"For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should
not  perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16

Have you every wondered what love sounds like?

Sounds like?  Love?  I know, it seems kind of odd to think about love having a sound.  But, let's think this  through together, shall we?

What do YOU think love sounds like?  C'mon, give it a try.  If you had a million dollar prize awaiting your  response, what would it be?  What do YOU think love  sounds like?

I'm waiting.

I'll give you a few more seconds to think about it.

OK, and your answer is ____________?

As I thought about what kinds of responses people might give, there are some answers that I think would  spring to mind...

...For the romantic, the sounds of love might include  soft music or the gentle splashing of the evening tide at the  beach's edge.  For a parent, perhaps the sound of love is  the crying of a newborn baby as it enters the world for the  first time.  Or maybe love sounds like an embrace between close friends, family members or husbands and wives.

Many different answers come to mind, but I want you to  take a walk with me down a path that leads to a special  kind of love.  It's called Agape love.  The kind of love that  only God can give.   Let's hear what love sounds like as  we walk this path that Jesus walked so many years ago...

If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of love as  we gather in the Garden.  It's heard in the sound of groans  and intense prayer.  Hear it?  Love says, "Not my will, but  thine be done."

But, there's more.  Love sounds like the scraping of a  rugged cross being dragged in the ground as Jesus  struggles to climb the hill to Calvary.  Are you listening?   Can you hear the labored breathing of Jesus straining  under the load?  That's love speaking...

...and it continues on.  Smack.  Smack.  Smack.  Three spikes are driven into our Savior's hands and feet as He is  nailed to the cross.  Do you hear it afresh and anew this  morning?  That's the sound of love.  He that hath ears, let  him hear.

Love continues sharing its sound as the noise of a  beating comes to our ears.  His beard is ripped off of His  face, the sound of spitting and mocking is heard just  seconds before the soldiers crown Him with the thorns that  pierce his brow.  Love isn't saying a word, but it's speaking 
with a voice as loud as thunder.  Can you hear it?

Listen closely.  "It is finished," the Lord Jesus cries out  in anguish, yet in victory.  That's the sound of love, as well.   And it's the sound of a stone rolling into place, sealing the  murdered Savior in a tomb.

Hear the rumbling and the shaking?  That's the sound of love as the Lord rises from the depths of the dead,  bringing ultimate victory to us all.  Doesn't love sound  grand?!  "He is not here!  He is risen."  

It's not romantic.  You can't slow dance to it...

...but nothing sounds so sweet as the sound of Agape love...the Love of God.

And, you know, as sweet as the death, burial and  resurrection of Jesus Christ sounds, there is one greater  sound of love that I have heard.  It's the sound of love that  I first heard when I was 14 years old and I continue to hear  every day of my life as I stumble and fumble and falter and  slip and fall and crawl in my walk with the Lord...

...it's the sound of my Jesus whispering to my heart,  "Son, I forgive you."  

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound!  

My friend, have you listened for the sounds of love  lately?  Have you leaned your ear toward  the sound of  grace and mercy recently?

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only  begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not  perish, but have everlasting life..."