Advent 2025 Week Four – LOVE

All right, I have a questionnaire for you to start. You didn't know you were going to get having to do school work. I'm just kidding. It's not. I'm going to give you a hint. The answer for each question is the same, and it's one word. Why did God create us in his image, giving each person innate dignity, purpose, and the ability to know him? Why Why did God set a plan in place to allow us a way back into relationship with him?

Getting better.

Why does God never turn his back on us, regardless of how much we mess up? Why did Jesus willingly leave his comfy, perfect digs in heaven and come down into this mess of humanity? Why did Jesus spend his time here telling those he met about the Kingdom of God? You're dwindling, people. Get more energetic. Why did he heal the sick, help the hurting, free people from guilt and shame, and bring hope to those who felt forgotten? Love. Better. Why did he willingly give his life on the cross, experiencing death so we could have life?

Love.

Why did he send the Holy spirit to guide, strengthen, comfort all of us?

Love.

Jesus taught us how to love. Through his words and his actions, Jesus showed us what love really looks like. Loving enemies, serving others, and putting God and people first. That's why it's so fitting that on this fourth week of advent, we focus on love, because love is the heart of the Christmas story. Love is why God sent his son into the world. Love is what has the power to heal what is broken, transform lives, and bring people together. And love is what every person, whether they realise it or not, is longing for. At Christmas, we remember that God's love comes near in Jesus. The love born in Bethlehem is not just a moment that happened in the past. It's an ongoing reality of God's love breaking into our lives here and now. The love that we celebrate tonight is not passive. It's not sentimental or romanticised love. It's not conditional. It's not based on someone else making us happy. This is an active love, a love that shows up. Sometimes it shows up in the most unexpected of places, such as in a small, scraggly Christmas tree. So as we reflect on love today, I want us to start by watching a short video clip.

[Video Clip: A Charlie Brown Christmas - Charlie's Chriistmas Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCz4FNe_S1U ]

For behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you.

Linus is right. I won't let all this commercialism ruin my Christmas. I'll take this little tree home and decorate it, and I'll show them it really will work in our play. First prize. Oh, well, this commercial dog is not going to ruin my Christmas. I've killed it. Oh, everything I touch gets ruined.

I never thought it was such a bad little tree.

It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love.

Charlie Brown is a blockhead, but he did get a nice tree.

[End of Video Clip]

So I'm sure most of you, if not all of you, have seen the whole movie. So you would know what happens before the part that we just watched. But just as a reminder, before the scene, Charlie Brown first picks up that scrawny tree. The poor thing looks so neglected, and he takes it, and then his friends all make fun of him. But as we saw in the clip a little bit later, Lina says, I never thought it was a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love. This simple line not only hits you right in the heart, but it also carries some powerful truths about the nature of love. We're going to see how real love, such as God models for us, how that love sees potential, how that love heals, and how that love transforms. We're going to start with potential. Linas says, I never thought it was a bad little tree. In the world's eyes, Charlie Brown's tree looked pretty hopeless, didn't it? I don't think too many of us would have gone and paid for that tree and taken it home. It was far away from what we think of as a beautiful Christmas tree.

It was small and thin, and there was big gaps in between the branches, and most of the needles had all fallen off. But Charlie Brown didn't see that little tree as a failure. When When he looked at the scraggly little tree, he saw what it could become. He saw its potential. It wasn't a bad tree at all. It just needed a little care. Charlie Brown saw something special where others only saw a mess. Because of that, Linas starts to see the tree differently, too. And in the same way, God sees something in us that we often miss. Even when we feel small, worn out, or overlooked, when life feels heavy or when we don't feel like we're enough, God sees our potential. He sees us as he created us to be. He loves us just as we are, but he also knows all that we can become. And as we heard at the beginning tonight, on the night that Jesus was born, the angels appeared to shepherds, lowly, unimportant, marginalised people by the world's standards. But he chose them to announce the greatest news of all time. God chose them to be the first to hear the news of Jesus's birth to show us that his love doesn't discriminate or dismiss.

He sees the value in everyone. Genesis 1: 27 says, So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God, he created them, male and female, he created them. To be made in the image of God means that every person carries a reflection of who God is. Our worth is rooted in that truth. No matter what our circumstances are, no matter what successes we may have had or what failures, we bear the dignity and significance of being God's handiwork. And yet it can be hard for us to see other people the way that God sees them. Sometimes we quietly write other people off as being beyond hope, beyond change, or beyond love. We forget or ignore the deep intrinsic value that God places in every person that he creates, a value that isn't earned by achievement status or appearance. But it's simply there because we were made by God. And if we're honest, sometimes we struggle to see this truth in ourselves as well. More often than not, when we look inward, we focus on what's broken, what's missing, or or what we wish were different. But God sees something else entirely. He sees beauty where we see flaws.

He sees purpose where we feel stuck, and he sees each of us as one of his masterpieces. And that's why Ephesians tells us, for we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. Our value then is not just something that we have. It's a calling that we live out. God doesn't simply declare us valuable and walk away. He invites us into a life of meaning and purpose. And because God values us, we are empowered to live lives that are shaped by love, marked by service, and directed towards the good works that he has already prepared for us. However, just because God sees us through love-colored glasses, which he created us with, it doesn't mean that he overlooks our flaws or that he doesn't see our broken this because he certainly does. It means that he loves us in spite of it. But have you ever met someone, or even walked by or driven past a person who you looked at and felt they were beyond hope? Are there any bad little trees in our lives, people or situations that we've written off as hopeless?

