How can anyone see a God whom no one has ever seen? The apostle John gives a surprising answer: when we love one another, God abides in us, and the world can glimpse Him in our relationships (1 John 4). Preached on the thirtieth anniversary of a mission, this sermon weaves the teaching on agape love, which loves in spite of everything, together with the story of a community that this love has been building for three decades. Listen and ask yourself whether someone looking at your relationships today could see God.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- John writes that whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:7-8). Why was this such a new message for people of that time, who knew gods that punished and inspired fear?
- According to 1 John 4:9-10, love does not start with us but with God, who sent his Son. How does the fact that God loved us first change the way you love others?
- The speaker described agape as love "in spite of," rooted more in decision than in feelings. Who is hardest for you to love this way, and what gets in the way?
- "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us" (1 John 4:12). What does it mean that people can see God through the relationships between believers?
- The sermon pictured the church as a hospital for broken people, where every sinner has a future and every saint has a past. What in our community helps, and what hinders, someone who is lost from feeling welcome here?
- In a world where "how's it going?" gets a two word answer, how can you really stop for someone this week and show them a love that can be seen?
