gospel of John, chapter 6, verses 64-66 “‘Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.’ 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.’” We see in this passage that there were people who came to hear Jesus speak. They were curious about who He was and what He was teaching. They even followed for a while. But Jesus knew that they didn’t really believe in what He was teaching. These people who were curious, were not true followers. They were not willing to commit to Jesus, and when the call for commitment got too great, they stopped following.

The second kind of disciple is the CONVINCED. We can learn about the convinced in John 6:67-69, “‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’” Jesus knew that when some walked away from Him, it would cause others to question their commitment. People tend to be followers of others, and so some were thinking about leaving too. But when hit with the question, ‘You do not want to leave too, do you? The twelve reflected on what they should do. In the end they realized that Jesus did have words of eternal life; words of hope!

The third kind of disciple is the COMMITTED. It takes more than being convinced in your mind that Jesus has words of eternal life, to be a true disciple, because ultimately Jesus will ask for commitment. Jesus will ask us to follow Him, and He will expect that we will be willing to do whatever it takes to follow Him. At this point, some who think they are convinced will not take that last step of commitment.

It is this last group that make up the true disciples of Jesus. Some estimate that in the beginning there were only 100-120 who were part of this last group. Of course we know about the 12 disciples, but there were others who followed Jesus faithfully. The 12 were the ones Jesus spent the most time with and spent the most time teaching.

So which group do you fall into? The curious? The convinced? OR are you willing to make the full commitment and receive the hope of God by being a true disciple? Are you willing to be like the people we read about in Luke 5:11, “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him”?

II. The Power of God Demonstrated-

a. God uses the ordinary things of life- Of course we know that Jesus

continued on in His ministry; continued on in His teaching. One of the keys to Jesus’ ministry was showing the power of God. One way that Jesus showed the power of God was using ordinary things and ordinary people. Jesus placed mud on a blind mans eyes and healed him. Jesus fed over 5,000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread. Jesus changed the life of a woman who had lived a sinful and then used her to share the truth of God with others. Jesus uses the ordinary things of life to show how powerful God is. God can work in and through you and me. God can use whatever resources we have to exhibit His power!

The problem is the more intelligent and/or capable we are, the more we try and solve our own problems. We try to do things on our own, forsaking God. Sometimes we might succeed, somewhat. Ultimately, we will not succeed. When things don’t work out, and we have nowhere else to go, we lose hope.

We see this in our passage, where Jesus turns failure into success. The disciples had failed to catch fish. They had fished all day, they had come up empty, but Jesus takes them back out and they catch so much fish that they can’t contain it all in their nets!

I have seen this all the time, people who come to me without hope. They have forgotten that God is there, or think that God no longer cares. They have stopped giving themselves over to God. They have walked away from the commitment it takes for God to work His power in their lives. And now they tell me they have no hope. All it takes is to turn back to God, and hope will be found; God’s power will be seen!

b. God’s miraculous results are only realized as we obey- This is

because it takes obedience to be a part of God’s power. It takes obedience to be on the path of hope. We have to seek out what God is doing, and then join in. God wants us to join in and be part of the ministry of the Kingdom.

In verses 4 and 5 we see how Simon didn’t want to fish more, didn’t think there were fish to be caught, be he was obedient just the same. Because he was obedient and put the nets into the water, he saw the power of Jesus at work. Simon realized that the catching of fish was a great miracle, and this was seen because of Simon’s obedience.

My children all the time think they know what is good and what is bad; what is true and what is false; what is right and what is wrong. They have limited perspective, since their perspective is often a perspective of what they think is best for them. They fail to take into account information they might not know. They fail to take into account the repercussions of their choices.

We are often the same with God. We think we know how things will turn out, not taking into account the power of God at work; the wisdom of God at work; the will of God at work. When we give ourselves over to God through obedience, then God’s results WILL ALWAYS exceed our expectations. There is great hope in this!

III. The Presence of God Experienced- (Luke 5:8-10)

a. His presence bring awareness of sin- When I talk about sin, many

people are not excited about this. This is because most people don’t want to think about their sin much. Last week I talked about how our generation tries to downplay sin, even going so far as saying that the wrong they do, isn’t wrong; it’s relative. But if we want to talk about hope we have to talk about sin, because as long as we live in sin we will not experience the presence of God. Without God’s presence in our lives, we have no hope.

