Sermon Notes: Who Do I Love?

I have a confession to make:  I missed church yesterday due to a bout with vertigo and also taking a bit of a stumble and fall (probably more because of my own clumsiness than the vertigo, but this time I had an excuse!)....Anyway I am going to attempt to share the sermon notes with you, thanks to my hubby writing down a few notes and giving me the basic theme of the sermon.  My apologies to the Pastor if this doesn't end up sounding anything like your message...but I pray it will be the message that God wants to go forth...

The Scripture passage for the day came from John 21:15-17.  I won't quote the whole passage here, but leave it for your reading.  However, here are the highlights of those verses from Jesus' own words to Simon Peter:

15.  "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?"...

"Feed My lambs..."

16.  "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?"...

"Tend My sheep..."

17.  "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?"...

"Feed My sheep..."

In the above verses Jesus has singled Simon Peter out from the others to ask him these questions directly...possibly for a couple of reasons...this scene takes place after Christ's resurrection from the dead, and He has appeared to His disciples on the beach,

where He prepared for them an early morning breakfast of bread and fish after their night of unsuccessful fishing (until Jesus came along on the shore and told them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat...and then they had so many fish they could barely drag them in)...

Anyway...Jesus turns His attention to Simon Peter, the one who had denied Him three times on the night of His betrayal...and He asks him three times, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Perhaps Jesus asks Peter this three times as a reminder of the three times Peter denied Him...or perhaps there is another motive in Jesus' intentions.  

You see, Peter is about to become more than just a fisherman, and more than just a follower of Jesus Christ...Peter is about to become the first minister of what will become the Body of Christ..the church...and what we are learning here is that the most important, foremost qualification for being a minister in Christ's church is to love  God.  

Jesus asks Simon Peter three times "Do you love Me?"...and then, not before, then Jesus says to him,

"Feed My lambs...Tend My sheep...Feed My sheep."

Not until Simon Peter has confessed and expressed that he loves Jesus is he given a ministry...

And so it is the same for us today...if we are to have a ministry of any kind...and this is not just for those called to become preachers...but for all of us who serve in any way in God's kingdom...the first and foremost requirement is to answer this question from Jesus, "Do you love Me?"  Because if that question is not settled in  our own hearts, then how can we truly love and minister to others?  

Our ministry to others should be based upon our love for God. When we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, then we are better prepared to love those others whom God brings into our lives.  

What did Jesus say to the young lawyer who came to Him, testing him, in Matthew 22:34-40?

37.  "Jesus said to him,

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

with all your soul, 

and with all your mind.'

38.  "This is the first and great commandment.

39.  "And the second is like it:

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

40.  "On these two commandments hang all the 

Law and the Prophets."

Lord, help me to love YOU more...give me a thirst and hunger for You and Your Presence in my life, and then, and only then, will I be prepared to love others as You lead me and guide me. I pray this in the precious Name of Jesus, Who died for me so that I might live.  Amen.

 Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given.  I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously.  Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said.  Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear...  That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts.  So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.

Sermon Notes, FUMC, Interlachen, FL, Pastor A.C. Myers, June 24, 2018

Sermon Notes: "The Look", A Mother's Day Message

Our scripture reference for Mother's Day was...you guessed it...Proverbs 31:10-31...a Portrait of the Virtuous Woman...I wonder how many churches heard a sermon based on these sames verses today? I expect most of them! But to me, it never grows old.  This Proverbs Woman is a role model for women everywhere...not just mothers...not old women, or young women...but all women everywhere...regardless of culture and nationality!

Before I get started on the message, let me say that we do appreciate your continued prayers for our pastor.  He goes by the name, "A.C.", so if you would lift up a prayer for "A.C.", God will know exactly who you mean.  He is still battling a serious illness and stands in need of our prayers...so thank you again.

We were blessed to have our Mother's Day message given by our church chaplain's wife, who is also our music and worship leader. Her message was very personal and from the heart, and God was truly glorified in the words that were spoken to us.

Being the child of a father who was an alcoholic, and a mother who worked very hard to balance home, parenting, a full time job as a chef, being a Christian role model for her daughter...and Girl Scout leader on her only day off...our speaker today could share from personal experience about walking a fine line between living in fear (of her father) and feeling loved and protected.  Her mother had to be the tough disciplinarian as well as a tender and compassionate parent.  She often only had to give her child "The Look"...and we have all experienced that "look" from our parents, haven't we?..."The Look" that says, "you'd better straighten up right away or you know what could happen!"

In reading about the Proverbs 31 woman, we can imagine that she was a woman of no nonsense, and that she probably knew very well how to give "The Look" to her children when necessary.

In the early church, there were some excellent examples of women who could demonstrate very well the attributes of the Proverbs 31 woman.

In Acts 16:13-15 we find Lydia, a 

"seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God." (vs. 14) And the scriptures say that "The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul...and when she and her household were baptized; she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay."  And so she persuaded us." (vs. 15)  

Lydia was a businesswoman, possibly the head of her household...and it took great courage in that day to step forth and have her whole household baptized into faith in Jesus Christ...and then to actually follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and the disciples.  But she was not afraid...and I have a feeling that Lydia was a role model for many women in her region and possibly led many others to Christ.  

