Hope Today 023 - Does God Love me?

A weekly program of word and music featuring an eclectic mix of Christian music and teaching by Pastor Tom Cullen and Brian Evans.  Mac Wigfield starts the program with southern gospel classics.

Produced at Straight Path Studio in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada.

Christian Artists featured are:

Capstone Quartet

Common Bond Quartet

Kingdom Heirs

Paul Baloche

Bev Foster

Chelsea Moon & The Franz Brothers

The Enfield Hymn Sessions

Keith & Kristyn Getty

Stuart Townend

Carolyn Arends

Thank you for listening to HOPE TODAY. This is a program developed at Light & Life Programming, a registered charity. We are listener supported. If you would like to help with this ministry, donations can be made through our website at www.lightnlife.ca.

Transcript

Brian 0:06

Welcome to Hope Today. During this next hour, you will find peace and blessing through music and teaching. Love is something that we all want to experience. It is searched for in so many places, but often it is so fleeting. Our question of the day is, does God love me? The answers from God Himself, as explained by Pastor Tom Cullen in our program today. Before we get to those answers, here is Mac Weakfield and music that brings such a blessing.

Mac 0:40

Good Sunday morning. How about some gospel music? I don't want to give away any secrets this early in the program, but here's the capstone quartet. God's love is a boundless love.

Mac 3:07

You remember going to Sunday school when you were just a child? I do. I learned a song called Jesus Loves Me. Here's the common bond quartet. Because most of us are a bit older now. They sing to us, Jesus still loves me.

Mac 6:57

What does that really mean? What are the implications of that? Well, we have yet to find the depths of the Father's love. Here are the Kingdom Ayars.

Tom 10:18

My name is Pastor Tom Cullen, and I have to confess that sometimes I wish I had the voice of an angel so that you would hear the truth that I want to share with you. At the very least, I wish I had a Scottish accent. Everyone seems to listen to a preacher with a Scottish accent. I only want that so that you would hear today's truth. And that is God loves you. We are moved to worship, O God, because of your love. With Paul Belosh. For those of us who have grown up in the church, we've heard this verse so often that it has the danger of being like a piece of art in our homes. You know that piece of art that you have hanging in your living room? When you first bought the painting, you studied and treasured it with time. It no longer captures your attention. You forget that it's even there. These words are like that. In fact, we reduce them simply to a number that we hold up on a poster of all games and the content of that version. Meditate on it today. That whoever believes in him shall not bear. For everyone listening today. Every individual needs to hear these words. That whoever believes in him shall not be turned away. You were deeply loved from the start.

Tom 19:59

The great God of the universe, with all that he has to do, with all that is involved with being God. He doesn't ignore you. He doesn't turn his back on you, but thinks of you with love in his heart. This is not a passing thing with God. God so loved you. It is not a love that is dependent on circumstances. This is an abiding love, an everlasting love, an endless love. It is a love that will never let you go, never abandon you, never leave you, never falter or wane. Listen to how God is described in the first chapter of James. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the Heavenly Light, who does not change like shifting shadows. James is saying, like the sun during the midsummer, in that hot hour of noon, when everything is so through and through with light and warmth. But then as the hours progress, the sun and the shadows lengthen, and the jill of the evening comes. And then the dark and his love for you. It isn't like that. It doesn't change like a shifting shadows. That means God is love for you. Never send it. His love is always, always, always full moonday glory. Oh God, it does not change. Like a shifting shadows. I have to confess that there are times when my love grows cold. It's often based on people's behavior or actions. I can be very difficult with my love. Not God. God's love for you never falters. It is an everlasting love. You can submit in his face, put a crown of thorns on his head, hang him on a cross, and still his answer toward you is love. If we are faithless, he will remain faithful. That is the dominant note of Scripture. God's love for you never grows cold, and he uses every chance to break into your life to gain your attention and tell you that he loves you. Even today, with our little program, he is reminding you that he still loves you. No matter what you have done or what you will do, he loves you. So Chelsea Moon and the Franz brothers remind us in I stand amazed.

Brian 25:51

His mother, Susannah, wrapped him tightly in the wall until his actual due date. He then opened his eyes and cried. At a young age, he and his brother were taken to London to attend Westminster School, where at the age of 13 he became a king scholar. After graduating, he enrolled in Oxford. Neither Charles nor John had received Jesus Christ as Savior yet. However, they grew serious about spiritual things. They began to live the Christian life so methodically that they were dubbed Methodists by fellow students. With their studies completed, the brothers volunteered to be missionaries in the new land called America. After a short time, they found their ministry ineffective and themselves in a spiritual crisis depressed, they returned home. It was in May 1738 that Charles became aware of his need to accept Jesus Christ by faith, and he found himself at peace with God. Within two days, his journal records that he began to write a hymn. It is uncertain which hymn he had started, but most agree that it was and can it be because of his vivid testimony, especially told in verse 4. This wonderful hymn can be the testimony of us all. Here is the Enfield hymn sessions.

