Christ Church Sermon, All For Love: A Love Like No Other, March 22 2026

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weekly worship at Christ Church in Bethl

Park, Pennsylvania. We're a United

Methodist congregation with the mission

of building inclusive community, sharing

Christ's transforming love. To learn

more about the church, including how you

can join us for worship online or in

person, visit christummc.net.

Thank you for listening.

Today's scripture reading is from the

New Testament. The first epistle of John

4:es 7 through10.

Hear now this reading from the New

Testament.

Dear friends, let us love one another

for love comes from God. Everyone who

loves has been born of God and knows

God. Whoever does not love does not know

God because God is love. This is how God

showed his love among us. He sent his

one and only son into the world that we

might live through him. This is love.

Not that we loved God, but that he loved

us and he sent his son as an atoning

sacrifice for our sins.

>> Hear what the spirit is saying to the

church.

>> Thanks be to God.

We may not be able to agree on much

anymore collectively, but I think I

found one thing this past week upon

which we can all agree, and it's this.

There are entirely too many reality

shows based on love.

According to a quick search on Google

and chat GPT, so obviously very very

official, a number of loved the number

of loved themed reality shows in America

alone that has existed over the years is

about at 100. And it's hard to get an

exact count because some are so

fleeting. Anybody remember Conveyor Belt

of Love? I don't think you'd fess up

even if you actually did watch Conveyor

belts of Love. And then some were

difficult to pigeon hole into the love

category. entirely because can you

really say that a show called The

Ultimatum, Marry Me or Move On, is about

a genuine quest for a love connection.

And then I just saw an ad actually as I

was preparing the sermon. I saw an ad

for one this past week. It's called Love

Overboard. And apparently one woman from

the ad. It appears that one woman and a

bunch of men are uh uh who are vying for

the woman's love live together on this

yacht. And when she eliminates them as

potential love interests, she doesn't

just send them home, they have to walk a

plank and then the plank drops and they

drop into the water. I don't quite know

what happens. I don't know if it's

crocodileinfested or sharkinfested

waters or a life raft comes. We'll have

to watch to find out, but look forward

to that one.

As a society though, I think it's safe

to say that we are borderline obsessed

with finding love and we will do just

about anything to get it, including

apparently walking a plank.

At the heart of this quest for love, I

think, is a desire for a deeper

connection. For someone to know us and

appreciate us for who we are, not for

just our accomplishments or our

achievements. for someone who's

committed to us and who will not leave

us when times get hard or we have bad

days. For a person who is kind and

patient and treats us well. And society

and all of its reality TV shows tells us

that romantic love is the way to achieve

this desire. If we can find romance, we

can find that permanent connection.

But what society in its quest for love

fails to take into account or worse just

chooses to exploit is the human element

of romantic connection.

Human beings fail and we mess up. We

tend to keep our own interests above

everything else. Even the interests of

the person with whom we are in a

relationship or we pledge to love

forever. Romantic feelings fade over

time and when the spark extinguishes

sometimes the love does too.

We start to see the flaws in other

people more than we see the good. And

then we choose to look elsewhere for

affection and attention. And we find it

hard to stay together.

But there is one love that truly lasts

forever. There is one love that never

chooses self-interest, never leaves when

things get tough. This love never gives

up on us, and there is an infinite

supply of it. And that love is, of

course, the love of God.

I think we find it hard in our humanity

to wrap our minds around the kind of

love that God gives to us. We tend to

place it in our human framework and

that's in that framework that we put

limitations on it. As pastor Chris said

in the first sermon in this series, All

for Love. Some of us think that God is

vengeful and angry and so we believe

that when we anger God, God might stop

loving us. Just like sometimes happens

in our relationships with our spouse or

our friends or our family. For those of

us living with the pain of broken

relationships, which is probably a lot

of us,

for we know all too well the reality of

lost love.

But this love of Jesus is so radically

different than anything we experience

now and anything we know. It's deep and

wide and all-encompassing, and it has

the power to change lives.

So, let's take a step back. What do we

really know about this transformational

love? From today's passage that Mark

just read, we can answer four crucially

important questions about God's love and

what differentiates that kind of love

from the love that the world tells us we

need.

First, where does love come from?

