WEBVTT 00:00:01.899 --> 00:00:06.700 The story is told of a little girl who was placed 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:10.480 in an orphanage in her earliest days of life. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:15.480 As she grew up, she became unruly and difficult 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:22.100 to deal with. She was obstinate and was often 00:00:22.100 --> 00:00:29.539 unruly. One day, someone reported to the director 00:00:29.539 --> 00:00:31.739 of the orphanage that the little girl had written 00:00:31.739 --> 00:00:35.600 some things on pieces of paper and had taken 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:38.520 those out to a tree and had hung them on the 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:42.659 tree. And so thinking this might be an opportunity 00:00:42.659 --> 00:00:44.880 to have the little girl taken out of the orphanage 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:47.600 and put somewhere else where they would deal 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:51.240 with a mental difficulty. The director of the 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:53.280 orphanage went out to the tree and got one of 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:58.229 the pieces of paper to read it. And on it, it 00:00:58.229 --> 00:01:05.430 simply said, whoever finds this, I love you. 00:01:09.469 --> 00:01:12.450 The director's heart was smitten because she 00:01:12.450 --> 00:01:15.989 realized that what that little girl needed and 00:01:15.989 --> 00:01:24.069 what she had missed was love. She had been desperately 00:01:24.069 --> 00:01:28.819 wanting attention. and tried to get it the only 00:01:28.819 --> 00:01:34.799 way that she knew how. Whoever finds this, I 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:41.319 love you. Rejection is one of those experiences 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:45.159 that many of us, if not all of us, have had. 00:01:47.980 --> 00:01:54.739 Rejection is painful. It might be defined as 00:01:54.739 --> 00:02:01.560 the withholding of affection and love. From some 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:08.439 time, at some time, all of us have had that experience, 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:12.159 I suppose. But it's especially tragic when it 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:16.520 occurs in childhood, because a child is not prepared 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:21.560 to deal with rejection. A child is vulnerable 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.639 and doesn't know how to interpret what he or 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:28.460 she is experiencing. But the feeling of rejection 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:32.539 is not limited to childhood. Adults struggle 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:37.800 with it likewise. Rejection comes through the 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:42.659 pain of divorce or the end of a relationship 00:02:42.659 --> 00:02:47.539 that has been dear. Rejection is sensed in an 00:02:47.539 --> 00:02:50.840 unhappy marriage. when there is not intimacy. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:57.800 Rejection is felt in the loss of a job or the 00:02:57.800 --> 00:03:02.520 failure to get a desired promotion. Rejection 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:10.740 is felt in the terrible feeling that occurs when 00:03:10.740 --> 00:03:14.139 you're hurting inside and you reach out for somebody's 00:03:14.139 --> 00:03:21.979 hand and nobody's there. In some context, I would 00:03:21.979 --> 00:03:25.500 guess that all of us have experienced rejection. 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:30.680 Its results are a deep emotional wound that is 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:37.000 accompanied by a sense of unworthiness or inferiority. 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:41.219 Those who have been rejected often have a sense 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:46.240 of loss of esteem. There is confusion about identity. 00:03:46.889 --> 00:03:51.490 There is anger that wells up followed by depression 00:03:51.490 --> 00:03:58.050 Often rejection leads to withdrawal from others 00:03:58.050 --> 00:04:03.490 seclusion a lack of desire to Associate with 00:04:03.490 --> 00:04:06.210 others and it's merely out of a matter of self 00:04:06.210 --> 00:04:10.150 -defense People just don't want to be hurt anymore 00:04:10.150 --> 00:04:15.960 There's a terrible loneliness and a feeling of 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:23.339 not being desirable. Rejection and those feelings 00:04:23.339 --> 00:04:27.920 that occur around it commonly carries over to 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:31.040 one's relationship with God. The reasoning goes 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:34.079 something like this. If I can't be acceptable 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:38.860 to people, how can I ever be acceptable to God? 