God’s presence brings awareness of sin because we see in God what it means to be holy. As we compare ourselves to Jesus we see that we do fall short. This is what happened with Simon Peter in Luke 5:8. We read again, “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’” Simon Peter recognized his sin, as he doubted Jesus. Once he saw all the fish, he was convicted of his sin as he saw the glory of God in the event.

People react to God’s presence in one of two ways: either they are embarrassed by their guilt and turn away from God, or they are convicted of their sin, confess their sin, and are forgiven of their sin. Don’t you see how hope is at work in the awareness and confession of sin?

b. His voice calms all fear- Jesus doesn’t leave us in our sin, nor does

He leave us in our fear. When we have lost hope we tend to get fearful. We are fearful of our future. We are fearful of the outcome of some event. We are fearful that we are lost.

The disciples were fearful of what Jesus had done. In Verses 9-10 it says: “…For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.” They couldn’t believe what Jesus had done. They couldn’t believe all the fish they were seeing. It caused them to feel fear. Who is this man? What is He capable of doing? He possesses such great power…… They were fearful.

When we trust and obey, Jesus will not leave us fearful. When we turn to God, we will not experience fear, but the calming of Jesus’ voice. “Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’” Jesus was in essence telling them that this was all just a lesson. As Jesus had taught the people on the shore, now Jesus was teaching the disciples. He was just doing it through an object lesson; the lesson of catching fish. Then He shows the disciples how they will do greater things than catching fish, they will catch people for the Kingdom of God!

c. His claim requires complete commitment- We see in the Bible,

time and time again, Jesus wants complete commitment. It doesn’t work any other way. If you are kind of committed to Jesus, there will be times when you choose to do what you want to do, and not what God wants you to do. How can you be a follower of someone you only follow sometimes?

I have told you about how I love to mentor people one-on-one. I love this because it allows me to help people walk forward in their being a disciple of Christ. It allows me to help people discern God’s will for their lives. But there have been times when I thought someone was on the verge of a breakthrough, only to see them fall back into their old patterns of living. They stopped being committed to Christ and started making their own choices.

This doesn’t work. God loves you too much to force you to do anything. If you don’t choose Him, then He will allow you to forge your own path. But don’t be surprised when you feel a lack of hope in your life!

Conclusion: We see in this passage in Luke 5 the message of hope. The disciples didn’t think there was any hope of catching any fish. They had fished all day and not caught anything, so they were sure they wouldn’t catch any fish when Jesus told them to drop the nets. Yet, when they obeyed, they caught more fish than they had ever caught before.

Hope is found in believing beyond what we think we know! Hope is found in being obedient to God, trusting that God will lead us where we need to go. Hope is found in knowing that God’s power can and will work in and through our lives. So I hope this day you would be more than curious of Jesus, even more than convinced, but you would be committed. You will see your hope turn into promise, which will be seen in God doing miracles all around you. Amen.

Monday, November 14, 2011

"Your Favorite Disney Movie"
Series: My Most Popular Blogs
1 John 4:7-12
Sunday, November 20, 2011

Introduction: If you don’t know what a blog is, a blog is a type of website or part of a website that is supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. People use blogs for many different reasons: some use it to chronicle what is going on with their kids. Others use it to share thoughts and ideas. I use it to post thoughts on different topics. It gives me another avenue to share God’s word and God’s truth with others.

I have been blogging now for over 4 years and have enjoyed this opportunity to express my thoughts. The last year or so I have blogged with others. What I mean by this is there has been a topic on which several people blog independently. The people involved all share blog ideas, and then we put them in an order and blog on one per week.

Back in May of this year the topic was ‘Your Favorite Disney Movie.’ As I looked at this topic I wondered if I wanted to take the time to write a blog on this. I wasn’t sure what I could say about this that had any relevance to people’s lives. I figured that if I was going to take my time to construct a blog, then I wanted it to have relevance.

