Sermon Notes – February 14, 2016 What Is Love?

Genesis 22

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Bible Reading Plan

2016-17 Bible Reading Plan OT, NT & Poetry: Week 7

Monday Genesis 38

Matthew 14:1-21

Psalm 29

Tuesday Genesis 39-40

Matthew 14:22-36

Psalm 30

Wednesday Genesis 41

Matthew 15:1-9

Psalm 31:1-9

Thursday Genesis 42

Matthew 15:10-28

Psalm 31:10-24

Friday Genesis 43

Matthew 15:29-16:4

Psalm 32

Discussion Questions

What are some things we risk when we choose to love?

Why is the description of Isaac in verse 2 significant?

Why did Abraham so willingly obey God’s command? What is different about this instance versus other times in his life? (See also Gen. 16:3-4; 20:2)

Why was Abraham so confident in verse 5 that he and Isaac would return? Where did this faith come from?

What is significant about the ram being provided in verse 13? How does this story fit into the overall story of the Bible?

If love is risky, what is God asking you to risk? What fear is keeping you from taking the risk?

Monday – A Risk Worth Taking By Kel Cunard

“Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love…” Genesis 22:2

Life is full of tests, moments when we must assess the risks and make a

decision. Abraham faced history's worst test. Read Genesis 22. The Lord came

to him and said, "Take your son, Isaac, the son whom you love, and offer him as

a burnt offering." Now, we must understand, human sacrifices, let alone the

sacrifice of children, were not allowed. In addition, Isaac was the product of a

promise. In their old age, the Lord had granted Abraham and Sarah a son. He

was not only a blessing to them, but God promised the world would be blessed

through him. Nevertheless, on this day, the God of the promise delivered a

heinous proposition: "Take your beloved son and sacrifice him to me."

Abraham stood at an intersection that offered risks at every turn. If he did

what God commanded, he risked devastating his wife and destroying his

marriage and any semblance of a good reputation. He would be the monster

who murdered his miraculous son. On the other hand, if he did anything other

than obey, he risked inviting the wrath of God.

We may never face such a dire decision, but we assess risk every moment of

every day. Before each action or reaction, we assess the risk of obedience

versus disobedience. We either live for the applause of heaven or the approval

of earth. In those moments, God invites us to take a test. We must risk our

comfort to share our faith with a friend. We must risk our finances to take Him at

His word and tithe a portion of our income. We must risk our plans to obey His

will. And yet, we all too often stand at the intersection of selfishness and

surrender and decide not to take a risk on God.

You cannot protect yourself from experiencing sorrow without preventing

yourself from experiencing joy. The Lord held nothing back when He sent His

Son, His only Son Jesus, whom He loves, to be our sacrificial lamb. They

experienced great sorrow so we could experience unspeakable joy. Love takes

risks, and the areas of your life you are withholding from God to protect yourself

from sorrow are preventing you from experiencing real and lasting joy.

Abraham was blessed because he was willing to place everything on the

altar. All the nations of the world have been blessed because he was willing to

give his beloved son over to God. What are you holding back? Where does the

Lord not yet have free reign in your life? The risks you never take become the

joys you never experience. So today, risk the possibility of being hurt and love

others with no conditions or restraints. Take off your mask of perfection and risk

rejection by being real with your friends and family. Risk being taken for granted

by helping others without any expectations. Get off the sidelines and risk the

consequences of taking bold actions. Embrace the risk of taking God at His

word, and obey Him at every turn. Risk it all for the One who promises it is

always a risk worth taking.

Tuesday – Laying My Isaac Down By Cathy Slusser

“Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac— and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering

on a mountain I will show you.” Genesis 22:2

In her book, When I Lay My Isaac Down: Unshakable Faith in Unthinkable

Circumstances, Carol Kent tells the story of her son’s imprisonment for

manslaughter and how his circumstances affected their family. She uses the

story of Abraham and Isaac to relate how God sometimes calls us to sacrifice

the things or people most precious to us in order to show us His power and

grace. Kent describes how we as humans try to manipulate God, to tell Him how

we think situations should be resolved and fail to see that He has a bigger plan

and purpose than we can imagine.

We also try to manipulate our fellow human beings. She says, “When we

release our grasp, our relinquishment puts a stop to our manipulation of other

people and releases the Holy Spirit to do the supernatural through the power of

prayer.” She adds, “God wants to know if we’re willing to give up what we love to

Him who loves us more. He desires for us to open our fists and trust Him with

absolutely everything.”

This book was first published in 2004 when we were struggling with a

rebellious teenager who seemed determine to tear our home and marriage

apart. As I read Kent’s book, I realized that my endless worrying and attempts to

change him and his choices were only interfering with the work that God wanted

to do in his life. I needed to stop trying to protect him from his behaviors. I

needed to let go of the tension that was affecting the rest of our household. And

I needed to put him firmly in God’s Hands and leave him there.

