WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.160 It's no surprise that on the front of our Giving 2020 there were red hearts on the hands because 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:14.380 very much the subject about giving and loving is intrinsically linked because of that love 00:00:14.380 --> 00:00:20.660 that we seek to share. And it's very much part of the deepening discipleship of us at Christchurch, 00:00:20.660 --> 00:00:26.140 that sense of a deepening in love in our discipleship to know it's just not about us, 00:00:26.140 --> 00:00:34.320 but Jesus' command is to go and love one another. Many years ago, and it's going back some time now, 00:00:34.620 --> 00:00:38.620 there was a conference at Mindhead. It was called Bringing Home the Prodigals. Some of us were 00:00:38.620 --> 00:00:45.960 there. And Rob Parsons talked about this real passion that he had. And really, I walked away 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:51.380 with this passion about seeing people know the love of God and come into relationship with him. 00:00:51.380 --> 00:00:59.680 And he told a story. In a village near here is a large old house. An elderly lady lives there alone. 00:00:59.980 --> 00:01:09.359 And every night, as darkness falls, she puts a light on in the attic. Her son left home 25 years ago. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:17.460 And like the prodigal in the parable, she has never given up the hope that one day he will come home. 00:01:17.459 --> 00:01:25.039 We all know the house well. We all know that house. And although the bulb must occasionally need 00:01:25.039 --> 00:01:32.419 replacing, none of us have ever seen that house without a light on. It is for her son. 00:01:34.219 --> 00:01:43.199 I think it's a powerful picture of God's love that just keeps shining in the darkness for those of us, 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:49.540 many of us who maybe have been prodigals in our life, who have wandered away, who have wandered away, 00:01:49.659 --> 00:01:56.200 but know that there is a way back, that they know that God is waiting to welcome them in his love. 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:03.700 So it is the first part of our four-part gospel. And maybe you have prayed, maybe you have wept, 00:02:03.700 --> 00:02:11.400 maybe you have prayed for those who you long to see to come into relationship with Jesus. 00:02:12.580 --> 00:02:19.360 And I want to encourage you this morning to persevere with that, to persevere with that sense of love, 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:25.719 because that's us here. Yeah, I'd love to come back. Maybe there may be people here, 00:02:25.819 --> 00:02:30.960 maybe people listening to this podcast that would say, I would love to come back. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:39.540 It's to know, as Rob Parson said, is when the Father's house is full of the Father's love, 00:02:40.260 --> 00:02:46.980 the prodigals will come home. When the Father's house is full of the Father's love, 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:55.819 the prodigals will come home. It's our responsibility to be a place and a people in whatever setting we are, 00:02:55.819 --> 00:03:04.659 to be that place of welcome, of God's heart and God's love, to overflow. Nicky Gumbel tells a story of, 00:03:05.340 --> 00:03:12.400 in the Welsh revivals of two Welsh ministers, and they would walk on the hills praying, 00:03:12.579 --> 00:03:17.579 and they would pray for opportunities to meet with people. And they met with a shepherd boy. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:23.979 The shepherd boy couldn't read, he couldn't write, but what he did know is he loved his sheep. 00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:32.339 He loved them, cared for them. That was his responsibility. And they drew him and conversations 00:03:32.339 --> 00:03:39.039 with him every time they met. And they taught him the 23rd Psalm by using his fingers, 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:51.039 the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. And taught him that as he prayed, that he should hold 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:57.479 on to that finger as he prayed, to know that Jesus was his saviour. He came to faith on the hills. 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:04.840 It was about two years later, there had been a very hard winter, and the ministers had gone walking 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:09.859 on the hills in the spring, and they looked for the shepherd boy. They couldn't find him. 00:04:11.099 --> 00:04:17.100 And so they went to the village nearby, and they found his mother, who told them that in that hard 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:23.939 winter that he had died, that they had found him in a snowdrift with his sheep underneath him, 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:30.939 holding him. And she said, there's one thing, there's one thing I don't understand, 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:40.840 that when they found him, he was holding on to the finger of his hand. The Lord is my shepherd. 