Boomerang Express 2009 VBS Theme Sermon

Boomerang Express VBS 2009 Theme Sermon - It All Comes Back to Jesus

1 John 4:9-11

Discover the Vastness of God's Love!

Introduction:  Beatles - "All you need is love....love is all you need"

·       If you go to online book retailer Amazon.com, there are at least 32,507 books currently in print with the word "love" in the title (over 145,000 that deal with the subject of love) and over 11,000 music CDs with "love" in the title.

·       If you were to do a Google-search on the internet, you’d discover at least 121,000,000 web-sites that that use the word "love" as one of their key words.

·       It is unmistakable, how important love is to our culture -- to people in general.

·       But with all this information available, love has also become a very confusing subject.

When I watch TV, or scan magazines in the checkout lines, it’s clear that our society has a very poor understanding of love.

       I.          It Begins With God (vs. 9)

A.     True Love is never static or inactive

B.     "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16 (NKJV) 

C.    "We love Him because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19 (NKJV)

D.    "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1 John 4:8 (NKJV)

     II.          It Was Evident on the Cross (vs. 10)

A.     "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 (NKJV)

B.     Propitiation

1.     Greek 'hilasmos', meaning atonement, or appeasement; a means of appeasement

2.     Correlates to Old Testament Hebrew 'kaphar'; root word for "mercy seat"

C.    "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)

    III.          It's Demonstrated Through Us (vs. 11)

A.     God is our Example

1.     He loved sacrificially and unconditionally

2.     Jesus' death on the cross was the appeasing of God's justice and judgment for sin.

B.     Love is to be Expressed

1.     To the brethren (one another)

2.     To everyone

            ABC's of Becoming a Christian

·        Admit to God that you are a sinner; repent, or turn away from your sin

·        Believe that Jesus is God's Son; His sacrifice on the cross paid your debt of sin

·        Confess Jesus as your Savior and Lord; put Him in charge of your life