Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love, and as a Church, it is a great time to celebrate the love of God. Utilizing a Valentine’s Day sermon can be an effective way to encourage your church.
The Bible is about God’s love for people, so a Valentine’s Day sermon perfectly communicates that. It also allows you to encourage congregants to love others.
Today, people are angry and bitter toward each other, so a Valentine’s Day sermon is a great way to rebuke that perspective. Before we look at the potential sermon, let me remind you of something Jesus said in John 15:13.
Jesus said, “13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus demonstrated His love for people by giving his life. He died on the cross, not just for your congregation, but also for you.
I hope this Valentine’s Day sermon can help you communicate God’s love in an encouraging and empowering way.
Introduction to the Valentine’s Day Sermon
Good morning, church. We are glad that you joined us this Valentine’s week. We’re excited you are here to worship with us.
This week, we are celebrating Valentine’s Day, and I thought, “What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to have a Valentine’s Day sermon?”
The Bible is about God’s unconditional love, so we should be talking about love during our Church’s Valentine’s Day Sermon.
Love is an extremely personal topic. People get sensitive around the topic because it is a vulnerable thing.
This morning, I want to stand before you boldly and advocate for the love of God. God isn’t shy about his love, but instead, God loves us openly.
There is a story in the Bible that demonstrates God’s great love for us. In the book of Ruth, we see a story of a widowed woman. We see her go through a difficult time, but in the end, she experiences a redeeming love that brings her new life.
The Story of Ruth
Now the story of Ruth is an incredible story about the redemptive love of God, so to get a full understanding of it, we have to start at the beginning.
In this story, a family of Israelties (Naomi, Elimelek, and their sons) move to Moab, because there is a famine in Israel. When they get to Moab, something tragic happens. Naomi’s husband dies.
Ruth Chapter 1
In Ruth 1:3-5 the Bible tells us this, “3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.”
So, Naomi is in a foreign land with no husband and no sons to take care of her. She hears that God provided food for the Israelites back in Israel. So, Naomi decided that she would go back to Israel.
She urges her two daughters-in-law (Orpah and Ruth) to go back and live with their mothers. Orpah agrees, but Ruth is determined to not leave Naomi.
Here is where we get the famous verse where it was written, “16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16.
Although Noami had nothing to give Ruth, Ruth still loved Naomi. They go back to Israel and start to live there as poor widows.
Ruth Chapter 2
Naomi and Ruth return to Israel, and Naomi tells Ruth to go and glean from the fields. Ruth agreed and went to glean. Gleaning means following after the field worker and collecting any wheat that they did not pick up.
As Ruth was doing this, the owner of the field, Boaz, noticed her. He asked the workers about her and they told him about her.
Boaz told her not to go and glean from other fields but to only glean from his fields. He explained that he had heard about her kindness to Naomi.
He let her glean from the field and even gave her food and water. He was generous towards her, even though she was a foreigner.
Ruth finished the day and returned to Naomi. She explained what happened in the field and Naomi got excited.
Naomi told Ruth that Boaz was their family’s kinsman redeemer, which meant that he was responsible for caring for Ruth and Boaz now that their husbands had died.
Ruth Chapter 3
After all of this happened, the reaping season passed. As the season of reaping ended, Ruth would need someone to care for her. Naomi and Ruth came up with a plan.
Ruth was going to go to Boaz while he was sleeping, uncover his feet, and sleep at them. She did this.
Then when Boaz woke up and recognized her, he acknowledged that he was the family’s kinsman redeemer. He agreed to marry Ruth.
Ruth Chapter 4
In the final chapter of this story, Ruth and Boaz get married and they have a kid together. That kid ended up being King David’s great-grandfather, and eventually, Jesus was born through that line.
The Message of the Story of Ruth
In the story, Ruth and Naomi are both widows. In their time, being a widow meant a life of poverty, and there was little hope for them. They were lost.
Although their situation was difficult, they made Nobel decision. They stuck together, and Ruth listened to Boaz when he told her not to glean from other fields.
Through the story, we see God’s plan and redemptive love not just for Ruth but for us too.
In the story, Ruth can symbolize us. We are lost, because we have sin in our lives.
Boaz represents God and how he loves us unconditionally. Boaz was generous and caring, even though Ruth was a foreigner.
The first lesson of the story is that: God loves us regardless of our situation.
God loves us regardless of our situation.
In Ruth’s story, her situation was not good. To no fault of her own, she was widowed and destined to be poor. Boaz still cared about her, and he showed great generosity towards her.
