1 Feb 2009 - Sermon (English)
To love and be loved - Pastor Andi Winarta
Ref read: 1 John C:4 V:7-11
Everybody knows this but only a handful of people practice it. People prefer to be loved than to love because to love somebody/something first is a sacrifice the person has to take as he is taking the initiative.
But our God is different. He loves all of his children selflessly without any hope of any return. But it is because He loves us so much that we as his followers go to church every Sunday, pray in His name, returns a small amount of what He has given to us and etc.
Like parents who loves their children and wants to provide the best they can afford for their children, God is the same. Therefore before saying that we love God or our parents thus we listen to them, it is more appropriate to say that "It is because of their great love for us in the first place, that we love them back in return"
It is also insufficient to just care for people who love you as God has spoken before to treat thy enemy and strangers alike. God wants us to impart our care and love to anyone who needs it. Pastor Andi recounted his experience in Sydney where he was saw a youngster with a bleeding nose but no one went up to him and ask if he was fine. This teaches us to pay more attention to the people around us who are in need no matter who they are.