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:43.779 If I'm not worthy of the affection of others, 00:04:44.430 --> 00:04:49.930 How can I be worthy of God's affection? And so 00:04:49.930 --> 00:04:53.430 when we sense rejection coming to us from others, 00:04:54.110 --> 00:04:58.009 we also apply that in our relationship with God. 00:05:00.689 --> 00:05:03.009 But child of God, if you are struggling with 00:05:03.009 --> 00:05:06.410 the feelings of rejection, I have an important 00:05:06.410 --> 00:05:11.470 message for you today. The message is very simply 00:05:11.470 --> 00:05:19.879 this, the God that we worship. loves. You, personally, 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:28.779 deeply, and forever. God never rejects those 00:05:28.779 --> 00:05:34.220 who come to Him humbly. He always receives. He 00:05:34.220 --> 00:05:39.959 is slow to anger and quick to restore. And we 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:42.759 can be grateful that His affection does not depend 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:47.220 upon our performance, our personality, or our 00:05:47.220 --> 00:05:51.040 proficiency. Would you open your Bible, please, 00:05:51.139 --> 00:05:56.420 to 1 John chapter 4, where we read a wonderful 00:05:56.420 --> 00:06:01.480 statement about the love of God. 1 John chapter 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:08.439 4, verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another, 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:11.459 for love is from God, and every one who loves 00:06:11.459 --> 00:06:16.259 is born of God and knows God. The one who does 00:06:16.259 --> 00:06:20.459 not love does not know God, for God is love. 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:25.560 By this the love of God was manifested in us, 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:29.560 that God has sent his only begotten Son into 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.980 the world so that we might live through him. 00:06:33.769 --> 00:06:38.350 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that 00:06:38.350 --> 00:06:42.930 He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation 00:06:42.930 --> 00:06:49.250 that is the satisfying sacrifice for our sins. 00:06:50.329 --> 00:06:55.529 The God that we worship is a God of love. God's 00:06:55.529 --> 00:06:59.870 love is comprehensive. Louis Barry Schaeffer 00:06:59.870 --> 00:07:04.560 reminds us that like the words spirit and light, 00:07:05.220 --> 00:07:10.740 love refers not merely to a peculiar virtue among 00:07:10.740 --> 00:07:16.519 many which are gods, but that God is himself 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:21.819 precisely what love means. Let me quote Schaeffer. 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:27.139 God has not attained unto love, nor does he by 00:07:27.139 --> 00:07:31.920 an effort maintain love. It is the structure 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:37.819 of His being. He is the unfailing source of all 00:07:37.819 --> 00:07:42.160 love. As no other attribute, love is the primary 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:47.620 motive in God. And to satisfy His love, all creation 00:07:47.620 --> 00:07:55.060 has been formed. Love is the very nature of God. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:02.829 To love is the essence of what God is. That's 00:08:02.829 --> 00:08:06.509 not all that could be said about God, for there 00:08:06.509 --> 00:08:10.529 are other attributes as well. But love is the 00:08:10.529 --> 00:08:14.449 essence of them all. Love is the heart of Him 00:08:14.449 --> 00:08:19.750 who is our Creator. Infinite love has always 00:08:19.750 --> 00:08:24.310 existed with God. It did not begin with creation. 00:08:24.389 --> 00:08:28.790 In fact, it predates creation. But love has always 00:08:28.790 --> 00:08:32.350 existed among the persons of the Godhead. In 00:08:32.350 --> 00:08:36.590 the most appropriate sense, God supremely loves 00:08:36.590 --> 00:08:41.690 Himself. The Father loves the Son and the Spirit. 00:08:42.350 --> 00:08:45.230 The Son loves the Father and the Spirit. And 00:08:45.230 --> 00:08:48.850 the Spirit loves the Father and the Son. The 00:08:48.850 --> 00:08:54.070 God who is one loves Himself as Father, Son, 00:08:54.269 --> 00:09:01.779 and Holy Spirit. God is love. So His love did 00:09:01.779 --> 00:09:04.279 not begin with His creatures, but we can be grateful 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:09.240 that His love is shown to His creatures. In Ephesians 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:13.960 chapter 1, we are told that before God even created 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:17.220 the world, He loved us. Listen to these words. 