Love Keeps Calling

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's brand new book, Reignite. But first, here's his message, love keeps calling.

Not a lot of sugar, but just straight up. And his goal in the book of James is that our faith is to be lived. We're to live our faith. And when faith works, life works. And so he's very practical, he's very personal, and he can get under your skin just a little bit.

He coaches us, challenges us. So it's not surprising that the book of James would close with an imperative. I mean there's no goodbye, God bless you. There is no doxology as in the case of Paul so often. But just a short challenge, an imperative, and an invitation. An imperative and an invitation.

Look at it in verse 19 of chapter 5. My brothers, he's talking to the church, you and me. If anyone among you wonders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Love covers. Love keeps calling. You see, in your Christian life, you are either going forward or you're going backwards. In the Christian life, you are either progressing or regressing. Progressing, moving forward in your faith, growing in your faith, developing as a maturing believer in Christ. You're either moving onward and upward, forward, or you're going in the wrong direction.

You're going in the other way. And there's a message here given to us by James, a challenge that is so very important to the church of Jesus Christ. It is our responsibility, the imperative, to go get people back. To keep calling because love keeps calling. There are people out there who have wandered away and it is our responsibilities as believers, as brothers and sisters in Christ, not to just let them go, but to love them back to Christ. To love a danger that we all must fear.

He says if anyone wanders from the faith, anyone can include, well, anyone. None of us are in a spiritual status to say, I'll never go back. I will never fail.

I will never fall. I have the prophet said, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The minute you start saying, well, if I know my own heart, wrong. You don't know your own heart. Because the heart can lie to us.

Our own conscience can lie to us. And let him who stands, Paul said, take heed, be warned, lest he fall. So all of us, there is the potential, there is the possibility that we could wander from the faith, that we could stray from our faith. That's a danger we all face.

And what is the danger? It's the danger of drifting. Because typically spiritual failure, spiritual defeat is not a blowout, but a slow leak. It is a gradual decline, typically from neglect of your faith. That's why in the book of Hebrews we're told, do not neglect your salvation.

Don't neglect it. Because when we begin to neglect God's word, when we begin to neglect the worship of Jesus Christ as believers privately, personally, and corporately. When we begin to neglect prayer in our life. When we begin to neglect prayer in our life. When we begin to neglect Christian friends and fellowship among God's people.

It won't be long that we begin drifting because of the neglect. It happened to Simon Peter. Simon Peter, bold and bodacious, said, I will never deny you, Lord. Not me.

These other guys, they may, but not me. Jesus said, well I hate to tell you, Peter, but you're going to deny me three times. Peter, who was so strong and so powerful, he melted like butter in the face of the fires of the enemy of Christ. He wasn't praying when Jesus told him to watch and pray in the garden. He fell asleep.

He was spiritually prideful and carnal and self-sufficient. He hadn't learned to depend upon the Lord. He got too close to the enemy. He got alienated. He got off by himself. And the first thing you know, he's with oaths and swearing and cursing.

Denying, denying, denying that he even knew Jesus. Again, it didn't happen overnight. But it happened over time. And that's what can happen in our lives. When we begin to neglect our spiritual disciplines, our personal devotions. When we begin to neglect the house of God, it's the old thing that we've heard many times, back at youth camp even. When you take a fire or a log off the fire and you set it apart, it won't be long until the fire's out. So we need one another. We burn brightly together.

We need to be near the fire, in the fire of the church and of the gospel. And so I get really concerned when I start wondering where people are. When I see people gradually getting less and less involved, less engaged.

You know, they've got the place out of town now. They don't come the way they used to. Or they've got a lot of activities.

Or our kids are in select sports and we just don't, we can't get there every week. And you know, there's all kinds of things. But when I start seeing people unplugging from the church of Christ, unplugging from spiritual disciplines in their lives, I know that it won't be long. It's a slippery slope into spiritual failure. Into a fall.

Into a failure. So I'm beginning with a warning for all of us. Again, it can happen to Jack Graham. It can happen to you.

It can happen to me. And we all must be aware of this danger, the deadly danger of drifting. Therefore, keep current accounts with your God. Another thing that happens is compromise and accommodating sin.

I can do this. And we start compromising our convictions and compromising our character. Why? Because we're drifting. That's why James here says if anyone wonders from the truth, wonders from the truth, the truth meaning Jesus himself who is the embodiment of truth, the way, the truth, and the light. The truth was delivered to the saints, the truth of Jesus Christ.

The truth of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. So it's not just wandering from an idea or an ideal or wandering from good behavior, it's wandering from the truth of Jesus Christ. And when you start wandering from your faith, it won't be long until there is moral failure or spiritual failure of some kind. When we wander from the faith. Interesting word that James uses here for wandering.