Tom 31:50

I mean, many of us never experienced love from our parents, from our father in particular. Why would our heavenly father love us if our earthly father never did? While reflecting on his childhood, one man wrote this. It was while sitting in that tree one day I realized that he was never coming home. It felt as though something had actually broken inside my chest. I've always been afraid of being abandoned ever since then. It's hard to believe or understand God and all his promises. I don't mean that I don't believe at all, but it's hard to understand the love of God when you've missed out on the love of your dad. And isn't it true? Sometimes our earthly role models do not show us the love of our heavenly father, so we end up with distorted views of who God is and what his love is like. David Mabel has written an excellent book entitled, If God is so good, then why do I hurt so bad? And he outlines the five misconceptions of God that we often pick up from our earthly fathers. You may sometimes think that God is the big just waiting for an opportunity to beat on you some more. Or you may think that God is the sugar daddy who showers you with trinkets and toys to win your favor. Or you may think of God as the Iceman, removed, cold, and aloof despite all your attempts to get closer. Or because of the model of your earthly father, you may think of God as being Mr. Wizard able to magically fix all your problems. Or you think of him as the Showda Woda Koda Automata judge who cannot be pleased no matter how hard you try. Any of those resonate with you? The idea is not to berate our fathers. Fatherhood is difficult, and we weren't the easiest of children to raise. The point is not to bring our fathers down and blame them. The idea is to understand that God is not like any of these. Even though in Scripture He is called our Heavenly Father, He has none of these characteristics. He is instead the perfect Father who is beyond our earthly models, who loves us with a perfect love, an undying love. Keith and Kristen Getty sing of God's love in His Mercy is More.

Tom 35:32

But you may ask, how do I know? What's the proof? John 3 16 says, God so loved the world that he gave. There's the proof. Someone once said, You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. We know that. If you really want to love somebody, then you show it in the way that you give. No giving. No loving. A child knows that he is loved by his parents because they give him attention, praise, discipline, care, direction, love. A wife knows she is loved by her husband because he gives it to her time to borrow and encouragement and bored and there was a lot of people. Because we are so much unlike him. We are so unlike him in the hurt. And we could not make a change on our own, no matter how hard we tried. We always fall. We need someone else a representative to live life perfectly and obediently to God and honor himself as a sacrifice for our feelings. And God in his great love for us. He gives us his son as a sacrifice so that whoever believes in his son shall not hear it but have eternal life. The good news is that God loves you. If you're hesitating to believe in God because you're waiting for God to show his love toward you, you don't need to wait any longer. God has shown his love for you once and for all. God has given his son. Jesus died. Jesus rose from the grave, and Jesus is alive forevermore. It's happened. We read in the book of Romans God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Oh, how deep the Father's love for us. For you. Here is Stuart Townsend.

Tom 40:54

He saw Jesus. His testimony was simple. I once was blind, but now I see. Do you see? Truly, Jesus is what love looks like. Here is Carolina Ren.

Tom 44:55

When I think of my love for the people in my congregation, I find that there are some people who are really easy to love. They are kind, generous, and supportive, they have a heart for God and a desire to do his will. It's easy to love them. But I can tell you that I wouldn't give up my son for them. If it was a choice between my congregation and my son, I know which one I would choose. God had that choice, and he gave up his son for you. So that you and I could have eternal life. That is a God's life in us. That's how much he loves us. He willingly gave up his son for you. Henry Morehouse was a great preacher, and it is said that he preached on the love of God five nights in a row to a packed audience in downtown Chicago. His attack for each night was John 3.16. And people reveled in the great love that God has for each one of us. And in his closing sermon, Henry Morehouse said this Suppose I was able to climb a ladder up to heaven itself. And while there I met the angel Gabriel. I would ask Gabriel, How much does God love me? And he would respond, Henry Morehouse, God loves you so much that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And so it is true for you. God loved you so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that when you believe in him, you shall not perish but have eternal life. His love for you is relentless. When everything fails, his love for you will prevail. There is nothing better than his love for you. As Alan Froes reminds us in Your Love is our hope.

Brian 49:38

Does God love you? There is no doubt, there is no question. Thank you for joining us for a program of hope today. This presentation is produced at Straight Path Studios and is provided to you by your friends. We do hope you will join us next time. Until then, may you know God's peace each day.