A Useless Sermon - Eph 3:19
June 23, 2024
what do you think of sermon title… good one to ask friends to come to or not…
Job 15:2-3… “should a wise man answer with empty knowledge… should he argue with useless talk… or with words that serve no good purpose…”
Job 27:12… “given clear account of God… yet you say all these useless things…”
Isa 49:4… “my work seems useless… yet, I will leave it all in God’s hands…”
1Cor 13:8… “preaching… will become useless… but love will last forever…”
your Daddy loves you… you are the apple of His eye… He loves you mostest…
Deut 32:10… “He found him… protected Him… cared for Him… as the apple of His eye…”
Zech 2:8… “anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession…”
lots of sermons talk about God’s love… most have a but attached… yes, God loves you, but… is that really true love… is that worth living for… pray…
What’s so important? What do you have here that’s worth living for? True Love. True Love is the greatest thing in the world… except for a nice MLT… mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. They’re so perky. I love that. —Miracle Max
in some ways… trying to preach a sermon about God’s love is useless…
Eph 3:19… “pray you would know Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge…”
NLT… “may you experience the love of Christ… too great to understand fully…”
GNT… “may you know His love… although it can never be fully known…”
NCV… “Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know…”
how do we turn a useless sermon into one that can be understood…
Acts 28:26-27… “will not understand… hearts hardened… eyes can’t see… ears can’t hear…”
1Cor 13:7-13… “spoke, understood, thought as a child… see thru glass darkly…”
2Cor 3:5-18… “minds were blinded… veil remains… only removed in Christ…”
two important keys to understand scripture… first, ask Holy Spirit to help…
Isa 11:2… “Spirit… of wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge…”
John 14:26… “the HS… whom the Father will send… will teach you all things…”
John 16:13… “when Spirit of truth comes… He will guide you into all truth…”
Acts 8:30-31… “do you understand… how can I unless someone guides me…”
1Cor 2:6-16… “God has revealed these things by the Spirit… we have received Spirit so we can understand… person without HS can’t understand God’s truth…”
second… critical to know that all scripture is about Jesus…
Luke 24:13-35… “interpreted things concerning Himself in all Scripture…”
John 5:46… “if you believed Moses… you would believe Me… for he wrote about Me…”
Acts 10:43… “He is the One all the Prophets testified about…”
Acts 28:23-24… “persuaded them concerning Jesus from Law and Prophets…”
Gal 1:12… “not receive from man… not taught… came by revelation of Jesus…”
Col 2:17… “these rules are a shadow… the reality is found in Christ…”
what happens when we read bible thru lens of the cross… we can finally begin to see and understand that God really loves us… fact, not emotions or feelings…
1Cor 1:18-31… “preaching of the cross is foolishness (useless) to those who are headed for destruction (render useless)… but it is the power of God to us who are being saved…”
1Cor 2:2… “determined to know nothing among you… except Jesus crucified…”
most people who don’t believe God loves them base that on their behavior or circumstances… makes God schizo… He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me…
Psa 52:1… “God’s faithful love is constant…”
Rom 5:8… “God proves His love… when we were sinners… Jesus died for us…”
1John 3:16… “this is how we know real love… Jesus gave His life for us…”
4 Greek, 1 English word for love (n or v)… NT is 80% agape… 20% phileo… unconditional love is WHO God is… can’t be anything else… He is love…
agape - self-sacrificing love; always associated with God; will, not emotion…
phileo - deep, abiding friendship…
eros - erotic, sexual love (not in NT)…
storge - natural, familial love (not in bible)…
John 3:16… “God so loved you (v-well pleased)… He gave His Son…”
Eph 2:1-5… “because of His great love (n)… He loved us (v)… made us alive…”
1John 4:8-16… “God is love (n)… He loved us (v)… He sent His Son…”
preach amazing sermons… pray amazing prayers… can’t receive above and beyond what you ask or think until you know how much God loves you…
Eph 3:16-21… “I pray you be rooted and firmly established in love… pray you have power to understand length, width, height, depth of God’s love… pray you be filled with the fullness of God… to do above and beyond all we ask or think…”
all of what you need to know starts with knowing how much God loves you…
Psa 23:6… “only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all my life…” Psa 33:5… “the earth is full of God’s unfailing love…”
Rom 8… “more than conquerors… nothing can separate us from God’s love…”
Col 3:14… “put on love… which is the perfect bond of unity…”
1John 4:7-21… “love one another… love consists in this, not that we loved God, but He loved us… know and believe His love… God is love… we love because He first loved us…”
have you ever done anything dumb… often we believe God stops loving us when we sin… not a chance… His love is not based on what you do, but who He is…
Rom 4:8… “what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin…”
2Cor 5:19… “God is no longer counting people’s sins against them…”
1John 2:2… “He is sacrifice for our sins… not only ours… but the whole world…”
the cross has obliterated your sins… God’s not saving video to show later…
Isa 43:25… “I, yes, I alone… will blot out your sins for My sake…”
maha… obliterate, exterminate; wipe from memory; destroy completely, leave no trace…
Rom 5:1-9… “God’s love poured into our hearts… thru death of His Son…”
1Cor 13:4-8… “love keeps no record of wrongs…”
Heb 10:17… “never again remember their sins… no longer an offering for sin…”
does God really love me… yes, He does… need to be reminded of that more than anything… loves unlovely, unlovable, unloving… has to be unconditional or we have no hope… maybe this wasn’t a useless sermon after all… pray…
Psa 94:18-19… “I am slipping… but your unfailing love supports me…”
Isa 43:1-13… “I will be with you when you go thru difficulty… I love you…”
Zeph 3:17… “with His love, He will calm your fears… rejoice over you with singing…”