It's actually, it's the Greek word for planet, planet like in the solar system. It's a reference to a wandering planet. And be that as it may, it's the idea that things are off course, off track. Jesus spoke of this wandering when he talked about sheep going astray. And when sheep go astray, they typically don't just run off from the flock, but they nibble a little grass over here, nibble a little over there, more over here, nibble, nibble, more nibble, and the next thing you know it, they're in trouble. And that's how the wandering happens. The songwriter, the hymn writer said, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.

Prone to leave the God I love. But he said, here's my heart, take and seal it. Seal it.

For thy courts above. Be aware, be alert that drifting is a dangerous, dangerous position and it can happen to any of us. That's the danger we all face. But then I want you to see the duty that we all have, that we all must experience. He says, and one convert him or one bring him back shall save a soul.

Bringing back the backslider. Restoring the broken brother. And that is a great and awesome responsibility of every member of the family of God. Notice it doesn't say if the preacher brings them back. Or if the evangelist reaches them.

Or if the professional religious teacher goes and finds them. But it says if anyone, meaning you and me, anyone, meaning all of us who are in this body of Christ, we all have the responsibility to bring them back. Brothers and sisters in Christ who have wandered away. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message.

Love keeps calling. Bring fresh passion and joy to your faith with Dr. Graham's newest book, Reignite, an intimate account of how God led Dr. Graham through one of the darkest seasons of his life. Whether you're facing disappointment, doubt, depression, or heartache, Reignite offers biblical insight.

To encourage you in your pain and help fan the flames of faith in your life. And it's our way to thank you for your gift to PowerPoint. So call today to get your copy of Reignite as thanks for your support. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Now let's get back to today's message. Love keeps calling. I want you to think about right now in your mind someone you know in your circle of friends and influence in the church, maybe out of the church, maybe in your own family. Someone who you used to see at church but you hadn't seen them come to think of it in a long time.

Someone who used to walk with God in your own family who wanders away is out there in the wilderness now spiritually. I want you to think about that. Get them on your heart.

Get them in your mind because what we're talking about is love in action. Faith that works because we need to do something about it but just think about it. Now those persons who may have fallen or failed the Lord can subway, wandered away. We can do one of three things. One, we can ignore them and that's what often happens, unfortunately, when people go away. We just ignore it. We forget about them. God doesn't want us to forget about them. He wants to forgive them and He wants to use us in the process but we forget about it. We're busy. Well, pastor, you know I've got my own life. We're busy.

I just haven't thought about it. It's just I'm not into it, whatever, but we're like those religious types on the road down to Jericho when the man was beaten and bruised and left to die. They just passed by on the other side.

They were in a hurry to get somewhere else, even to get to worship and they had no time. They just ignored the guy who was broken on the side of the road. We can do that.

It happens all the time. We just ignore it. We're disinterested.

We're apathetic. Love keeps calling. Love never quits. God's love never quits. I've loved you with an everlasting love and God won't quit on anybody. God, aren't you glad Jesus didn't quit on you? And some of you think, well, maybe you're here today and you're the someone who's wandered away and you're thinking, well, can I really come back?

Yes. Don't mistake the moment for the man. Failure isn't final unless you make it final. His love never gives up and neither should we. Love keeps calling.

Love keeps going. So we should not ignore the broken, fallen, failing brother or sister. Another thing that you can do is deplore the fallen brother or sister. And that happens unfortunately all the time among Christians and in churches. Maybe you've even been the recipient of judgment and condemnation.

When we see someone fall and our tongues start wagging and our mouth starts moving in condemnation and criticism. Well, you know that kid, he came to freedom and he made a decision. He got dunked, but he's not here anymore. I guess it wasn't real.

Just forget about it. Condemnation. Criticism. You know, someone said the church is the only army that shoots its own wounded. In Galatians chapter 6 and in verse 2, it tells us that we are to carry or bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. To bear one's burdens means to carry their backpack.

To carry their load. And do what? So fulfill the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ?

It is the law of love. He said, a new commandment I give to you. That you love one another as I have loved you. And how has Christ loved us? Unconditionally.

Sacrificially. He has loved us and loved us more than we could possibly imagine. It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance according to the scripture. The kindness of God that leads people to repent of their sin and come back. If it's the kindness of God that does that for people, how can we be unkind when God is so kind? Most people already who are out spiritually, they already feel condemned and full of shame and in bondage to their sin and brokenness. They don't need us to pile on. They need us to pray on and to carry the load and to bring them back to Christ.

It's like that girl who said, you know, she made some terrible mistakes and she said, I already feel so bad about myself. Why would I go to church and feel worse? Do you know how many people feel that way about church and churches?