Scripture tells us love is from God.

The Greek word for love that's used in 1

1 John 4:7

John 4:7 where we read that love is from

God is agape. And you may have heard

that word around church or here in

sermons in the past. Agape is the

highest form of love. Where we in our

human relationships have a tendency to

look out for ourselves. Agape is

selfless. Where we may bulk at at making

difficult sacrifices for people we love,

agape displays the highest sacrifices.

And where we often put conditions on

love, even subconsciously,

agape love is unconditional.

A group of four to eight-year-olds was

asked about love and what love was.

Listen to what they said. Rebecca, who

was eight, said, "When my grandmother

got arthritis, she could not bend over

and paint her toes anymore. And so, my

grandfather paints her toenails for her

all the time, even when his hands got

arthritis, too. That's love."

Six-year-old Chrissy said, "Love is when

you go out to eat and you give somebody

most of your French fries without them

making them give you any of theirs." And

by this definition, Chrissy, I confess I

have never known love, nor will I ever

know love with anyone in this lifetime

because no one touches my French fries.

Sacred.

You have to have boundaries, too, right?

May Anne, who is four, said, "Love is

when your puppy licks your face even

after you left him alone all day."

Thank you for proving my point. Because

we can laugh and ooh and awe at these

statements that these children have made

in their simple and straightforward way

telling us what love is. But if we stop

and look at what they said, we can find

agape love in their responses. Listen

again. Painting toenails even when it

causes pain to do it. seemingly simple

thing but a great demonstration of that

agape love because it puts the needs of

others above our own comforts and

desires and needs that is selfless

giving someone your French fries without

giving them any of theirs. Agape love is

love that is willing to give without

expecting anything in return, even

fries. That is sacrificial.

Your puppy loves you even when you left

him alone. Real love, agape love stays.

It doesn't leave or fade even when it

feels like it is abandoned. And that is

unconditional.

Agape loves the kind of love that comes

from God. The love that put Jesus on the

cross.

The second question that scripture

answers for us today is well, what is

love? We know it comes from God. What is

it? And the answer scripture gives us is

God is love.

Interestingly, the word agape was rarely

used before Jesus came. When it was used

in the Old Testament, agape actually

didn't carry any special significance as

any kind of a higher loved. It was used

in a different way entirely. But when it

is used in the New Testament, when it is

used in reference to the love of God

that is in Christ Jesus, agape started

to mean something really different. and

it became that holy unconditional love

that we just talked about.

Since we just learned that God is love,

we can therefore draw the conclusion

that any other way that the Bible

describes love could also be used to

describe God. So, let me read for you a

very well-known passage of the Bible,

but I'm going to substitute God in place

of love.

God is patient. God is kind. God is not

easily angered. God keeps no record of

wrongs. God does not delight in evil but

rejoices with the truth. God always

protects, always trusts, always hopes,

always perseveres.

God never fails.

God is love.

The third question, how do we know that

God loves us?

And the answer we heard in scripture

today, God sent his one and only son

into the world that we might live

through him.

God never tried to hide his love for us.

God didn't send secret codes or clues to

hint at how much he loved us. Instead,

God sent Jesus as physical living proof

of his love. And not just for a short

time, a quick descension from heaven for

a couple of appearances before heading

back. God sent Jesus into the world as a

baby that grew into a man. God gave him

to us for 33 years so that we would know

without a doubt that God knows what it's

like to be human. He walked and talked

and matured and worked and laughed and

cried and laughed and suffered and loved

and lived.

By believing in Jesus and understanding

his purpose and coming to live among us

and then choosing to live for him, we

experience love in the fullest possible

way.

Final question about love that this

scripture answers. How can we earn God's

love? And the answer is we cannot. Or

more accurately, we don't have to earn

it. It's freely given. This is what we

heard in scripture. This is love. Not

that we loved God, but that he loved us

and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice

for our sins.

When God sent Jesus, it was to save

humanity. Human beings, none of us ever,

not back then, not now, have ever done

anything to earn that. In fact, it's the

opposite. All of us were and are

completely undeserving of it.

When it came to Jesus, God did what no

parent would ever willingly choose to

do. God let his one and only son be

tortured and killed because it was the

only way that we, all of us, could be

redeemed for our sins.

