Dear Christian friends:

Today is an important day for our congregation. We are standing at the door of a new year and at the door of wonderful change, a change of improvement! Today we are beginning to use a new, and exciting tool to help us in our ministry. The new tool is called HIS LOVE-OUR RESPONSE. HLOR is a continuing emphasis on stewardship. It is a two year program. It will help us learn and remember and practice this important truth: we are God's stewards. All that we are and have are gifts from God and we should use ourselves and our gifts for His glory. Our sinful nature does not agree with this idea. Our proud, sinful nature leads us to think that we owe nothing to God. Our sinful nature leads us to boast and want the praise and glory. But God can change us! He can make us humble, thankful and eager servants! HLOR is a program to help us change.

But because it is a difficult task, we will not try to change fully today. Change is a process that takes time. This morning we will attend to the one and only thing that can change us: God's fantastic love which He has shown in Jesus Christ.


In our text God compares His love for us with that of a young husband for his new wife. God is married to us, His church! We understand about marriage. What is the most important thing in any marriage? It is love! In marriage the husband and wife promise to be true to each other until death. They promise that they will love no other. But you know that married couples often break their marriage vows, and do adultery. When the husband or wife does adultery that does not mean that the marriage is destroyed. If the innocent one forgives the adulterer, the marriage can continue. The innocent person shows much love in forgiving the adulterer.

That is what God has done for us, His church! We begin to understand the fantastic love God has for his church. In our text Isaiah, the prophet, wrote about the Old Testament church, Israel. God had chosen Israel for His bride. But Israel was not a faithful wife! The people often forgot God and accepted the other gods of the wicked nations such as the god Baal. Israel did adultery! Israel broke her marriage vows to God! And God was much displeased with her. Perhaps we think, "Shame on Israel! We will never do like that!" Don't brag! Are we today better than Israel ago? We are God's church today. We are God's wife today! Have we been a faithful wife to God? Or have we also done adultery? If we are honest, we will confess with shame that we have broken our marriage vows to God our Husband. By our many sins and failures we show that we have not loved God, our Husband. We have given Him little or no reason to have pleasure in us, His straying wife.

Our sins, our adultery against God, our Husband is bad news! But the good news is that, in spite of our sins and adultery God continues to love us. Although we have broken our marriage promise to Him, He does not break His promise to us, His church. God did not break His promise to Israel. When Israel was sorry and changed, God forgave her. God welcomed her home as if nothing bad had happened. Israel said, "I will rejoice much in my Lord, and my soul will be happy in my God. He has clothed me with the garments of salvation as a bridegroom and bride adorn themselves."

Now Israel's broken marriage was made new again. The same has happened with you and me. We must see that our broken marriage with God has been restored. We must see why and how that wonderful thing has happened. It has happened because of God's love in Jesus Christ. Israel looked forward to what Jesus would do, and we look back to what He has done. Israel, the Old Testament church, looked forward to Jesus; we, the New Testament church, Took Back to Jesus. Both the Old Testament church and the New Testament church get their broken marriage restored in Jesus.

When we think about our sinful nature, we must realize that we cannot make new our broken marriage with God. We, the same as Israel, are the sinner wife. We are continually breaking our marriage vows to God, our Husband. When we consider this, we ask, “Why does God suffer with us?" Again, the answer to that question is: His fantastic love! Jesus summarizes that wonderful love in John 3:16: "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." God's love and faithfulness keeps our marriage going! In Jesus God is pleased with us and continues to accept us and has pleasure in us as His dear wife. Yes, in Jesus God sees us sinners as His beautiful, perfect bride!

In a new and different way we have seen again God's fantastic love for us. What will be our response? His love for us should touch our hearts and lead us to change and become a better wife. If God did not first love us, we would never think to love Him. But now He has loved us in such a surprising way! Therefore, we want to change and love Him better. This means a hard struggle with our sinful nature. It is a most difficult fight! The HLOR program will help us in that struggle. I hope you will join with me and with the members of Pilgrim and with the other churches in the Southern California District as we use the fine tools for battle which HLOR provides for us!

The first activity of HLOR is a six week Bible study, which will begin on January 18. I hope you will join in that new Bible study. May God be with us and bless us as we begin the HLOR process here at Pilgrim! Then we will know the joy of being His holy Bride.

Amen.