2015.10.25 礼拝

2015.10.25 礼拝

2015. 10. 25 Matthew 22: 34-40 “Applying the mission

Luke 15:11-32 – The Prodigal Son
This week’s message can be summarized as “accepting the love of God”. The issue is some people are able to catch “the love of God” and “the forgiveness of God” quite easily while there are others who cannot.

The truth is there are Christians who may understand “the love of God” but fail to actually feel relieved or peace. This is not a question of faith but a question of “skill” and “habit” of entrusting everything to God’s love, which can be solved by consciously making efforts to improve.

Without having the know-how, many Christians are unable to fully accept God’s love.

One of the problems of being unable to catch the love of God is the relationship with their parents. People experience “love” through their relationships with their parents. The important thing is not to understand “love” as a “notion”, but having the memory of feeling the warm embrace.

The notion of love and feeling love are linked when a person grows up and restores the memory of parents’ warmth and realizing that such feeling is the result of their love. When you get to know the love of God, it is linked with your memory of being loved by your parents and enables you to appreciate the feeling and warmth of God.

On the other hand, if it was only a dull experience, the love of God would just be a notion making it difficult to actually feel it.

Let us look at what kind of relationships with the parents would have enabled us to experience “the feeling of love”.

1. Evaluate our ability and the experience of receiving love.
・Do we remember the joy of parents’ warmth when embraced in their arms.
・Do we remember the happiness of being praised.
・Are we convinced that parents would never betray us not matter what.
・Do we actually feel that we are approved by our parents.

・Do we feel that we are respected by our parents.
If you remember the feeling of love from your parents, you should try to link this feeling of joy and peace to your relationship with God. Then submit yourself to God imagining you are in the arms of God and how warm it is. There is no need to be nervous nor reserved to entrust in God.

Those who have children or grandchildren can try hugging your children as you imagine God tightly hugging them. Needless to say, it may become a habit for your children to feel the joy of being loved and be able to receive the love of God. From there you can imagine yourself being clasped in the arms of God.

2. Entrusting in the perfect love and forgiveness of God
There are those who are already grown up with little chance to be embraced by your parents. Yet, it is not too late.

From the story of the Prodigal Son, you can imagine the Father in heaven running towards you and hugging you in spite of your sinful nature, forgiving your unforgivable sin and accepting you as you are.

There could be those who are hurt from your relationship with your parents. However, rest assured that the Father in heaven does not look down on you, neglect, evaluate nor betray you.

If you are feeling uneasy, anxious or lonely, you should surrender them to God. With all understanding, the Father in heaven will heal your hurt and wrap you up warmly. Let’s start by practicing to submit naturally without pretensions or doubting His love.

Luke 15:20 And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
Isaiah 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.