00:09:18.179 --> 00:09:23.399 Just as He chose us in Christ, before the foundation 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:28.000 of the world, so that we should be holy and without 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:32.820 blame before Him. In love, He predestined us 00:09:32.820 --> 00:09:37.379 to adoption as sons." In other words, before 00:09:37.379 --> 00:09:41.539 God ever created in Genesis chapter 1, God looked 00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:45.399 ahead into time and into creation, and He loved 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:51.120 us. And He chose us to be His own. And predestined 00:09:51.120 --> 00:10:00.990 that we should be His Sons. God's love is eternal, 00:10:02.070 --> 00:10:06.210 but God's love is also free. What that means 00:10:06.210 --> 00:10:10.429 is that there is nothing in any of us that merits 00:10:10.429 --> 00:10:15.570 God's love. When God looked into time and space 00:10:15.570 --> 00:10:18.769 and loved us, He did not choose us because there 00:10:18.769 --> 00:10:22.049 was something in us that He found desirable or 00:10:22.049 --> 00:10:28.000 worthy. But He loved us for the mere fact that 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:32.740 He loved us. God says that essentially back in 00:10:32.740 --> 00:10:35.039 the book of Deuteronomy to the people of Israel. 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:38.059 In the seventh chapter of Deuteronomy there is 00:10:38.059 --> 00:10:41.679 an amazing verse that expresses to us this fact 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:46.279 about God's love. How free it is. In Deuteronomy 00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:52.860 7 and verse 7 it says, Nor choose you because 00:10:52.860 --> 00:10:56.019 you were more in number than any of the peoples 00:10:56.019 --> 00:11:00.820 For you were the fewest of all people But because 00:11:00.820 --> 00:11:03.720 the Lord loved you and kept the oath which he 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:06.919 swore to your forefathers the Lord brought you 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:12.340 out by a mighty hand and redeemed you Why did 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:16.299 God love the people of Israel? Was it because 00:11:16.299 --> 00:11:19.700 there was something worthy about them? Was it 00:11:19.700 --> 00:11:22.460 because they were the the largest of tribes? 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:27.559 No, they were the fewest. And they were as unlovely 00:11:27.559 --> 00:11:31.320 as all the rest of the sinful human race. But 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:35.139 for His love's sake, and His faithfulness to 00:11:35.139 --> 00:11:39.480 His covenant with Abraham, God delivered them 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:43.820 from Egypt and redeemed them. Why has God loved 00:11:43.820 --> 00:11:48.860 you and me? Is it because there is some intrinsic 00:11:49.179 --> 00:11:53.639 Worth in us some merit that causes his love to 00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:58.179 be provoked not at all He loves us for his love 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:05.100 sake He loves us for Jesus sake and He loves 00:12:05.100 --> 00:12:11.500 us as much as he loves Jesus God's love is sovereign 00:12:11.500 --> 00:12:16.899 God's love is unchanging God's love is comprehensive 00:12:18.800 --> 00:12:23.500 But God's love is demonstrative as well. We can 00:12:23.500 --> 00:12:26.080 talk about God's love and theorize about it, 00:12:26.100 --> 00:12:28.500 and we can explore it as it's found written in 00:12:28.500 --> 00:12:31.559 the Bible and revel in the words that are there. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:36.139 But the wonderful truth is that God has demonstrated 00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:40.799 His love. Now, I just told us about it. God has 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:44.080 demonstrated His love in a number of ways. In 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:46.500 the first place, He has demonstrated it in the 00:12:46.500 --> 00:12:50.320 cross of His Son. as we've read here in 1 John. 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:57.059 This is love. That God loved us and sent His 00:12:57.059 --> 00:13:01.320 Son to be the atoning sacrifice that satisfied 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:08.240 God for our sins. That's love. Chapter 3 verse 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:13.320 16 of 1 John. It says, We know love by this, 00:13:13.740 --> 00:13:18.809 that He laid down His life for us. God's love 00:13:18.809 --> 00:13:23.029 is demonstrated. Demonstrated at the cross of 00:13:23.029 --> 00:13:30.049 Calvary. Romans 5 and verse 8 says, God demonstrates 00:13:30.049 --> 00:13:33.029 His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, 00:13:33.529 --> 00:13:37.990 Christ died for us. God's love is demonstrated. 