1 Peter 2:21-24   For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-- by whose stripes you were healed.

 

Luke 23:33-34   And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.

Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

 

Luke 10:21   In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.”

 

Luke 15:1-7   Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  

 

So He spoke this parable to them, saying: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”

 

 

Matthew 23:37   O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See! Your house is left to you desolate;  for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!"

 

Galatians 2:20   I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

 

Ephesians 5:25   Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.

 

1 Peter 3:18   For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.

 

John 13:1   Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

 

 

 

 

PRAYER

 

Our Father in Heaven,

       With God the Son

       And God the Holy Spirit,

 

As we go through this day

      In which our culture focuses on human love

      That is limited to time,

And often corrupted

            By carnal lust,

      We seek to love beyond our ability.

 

Train us to love like Jesus.

 

We praise Him for showing us what it is to truly love:

       With great longsuffering

            Withholding Divine wrath from us,

            Though we once resisted Him

            And even cursed His name;

       Gently and humbly offering us

            His pleasant, kind yoke of service;

       Never envying the position and possessions of others,

            Spurning personal wealth and popularity and power

            To do His Father’s will;

       Never bragging about His Divine nature and acts,

            But keeping His focus on His sacrifice on the cross;

       Never puffed-up, swelled, arrogant toward others,

            But humbly offering them His yoke;

       Never behaving indecently, especially to women,

            But always treating people with purity

            And concern for their well-being,

            Especially their repentance and forgiveness;

       Never seeking things for Himself,

            But moving toward His climactic act

            Of self-sacrificial ransom of others;

       Never responding in kind to abuse, insults,

            And unjust suffering and death,

            But committing His judgment to His Father

            And dying for our sins

So we would die to sin

            And live for righteousness;

       Never keeping track of evils committed against Himself

            For later revenge,

            But forgiving His enemies

            And His friends of their offenses against Him;

       Never rejoicing in unrighteousness,

            But always rejoicing

            In the repentance of sinners

            And in the revelation of the power of God to His disciples;

       Always believing and confidently expecting

            God to fulfill His promises for His followers;

       Always loving His own.

 

 

O Triune God, this morning

       We confess,

       We proclaim:

            
            No one ever loved like Jesus!

            No one ever loved like Jesus!

 

O God, teach us to love like Him!

 

For other people, in all our dealings,

      Teach us

      To hold our wrath;

      To extend pleasantness;

      To desire and work for their best;

      To boast about our Lord’s deeds

            And possessions and position

                  Not our own;

      To be gently humble, not arrogant;

      To behave in constant purity and chastity;

      To seek for their welfare and advancement

                  Not our own;

      To respond to insults 
            And even suffering at their hands 
            With self-sacrifice

            For their well-being;

      To keep track of their good deeds toward us

            And to forgive the evil;

      To rejoice

            In all that You have given them in Christ

            And in all that Your Word has promised them

       Now and throughout eternity;

       To believe and confidently expect fulfillment

            Of all that You have promised them in Your Word;

 

        Teach us to love like this without ceasing.

 

 

 

God the Father,

God the Son,

And God the Holy Spirit,

 

All of this is beyond our ability.

 

 

In our human frailty

      We need Your grace

            For this education in true love.

 

 

This morning as we

      Sing Your praises,

      Pray,

      And listen

      To our Pastor teach us Your Word,

 

            Give us the grace to love like Jesus!

 

 

In the name of our Lord Jesus,

      Who loved us and gave Himself for us,

      Amen.


Dr. James R. Mook