In the same way, our lives can be messy. We can be sinful and run away from God, but God still loves us and wants to be generous toward us.
God demonstrated that love towards us by sending Jesus. We are reminded in Romans 5:8 that, “8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
While Ruth was still a widow, Boaz loved her. He was generous, and he was willing to follow the law of the Israelites by marrying her.
While we were still sinners, God’s love showed through Jesus. God sent Jesus to die for us.
The famous verse John 3:16 reminds us that, “16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
God loved people so much that He sent Christ Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice. Boaz sacrificed wheat, time, and other resources to care for Ruth. He sacrifices to provide for Ruth. That is an example of what God’s love looks like. God sacrificed Jesus for us.
Ruth also sacrifices comfort and familiarity to show love for Naomi. She demonstrated her love by sacrificing her own safety for the sake of loving Naomi. It reminds us that God’s love is without limit.
We have a responsibility to love others
In the story, we see a couple of examples of unconditional love. Ruth shows unconditional love for Naomi by sticking by her when she is going back to Israel.
Ruth was leaving her parents and safety for the sake of love. Naomi had nothing going for her because she had no husband and no money. In spite of Naomi’s poor situation, Ruth was faithful by continuing to love her.
The other example of love in the story is Boaz for Ruth and Naomi. Again, Ruth was a foreigner and widow. Her prospects were not great. Even though that was the case, Boaz cared for Ruth, and he showed love by being generous with his wheat.
Both of these relationships should be examples of how we should love others. There were no boundaries for Ruth and Boaz’s love for others, and we should not have boundaries for our love toward others.
What Can We Do to Apply this Valentine’s Day Sermon?
It can be easy to come into a Valentine’s Day message like this and enjoy listening to the story of Ruth. It is a heartwarming story, but we should also ask, “How can we put this story into our lives?”
Trust God’s love and his plan
For Ruth, I’m sure this story was filled with all kinds of anxiety. Her husband died, and she moved to a foreign land with her mother-in-law.
She might have been worried about where her provision was going to come from, and she probably didn’t know what was going to happen.
Although she and Naomi didn’t know what was going to happen, they lived nobly. Ruth listened to the direction of Boaz, and she was blessed for it.
In life, time can get difficult. We might lose our jobs, lose relationships that are important to us, and lose other things. What this story shows is that we can trust God to provide for us.
We don’t have to be anxious or worried about what is going to happen, because God is in control. Here is what God’s love should do for us, cast out fear and anxiety.
1 John 4:18 reminds us that, “18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” God’s love should expel any fear that we have.
True love casts out all fear. God’s word is clear that His plan is to prosper us, and we see that through the story of Ruth. He prospered her because he loved her.
The truth of God is that He loves us unconditionally, so we don’t have to be afraid.
Beyond that, we have a responsibility to show love for others
Live out love towards others.
The word of God is clear that love is our primary commandment. The Lord Jesus was in a conversation with some religious leaders in his time, and they tried to trick Him with a difficult question. They asked him what the greatest commandment was.
He told them this, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39
As Christians, our primary purpose should be loving people. Love is the most important thing, so we should be intentional about loving others.
I am not talking about romantic love, but love that is generous and kind like Boaz was. Boaz wasn’t looking for a romantic relationship. Boaz was just looking to love people. Because he loved, God blessed Him.
So whether you are a single Christian or in a relationship, our calling is to love. The Holy Spirit can help us to love the people around us.
Closing thoughts For A Valentine’s Day Sermon
In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 the apostle Paul wrote this, “1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
St Paul was saying that no matter how good we are, if we don’t love we are nothing. Real love is not about showing off how good we are, but it is about genuinely expressing care for people in our own way.
The way God loves us is an example, so let’s follow it. Let’s love unconditionally. If we show that kind of love, then we will be able to change the world.
We can lean into the power of love and show others the way to everlasting life.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us. Thank you for showing that love by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. We don’t always have everything together, but you still love us. You still pursue us, so thank you.
I ask that you would teach us to love. Your perfect love is an example to us of how we should live, so I ask that you would teach us to love.
Help us to reach the people around us. Let the love we display radiate and glorify you. You are the perfect Father.
We love you, and we praise you for how good you are. It’s in your son’s name that we pray. Amen.
I hope that you enjoyed this message and I would encourage you to check out our message on prayer.
Pingback: Best, New Ideas for A Graduation Sunday Sermon