A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God” (1 John 3:17-21). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!   You’ve probably had this experience: you learn a new word or concept or gain a new insight and suddenly see it everywhere. It has been there all along, but now it catches your attention, and it appears all over the place. That happened to me as I prepared to present a textual study of our Epistle lesson, 1 John 3:16-24, at this month’s Circuit Winkel. I noticed the word “heart” was repeated five times in five ve...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure” (1 John 3:1–3).  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! This short text is brimming with Good News:“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.” Did you hear that? God deals with us in love and calls us His children.  Not only that: He calls us “Beloved!” Much loved. Dearly loved. We’re not just some orphan children God brought into the world and then left to fend for ourselves. God is not some deadbeat absentee father. We are His dear child...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “ Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is” ( 1 John 3:2). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Beloved! Children of God! That’s what we are called in our Epistle for today. Blessed! That’s what we are called in our Gospel. But it was not always so. When we first entered this world, it was as God’s enemies. Despising Him, wanting nothing to do with God or His Word. We were under His righteous wrath for our sin. No wonder throughout Scripture, God uses many unflattering adjectives to describe our first status: Foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved, and worst of all, cursed. So, which is it? Are we beloved children of God… or are we enemies? Are we blessed… or are we cursed? Are we sinners… or are we saints? What are we? What will we be? God calls believers by various names, but th...