Love

Pastor Dave began by asking a question that sounds simple, but cuts deeper the longer you sit with it: How would you describe God? If you had to finish the sentence, “God is ______,” what word would you put there?

He shared a story from early in his ministry, while serving as a pastoral intern at a Vacation Bible School. When he asked that question to a group of kids, their answers were honest and unfiltered. But then one child raised his hand, paused, and said, “God is… disappointed.” The room went quiet. Suddenly, the question wasn’t theoretical—it was deeply personal.

That moment revealed something important. That child hadn’t studied theology or learned religious language, but he had learned something about God from somewhere—from experiences, from voices, from stories that shaped how he saw himself. And Pastor Dave reminded us that how we fill in that blank doesn’t just affect what we believe about God. It shapes how we see ourselves, how we love others, and how we understand life.

If God is distant, love feels conditional. If God is angry, faith feels fragile. If God is disappointed, life becomes an exhausting attempt to earn approval that never feels secure. And Pastor Dave named this clearly: that picture of God is not the Gospel.

That’s why the fourth Sunday of Advent matters. Today, the Church doesn’t just say that God has love or that God shows love—it makes a much stronger claim: God is love. And if that’s true, it changes far more than how we celebrate Christmas. It reshapes how we see the world.

Pastor Dave invited us to consider how our view of God shapes everything else. If God isn’t real, then life has no deeper meaning—we live for ourselves, attach our worth to success or relationships, and feel lost when those things fall apart. If God is angry, life becomes driven by fear—fear of failing, fear of judgment, fear of others who don’t measure up. But if God is love—steadfast, faithful, and good—then life begins to look very different.

Returning to the question, “God is ______,” Pastor Dave reminded us that every person answers it, whether consciously or not. We reveal our answer in how we respond when life breaks, when prayers go unanswered, or when we feel far from God.

One of the most common misunderstandings, Pastor Dave shared, is thinking of love as something God does rather than something God is. If love is just an action God chooses, then it can change or be withdrawn. But Scripture makes a far stronger claim: love flows from God’s very nature. God cannot stop loving any more than He can stop being God.

Pointing to Psalm 89, Pastor Dave showed how God’s love is described as firm, forever, and inseparably tied to His faithfulness. That connection matters. It means God’s love isn’t reactive or dependent on how well we behave. It’s covenant love—committed, steady, and unshakeable. Everything God does flows from that love. His justice is loving. His holiness is loving. His correction is loving. God never acts against love—only in love.

But that still leaves an important question: What does love actually look like?

Pastor Dave turned to 1 John 4, where Scripture defines love not by emotion or preference, but by action. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Love doesn’t begin with us. It doesn’t depend on us. It isn’t sustained by us. Love begins with God.

And love is most clearly seen in Jesus. In the One who stepped into our world, took on flesh, entered our brokenness, and went to the cross carrying sin, shame, and guilt. Jesus didn’t come to prove we were good enough on our own. He came so we could know we are loved—fully and finally—in Him.

Pastor Dave reminded us that when we begin to see God as love, it changes how we see ourselves. Our identity is no longer built on achievement or failure, but on grace. It changes how we see others too. If God loved us at great cost, then we don’t get to decide who is worthy of love or who deserves the Gospel. The church exists not for itself, but for the world God loves and is calling home.

And for anyone who has ever felt unloved, distant from God, or shaped by a picture of God that felt harsh or disappointing, Pastor Dave offered this invitation: God’s arms are open wide. He is inviting you to see Him with fresh eyes and an open heart—to know Him not as distant or disappointed, but as faithful love.

Because this is the heart of Advent. This is the heart of the Gospel. God is love.