In the end I did choose to blog on it, and to my surprise I not only got many ‘hits’ on my blogsite, but I also received a number of comments from it. People seemed to really relate to this topic and the themes in the Disney movies. So, this morning I would like to share some thoughts for you that came from this idea of ‘Your Favorite Disney Movie.’

I. The Movies I Like-

As I thought about this topic I wanted to make sure that I had a good

understanding of all the movies Disney had done. I realized that there were some movies I might think are Disney, and maybe they aren’t, and there were some that I might not realize are Disney movies and are. This is because when you think of Disney movies you usually think about animated movies, but Disney has produced many non-animated movies as well.

I did some investigating, and I found that Disney started making movies in 1937. The first movie they made was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In making this movie they set the bar for imagination and creativity, which is what Walt Disney desired for all that was associated with Disney productions. Disney set the standard for movies that entertain both kids and adults alike.

As I was thinking about the many Disney movies, I started to wonder which one I would choose as my favorite. So I went online and pulled up a list of all the Disney movies. There are so many good ones, that I found it difficult to choose. So I decided to not just choose one, but to list several. Here is my list of animated movies that I love the most: Pinocchio (made in 1940), The Jungle Book (1967), and Toy Story (1995).

While it could definitely be argued that all of the Disney movies are of high quality and entertainment, there is something about these three that stand out to me. I enjoy the music in each. I enjoy the characters. I enjoy the story line. In some way these movies just capture my attention more than the others and I just have fun watching them. They are movies I could watch over and over again.

I also like several non-animated movies made by Disney: National Treasure (2004), The Chronicles of Narnia series (2005, 2008, 2011), and Bridge to Terebithia (2007). Without going into great detail about all these movies, what I like best is how you can be drawn into a world of adventure and fun, but also experience the reality of conflict and resolution. In each movie, in their own unique way, they teach us about friendship, love, and sticking together. They challenge us with the idea that life should and can be enjoyed.

I am so glad that Disney decided to venture into the animated movie business, because there is so much that can happen in animation. I am also captivated by how these movies were put together literally one drawing at a time!! I have one of the drawings from The Jungle Book framed and sitting on my desk. Imagine how many drawings it took to make these movies. And now with computers the possibilities are endless.

II. The Message of Love- (1 John 4:7-12; John 3:16; Deuteronomy 7:7-8;

Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21-22; Romans 3:23)

a. Love- An overriding theme in all of the Disney movies, is love. We

see in the movies how love helps to conquer all situations. For example, in Pinocchio you have the puppet maker Geppetto who creates Pinocchio one day. Geppetto wishes to be a father and begins to hope that Pinocchio could become a real boy. A Blue Fairy hears Geppetto’s wish and turns Pinocchio into a wooden boy. Geppetto loves him just the same…. However, there is a catch. The fairy tells Pinocchio that if he wants to become a real boy of flesh and blood he must prove himself to be brave, truthful, and unselfish and able to tell right from wrong by listening to his conscience. Geppetto believes that Pinocchio needs an education and so he sends him to school. Pinocchio never makes it to school as two con artists meet him along the way and sell him to the owner of a puppet show…. The movie goes along with Pinocchio getting into all kinds of trouble. Geppetto, because of his great love for Pinocchio doesn’t give up on Pinocchio but goes searching for him. In the process he gets swallowed by a whale. Somehow Pinocchio ends up in the same whale. Pinocchio risks his life to save Geppetto, and in the end, because of their love for each other, the Blue Fairy makes Pinocchio a real boy!!

This message of love is one that is seen in every Disney movie. The message is that love is powerful; love is the overarching power of life and relationships. With love, and in love, and by love all things are possible. Without love there is darkness, as the evil characters in the movies are devoid of love. These evil characters try to take away the loved ones from the main characters. They try and keep them from experiencing the love they so desire and seek after.

If I were to caution you at all about the movies, it is that the love that is demonstrated is a humanly love, not a godly love. While there is great sacrifice shown in the movies, it still comes from the heart, and being of the person sharing the love. It is important to note that on our own, our love is frail and weak. Without the Lord we cannot love others as we need to love. Our human love is conditional and prone to change.

