preaching promises John 14:15-21

The text for this week starts with an "if".
This is dangerous territory for any preacher who decides to declare a condition, a limit, to God's love based in this text. If you listen closely to Jesus' conditional statement you'll find that God isn't limited by our love or lack of love. Instead Jesus says if we love God we will show it by following his commands. God's love isn't limited by us following or not; ours love for God might be limited, but his love towards us isn't.
Instead of proclaiming a great big "if" in John 14 Jesus proclaimed promises, Listen to John 14:18. "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you." There's no limit based in us here; instead there's a promise based in the love and mercy of a God who acts freely and independently.