Some Ideas For Preaching God’s Love

In the beginning, there is love, eternal love, the love of God. ‘Genesis’ means ‘beginning’. These opening verses challenge us to get our priorities right – (a) The priority of God (Genesis 1:1). God comes first. Before anyone else is mentioned, He is there. (b) The priority of God’s Word (Genesis 1:3). God is the …

God’s Eternal Love – In creation and Scripture, we see love, eternal love, the love of God.

God reveals Himself in creation and Scripture. He speaks through His created world. He speaks through His written Word. God is always speaking. He is never silent. Through His created world, God is speaking to us, every day and  every night. He is showing us His glory (Psalm 19:1-2). He makes us aware of His …

Whenever we speak of God’s holiness

Whenever we speak of God's holiness, we must, also, speak of his love. Holiness shows us where we've gone wrong - but it's love that forgives our sins. Let's thank God that He did not, because of his holiness and our sin, keep his distance from us. He has reached out to us in love. …

When we feel like the light’s been switched off

Our light can go out. Jesus' light never goes out. This is something we must never forget. It's not about our light. It's about His light. Our feelings tell us one thing. Jesus tells us something else. Who are we to believe: our feelings or Jesus, our Saviour? We know what our answer should be, …

Caring And Sharing

Caring leads to sharing. If we care, we will share. Do we care? Let us share.

Outstanding Love, Overwhelming Victory and Overflowing Peace

"… so outstanding is His love…”(Psalm 103:11) "… overwhelming victory is ours…” (Romans 8:37). “The peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). This is the overflowing peace of God – The peace of God in our hearts is an overflow from the God of …

When we are honest about ourselves

If we to think big thoughts about the love of God for us, we must learn to be honest about ourselves. When we are honest about ourselves, we will learn to appreciate how wonderful the Lord's love really is. In Ephesians 2:1, Paul gives us a devastating description of ourselves - "As for you, you …

Looking, Listening And Learning

Let’s think together about looking, listening and learning - looking to the Lord, listening to Him and learning from Him.. When we look to the Lord, what do we see? - We see love. We see Jesus, crucified for us. We know that God loves us. When we listen to the Lord, what do we …

God’s Eternal Love – Be still and know that there is love, eternal love, the love of God.

‘Be still, and know that I am God... Shout to God with loud songs of joy’ (Psalm 46:10; 47:2). In our worship, there is to be both quiet trust and loud praise. We read the great words: ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble’ (Psalm 46:1). God’s Word brings peace …

God loved you in the past. He loves you in the present. He will love you in the future.

We're no longer in the past. We're not yet in the future. We're in the present. What are we to say about our life in the present? Can we understand our life in the present without thinking about our past and our future? We're shaped by our past. We're preparing for our future. What kind …

I am the Lord your God who teaches you what is best for you.

Isaiah 48:1-22  ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go’ (Isaiah 48:17). God knows what is best for us. He helps us to say, ‘As for God, His way is perfect’ (Job 23:10; 2 Samuel 22:31). How does God help …

They never wear out!

They never wear out - God's love, God's power and God's glory. God loves us. His power is at work in us. He's preparing us for his eternal glory - where we will see the fullness of his love and his power. This is our God. This is his salvation. He's the eternal God. His …

Everything changes?

We live in a changing world. Everything changes. Nothing remains the same. This is life - as we know it; but what if there's something else, something that's unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable! You may ask the question, "Is such a thing possible?" In the Bible - in the heart of the Old Testament, there's a …

“Love Is God” Or “”God Is Love”?

Some people begin with their own idea of “love” and then say, “That’s what God is like.” They may dip into the Bible, reading their favourite passages. They will not take the trouble and make the time for reading the whole Bible. They say, “Why bother putting a lot of time and effort into studying …

Lord, We Rejoice In Your Constant Love.

Lord, we rejoice in Your ‘constant love’. This is our ‘comfort’ - You keep on loving us no matter what’s going on in our lives. We may be going through really hard times - ‘Men persecute me with lies... They have almost succeeded in killing me’. There’s one thing that never changes - Your ‘constant …

The Lord loves us – and He calls us to love Him and love one another.

Exodus 34:1-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Exodus 34:6 invites us to focus our attention on the Lord our God - The Lord is the compassionate and gracious God. - The Lord is the God who is slow to anger. - The Lord is the God who is abounding in love and faithfulness. Here, in this verse, …

The Light Is Switched On.

When the love of God reaches us, we step out of our darkness and into His light. It's Jesus  - the light of the world - who shows us how much God loves us (John 8:12). When the light is switched off, it doesn't do us any good. When it's switched on, the love of …

Eternal Love

The love of God is eternal love. It's the love of the eternal God. His love comes to us from before the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:4). It takes us on to beyond the end. Sometimes, when our heads go down, we think, "This the end. I can go on no longer." When, in love, …

God’s Eternal Love – When you see a rainbow, remember there is love, eternal love, the love of God.

Here, we pick up on the words of Genesis 7:16 - ‘the Lord closed the door behind them’. What was going on outside of the ark is contrasted with the haven of salvation inside the ark. What was it that made the ark a place of salvation? - The Lord. What is it that makes …

Out of our past, into God’s future

We stand between the past and the future. What kind of people will we be as we move out of our past and into God's future? God calls us to be His people. He calls us to do His work. Let us commit ourselves to being His people and doing His work. Sometimes, in God’s …

Where do we see Jesus – and hear Him speaking to us?

