Love Story (Sermon Blog)
Series Recap: In the final message of our Christmas Stories series, Pastor Steve reminded us that at the center of Christmas is the greatest love story of all time. After exploring family, war, and justice, we arrive at the heart of the story: a God who loved the world so deeply that He stepped into our brokenness to rescue us. Christmas is ultimately a story of sacrificial love. 1224
What Do We Mean by “Love”?
Pastor Steve began by pointing out that the word love is used in many ways in our culture:
Romantic love
Friendship love
Family love
Enjoyment love (food, hobbies, sports)
But Scripture points to a deeper kind of love—the greatest kind of love.
Agape Love
The New Testament was written in Greek, which uses multiple words for love. The word used most often to describe God’s love is agape:
Sacrificial
Self-giving
Unconditional
Costly
Agape love is not based on feelings or worthiness. It’s a decision to give oneself for the good of another.
The Story Before the Story
Before there was sin, before there was brokenness, there was a beautiful relationship between the Father and the Son.
Pastor Steve invited us to imagine Genesis 1:
God creating oceans, mountains, animals, and beauty
Standing back and saying, “It is good”
Then creating humanity—the crown of creation—and declaring it “very good”
But in Genesis 3, everything changed.
Humanity rebelled. Sin entered the world. Darkness replaced harmony. And a rescue plan became necessary. 1224
The Costliest Decision Ever Made
At some point in eternity, a decision was made—one that would change everything.
Pastor Steve imagined the weight of that moment:
The Father asking the Son to step into a broken world
Jesus seeing the full reality of human sin, violence, and suffering
Knowing He would experience rejection, pain, and death
And yet, Jesus said yes.
“I’ll do it.”
That decision marked the beginning of the greatest love story ever told.
A Painful Goodbye
Christmas required a heartbreaking goodbye between the Father and the Son.
Jesus went from:
Co-creator of the universe
King of Kings
Perfect unity with the Father
…to becoming human:
Born as a baby
Experiencing hunger, pain, and rejection
Ultimately dying on a cross
Isaiah described Him as:
“A man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.”
Christmas cannot be separated from the cross. The manger points forward to sacrifice. 1224
This Is Real Love
Pastor Steve anchored the message in 1 John 4:9–10:
“God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world… This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us.”
The powerful truth here is this:
God didn’t wait for us to love Him
God didn’t wait for us to improve
God didn’t wait for us to notice Him
He loved us first.
Why We Needed Rescue
Pastor Steve explained that humanity’s problem isn’t lack of effort—it’s sin.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23)
No amount of goodness, effort, or moral adjustment can fix the problem. Like recovery programs teach, the first honest step is admitting:
“I can’t fix this on my own.”
Christmas is God doing for us what we could never do for ourselves. 1224
Belief That Changes Everything
Pastor Steve clarified that biblical belief is more than mental agreement.
In Scripture, belief means:
Trust
Commitment
Surrender
A willingness to follow
Jesus said:
“Whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.”
The invitation of Christmas is not just to admire Jesus—but to step fully into His story.
A Personal Love Story
Pastor Steve ended by making John 3:16 deeply personal:
“For God so loved you…”
Not humanity in general.
Not the world in theory.
You—by name.
Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save it. Christmas is God’s open invitation to step into His love story and receive life—real life, eternal life.
The Invitation Still Stands
The Christmas story asks each of us a simple but life-changing question:
Will I allow the God of love to write the next chapter of my story?
God will never force His way in.
But His invitation is always open.
Christmas reminds us:
You are loved
You are seen
You are invited
And it’s never too late to say yes.