Love Boldly-Sermon Transcript-Aug 23, 2026

UMC New Vision Statement: “The United Methodist Church forms disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously in local communities and worldwide connections.”

Love Boldly (1 John 4:7-12)

Today, under the title “Love Boldly,” we continue with the third sermon in our series on our church’s vision, following up on last week. In the first week, we talked about “being formed into disciples,” and last week, we spoke about how our life as disciples is made possible by “being empowered through the Holy Spirit.” And starting this week, we will discuss how that life will be revealed in three directions. These are Love Boldly, Serve Joyfully, and Lead Courageously, and today is about the very first direction: “Love Boldly.”

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There are many verses in the Bible about “love.” Let us start with a few Scripture passages that readily come to mind. First, in Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” (Deut 6:4-5, NRSV)

We are called to a life of loving God. Also, as stated in Leviticus, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18, NRSV), we are called to love our neighbors. Jesus called these two commandments the “greatest commandments.”

On the night Jesus was betrayed, during his final moments with the disciples, he gave them a new commandment: “34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35, NRSV)

In this way, “love” is the most fundamental command and invitation given to us. However, simply having this commandment given to us does not mean we will automatically keep it well. Like the expert in the law who wanted to justify himself, we sometimes ask back, “Who is my neighbor?” and we often ponder more deeply on how not to get hurt rather than on how to love. Yet true love has an even more amazing power than anything we have known about it before. 1 John chapter 4, which we read together today, is a reminder of that.

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The passage understands the identity of those “who belong to God” as “those who love one another.” Because love originally comes from God, those who love not only have come from God, but they also know God. This is not a message directed toward those who do not know love. Rather, it is an exhortation to those who are already loving one another within the community, saying, ‘Be confident that you belong to the Lord.’ 1 John was addressed to congregations decades after Jesus gave his disciples the new commandment to “love one another.” They already knew the commandment spoken by Jesus, and they were living to keep it. However, because of deceivers among them, that love was under threat. It was the voice of accusers claiming that the love in the Son—the love given to us through him—was not for us. Against those who denied that the perfect love given by God would be perfected in us, John, the author of this letter, cried out to the Christians receiving it that true love alone is the sign that we are God’s children, and that it renews the commandments given to us day by day.

God’s true love was confirmed by sending his Son. John once again reminds us of the message in John chapter 3: “God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9). The basis of our love is that the Son of God came, dwelt among his people, showed true love, and invited us into that life of love. Love is the evidence that God is with us, and as we love one another just as the Father and the Son love each other, the ground for eternal life comes to dwell in our midst. By loving one another, we enter into the fellowship of the Triune God. And because our love for one another confirms us all, we receive freedom from fear.

Freedom from fear is different from acting as if fear does not exist. True freedom can come only when we acknowledge the reality of fear, and when we accept all the conditions and relational failures that shape our fear. Fear is given through the lesson of how our human love results in failure, and it shows us how the environments surrounding us are hostile to love. However, true love comes not from us but from God, and because the model of that true love exists between the Father and the Son, we believe that this love will not fail, and we move forward toward that love.

Look at verse 17, although it is a part we did not read today: “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17, NRSV)

This love not only frees us from the fear of judgment, but it also reminds us that loving one another frees us from all fear. Remember what John said: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (v. 18). Love is the power to break through fear and move forward. At times, we may seem to fail at this. However, when we remember where the foundation of our love lies and from whom it comes, we can break through the memory of failure and move forward once again. That is because, as verse 19 teaches today, “We love because he first loved us.” Therefore, beloved brothers and sisters, let us draw near to God, the source of true love. Let us entrust ourselves to him. Let us surrender ourselves to him.

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In concluding the message, I would like to remind you of the conclusion of today’s text. In verse 21: “The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” This is the core essence of “Love Boldly.” We could say many things about what actions that love manifests through. Today, however, I want to focus with you on the foundation of that love. If we remember that our love rests in the infinite and eternal God, and if we remember how his love never gives up on us, we will be able to live out authentic love by the power of his love. When we love in this way, the assurance born within us will not be ours alone; it will be a complete testimony to those who do not know God that God exists and that he is with us.