Sun Valley Community Church

What if our love wasn’t conditional? In this sermon, Pastor Chad reveals the ingredients that made Jesus’ love revolutionary – the secret of the most irresistible message ever preached.

God is love. To follow God is to act in love, but what does that mean? Love is a choice. Through Jesus, we choose salvation over condemnation. In the face of hatred, we should choose humility. To change the world, we must choose to give. Love is to listen and to share the truth: no matter who you are or what you’ve done, God loves you.

Jesus came and asked us to follow Him. So why do we follow other Christians instead? All kinds of people call themselves “Christian,” but there is only one Jesus, and he commands us to love. When we look to God’s Word, we see that His love changes lives. Everyone matters to God. If we want to spread the good news, we need to love God and love people.

What would you say if someone walked up to you and asked, "are you a Christian?" What does the word "Christian" mean to you? When both good and evil have acted in the name of Christianity, how can we determine what the truth is? The Bible does not define the word "Christian," but it does tell us how to be disciples of Jesus.

Jesus wants you to receive him, he’s just waiting on your invitation. He loves you, but he will not force himself on you, you must invite him into your life. There is a famous painting in St Paul’s Cathedral in London entitled “The Light of the World” by the artist William Holman Hunt. The painting is of Jesus standing in the doorway of a long unopened door. There is no handle as the door only opens on the inside. Jesus lives. Jesus loves you. Will you invite him in?

As the people drop their palm branches and shout “hosanna” they are literally asking Jesus to “save us” and “save us now”. The people are thinking politically, while Jesus is thinking personally and eternally. Deliverance will come, but in a different way than the people are thinking and expecting. The church partners with Jesus in his salvation efforts. Like a task force doing whatever it can to save someone in danger, the church rallies to fulfill the cry of “Hosanna”. Easter is a great time to invite people to be rescued.

Whatever we put our hope in we worship. This passage fulfills prophecy and is symbolic for what lies ahead for Jesus, the cross. It also reveals what true worship is like. Worship is focused hope. At its max, it is a release of hope that is overwhelming and causes us to surrender all things. For example, some surrender everything to their job, hope and worship are the foundation of that drive. The problem is your job doesn’t love you, it’ll leave you in an instant. People worship and put their hope into all kinds of things, but Jesus loves you and will love you now and forevermore.

We know death, but Jesus knows life. This is true physically and also emotionally and spiritually. Sin brings death and we all sinners. As a result, we are all experiencing death and decay in various forms. But the righteousness and power of Jesus working in and through lives bring life to dead things. Marriages, friendships, hopes, dreams, and ultimately our mortal bodies will be resurrected in Him.