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  (SERMON CLIP) KEEPING YOURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD
  by J. Vernon McGee
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Summary: This sermon emphasizes the unchanging and unconditional love of
God for all individuals, regardless of their past or present
circumstances. It highlights the importance of actively staying
connected to God's love and the consequences of allowing sin to create a
barrier between oneself and experiencing God's love fully. The story
shared illustrates the powerful impact of returning to God's love after
straying away, showcasing the beauty of reconciliation and the depth of
a father's love.

Topics: "God's Unconditional Love", "Reconciliation and Restoration"
Scripture References: Romans 8:38, 1 John 4:16, Ephesians 2:4, Luke 15:20, Psalm 103:8

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon emphasizes the unchanging and unconditional love of God for
all individuals, regardless of their past or present circumstances. It
highlights the importance of actively staying connected to God's love
and the consequences of allowing sin to create a barrier between oneself
and experiencing God's love fully. The story shared illustrates the
powerful impact of returning to God's love after straying away,
showcasing the beauty of reconciliation and the depth of a father's
love.

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CONTENT
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Now, the third thing is keep yourselves in the love of God. Now, he
didn't say do something to make God love you. You cannot do anything to
keep God from loving you.

I don't care who you are, God loves you. God loves you. God loved Joe
Stalin.

I hated him. If Joe Stalin on his deathbed had accepted Christ as his
Savior, God would have saved him. I wouldn't.

God would. God would. And I want to tell you that the love of God, I
hear it so much today, it's become almost a meaningless thing.

But it's a glorious, wonderful thing because you have to keep yourself
in the love of God. A lot of Christians, they don't keep themselves. You
can't keep the sun from shining out there, but you're not in the sun.

It's getting in my eyes here. And may I say to you, you can get out of
the sun, but you can't keep it from shining. When it's raining, you can
get out of the rain.

You can put up an umbrella, and you can get out of the rain. You can't
keep God from loving you, but you can put up an umbrella. You can put up
an umbrella of sin in your life, and you won't experience the love of
God.

I guarantee you that. You'll have to come back to him. I had a young
fellow that was the son of a preacher in Indiana.

He was a handsome boy. He came out thinking he'd make Hollywood. I saw
him several times at the Hollywood Christian group, but he didn't make
it.

And he came in and said to me, he said, Dr. McGee, do you think my dad
would take me back? I said, and I knew his father well, I said, he'd be
delighted to. He says, well, I think I'm going to go back. I said, let's
call him.

I called him up, and I said, do you know who I've got here in my study?
And he began to weep. He said, it's my son. I've been praying that he'd
come back.

And I put the sun on and let both father and son cry while I went
outside and cried. It was wonderful. He didn't experience the love of
his father, walking the streets in Hollywood, living it up, and going to
every bar.

But when he returned home, he found out what the love of the father
really was. And there are a lot of Christians tonight that they've
stepped out of the love of God. God loves them.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/75cK1HP-wRU.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/j-vernon-mcgee/sermon-clip-keeping-yourselves-in-the-love-of-god/
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