Or have you ever seen yourself this way? Because God challenges us to look with eyes that see as he does. To not just see where a person is now, not to just see their circumstances or their failures or their brokenness, but to see the real person inside, the one that God created, to see the potential, to see the true creation, even if it may be buried under life circumstances and suffering. God's love sees potential. God's love transforms and God's love heals. We've talked about potential. Now, let's talk about how love transforms. When looking at the humble little tree, Linas says, It's not bad at all, really. After this, the group goes brings decorations and lights and puts them on the tree, transforming it into the beautiful little Christmas tree that it was always meant to be. When we see the tree's transformation in the story, we're seeing a metaphor for the power of love that it has on each of us and which can bring out the best in others. The tree didn't transform itself, did it? No, it didn't. The love of others brought about its transformation. The love that they poured onto that little tree helped it to become what it was always meant to be, the tree that God intended it to be.

God's love is transformational because it has the power to help us grow into what or who he's made us to be. God loves us, and that tells us that we matter. But God's love isn't meant to just stop with us. It's meant to move through us so we can love others the way that God loves us. Matthew teaches the greatest commandment, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. And when we live out these commandments, we become vessels. Think of ourselves as Christmas gifts of God's transformative love in the world. Wraps yourself up in a pretty little package and deliver love this Christmas. The love that God pours into our hearts isn't meant to stop there. It's meant to flow out to others. And sometimes people only see themselves as the reflection they see in the mirror or through the messages that the world gives them. They don't yet know who they were truly meant be. They may not realise their potential, their true purpose, or even that they have a reason for being here, that their life with all its ups and downs, its joys and the pain, is part of a bigger plan that God set in motion long before they were born.

God's close personal involvement in creating each of us shows that our lives are not accidents. We are known, we are chosen, and we are cherished by him. And when we recognise the value that we have in God's eyes, it changes how we see others. It moves us to care for those that are on the margins, forgive those who hurt us, and encourage those who feel broken. And as God love transforms us from the inside out, it also has the power to transform the world through our words, through our actions, through our hearts. So this raises a question for each of us. How can we reflect this life-changing love in our relationships? Who in your life needs you to see them the way that God sees them and to love them into becoming the person that God created them to be? Just think on that as we move into our next point. That God's love heals. We don't have to look far to see examples of love that heals and restores. Even in simple stories like Charlie Brown's Little Tree, we see how care and attention can bring new life, hope, and beauty where it is least expected.

As Linas says, Maybe it just needs a little love. Now, what's the one thing that Linas is never without? His blanket. Now, to others, it might seem like just a piece of cloth, But to Linus, this blanket represents comfort, safety, and unwavering love. This blanket of love mirrors the unshakable, ever-present love of God that wraps around us in times of fear and uncertainty. Scripture It reminds us that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Just as Linas clings to that blanket, we can cling to the love of Christ. His love is not conditional or fleeting, it surrounds us. It brings peace in chaos and reminds us that we're never alone. When the world feels overwhelming, God's love is the blanket that we can hold onto, providing comfort and strength. When we feel distant from God or weighed down by life's burdens, God's love is always near, ready for us to wrap ourselves in it and find courage and hope and peace.

When Linas and the others show care for the tree, that tree becomes an example of what love can do. In the scraggly little tree, we see the broken, the overlooked, and the weak, and the forgotten, much like many people in our world experience life. At first glance, the tree looks as though it is beyond hope, just as we may walk by some individuals thinking much the same about them. But with love and care and belief, the little tree transforms into something wonderful. This little tree Can I act as a reminder to each of us that God takes what is weak, weary, flawed, and restores it through his grace. Who is not thankful for that truth? Jesus came into the world in the humblest of forms, not as a mighty king, but as a vulnerable child in a manger. His life was marked by humility and rejection, yet through him the world found salvation. So this Christmas season, let Charlie Brown's tree remind us that hope is not found in perfection, but in grace. May we see the potential for redemption in others and ourselves, trusting that God's love can turn the smallest, weakest, most forgotten tree into a symbol of beauty and joy.

When Linus gives his most cherished possession, the thing he relies on for comfort, the thing he uses to give him courage to face the day, he's giving him of his self for the sake of another, reminding us that Jesus gave himself for us. And sacrificial love is what we are to give others, even when it means giving up something of ourselves. So what does it look like to love one another this season? Perhaps it's forgiving someone who's hurt you, serving a neighbour in need, or showing kindness to a stranger. Love in action reflects the heart of Christ. It's a love that we celebrate today, that sees potential, that heals brokenness and transforms lives. And just as Charlie Brown's little tree became something beautiful, so can our lives and the lives of those around us when they are touched by love. So let's go into this week with open hearts, ready to share God's love with the world. After all, maybe someone you encounter just needs a little love. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your amazing love. A love that sees us, sees the potential in each one of us, a love that heals us, and a love that transforms us.

God, we ask that you help us to share that love with others, with those who need it most this advent season. Give us the eyes to see potential, the hearts to heal, and most of all, hearts to love as you love. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.