00:13:39.190 --> 00:13:41.789 There is no one who can say that God doesn't 00:13:41.789 --> 00:13:47.230 love me. No one can say that because God has 00:13:47.230 --> 00:13:52.629 demonstrated just the opposite. Dr. Laman Strauss 00:13:52.629 --> 00:13:54.669 has written some words to this point when he 00:13:54.669 --> 00:13:57.429 writes, There never has been a man in all the 00:13:57.429 --> 00:14:00.149 world who ever knew anything experientially about 00:14:00.149 --> 00:14:03.750 the love of God apart from the sacrifice of Jesus 00:14:03.750 --> 00:14:07.429 Christ at Calvary. There is no word in all of 00:14:07.429 --> 00:14:11.049 human language for that kind of love. The soul 00:14:11.049 --> 00:14:15.610 of man is so precious to God. that He could not 00:14:15.610 --> 00:14:19.909 stop at any cost to have it for Himself, going 00:14:19.909 --> 00:14:24.230 even to the extent of self -sacrifice. Man may 00:14:24.230 --> 00:14:28.009 hate God, curse Him, deny Him, and defy Him. 00:14:28.190 --> 00:14:31.850 Still, He pursues the vilest enemy in order that 00:14:31.850 --> 00:14:35.970 He might do Him good. This is God. For He is 00:14:35.970 --> 00:14:40.429 the God of love. Not only do as we behold the 00:14:40.429 --> 00:14:43.210 cross and God's sacrifice thereon can we perceive 00:14:43.210 --> 00:14:47.120 His love, To know God in Christ on the cross 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:51.059 is to know intuitively divine love in its greatest 00:14:51.059 --> 00:14:55.559 and highest expression. God in Christ reconciling 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:59.019 the world to himself is the acme, the highest 00:14:59.019 --> 00:15:04.620 expression and exhibition of love. Dear friend, 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:08.200 there is great love in the cross of Calvary. 00:15:08.779 --> 00:15:11.240 For there God expressed his love for you and 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:17.490 me. in causing his son to die. Notice it's his 00:15:17.490 --> 00:15:23.049 son. The sacrifice on the cross of Calvary was 00:15:23.049 --> 00:15:27.970 not without deep emotion. For just as you parents 00:15:27.970 --> 00:15:34.409 love your children and desire their health and 00:15:34.409 --> 00:15:38.230 their painlessness and their wholeness and their 00:15:38.230 --> 00:15:42.879 happiness, So in an infinitely greater sense, 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:49.720 God the Father loves God the Son. For Him to 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:55.919 die on the cross with its shame and its torture 00:15:55.919 --> 00:16:00.360 was an expression of God's love that you and 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:05.200 I can hardly fathom. What a demonstration that 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:09.909 God loves you and loves me. as He was willing 00:16:09.909 --> 00:16:13.330 to allow His Son to experience the cross death. 00:16:15.909 --> 00:16:20.809 As we sang earlier, oh how He loves you and me. 00:16:21.649 --> 00:16:26.129 That's what the cross is about. God not only 00:16:26.129 --> 00:16:28.970 demonstrates His love in the cross of His Son, 00:16:29.570 --> 00:16:32.149 He demonstrates His love in the calling of the 00:16:32.149 --> 00:16:36.090 Christian. Notice again here in 1 John 3 and 00:16:36.090 --> 00:16:43.159 verse 1. See how great a love the Father has 00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:48.100 bestowed upon us. What John is saying there, 00:16:48.100 --> 00:16:51.740 see what kind of love this is. It is a kind of 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:55.320 love that is foreign to you and to me as human 00:16:55.320 --> 00:16:59.240 beings. It's a kind of love that surpasses anything 00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:02.539 that we have known or can experience of ourselves. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:07.579 See what great love God has bestowed upon us. 00:17:07.660 --> 00:17:15.059 that we should be called children of God. Think 00:17:15.059 --> 00:17:21.380 of that. We who are the vilest of sinners. We 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:26.200 who are the hostile enemy of God. Loved so much 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:32.940 by Him that He brought us to Himself and named 00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:40.660 us His children. It is one thing to name one 00:17:40.660 --> 00:17:44.680 as your child that is pitiful and cries out for 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:49.859 your help. If you saw any of the episodes on 00:17:49.859 --> 00:17:54.259 television regarding the Romanian orphans, you 00:17:54.259 --> 00:18:02.220 probably wept as I did. Little babies born into 00:18:02.220 --> 00:18:04.960 the world, many of them with AIDS because of 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:12.529 the medical conditions in Romania. unwanted, 00:18:12.529 --> 00:18:16.750 warehoused, in large units, some of them caged, 00:18:17.490 --> 00:18:21.690 sometimes two or three to a bed, not properly 00:18:21.690 --> 00:18:25.150 cared for, without adequate food and clothing. 