They think the last place I want to go is to go get condemned by a bunch of pious, sanctimonious people who, oh by the way, are doing some of the same things that I'm doing. We can deplore. We can ignore. But what God has told us to do is to restore.

Restore the brother. And in order to do that, there is a disposition that we must have. And that's the last point of the message. In fact, I just quoted from Galatians chapter 6. Go to Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1. So Paul says in Galatians 6, 1, brothers, if anyone is caught in a transgression, sin, you who are spiritual should restore him, how?

In a spirit of gentleness, keeping watch over yourself, lest you too be tempted. That's restoration. Interestingly enough, the word therefore restore means to mend a broken bone. Mend a broken bone. When you break a bone and the bone heals, when it's restored, Paul's word, that is stronger because of the calcium and the growing and the healing, stronger at the broken place than it was before. I don't know if that's true or not.

I want to believe it's true. But the point that I'm making to you is what God is telling all of us. When people are broken and they're hurting, and there's some men here today. You know, big boys don't cry. I'm not going to cry, but you're broken. You're broken because you failed the Lord or you failed your family or you failed at your career or you're just broken.

Women in this room, you're hurting. And you don't need Christians to condemn you. You need Christians to comfort you. You're living in sin right now. Some of you, I'm speaking to some, you know you're living in sin and shame.

Secrets. What you need is the grace of God and the grace of God's people. You need to hear Jesus saying, as he said to that woman taken in adultery, go and sin no more.

Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. You can have a brand new beginning.

It's never too late for a new beginning. And if God loves us like that, if God is not finished with us, we shouldn't be finished with one another. We should go in a spirit of gentleness knowing that were it not for the grace of God, that's me. And with love and compassion and grace. The Bible says, Peter said it, love covers a multitude of sins.

James said it as well. Love covers. Love calls. Love never quits. Keeps praying. Never giving up. Keeps calling.

And serving. Now think about that person again on your mind, on your heart, that's away from the Lord. I think if James, good old Knopf, good old camel knees James, if he could stand here today he'd say, okay what are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? Go get it done. That's how he ends.

He says just go do it. In Jesus name. And if this is true and it is true regarding brothers and sisters in Christ who have failed and are fallen, it's also true about the lost. I mean they're facing judgment. The church should be a friend of sinners.

Jesus was. And so in Jesus name. We pray. We invite. We encourage. We go.

We talk about the love of Jesus Christ. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message. Love keeps calling. Chances are you've faced your share of crisis. Maybe you're even in the fight of your life right now. Or maybe you're simply feeling exhausted by the busyness of life and sapped of spiritual strength.

Whatever you're facing. We want to help fan the flame of faith in your life by sending you Dr. Graham's newest book reignite. This personal account of how God led Dr. Graham through his own crisis will help you focus on God during difficult seasons so you can experience fresh passion and joy in Jesus. And we'll send you a copy as thanks for your gift today. So call now to request your copy of reignite call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham dot o r g where you can shop our store give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our Web site again is Jack Graham dot o r g. Pastor what is your PowerPoint for today. It's very important when we are reaching out to people who have wandered away from the Lord that we stay humble. The truth is that but for the grace of God we would be in the same shoes as those who have walked away. None of us are above turning our backs on Christ denying Christ. Simon Peter did it and yet he returned to be greatly used to the Lord.

If the apostle Peter can deny Jesus is possible that I could deny Jesus as well though I don't want to though I promise not to. There are temptations. So we need to realize this and stay humble and genuine and transparent with those who have walked away from their faith for those who have fallen and failed. Also we need to realize that it is our responsibility to not just let them go but to love people back to Christ love people back to Christ.

We are to show the same love that Christ has shown us. His love keeps calling. His love never gives up and neither should we give up on people. If you have a child son or a daughter if you have a friend a fellow church member who has failed don't give up on them.

Keep calling keep praying keep going keep loving. It is the goodness of God according to the Bible that leads people to repent of their sin. It is his kindness that reaches out to people.

How can we be unkind when God is so kind. We're talking about people many times who are in the bondage of sin and brokenness. They are facing addictions and problems that they can't get over themselves and they don't need us to pile on. They need us to pray on to help them carry the load and to bring them back to Jesus. We all know people who need to hear the call of love from Christ.

So we should be his voice. We should be his vehicle that he uses to go to pray to serve to earnestly pray for them to invite people to church. Don't stop inviting people to church. Pick up that phone right now or text that friend and encourage them to join you in church and tell them that you're praying for them.

Encourage them and then show them by your words and your deeds that the love of Jesus keeps calling. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint today, we'll send you Dr. Graham's brand new book, Re-Ignite, as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627.

That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how to boldly live out your faith outside the church walls. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.