Sermon Notes — March 30, 2025
Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32
Soul Food: Being Nourished by Unconditional Love and Forgiveness
Dr. Craig Goff
March 30, 2025
Anybody remember the song, “Love is a Many Splendored Thing” from the movie with the same title? It is beautiful. A lot of great singers have recorded it, including Andy Williams, Nat King Cole, Connie Francis, Frank Sinatra, and the Four Aces.
It is a beautiful song and I think if you’ve ever fallen in love you would agree that love is a many splendored thing. More importantly, I think Jesus would agree, although Jesus would also be quick to point out that love is also very practical. Our love is shown by our actions.
Think of all the people who were drawn to Jesus. People who were hungry were drawn to Jesus. People who longed for a deeper relationship with God were drawn to Jesus because he loved them. People knew that he loved them because he did something about their situation.
Our love is shown by our actions.
But notice there were those who were not supportive of Jesus’ love for everybody. They could not see that love is a many splendored thing.
Let’s put vv.1-2 on the screen once again.
“Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
These religious leaders were grumbling because Jesus was welcoming sinners and eating with them. They could not figure out why Jesus would spend time with the poor and the hungry and the despised and the social outcasts.
There is a reason they are called “outcasts” you keep them away from you. You keep them out.
To the majority of the religious leaders of that day loving God is mainly about staying away from sinners and keeping yourself pure.
If they had a motto it might be “birds of a feather flock together.” “Look there’s Jesus, there’s a bunch of sinners. Does he not know any better? Does he not know to stay away from those kind of people?”
When I was in the Church of the Nazarene we had a motto too: “I don’t smoke, I don’t chew, I don’t go with girls who do….”
I do understand the importance of surrounding yourself with godly people who encourage you to love and serve God. That is why church is important. That is why Sunday School is important. That is why small groups are important.
But while it is important to stay close to people who love God, it is also important to be sensitive to those who have lost their way.
Sometimes those who have lost their way are the religious – but they need love too.
And so Jesus reaches out to these religious people with some stories, with some parables.
He tells a story about a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost child. (which is really a story about two lost children because the older son is also lost, even though he never set foot off the farm).
But have you ever noticed these stories about a lost sheep, and a lost coin and a last child are also stories about a seeking shepherd, a seeking woman and a seeking Father?
Jesus wants the Pharisees to understand that God loves everybody and is actively seeking to restore each and every one us.
The theme of our worship service this morning as part of our Soul Food series is: “Being Nourished by Unconditional Love and Forgiveness.”
Today is also the day we commission our Stephen Ministers. Stephen Ministers express the unconditional love of God in many splendored ways.
I have been a part of the training of Stephen Ministers for a long time. I did training as a leader in St. Louis. One of my close friends helped write the material still used in the training of Stephen Ministers, Michael Welch.
Four of the churches I have served have had a Stephen Ministry program. Cindy Sanford, Marlane Claxton and Pat Smith who train our ministers here at Bethlehem are as good as any trainers I have seen. They do an incredible job and the ministers who will be commissioned today have done an incredible job with their training, which is pretty extensive.
So here is what I need you to help me do…..spread the word. Let people know that we have a great Stephen Ministry program here at Bethlehem.
Stephen Ministers are sometimes called the “after people.” They are people, very extensively trained, who come along beside us “after” we have experienced some sort of set-back or unusually challenging experience.
Sometimes it is after a very positive experience. It could be following a huge promotion. You are excited about taking on new responsibilities but it involves enormous change you would like help navigating. A Stephen Minister can help you walk through it all. Stephen Ministers are here for us after the death of someone we love, or the loss of a job, or marriage, or when we enter a new chapter in life….like retirement….. or an empty nest.
What do you do with yourself, when you are no longer a volunteer Uber driver? A Stephen Minister can help you navigate all that.
So I am going to turn the service over now to Cindy Sanford and Pat Smith who will be commissioning our Stephen Ministers who will be expressing the unconditional love and forgiveness of God which is a many splendored thing.