00:18:26.650 --> 00:18:29.549 Our hearts naturally turn to children like that. 00:18:30.190 --> 00:18:32.390 And what a response it brought from the American 00:18:32.390 --> 00:18:35.990 people. Scores of these children have been adopted 00:18:35.990 --> 00:18:39.940 and many are still in the process of being adopted. 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:43.579 Americans desiring to reach out to these pitiful 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:48.920 children, to call them their own, because their 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:51.519 hearts want to share with them what they have. 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:57.420 But dear friend, God's love surpasses that. That 00:18:57.420 --> 00:19:00.779 can't even be compared to the love of a God who 00:19:00.779 --> 00:19:03.720 looked down upon a race of human beings that 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:08.440 spat upon Him, that cursed Him. that raised a 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:14.680 hostile fist in His face, and yet God chose to 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:19.259 love. And He reached down and redeemed through 00:19:19.259 --> 00:19:24.019 the cross of His Son, and He gave us the name 00:19:24.019 --> 00:19:31.039 Children of God, so that we share all that is 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:38.740 God's. We have access to our Father. At any time 00:19:38.740 --> 00:19:42.539 that we desire, we can come right into His presence 00:19:42.539 --> 00:19:46.559 and speak with Him directly regarding our heart's 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:52.000 desires and concerns. We inherit His Kingdom. 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:56.759 We will one day bear His very likeness in our 00:19:56.759 --> 00:19:59.839 moral beings and in our physical bodies which 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:03.940 will be glorified and made like Christ's. Children 00:20:03.940 --> 00:20:09.710 of God, He calls us. What love there is in that. 00:20:09.809 --> 00:20:14.789 That's why John exclaims, what a foreign, what 00:20:14.789 --> 00:20:20.690 a different, what a great love the Father has 00:20:20.690 --> 00:20:24.470 bestowed upon us that we should be called the 00:20:24.470 --> 00:20:29.049 children of God and such we are, he says. That's 00:20:29.049 --> 00:20:36.130 just what we are. I hope that's something that 00:20:36.089 --> 00:20:42.529 that bridges the gap in your life between how 00:20:42.529 --> 00:20:47.890 you feel about others rejecting you and God. 00:20:50.069 --> 00:20:54.069 Because you see, God doesn't reject you. God 00:20:54.069 --> 00:20:59.470 had every right to reject us, but He chose not 00:20:59.470 --> 00:21:07.630 to. Instead, He loves us. I would pray today, 00:21:07.630 --> 00:21:11.430 and I have prayed, that the wound of rejection 00:21:11.430 --> 00:21:15.490 that some of you are bearing might begin to be 00:21:15.490 --> 00:21:19.630 healed by a realization of the deep love that 00:21:19.630 --> 00:21:25.250 your Heavenly Father has for you. That somehow 00:21:25.250 --> 00:21:27.829 you could understand that He does not turn His 00:21:27.829 --> 00:21:34.200 back on you, ever. And He accepts you. with all 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:36.900 of your shortcomings and all of your failings. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:40.660 As we said last week in that Gaither chorus, 00:21:40.660 --> 00:21:45.140 quoting it, He who knows you best loves you the 00:21:45.140 --> 00:21:54.880 most. God persistently loves you. No matter how 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:57.720 far you may stray from Him, He will follow you 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:02.839 to bring you back as His child. God permanently 00:22:02.839 --> 00:22:07.779 loves you. You may say things to Him at times 00:22:07.779 --> 00:22:12.299 that hurt the heart of your Heavenly Father. 00:22:14.099 --> 00:22:16.380 There may be attitudes that you harbor in your 00:22:16.380 --> 00:22:20.279 heart from time to time that were He some other 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:25.099 kind of God would cause Him to change in His 00:22:25.099 --> 00:22:29.240 attitude toward you. But His love is not only 00:22:29.420 --> 00:22:35.000 persistent, it's permanent. God pursues you and 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:38.759 He pleads. He disciplines and He directs. He 00:22:38.759 --> 00:22:44.880 waits and He welcomes. He receives you. He is 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:48.559 slow to anger. He is quick to restore and to 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:53.259 forgive. And so if there is any feeling inside 00:22:53.259 --> 00:22:57.859 of your heart today as a child of God that He 00:22:57.950 --> 00:23:03.089 rejects you, then understand that those feelings 00:23:03.089 --> 00:23:08.670 that you have are lies. Perhaps lies that you 00:23:08.670 --> 00:23:12.289 have sold to yourself because of emotional wounds 00:23:12.289 --> 00:23:16.970 from your past. Or perhaps lies that Satan has 00:23:16.970 --> 00:23:20.630 whispered in your ear, but lies nonetheless because 00:23:20.630 --> 00:23:24.250 God does not reject you. Rely on that truth. 