Another marvelous example of a strong Christian "Proverbs 31" woman was Dorcas, also known as Tabitha.  We read in Acts 9:36, that Dorcas was a woman "full of good works and charitable deeds".  But Dorcas became very sick and died...and when Peter and the disciples came to Joppa, the people pleaded with him to come to see her.  (verses 37-43)  Peter did come and prayed for her, and literally raised her from the dead. Verse 42 says that "it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord."    What a powerful story! Here again is a woman who was well known for her good deeds, and God restored her life so that many were saved as a result.  I am certain that Dorcas went right back to doing her charitable deeds even more so after being touched by God in this miraculous way.

In Romans 16:1-2 we learn of another godly "Proverbs 31 Woman", Phoebe. Paul states the following: 

1. "I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea,

2. that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; 

for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also."

Oh! to have such high recommendations given by the leaders of the Church...

Even Timothy's mother and grandmother received high marks from Paul...

II Timothy 1:4-5

"Greatly desiring to see you, (Timothy), being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy,

when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also."

(Yes, even grandmothers have a powerful influence in the growth of faith of our grandchildren...)

But now we move to perhaps the finest example of a Proverbs 31 woman ever found...Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Jesus, The very Word of God (John 1:1-14), Who became flesh and dwelt among us...

Mary knew from the beginning how special her son Jesus was to the world...and yet, He was her son...and Mary was a very human mother.  We know she experienced fear...especially when she didn't know where Jesus was...read Luke 2:46-52, when 12 year old Jesus was nowhere among the travelers headed home from Jerusalem...and Mary and Joseph searched for him for three days...and we can imagine that they were getting pretty frantic.  When they finally found Jesus, He was sitting in the Temple, in the midst of the teachers (verse 46-47), both listening to them and asking them questions.  "And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers."

But His parents "were amazed; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously." Can you imagine that Mary probably gave her Son "The Look"... I mean, Mary was a normal mother, filled with fear and anxiety for the safety of her Son, and then to find Him sitting there with the teachers in the Temple for three days while they had been searching so diligently for Him...and He was rather nonchalant about why they were so concerned..."Why did you seek Me? did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?"  I can imagine  that "Look" Mary would have given Him would have been a look of exasperation mixed with relief and wonder...

Nevertheless,  the Bible says in verse 51-52:

"Then He (Jesus) went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."

Look back a moment to Luke 1:38...right after the angel had explained to Mary that she would conceive and bring forth a Son...and that He would be the Son of God...and even though Mary questioned how this could be, in verse 38 Mary said,

"Behold the maidservant of the Lord!

Let it be to me according to your word."

In Luke 1:50, in Mary's beautiful prophetic prayer she says, 

"And His (God's) mercy is on those who fear Him, from generation to generation."

Proverbs 31:30 says:

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

but a woman who FEARS the Lord, she shall be praised."

Proverbs 9:10

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"

There are also some unhealthy fears in life...our speaker had great fear of her alcoholic father. She could not respect him because of his outbursts of anger and rage, and she lived in fear of him. (However she did share that later in life she was able to forgive and love him).  However, with her mom, she did respect her, and because she knew her mother loved her, all she had to do was give her "the Look" when she had been disobedient, and she knew that "the Look" also said,

"I don't want you to do wrong. I love you so much...I want you to be safe...I would take all your pain if I could...but some things you need to learn the hard way in life...there are consequences to disobedience..."

This is the type of "fear" we should have for God...Jesus has given us these commandments in Matthew 22:37-39:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like it:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

God is watching us, and if we do wrong we do have to face the consequences for our sin, but when we ask forgiveness, He is faithful to forgive us ...and He is saying to us, "I love you so much that I gave the ultimate sacrifice for your sins...John 3:16 tells us 

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life..."

If our Mom said to do this, we'd better do it.

God gave us these commandments, and we should do them.

Those who don't know the Lord had better fear Him, because we will all have to face Him.

But when we know the amazing love of God, we have a desire to please Him and to pray for as many as possible to go to heaven....

So the question today is what kind of woman am I? Am I a woman who fears the Lord with a reverential fear....do I serve Him with all my heart?  I don't want God to have to give me "The Look" when I step out of line...but I am glad that He loves me enough, like my own mother did, to give me that LOOK of warning with love...because He does love me so much that He wants me to have everlasting life with Him...

During our closing communion time, the choir sang the following song, and as I knelt at the altar for a moment to pray, these words really gripped my heart:

VERSE 1 
You are beautiful beyond description 
Too marvelous for words 
Too wonderful for comprehension 
Like nothing ever seen or heard 
Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom? 
Who can fathom the depth of Your love? 
You are beautiful beyond description 
Majesty, enthroned above 

CHORUS 
And I stand, I stand in awe of You 
I stand, I stand in awe of You 
Holy God, to whom all praise is due 
I stand in awe of You 

VERSE 2 
You are beautiful beyond description 
Yet God crushed You for my sin 
In agony and deep affliction 
Cut off that I might enter in 
Who can grasp such tender compassion? 
Who can fathom this mercy so free? 
You are beautiful beyond description 
Lamb of God who died for me 

CHORUS 
And I stand, I stand in awe of You 
I stand, I stand in awe of You 
Holy God, to whom all praise is due 
I stand in awe of You 

I want to be a woman who stands in awe of our marvelous of God...I want to be that woman "who fears the Lord..." and to know that when God gives me "The Look", it is a look of extreme, divine Love... a love that will never let me go no matter where I wander or even if I should forget His marvelous grace...just one look will bring me back into His open arms.  How about you?

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given.  I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously.  Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said.  Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear...  That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts.  So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.

Sermon Notes from FUMC, Interlachen, FL, 5/13/2018 - Mother's Day