When Jesus died, so did our sins. His

death was the only way we could be

really free and have real life. A love

that powerful is something that can only

be freely given. It can never be earned.

Renowned theologian Carl Bar spent his

entire life studying Jesus, both who

Jesus was and how to structure biblical

learning so that it points to Jesus and

to the person of Jesus. And towards the

end of his career, Bar gave a lecture at

the University of Chicago. During the

question and answer time after the

lecture, a student asked Bar if he if it

was possible for Bar to summarize all of

the theological work that he had done

through the course of his lifetime and

whittle it down into one sentence.

And surprisingly, Carl Bar said that

yes, he could. And it was a sentence

that he had learned from a song that his

mother taught him when he was little.

Jesus loves me. This I know. For the

Bible tells me so.

The Bible does indeed tell us how much

God and Jesus, because remember together

with the Holy Spirit, they are one in

the Trinity, how much they love us.

All through the Bible, woven through its

two testaments, its 66 books, its 1,189

chapters and 31,12

verses is the most beautiful love story.

It tells us how much we are loved

collectively but also individually.

Recently I came across a le a letter

that was posted on the website

fatherslo.com.

It is a love letter composed as if God

were writing it to each of us

individually.

It demonstrates more than just about any

other tool that I have come across how

profound and how allencompassing love

is. this holy love and how it's woven

all throughout scripture, both in the

Old and the New Testaments. And I want

to share that letter with you this

morning in a slightly edited version

because it's pretty long because these

words have been taken directly from

scripture. You'll see the citation of

the Bible verse on the screen as it

corresponds with what I am reading. And

one more thing, as you listen, I invite

you to imagine that you are sitting at

the foot of the cross looking up at it.

My child,

you may not know me, but I know

everything about you.

I know when you sit down and when you

rise up.

I am familiar with all your ways.

You were made in my image and even the

very hairs on your head are numbered.

I knew you even before you were

conceived.

I created you to be exactly who you are

and I knit you together in your mother's

womb.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You were not a mistake, for all your

days are written in my book.

I brought you forth on the day you were

born.

I am not distant and angry, but am the

complete expression of love,

and it is my desire to lavish my love on

you simply because you are my child.

Every good gift that you receive comes

from my hand.

For I am your provider and I meet all

your needs.

My thoughts toward you are as countless

as the sand on the seashore. And I

rejoice over you with singing.

My plan for your future has always been

filled with hope. And I love you with an

everlasting love.

I want to show you great and marvelous

things.

If you seek me with all your heart, you

will find me.

Delight in me and I will give you the

desires of your heart. For I am able to

do more for you than you could possibly

imagine.

I will never stop doing good to you. I

am your greatest encourager.

And I am the father who comforts you in

all your troubles.

When you are brokenhearted, I am close

to you. As a shepherd carries a lamb, I

have carried you close to my heart.

I am your father and I love you even as

I love my son Jesus.

In him I gave up the most precious thing

that I had that I might gain your love.

For in Jesus my love for you is

revealed.

He came to demonstrate that I am for you

not against you. And he died so that you

and I could be reconciled. So that you

would know that I am not counting your

sins. His death was the ultimate

expression of my love for you. If you

receive the gift of my son Jesus, you

receive me. And nothing will ever

separate you from my love again.

Come home to me and I will throw the

biggest party heaven has ever seen.

I am waiting for you.

That is a love like no other. And Jesus

is waiting to give it to you.

Jesus is waiting to give you this

overwhelming, neverending, reckless love

that brought him to earth and put him on

the cross. Jesus is waiting to transform

your life with that love. A love that

never fails and it never ends.

Jesus is waiting for you.

The price has been paid. That love is

all yours.

All you have to do is believe.

Let's pray.

Holy and loving God,

it can be really challenging for us to

believe that we are worthy of the kind

of love that you want to offer to us,

that you want so desperately to give us,

that you sent your son to die on the

cross in order for us to have. And so we

pray today

that we might turn towards you. That we

might have hearts that are open to

receiving your love in a

transformational way so that it

transforms not only us but the world

through us. Help us to feel your love.

Help us to bask in it. Help us to be

changed by it.

It is in Jesus most precious name that

we pray. Amen.