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:28.240 Believe what God says about himself and about 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:32.779 you. I pray that you might today feel his acceptance 00:23:32.779 --> 00:23:39.779 of you in Christ. But still many of us struggle 00:23:39.779 --> 00:23:42.480 with feelings of rejections and we ask questions 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:51.240 like, why don't other people accept me? One possible 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:54.259 answer to that is that you may have the wrong 00:23:54.259 --> 00:24:01.740 perception of how people feel about you. You 00:24:01.740 --> 00:24:05.700 may misunderstand how people actually feel toward 00:24:05.700 --> 00:24:12.680 you. They don't reject you at all. Another possibility 00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:16.779 is that they back off from you because you may 00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:23.529 be overbearing. You may be too demanding You 00:24:23.529 --> 00:24:28.009 may be unreasonable in your expectations of others 00:24:28.009 --> 00:24:33.789 to yourself And if that's the case then you need 00:24:33.789 --> 00:24:37.690 to change The way that that you feel toward others 00:24:37.690 --> 00:24:39.589 so that they then will be able to change how 00:24:39.589 --> 00:24:44.230 they feel toward you The fact is that you and 00:24:44.230 --> 00:24:48.930 I can't control how others choose to treat us 00:24:52.329 --> 00:24:55.329 There will be some people in life who will reject 00:24:55.329 --> 00:25:00.250 you simply because that is their personality, 00:25:01.750 --> 00:25:08.950 their bent, and their own hurt. We cannot control 00:25:08.950 --> 00:25:14.490 how others choose to treat us, but we can control 00:25:14.490 --> 00:25:19.890 how we choose to treat them. The greater question 00:25:19.890 --> 00:25:26.039 than Why do people reject me is this? How can 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:30.579 I demonstrate God's love to others? For you see 00:25:30.579 --> 00:25:33.400 as children of God, God gives us the capacity 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:40.799 and the command to love others. For we are sometimes 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:44.740 guilty of giving others a message of rejection. 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:50.480 God tells us on the other hand that we are to 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:56.420 love just as He has loved us Beloved let us love 00:25:56.420 --> 00:25:59.579 one another for love is from God and everyone 00:25:59.579 --> 00:26:06.539 who loves is born of God and knows God The greater 00:26:06.539 --> 00:26:09.819 question is how can I demonstrate the love of 00:26:09.819 --> 00:26:14.759 God? To someone else for my God my father who 00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:19.109 calls me his child is love And He calls upon 00:26:19.109 --> 00:26:23.789 me to convey His love to others. How can I do 00:26:23.789 --> 00:26:28.349 that? We've talked quite a bit around here about 00:26:28.349 --> 00:26:34.269 something that we call cultural keys. Means by 00:26:34.269 --> 00:26:38.789 which we as individuals or as groups of people 00:26:38.789 --> 00:26:42.430 within our church can get together and demonstrate 00:26:42.430 --> 00:26:46.529 God's love to people out there beyond our walls. 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:52.799 These become cultural keys, you see, that unlock 00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:55.720 the hearts of people who are without Christ. 00:26:58.039 --> 00:27:00.599 In our world today, the message we have lacks 00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:03.980 credibility unless it is seen. That is, the credibility 00:27:03.980 --> 00:27:10.200 is seen and proven in us. How can we demonstrate 00:27:10.200 --> 00:27:17.299 the love of God to others? This last week, I 00:27:17.299 --> 00:27:21.220 was visiting someone one of the nursing homes 00:27:21.220 --> 00:27:26.059 in our area. As I walk down this long hallway, 00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:30.640 there were people in their 70s and 80s and maybe 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:35.579 90s who were seated all over the place in wheelchairs 00:27:35.579 --> 00:27:42.339 and in chairs by themselves. Some of them may 00:27:42.339 --> 00:27:44.519 have family that come and visit them and bring 00:27:44.519 --> 00:27:48.980 some cheer, but many of them have been rejected. 00:27:52.479 --> 00:27:57.140 Family comes only when it's mandatory or expected. 