That was not an easy thing to do, but as Kent related, “He (God) lets me

decide if I will make laying my Isaac on the altar an act of worship, where I lift up

my heart in total trust in Him and release my grip on the object of my sacrifice.”

Kent sums up her book by stating, “God does His most stunning work where

things seem hopeless and wherever there is pain, suffering, and desperation,

Jesus is.” What happened to the boy that we fretted over for so many years?

He is a mature young adult, happily married, making good decisions and

balancing a full-time job while he returns to school. Praise God!

Reread Abraham and Isaac’s story in Genesis 22, but insert your name for

Abraham and the name of someone or something you love for Isaac’s. While

Abraham did not know how God would provide a way out of their circumstances,

he trusted God to do so. What circumstances are you in that you need to trust

God to take care of? Will you put it in His Hands today?

Wednesday – God with Us By Keith Thomas

“I have loved you with an everlasting love…” Jeremiah 31:3

Singer-songwriter, worship leader, and former President of Integrity Music,

Don Moen, won “Best Musical” at the Dove Awards in 1993 for creating the

musical God with Us. Used by churches worldwide, God with Us was the first of

three musicals Moen created that added new life to the worship experiences of

churches big and small during the mid to late 90’s. One particular song, Name

Above All Names, isn’t really a song at all but a narrative, supported with

instrumental music that leads the listener on a beautiful journey through time.

Step by step, the narrator guides you through each book of the Bible and briefly

explains how God has been revealing Jesus to us ever since the beginning of

time. The very nature and character of God’s love for us is revealed from

Genesis to Revelation by seeing the reflection of Jesus in the people and the

events throughout history. To give you an example, here’s the narrator’s script

for the first three books of the Bible:

In Genesis Jesus is the Ram at Abraham’s altar.

In Exodus He’s the Passover Lamb.

In Leviticus He’s the High Priest.

As the narrative continues to the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations, it uses

the prophet Jeremiah, the “weeping prophet,” as the comparison to Jesus. For

over 250 years, the prophets of old had been warning the people of their

impending destruction if they did not turn their hearts back to God. The people

failed to obey the warnings.

Jeremiah’s love for his own people was strong. He was wholeheartedly

committed and connected with them, and it grieved Jeremiah deeply to see his

own people break their covenant with God. His tears of sorrow, however, would

soon be replaced by tears of joy.

In Jeremiah 31:3 God gives Jeremiah hope, “…I have loved you with an

everlasting love; therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you”. Then, God

reveals his promise of a “new covenant” (vs.31), and also to, “…forgive their

iniquity, and remember their sins no more” (vs. 34). God loved his people so

much that he continued his relentless pursuit of their hearts. God’s faithfulness

will continue, and His love for us is everlasting. His pursuit of our hearts

continues today. He’s shown us since the beginning of time, and he proved it by

giving us Jesus. Read Jeremiah 31.

To see a video clip of Name Above All Names go to

www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1YJL9GXo2K

Thursday – While We Were Still ____ He Loved Us By Nick Molick

“And Jesus, looking at him, loved him …” Mark 10:21

In the story of the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-31), we see a Bible character

we can relate to all too well. And yet, we are given a short yet powerful insight

into how Jesus views us even when we are in the wrong. In full disclosure, I find

this story, and in particular this section of Mark, very poignant, powerful and

persuasive. Jesus is in the middle of setting out on the final acts of His earthly

ministry when this man races up to Him, and Jesus knows this rich young man’s

heart. Christ knows what the man values, He knows what the ruler covets, and

He knows what the powerful man seeks.

This man asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?" At one time or

another, we all struggle with this eternal question of assurance no matter where

we are in our walk with the Lord. That is right; ALL of us run into this question

and want to have a blessed assurance that leads us to a peace that surpasses

all understanding. However, we don’t always get the epiphany we desire.

Sometimes we get a perceived silence that should lead us back to opening up

God’s word and familiarizing ourselves with what our Father has told us. The

young man in this story had great power, success and wealth yet pined for

something else, something more. Does any of that sound familiar? No matter

our ranking on any of the power success and wealth scales, if we are honest

with ourselves, it does. We ALL want for something more regardless of our

station in life.

The great hope in all of this is how Christ, knowing the young man’s heart,

looked upon him and loved him. Do you hear and understand that?! He loved

him! This man was seeking something and Christ knew his heart. More

importantly Jesus knew what was hindering this man’s faith. Knowing all this, He

still loved him. Think about that, Jesus' default position towards us is love even

though He knows everything that hinders us. Christ in His wonderful and

merciful love is able to see our hearts, hurts and wants and still love us. Jesus

loves you! He loves you with a love that transcends the earthly love that is so

familiar and flawed. His love is all-knowing and yet still all-loving. This is the

model of what our love for others should be, but admittedly this will always be

something for me to aspire to. Let us thank God for His love and for His word

and for the Spirit who brings that love to life in our lives today.

Read Luke 23:34. How does the love and understanding shown by Jesus

from the cross emphasize the love He has for us? Do you need to change how

you recognize His love in order to understand the sacrifice?

