The Village Church - Sermons Advent of Love
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Dec 22, 2025 Explore the deep human need for love and the cultural distortion of its meaning. Discover how divine love, exemplified in the birth of Christ, reaches even the least among us, like marginalized shepherds. Contrast modern love with biblical examples of undeserved grace. Learn about transformative stories of figures like Augustine and John Newton, and how that same love can change lives today. Finally, embrace the call to receive this love and let it overflow to others.
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Love Is Flattened By Culture
- Joel Thomas argues the word "love" is flattened by culture and needs theological clarification.
- Divine love differs from cultural love because it is outgoing, other-regarding, and not tied to the object's worth.
A Clear Definition Of Divine Love
- Joel Thomas reads 1 John 4 and defines divine love as unmotivated by the object's worth.
- Divine love spontaneously extends to all, including the undeserving.
Shepherds Were Likely Expendable Boys
- Joel Thomas describes the shepherds as likely to be boys, marginalized and expendable in first-century society.
- He stresses the scandal that God's good news first came to those least valued by society.