00:27:59.819 --> 00:28:04.000 Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was someone 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:08.240 or there was some flock within our church or 00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:10.880 some group of people who would get together and 00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:13.380 say, you know, we're burdened for people like 00:28:13.380 --> 00:28:18.900 that. And we want to go to a nursing home. We're 00:28:18.900 --> 00:28:21.000 going to go once a week or we're going to go 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:23.400 once a month and we're going to ask for those 00:28:23.400 --> 00:28:27.000 people who have no one to come and see them. 00:28:29.559 --> 00:28:34.339 And we're going to become their family. And we're 00:28:34.339 --> 00:28:37.440 going to let them see the love of Jesus Christ 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:41.920 in us. How can we demonstrate the love of God? 00:28:47.880 --> 00:28:50.779 It's a man named Joe who lives here in the Twin 00:28:50.779 --> 00:28:59.019 Cities. God has saved Joe out of a life practicing 00:28:59.019 --> 00:29:05.740 homosexuality. He is gaining victory over that 00:29:05.740 --> 00:29:09.160 lifestyle that captured him for a number of years. 00:29:10.859 --> 00:29:13.700 But because of the way that he chose to live, 00:29:14.460 --> 00:29:21.140 Joe is... suffering from AIDS. At the present 00:29:21.140 --> 00:29:24.380 time, he's in remission, but he's had some close 00:29:24.380 --> 00:29:30.220 calls with death already. Recently, Joe wrote 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:32.740 a few words that described an experience that 00:29:32.740 --> 00:29:34.599 he had. I thought it would be appropriate to 00:29:34.599 --> 00:29:39.500 share this with you this morning. He says, I 00:29:39.500 --> 00:29:43.980 am hurt and frustrated by the cheap platitudes 00:29:43.980 --> 00:29:48.210 and cliches Well -meaning Christians sometimes 00:29:48.210 --> 00:29:52.490 throw my way these days. The verse that says 00:29:52.490 --> 00:29:55.190 God works all things together for good to those 00:29:55.190 --> 00:29:58.049 who are loved and called according to His purpose 00:29:58.049 --> 00:30:02.509 does not necessarily encourage me in my darkest 00:30:02.509 --> 00:30:07.670 hour. It is true and there are times when I can 00:30:07.670 --> 00:30:12.950 hear it and hold on to it. Yet a Bible verse 00:30:13.289 --> 00:30:16.650 thrown your way in the midst of suffering is 00:30:16.650 --> 00:30:23.710 not a substitute for a hand or a hug or a tear." 00:30:23.710 --> 00:30:26.289 Did you hear what he said? That's a great statement. 00:30:27.910 --> 00:30:32.869 It may be truth, he says, but when we in the 00:30:32.869 --> 00:30:38.230 church use it to distance ourselves from another's 00:30:38.230 --> 00:30:43.309 pain, it wounds rather than brings healing. What 00:30:43.309 --> 00:30:47.809 an insight. For the temptation is present with 00:30:47.809 --> 00:30:50.470 all of us at times to throw out a Bible verse 00:30:50.470 --> 00:30:55.829 at somebody and use that really to distance ourselves 00:30:55.829 --> 00:31:00.109 from them rather than to enter into their suffering. 00:31:03.230 --> 00:31:06.960 He says that doesn't bring healing. He says it 00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:10.400 implies if only I were more spiritual or trusted 00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:14.420 God more, I wouldn't be sick or struggling. That 00:31:14.420 --> 00:31:17.660 may be true, but trusting God doesn't mean I 00:31:17.660 --> 00:31:22.299 won't feel pain or sorrow. Christ's tears in 00:31:22.299 --> 00:31:25.460 the garden tell us that. What I need is someone 00:31:25.460 --> 00:31:29.539 to listen to my cry of anguish. I need to experience 00:31:29.539 --> 00:31:33.859 the love and mercy of Christ in the form of a 00:31:33.859 --> 00:31:37.720 friend. I remember once when I was sick and in 00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:42.160 the hospital my pastor came to visit me. He didn't 00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:45.140 pump me full of Bible verses and shake my hand 00:31:45.140 --> 00:31:48.740 and leave pleased with himself and content that 00:31:48.740 --> 00:31:53.619 he had served God. No, he knelt by my bed and 00:31:53.619 --> 00:31:57.720 told me that I was important to him and important 00:31:57.720 --> 00:32:01.130 to the church. Here was a man who had preached 00:32:01.130 --> 00:32:04.289 four times that day and then stopped to see me 00:32:04.289 --> 00:32:08.009 on his way home from church. It was late. I was 00:32:08.009 --> 00:32:10.869 really tired and he didn't want to keep me awake. 