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:48.579 I think there are many of us that need to know that deep sense of God's love in our life again 00:04:48.579 --> 00:04:56.599 and again, to know how that overflows out into our everyday, and how we share that. And I could 00:04:56.599 --> 00:05:02.659 teach you the six great Greek words for love, and it would make me look very clever and very theological, 00:05:02.660 --> 00:05:10.660 but there's nothing wrong about heart knowledge. To be in our heart along with the Lord's, to know 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:15.860 those that he is seeking to reach, to know that he loves us too. And many here will know that deep 00:05:15.860 --> 00:05:22.160 nature of love, of God's personal love in us and through us. This is a call of God into a deep, 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:27.200 deep, deep, meaningful relationship to share with others. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:32.699 That love that impacts into so many people's lives. 00:05:34.500 --> 00:05:38.399 We've just said farewell to our children as they go to their groups and they'll come back. 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:44.659 I remember years ago leaving church with my five-year-old son, and I think we had to go and 00:05:44.659 --> 00:05:51.000 pick up something at Tesco's on the way through. And Mar was obviously full of the Lord that day, 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:59.120 and he went to a guy who was choosing a bottle of wine off there. And the conversation went something 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:09.259 like this. What are you doing? I'm buying a bottle of wine. Why? We're having a party. 00:06:10.740 --> 00:06:14.300 Did you know that Jesus turned water into wine? 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:25.400 There was a silence as the man stared at his bottle. There was an uncomfortable shuffling, 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:36.699 followed by a word that says, do you love Jesus? There was even more shuffling whereupon he said, 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:44.280 Jesus is my friend. Did you want him to be your friend too? Whereupon obviously the man had 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:50.159 realised that he hadn't bought something in the freezer section and made this huge sharp exit 00:06:50.159 --> 00:06:59.039 in this direction. Isn't it amazing how our children find it so easy to share the love of God with people, 00:06:59.559 --> 00:07:05.659 and yet we struggle. I really hope these plans will encourage people more and more to do that. 00:07:05.659 --> 00:07:13.099 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. 00:07:13.100 --> 00:07:20.840 Remain. Don't jump in and out of love with Jesus. Remain in my love. 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:28.340 I just want to encourage you that where the Brexit came and went, that we are all remainers. 00:07:29.980 --> 00:07:38.140 We remain in God's love. We are remainers. That's what we're called to do. You see, 00:07:38.139 --> 00:07:43.300 Jesus doesn't fall in and out of love with us. I don't watch Love Island. It's not my generation, 00:07:43.699 --> 00:07:50.139 but many of you will. And this falling in and out seems so superficial of falling in and out of love. 00:07:50.259 --> 00:07:55.240 Jesus says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. 00:07:55.639 --> 00:08:03.199 Love your neighbour as yourself. Remain in that love. Don't give up on that sense. And it's a constant. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:10.300 So many Christians struggle with this constant, that love is constant for us, no matter what we've 00:08:10.300 --> 00:08:15.500 gone through, no matter what we're going through, no matter what we are doing. His love for us is 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:20.560 constant. And that overflow that should go out into the community and the people that we meet 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:26.980 day by day. You know, how come that the message of the church has been, if you don't love, 00:08:26.980 --> 00:08:35.460 ship up and shape out of the church? You know, if you don't fit with where we fit, it doesn't. 00:08:35.800 --> 00:08:42.399 Where did that message come from? Within that sense of the heart of God's love, that all are welcome to 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:49.180 come as they are, just as they are, to be loved and acknowledged and loved by God. This is a place 00:08:49.180 --> 00:08:54.360 we are loved for who we are, and in growing more and more in love with Him, that our hearts beat with 00:08:54.360 --> 00:09:03.419 tears. I've told you this so that my joy, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:10.480 complete. Do you find that joy of seeing somebody come into the love of Christ? I can't think of 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:15.840 anything better. On Easter Sunday, hopefully we'll have a big pool here, and there will be people who 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:24.700 want to express that in baptism. So I'm really excited that I've told you this, that my joy may 00:09:24.700 --> 00:09:31.500 be in you, and that your joy may be complete. So there's something about this love that gladdens 00:09:31.500 --> 00:09:39.679 God's heart. Why wouldn't it? My command is this, love each other as I have loved you. 00:09:41.740 --> 00:09:49.820 I don't know about you, it's how I struggle with that in the week. You know, to love my neighbor as 00:09:49.820 --> 00:09:55.940 myself. You know, to remind myself of that overwhelming sense of God love. And Jesus speaks 00:09:55.940 --> 00:10:00.820 to us directly, he said, love each other as I have loved you. And what does that love look like? 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:07.460 Well, he tells us, greater love is no one than this to lay down one's life for your friend. Who would do 00:10:07.460 --> 00:10:17.140 that? Who would lay down their life for their friend? And yet Jesus did it. And we've got a great 00:10:17.140 --> 00:10:25.800 example to follow. And this is where it gets personal, people, because it's between us and Jesus. 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:32.379 Because he says, you are my friends. Now, I know a lot of Christians have really struggled with that. 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:41.000 You know, that I actually have a relationship with a person who flung stars into space. 00:10:41.959 --> 00:10:46.959 What an enormity of that relationship with Father God. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:57.440 What an enormity of the deep well of love that we can draw on to share with other people. 00:10:57.440 --> 00:11:08.080 Yes, that's what he says. And that we are part of the family. I no longer call you servants, 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:14.180 because a servant does not know what his master's business is. Loving. Instead, I have called you 00:11:14.180 --> 00:11:18.660 friends. For everything I learned from my father, I have made known to you. It's about love. 00:11:18.659 --> 00:11:25.539 Sons and daughters of the king, you did not choose me, but I chose you. 00:11:27.459 --> 00:11:33.039 Isn't that great to feel chosen to love? What a great thing when we go out from here 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:41.179 to know that we are chosen to love and to share that with other people. A lasting love, a love that 00:11:41.179 --> 00:11:46.939 cares. Perhaps that's why in the Bible, Jesus used and used again this image of the shepherd. 00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:54.440 People knew shepherds. People knew shepherds cared. He was the good shepherd and is the good shepherd. 00:11:54.800 --> 00:12:00.380 They weren't particularly demonstrative shepherds, I guess. I don't imagine them being very lovey, 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:09.320 you know? But they cared. They were responsible. They could be relied upon. They weren't particularly. 00:12:09.520 --> 00:12:16.440 And the story of the prodigal gets me every time. And if you have parented children or caring for 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:21.540 children, you will know that deep, deep sense of love. But you will know that deep, deep sense of 00:12:21.540 --> 00:12:29.140 frustration in times when, frankly, you just don't like them. There was a nervous laughter there, 00:12:29.340 --> 00:12:34.280 if you're listening on the podcast. I'm glad it's just not me that needs counselling. 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:42.459 But that deep, deep sense of love that underpins that. And there are times my children have driven 00:12:42.459 --> 00:12:49.159 me to distraction. And that phrase that I used again and again and again, do you know what? I love you, 00:12:49.579 --> 00:12:56.159 but I just don't like your behaviour at the moment. I love you greatly. I'm just struggling with your 00:12:56.159 --> 00:13:06.339 behaviour. But the love is constant. Jesus says, as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain 00:13:06.339 --> 00:13:14.319 in your love. And here in Jesus' story of the prodigal, we see love. The Father who knew the Son would sin, 00:13:14.319 --> 00:13:22.539 who would sin badly, and yet he had the freedom to let him go. He allowed him to go, knowing that he would sin, 00:13:22.539 --> 00:13:28.199 but underneath are the everlasting arms that would be there to welcome him. The Father never gave up 00:13:28.199 --> 00:13:33.620 loving his Son. The Father that didn't chase after him down the road. The Father that didn't lock him 00:13:33.620 --> 00:13:38.639 up and not allow him to go. The freedom, knowing that he would mistake. Did the Father lock the door? 