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God loves you! God gives you a Valentine invitation – Be Mine!

God expresses his love for us in many different ways, but the greatest demonstration of his love is that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He became less so that he could fully demonstrate his love for us. Even though God is all-powerful, he became a man and bore our sin, so that we could spend eternity with him.

He loves you! He wants you to be his; will you say yes to His invitation?

Welcome to Redemption Church in Plano Tx. It is crazy cold in Texas this weekend, but we are still gathering to do the 3 things – Everybody worships, everybody receives the Word of God, and everybody talks to God.

My name is Chris Fluitt I am thankful for everyone in the room and everyone online. God Bless you all.

Thank you for joining us this Valentine’s day.

Happy Valentine’s Day

I hope all of our couples have had a wonderful day together. God cares about your relationship.

I was at the store the other day and found my way to a valentine’s day aisle. There were lots of balloons, cards, and candies. Then I saw these little heart shape candies with writing on them… We have all seen them before right? These are the candies that taste like they were surely made out of old chalk from your elementary school. These candies are actually called “sweethearts conversation hearts” by a company called “Necco.” (New England Confectionary Company)

Candies

As I was thinking about how bad these candies tasted, I began to think what message would fit God’s valentine toward you and me.

Can you think of any of the messages that are written on these candies? Some of them are really silly and I am not sure I could see it being God’s valentine’s message.

Cutie Pie
Love bug
Hug me
first kiss, kiss me, or let’s kiss
UR Hot, TOO Hot
U ROCK

Some get a little closer perhaps…
Soul mate
forever
I heart U
Me & U

But I think the message God has for us is one that Necco originally stamped on their candies when they started selling in 1902. That message is… Be Mine.

Be Mine

God’s message for you today is Be Mine. This will also be his message tomorrow. Be Mine is His message to you always. From beginning to end.

Malachi 3:16-17 (NIV & NKJV)) Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.”

God speaks to a people who were outcasts… They had been disobedient. They had failed to walk in a relationship with God and had gotten themselves into so much trouble… and yet God sends them a message through the prophet Malachi. God says “Be Mine.”

Be Mine

Be mine is a request. Be mine requires free will. Love requires free will. God gives you an invitation today – be mine.

God loves you and wants you to decide to be His.

In scripture God calls you the apple of His eye. (Zech 2:8 Deut 32:10)
Scripture declares that his love is as high and great as the heavens. (Psalm 103:11)
Jesus says the numbers of hair on your head are numbered (Matthew 10:30)
He rejoices over you with singing (Zeph 3:17)

Over and over in scripture God has invited us – Be mine.

But what happens when the love given is not received? This is one of the great reoccurring concepts and themes in stories. It is called unrequited love.

Unrequited love is a love that is not reciprocated, even though reciprocation is desired. Any love that is not returned to the same degree it was given.

Shakespeare, Hemingway, Dickens… Many great stories feature unrequited love.

You can hardly read a book, watch a movie or tv show, or listen to a song without running into the theme of unrequited love.
Phantom of the Opera, Gone with the Wind, The Little Mermaid, Don Quixote…

Lucy & Schroeder

…even in the Peanuts comic, Lucy & her would be love Schroeder, who can’t pull himself away from his small piano.

We should be familiar with this this theme of a love given but a love not received.

Wait, do you think this theme is in the Bible? It is all throughout the Bible.

God out of love creates Adam & Eve. God gives them everything they could ever need and asks them “be mine,” by asking them to not doing this one simple thing – don’t eat of the tree of knowledge.

God continues to speak to man and gives them a way to have relationship with Him… but they become so evil that God has to send a flood.

God delivers disobedient slaves from Egypt and blesses them with wealth, health, freedom, and commands to live a blessed life in their own land… They only complain about God and the leaders He placed in their life.

The Bible is a long story of God giving love, and us not returning it like we should.

And yet, God still returns to us and invites us… “be mine.”

You can be a Christian all your life and not understand this. I once heard a missionary tell an amazing story…

There was a missionary who had recently arrived in the Middle East. He was invited to meet some influential men who were all Muslim. He was instructed by the people who set up the meeting “be careful. We can’t guarantee your safety if they get angry. They could declare you a blasphemer and have you put to death.”

The missionary went into the meeting and the men asked Him about God. The missionary said “I believe the best way to know God is to know Jesus, because Jesus is God come to Earth.”

Well that did it… Men stood up and began pointing and raising their voices. The new missionary could only understand a few things they were saying, but you did not need to speak the language to know they were angry. His days as a missionary seemed to be numbered, until of the men stood up and yelled “let the man explain.”

The meeting was silent, and the man looked at the missionary and said, “why do you think such a big & powerful God would become a man?”

The missionary said “Imagine you love a woman. You tell her how much she means to you and you ask her to be your wife. And after you have conveyed how you feel, she says no.”

You could decide to go find someone else to fall in love with, but you decided that you really did love this woman. So instead of walking away, you decide to continue pursuing her.

The missionary asked the man “But how do you pursue in love? Would you use your strength and power to abuse the woman you love, in order to force her to love you and say yes to your marriage proposal?” At this Muslim man shook his head no.

The missionary continued. “Of course not. You would serve her. You would give her gifts. You would meet her needs. You would show her your love again and again to try to win her affection. Because of your love you would be willing to become lesser, smaller, a servant for her… you would be willing to suffer pain for her. You would be willing to die for her in your pursuit of her love.

The man nodded in agreement with the missionary.

God loves us but we have told God no. But God really loves us, so he has pursued us with love. He does not use his strength and power to abuse us until we decide to say yes… instead God shows us how much He loves us in hopes we will say yes.

God became a servant to pursue us in love. God experienced pain to show us the depth of His love. God became a man so that he could pursue us with love.

The man again started to point and raised his voice. The missionary, now a little worried looked at the translator, and the translator said… “He believes you. He says ‘I believe this man.’”

Be Mine

God invites you “Be mine.”

God told us He loved us, but we did not return His love. Because God really loves us, He continues to pursue us.

This is the Gospel.

Even if you have been telling God “no,” He continues to pursue you with His love.
No matter what your sin issue is, God invites you to be his.

On this Valentine’s day can we receive His invite?