00:32:10.890 --> 00:32:13.869 I just turned off my light when he knocked. He 00:32:13.869 --> 00:32:18.589 prayed with me. It was not a big thing, but it 00:32:18.589 --> 00:32:22.450 felt big to me. It said several things to me. 00:32:22.450 --> 00:32:26.609 It said, I love you. I care. I am here and you 00:32:26.609 --> 00:32:30.839 are not in this alone. You are important to me, 00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:35.440 and this hurts me too." It was comforting to 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:39.160 know that in some small way, seeing me in my 00:32:39.160 --> 00:32:43.759 pain hurt him. His simple love opened a door 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:47.039 for me to feel the love of God. When he left, 00:32:47.059 --> 00:32:50.539 I felt the presence of God very strongly. The 00:32:50.539 --> 00:32:54.039 pillow felt softer, the air smelled sweeter, 00:32:54.339 --> 00:32:57.559 and it seemed as if for a night my room had become 00:32:57.559 --> 00:33:01.200 some other place. I felt as if I was held in 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:05.539 the very arms of God. All worry, sorrow, and 00:33:05.539 --> 00:33:09.740 fear slipped away, and I slept peacefully, aware 00:33:09.740 --> 00:33:13.859 of God's great and tender love for me. Love, 00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:18.039 honestly and simply expressed, is the key that 00:33:18.039 --> 00:33:21.720 can open the hardest heart to the overwhelming, 00:33:21.960 --> 00:33:25.779 healing love of the Father. That is our task. 00:33:26.089 --> 00:33:34.309 and our calling. You know what we need to repent 00:33:34.309 --> 00:33:39.650 of, many of us? It's the attitude that says, 00:33:40.049 --> 00:33:46.990 I want somebody to meet my needs. The me first 00:33:46.990 --> 00:33:51.130 kind of an attitude keeps us from experiencing 00:33:51.130 --> 00:33:55.700 the reality of God in our lives. Do you remember 00:33:55.700 --> 00:33:58.779 hearing about Wanda Holloway a few weeks ago? 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:02.779 Wanda Holloway has a 13 -year -old daughter. 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:08.380 Her 13 -year -old daughter was competing with 00:34:08.380 --> 00:34:11.780 a 13 -year -old friend in their school in Channelview, 00:34:11.800 --> 00:34:17.219 Texas for a cheerleading position. Wanda was 00:34:17.219 --> 00:34:19.519 jealous for her daughter because her daughter's 00:34:19.519 --> 00:34:22.900 friend had several times beaten her daughter. 00:34:23.239 --> 00:34:26.340 in various positions in the school and otherwise. 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:35.380 And so Wanda contracted for someone to kill her 00:34:35.380 --> 00:34:39.380 daughter's friend's mother. Believing that if 00:34:39.380 --> 00:34:42.780 this friend's mother was killed, the friend of 00:34:42.780 --> 00:34:44.699 her daughter would be so shattered she wouldn't 00:34:44.699 --> 00:34:50.380 even try out for cheerleading. Talk about a me 00:34:50.380 --> 00:34:57.489 -first attitude. And Wanda went to church. And 00:34:57.489 --> 00:35:00.389 her daughter went to a Christian school until 00:35:00.389 --> 00:35:06.030 she got into high school. We look at someone 00:35:06.030 --> 00:35:09.489 like Wanda and we despise that kind of greedy 00:35:09.489 --> 00:35:13.670 selfishness. And we say, how could a person possibly 00:35:13.670 --> 00:35:18.869 do that? But all that really is is a further 00:35:18.869 --> 00:35:23.969 extension of the Me First attitude that all of 00:35:23.969 --> 00:35:28.510 us struggle with. She just took it a little further 00:35:28.510 --> 00:35:34.670 than most of us are willing to do. A me -first 00:35:34.670 --> 00:35:39.650 attitude absolutely destroys our ability to know 00:35:39.650 --> 00:35:44.369 God's presence in our lives. When we humble ourselves 00:35:44.369 --> 00:35:49.610 and we say, oh God, to whom can I show your love? 00:35:51.289 --> 00:35:54.269 Where is another Joe? Where is another person 00:35:54.269 --> 00:35:57.710 in the nursing home? Lord, where is that child 00:35:57.710 --> 00:36:04.869 that needs someone to love them? Every day, God 00:36:04.869 --> 00:36:07.849 would open doors for you and for me to be avenues 00:36:07.849 --> 00:36:12.750 of His love to others. As we start every day, 00:36:12.809 --> 00:36:17.630 let's say to Him, Father, You are love and I 00:36:17.630 --> 00:36:25.440 am Your child. Show me today. how to love, and 00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:32.739 show me whom to love for Jesus' sake. Let's bow 00:36:32.739 --> 00:36:40.460 together. Would you stand with me please? Father, 00:36:40.480 --> 00:36:45.639 I pray that you will cause us not only to enjoy 00:36:45.639 --> 00:36:50.599 your love, but to grow in it. and to grow in 00:36:50.599 --> 00:36:53.480 it not merely in knowledge but in demonstration 00:36:53.480 --> 00:36:58.719 of it to others. I pray that your love would 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:02.260 heal some of us who are wounded by rejection 00:37:02.260 --> 00:37:06.539 still today. That your love would also flow through 00:37:06.539 --> 00:37:15.719 us to heal others. May we be lovers as you love 00:37:15.719 --> 00:37:20.530 and love others through us, we pray. Amen.