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:44.719 No, he didn't. Did the Father say, never darken my doorstep again? No, he didn't. Did he say, 00:13:44.719 --> 00:13:48.559 don't come back until you've paid your debt? No, he didn't. 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:58.659 No, the overwhelming, ever-ending, gracious love of God was there welcoming him home. 00:14:00.359 --> 00:14:06.759 The love that I don't deserve, but is always there. That keeps the light burning so I know 00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:12.239 that I can come home. Whatever I have done, wherever we have been, filthy in our sin, 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:18.659 a list of everything I have done, and yet the Father doesn't wait. The Father doesn't wait for 00:14:18.659 --> 00:14:24.240 the list of sins. He doesn't even wait for his Son to tell him. But what he does is he watches out, 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:31.960 and he runs to the Son. It was so counter-cultural. He runs to the Son, and he puts a robe on him. He 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:38.940 even puts the ring back on his finger straight away. He restores him to where he was before he's even 00:14:38.940 --> 00:14:46.340 had the chance to tell him. He's been rehearsing all the way back to tell him as to why he should 00:14:46.340 --> 00:14:54.500 justify, as to welcome him back. He welcomes him back just as he is and does for us and for those 00:14:54.500 --> 00:15:03.900 we are seeking to reach time and time and time again. And many of the times I hold my head in my 00:15:03.899 --> 00:15:10.759 hands that I despair, that if I know that I turn, that God is there. How do I know that he loves me? 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:16.079 Because he is there, ready to welcome us home. 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:26.720 In those moments when life becomes overwhelming, when you sit alone, head in your hands, thinking to 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:34.460 yourself, where is God now? Maybe tears spilling down your face, you lost your job. Maybe you lost 00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:40.120 a friend, you're disappointed, you had a rough day. Maybe you had a long stretch of illness and struggle, 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:44.980 yourself or with somebody alongside you. Maybe somebody did something to hurt you. 00:15:46.139 --> 00:15:50.340 Maybe you are so fed up with who you are, you think you're not worthy of his love. 00:15:50.340 --> 00:15:59.139 Many would know that. But it says in the service book, underneath are the everlasting arms. 00:16:00.460 --> 00:16:06.600 I will not leave you, I will not forsake you. The one thing that I've found is no matter what we do, 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:14.940 that God is the constant. Today we've been asked to show our love in several ways. You've got a heart 00:16:14.940 --> 00:16:22.240 that's been stuck to you. And if that heart is stuck to you, that is a heart maybe for somebody 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:31.180 that you know and that you love. Maybe you have a heart for your community. Maybe that's the community 00:16:31.180 --> 00:16:36.800 of people that you work with. Maybe it's a heart for somebody like me that you long and pray would 00:16:36.800 --> 00:16:43.380 know and understand and come to accept that love that God has for you. Whatever that heart may look 00:16:43.379 --> 00:16:52.340 like for you, then it gets personal. Because we know, don't we? We know that love of God. Maybe we want 00:16:52.340 --> 00:17:02.259 to know that more, that we haven't really stepped into that. Whatever that is, we long to see those 00:17:02.259 --> 00:17:06.220 who we know returning into that relationship with Jesus. 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:12.220 . 00:17:12.220 --> 00:17:13.220 . 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:15.220 . 00:17:15.220 --> 00:17:17.220 . 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:19.220 . 00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:21.220 . 00:17:21.220 --> 00:17:23.220 . 00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:25.220 . 00:17:25.220 --> 00:17:27.220 . 00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:29.220 . 00:17:29.220 --> 00:17:29.299 . 00:17:29.299 --> 00:17:29.319 . 00:17:29.319 --> 00:17:29.359 . 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:29.400 .