Where do we see Jesus, and hear Him speaking to us? Does this only happen when we’re at Church or when we're reading the Bible? Come to Church, read your Bible, and look for Jesus everywhere you go. He’ll give you glimpses of His love! “Open our eyes, Lord, We want to see Jesus … …

God’s love, God’s Son, God’s command, God’s purpose

‘When the Holy Spirit comes on you... you will be My witnesses... to the ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8). This great advance of the Gospel - Salvation reaches ‘the Gentiles’ (Acts 10:45; 11:1,18) - is a movement of ‘the Spirit’ (Acts 11:12). The Spirit speaks through the Word (Acts 10:44; 11:15). In God’s Word, …

God loves us … In love, He is waiting for our response of love.

Jesus was making His way to Jerusalem (Luke 13:22). This was the place where He was to be crucified. In the cross of Christ, we see both the hatred of men and the love of God (Luke 13:34-35). (1) In Jerusalem, there had been human hatred directed against the prophets – “you who kill the …

The Story Of God’s Love

Jesus tells us a story of God’s love. Jesus is the Story of God’s love. In the preaching of God’s Word – the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), we have a story told By Jesus. It’s a story of God’s love. In the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, we have the Story of …

God’s Eternal Love – Our hope of eternal glory comes from love, eternal love, the love of God.

‘Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore’ (Psalm 16:11). In this earthly life, there are many difficulties. For all of God’s people, there is something better still to come. We must look not only at the things which …

Karl Barth the Preacher – Jesus loves me.

What are we to say about Barth the preacher? Surely, J. S. Stewart has described him well in these words of commendation: “this Colossus of a theologian is basically concerned with simple things… no one reading Barth can have any doubt… (about his) single-hearted devotion to Christ” (Prayer and Preaching, 7, from ‘Preface’ by J. …

God’s Eternal Love – In the end, there will be love, eternal love, the love of God.

Psalm 136:1-26 ‘His love endures for ever’. This is the great message contained in every single verse of this Psalm. It’s a message worth repeating, over and over again! God’s love is an everlasting love: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love’ (Jeremiah 31:3). God’s love is an unfailing love: ‘My unfailing love for …

God’s great love for us

God’s great love for us: it reaches us in our sin, and it changes us.

Approaching the Lord’s Table: Forgiveness, Victory, Faith, God’s Word, God’s Love

As we approach the Lord's Table, let's think about two verses of Scripture. "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). "Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler" (Psalm 91:3). The first of these …

The Love Of God

In the beginning, there is love, eternal love, the love of God. ‘Genesis’ means ‘beginning’. These opening verses challenge us to get our priorities right – (a) The priority of God (Genesis 1:1). God comes first. Before anyone else is mentioned, He is there. (b) The priority of God’s Word (Genesis 1:3). God is the …

The eternal God, His everlasting love and His gift of eternal life

Psalms 89:38-90:17 ‘Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations… From everlasting to everlasting, You are God’(Psalm 90:1-2). The Bible begins with the words, ‘In the beginning, God…’ (Genesis 1:1). Before the world began, there was God, ‘the eternal God.’ He is ‘the high and exalted One’. He is the God ‘who inhabits …

May God help us.

May God help us to feel for the lost, to look upon them with His love, to long for them to be saved.

God’s Love, God’s Word, God’s Son

Let’s think about God’s love, God’s Word and God’s Son. * God’s love is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable. We read in the Bible about God’s love. Is this just something from the ancient past? Is it for us? The Bible speaks to us from the ancient past, but it’s not to be left in the …

God’s Eternal Love – In the resurrection of Christ, we see love, eternal love, the love of God.

The resurrection declares Christ’s victory over evil, the triumph of His love. There is no need for fear: ‘He has risen’- His ‘perfect love casts out fear’ (Matthew 28:5-6; 1 John 4:18). There has to be a new beginning in faith. First, there was a new beginning ‘in fact - Christ has been raised from …

Do you love God?

Jesus was speaking to men who practised a very high-brow kind of religion. As far as they were concerned, they did all the right things. They regarded themselves as the people of God. From this high vantage-point of religious observance, these men became proud and arrogant. They looked down on others. Rather than looking deeply …

Often, we have failed the Lord – but He has never failed us.

"I have always been mindful of Your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on Your faithfulness" (Psalm 26:3).   Have we always been mindful of God's unfailing love? Have we always trusted in His faithfulness? We know the answer as soon as we ask the question. Often, we have failed the Lord - but He …

Walking in the light with God

God is calling us to walk in the light with Him. * He’s calling us to walk with Him in the light of His love. Go back to Genesis 1:3 – “Let there be light, and there was light.” Go back beyond the created light. Go back to the eternal God – “In the beginning, …

The Love Of God, The Power Of God And The Glory Of God

Luke 7:11–17 The widow's son is raised from death by Jesus. What a wonderful miracle this is! In this great miracle, we see the love of God, the power of God and the glory of God. (1) Love - "When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said,'Don't cry'" (Luke …