Friday –Risk and Riches By Kel Cunard

“I count everything as loss…” Philippians 3:8

Love is risky. If nothing ventured means nothing gained, a life without risk is a

life without love – and that is not a life worth living.

Nevertheless, we naturally recoil from risk. We will only push past our

reluctance once we are certain the reward outweighs the risk. However, our risk

calculations are flawed. We decrease our joy and increase our sorrow when we

fail to grasp the extent of our riches. In his book The Two Advocates, pastor and

author Tim Keller reframed our risks in light of our immense riches.

Imagine you're a billionaire, and you have three ten-dollar bills in your

wallet. You get out of a cab, and you hand the driver one of the bills for an

eight-dollar fare. Later in the day you look in and find out there's only one

ten-dollar bill there, and you say, "Either I dropped a ten-dollar bill

somewhere, or I gave the taxi driver two bills."

What are you going to do? Are you going to get all upset? Are you going

to the police and demand they search the city for the cabdriver? No, you

are going to shrug. You're a billionaire. You lost ten dollars. So what? You

are too rich to be concerned about that kind of loss.

This week, somebody criticized you. Something you bought or invested

in turned out to be less valuable than you thought. Something you wanted

to happen didn't go the way you wanted it to—these are real losses. But

what are you going to do, if you're a Christian? Will this setback disrupt

your contentment with life? Will you shake your fist at God? Toss and turn

at night? If so, I submit that it's because you don't know how truly rich you

are. If you're that upset about your status with other people, if you're

constantly lashing out at people for hurting your feelings, you might call it a

lack of self-control or a lack of self-esteem, and it is. But more

fundamentally, you have totally lost touch with your identity. As a Christian,

you're a spiritual billionaire, and you're wringing your hands over ten

dollars.

Do the riches that are yours in Christ figure into your risk assessments? Do

you believe you are a spiritual billionaire? Our spiritual health is measured by

the risks we will make for God. Likewise, our spiritual infirmity is determined by

what we are unwilling to risk. Read Philippians 3:7-11.

Love is always risky, but we will never surpass God's great risks on our

behalf. Out of His steadfast love for us, our Heavenly Father sacrificed His only

Son to die in our place. Because of His great risk, we have the unbelievable

reward of being unconditionally loved by our Creator. Any risk you take for

Christ will never lead to loss. In light of your riches in Jesus Christ, giving any

aspect of your life over to God is well worth the risk.

Weekend – Blindsided By Kel Cunard

“Noah drank of the wine and became drunk…” Genesis 9:21

On February 7, nearly 112 million people tuned in to watch Super Bowl 50.

The largely defensive battle saw the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos

combine for two interceptions, seven forced fumbles and twelve sacks – the

most in Super Bowl history. The quarterbacks, Cam Newton and Peyton

Manning, had to pick themselves up off the turf time and time again, and on

more than one occasion, they never knew what hit them.

When a quarterback drops back to pass, he pivots his body toward his

dominant arm. Proper throwing mechanics require this maneuver, but it comes

at a cost. Once his head and shoulders turn, he can no longer see what's

coming behind him. The quarterback must rely on his offensive linemen to

protect his blindside. As the Carolina Panthers can attest, being blindsided can

cost you a championship.

Sin often blindsides us. We never intended to end up face-down in the dirt,

but sin caught us off guard. In fact, some of our greatest defeats have come on

the heels of our greatest victories. Over the next few weeks, we will explore the

lives of people who let down their guards and were blindsided by the

consequences of unexpected sin. In preparation for this weekend's sermon,

read Genesis 9:20-28.

Pray for the World: Bhutan The Kingdom of Bhutan lies in the eastern Himalayan Mountains between India and China. Bhutan is a land of monasteries, ancient fortresses and dramatic landscapes. Only two percent of the primarily Buddhist nation are Evangelical Christians. Some challenges to remember in prayer are:

The Tibetan/Himalayan peoples comprise the majority population. They are

strongly Buddhist, and Christians among them number only a few hundred. These scattered believers are limited to small fellowships at best; most have faced varying degrees of persecution or social ostracism. Among the five largest peoples (Dzongkha, Tshangla, Lepcha, Kheng, Gurung), only the Lepcha have any significant Christian population. Pray for the emergence of a vital witnessing fellowship in every ethnic group of the Bhutanese.

The Nepali population has suffered what amounts to ethnic cleansing since

1990. The Buddhist Bhutanese majority has suppressed Nepali culture and language and even allowed violence against people and property in the course of expelling up to 150,000 Nepali Bhutanese. The vast majority of these huddle in meagre UN refugee camps in southeast Nepal, though some emigrate to Western nations. In these camps, several dozen informal Christian fellowships have formed among those who have found faith, and the number of believers is growing. Pray that the compassion of Jesus might be demonstrated to these displaced people.

Prepare for Worship As you prepare your heart for worship on Sunday morning read Psalm 102 and thank the Lord for never hiding His face from us. He always hears our cries.