While it might seem that the love displayed in these movies is all-sufficient, we know that these are fairy tale stories, and they fail to point out the insufficiency of our love shown to each other. Anyone who has loved, and been loved, knows that there are times when the one whom we love lets us down, disappoints us, and/or leaves us in the midst of our loving them!

b. God’s love- So let me take a few moments to expand on this theme

of the power of love. In 1 John 4:8 we are told, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” We are told that God is love. Love is not just part of God’s make-up, it is at the core of His being. Love is what caused God to create human beings, so He could be in a relationship with us. Love is what led God to give up His Son, Jesus Christ, to death on a cross. You know the verse so well, but let me share it with you again: John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

You could read this verse over and over again, and never take in the full meaning and result. As you read it over slowly, you take in the fact that God is not a angry, condemning God. God is a God of love! He isn’t a God caught up in declarations, rules or edicts. He is a God of love. So much so that He gave His only Son for us. WHY? So that All who believe in Him would not perish. He loved us so much that He made sure that He did everything He could do to ensure us that we could spend eternity with Him!!!

How does God really love us? That is best answered by reading 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, the great chapter on love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails…”

God is patient with us, honoring of us, trusting of us, hoping in us, persevering with us. God’s love will never fail us!! There is no other kind of love like this. The only love that comes close is fairy tale love.

Think about this: in the midst of our defiance, our constantly turning away from God, our hard-heartedness, God still loves us. God loves a hard-hearted, stiff-necked world. We stick our noses where it shouldn’t be, and yet God still pursues. We run from the one who can help, but He doesn’t give up. HE LOVES. He pursues. He persists.

When it comes to God, we don’t have to worry. Because “God so loved the world…

LOVE. Unfortunately, we have worn out this word. I can tell my wife I love her, and then in the next sentence say that I love my breakfast. Deuteronomy 7:7-8 tells us: “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” WHY DOES GOD LOVE US? Because He created us, and chose us to be His children.

c. The love we are to have- Going back to 1 John, chapter 4, verse 7,

it says: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” We are told to love. Since I just explained to you God’s love, we should be able to understand the kind of love we are to show one another. We are called to love like God has loved us. As I share my love with my children, I then expect them to love others in this way. I love them because of who they are to me, but I also love them so that they will learn how to love others.

Some people don’t think that much about love: God’s or their own. They don’t think that they struggle to love as God loves. They have trouble understanding the significance and need for Jesus’ death. But let’s think about this for a moment:

Jeremiah 17:9- “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”

Mark 7:21-22, “For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual

immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.” Romans 3:10-11, “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.’”

Romans 3:23- “For all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory."

It is disturbing to see how this generation is oddly silent about sin. There is a new philosophy out there that believes in moral relativism. What this says is that everything is relative, and so things are only wrong if I deem them to be wrong. There is no ultimate right and wrong.

This leads to a great problem when it comes to love. If all things are relative, then how I love others is relative also. If I choose to “love” you one day, and not love you another day, that is okay, because it is okay for me. This is not only far from fairy tale love, but even farther away from God’s love and how we have been created to love.

The power of love is that it gives us strength, and hope and purpose. Love is what leads us past our struggles and gives us the reason to believe in a better life and a better world. Love is how we are empowered to excel and thrive in this life.

Conclusion: I’ve gotten away from Disney movies, but not totally. The point I’m trying to make is that Disney movies are full of loving others with a pure and deep kind of love. In these movies we see that love is what empowers the main characters. Without love these main characters would lack strength and motivation. Their purpose for doing what they do comes from love.

I mentioned how others shared their thoughts about their favorite Disney movies. Let me share a couple with you. One person says: “I like Mary Poppins because she is strong & it is about family & love. I also like Cinderella because what she believes in good and pure.” Another person says: “I think Pollyana is my all-time favorite Disney film. Every emotion was portrayed in the film, but LOVE won out. It was clean, funny, sad; a great love story. She won the whole town over and made everyone "glad;" a new thing for their town.” Love won out!

We too need to have the kind of love that gives us strength, and motivation, and purpose. This can only come to us by our first being loved by God, and then taking this love with which we are filled and passing it on to others. Listen to this powerful verse from 1 John 4:12, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” When God lives in us, His love will live in us, and we will love in a way where others see God. Amen.