Deuteronomy 10:12-22 "What Is Love?"

ContextThis sermon opens a series on marriage, but takes a step back first to define love itself — because the culture has distorted the definition so thoroughly that building a biblical view of marriage requires laying this foundation first.

The Problem with "Love is Love"The cultural slogan "love is love" is logically empty — you can't define a word by using that same word. What the culture really means is: love is whatever I decide it means for me. Over recent decades, we have celebrated the individualization of love, reducing it to "you meet my needs and make me feel good without asking anything of me." This self-centered definition of love must be replaced before any honest discussion of marriage can happen.

Three Dimensions of Love

1. Love is an Act of the Will (Deuteronomy 10)Moses reminds Israel that God didn't choose to love them because they were numerous, righteous, or impressive. God looked at Israel in their sin and rebellion and chose to set his heart upon them anyway. Then he calls Israel to do the same for others — to set their hearts in love upon the sojourner, just as God loved them.

The takeaway: love is a decision, not just a feeling. Romantic feelings fade after about two years — so if love is only a feeling, the culture's answer is to abandon the relationship and chase the feeling elsewhere. God's answer is to choose to love even when the feeling isn't there. This applies in marriage, friendship, parenting, and every other relationship.

2. Love Serves Sacrificially (1 John 3:16-18)On the night of his betrayal, before the Last Supper, Jesus dressed like a servant and washed his disciples' feet. The creator of heaven and earth got on his knees and cleaned the dirt off their feet — as both an act of love and a model to follow.

Sacrificial love costs something real. Sometimes it costs time. Sometimes it costs sleep. Sometimes it costs money. John echoes James in pointing out that seeing a brother in need and walking past with empty words is neither faith nor love. Real love shows up in deed and truth, not just words. And the ultimate example remains Jesus on the cross — the greatest sacrifice for those he loves.

3. Love is Righteous (1 John 5:1-4)This third dimension surprises people. John argues that you demonstrate love for your brothers and sisters in Christ not just by serving them, but by obeying God. Pursuing holiness is an act of love toward other believers and toward the watching world.

The sermon illustrates this with a pointed example: convincing a struggling friend to rob a bank "because God is love" doesn't demonstrate love — it tramples on God's holiness, violates a brother's vows, and teaches the watching world that the gospel doesn't matter. You cannot isolate one attribute of God — love — and use it to override his holiness, righteousness, and hatred of sin. The full context of 1 John 4:8 makes this clear: God demonstrated his love precisely by satisfying his holiness and wrath through the sacrifice of Jesus. Love and righteousness aren't opposites — they work together.

Key TakeawayBiblical love has three inseparable components: we choose to set our hearts on others (will), we sacrifice for them (service), and we pursue holiness on their behalf (righteousness). We won't love perfectly this side of heaven — but through the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit, we have both the model and the power to love the way God calls us to love.

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Luke 2:21-40 speaks of Jesus' presentation at the Temple. There, Simeon & Anna speak about Jesus and tell others about what they saw.

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Peace with God comes through the work of Jesus on God's part and repentance on our part. This video seeks to answer the question: What is repentance?

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Acts 17:16-34 "Resurrection & Meaning"

Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed!

Setting the ScenePaul finds himself alone in Athens waiting for his companions. As he walks through the city, he's struck by how thoroughly it is saturated with idols — temples, statues, and shrines to every god imaginable. This stirs up a deep, righteous indignation in him, not just irritation, but a settled anger rooted in the conviction that glory belonging to God is being given to lifeless created things.

Paul's Approach: Starting Where People AreRather than simply condemning the Athenians, Paul engages them on their own terms. He quotes their own poets, references their altar to the "unknown God," and uses the framework of their own worldviews as a bridge to the Gospel. This is a model for how Christians can engage culture — not by ignoring it, but by finding the points of contact and redirecting them toward truth.

The Four Big Questions (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation)The sermon organizes Paul's message around four questions that every worldview must answer:

1. Creation — Where did everything come from? Paul presents a God who is both transcendent (above and separate from creation) and personal (actively involved in it). This directly challenges the Epicureans, who believed the universe was a cosmic accident, and the Stoics, who believed in an impersonal divine force. The God of the Bible is neither absent nor impersonal.

2. Fall — What went wrong? The problem is idolatry — placing anything in the position that belongs to God alone. This isn't just a problem of ancient Athens. It shows up today as trusting in political ideologies, wealth, relationships, self-sufficiency, or even religion itself. At its core, all sin is self-worship.

3. Redemption — What is the solution? Jesus lived the perfect life no one else could live, earning righteousness before God. He then took on the punishment for sin at the cross. The resurrection is the proof and the centerpiece of this — which is exactly why it was mocked then and is still rejected today.

4. Consummation — How does it all end? For the Epicurean, everything ends in nothingness. For the Stoic, everything is reabsorbed into a cosmic force. For the Christian, the end is judgment before God — and for those who repent and believe, it's the glorious new heavens and new earth in God's presence.

The Call to RepentanceRepentance involves three things: honestly admitting specific sin to God, turning away from the false gods you've been trusting in, and turning toward the proper worship of the one true God. This isn't a one-time event — it's a way of life. The resurrection of Jesus has already defeated every false god, and that victory belongs to those who repent and believe.

Key TakeawayThe resurrection isn't just a theological footnote — it's the answer to the modern crisis of meaning. Every competing worldview ultimately offers emptiness. The Gospel offers a personal God, a real rescue, and a glorious future. Paul's example in Athens shows that engaging culture thoughtfully and pointing it to Christ remains the calling of every believer.

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Luke has been building up to the birth of Jesus. And the birth is accompanied by a spectacular display of God's glory.

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Luke 1:57-80

After Mary leaves, John the Baptist is born, and Zechariah regains his voice. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zechariah gives us the second song in Luke 1.Please visit our Website to learn more about Fairlea Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Ruth 4:1-22 "Redemption Accomplished; Hope Restored"

Boaz meets the unnamed redeemer and makes a shrewd case. And the unnamed redeemer passes his right of redemption to Boaz. At the end, Naomi's hope is restored as she holds her grandson on her lap. But the greater redemption and hope come through another baby born in Bethlehem 1,000 years later: Jesus, the Son of David.

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Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth blesses Mary, and Mary offers up a song of praise to God for who He is and what He has done.

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