Speaker 1: So today, we are in week two. And this week friends, I by confession, I was joking on Thursday and I was joking with Scott or actually he was joking with me this morning. Is this morning I will say I probably feel the most unqualified this morning. Don't laugh, but at least be kind. I feel the most unqualified to preach this message but yet somehow it ended up on my plate.
And we are going to be looking friends at what it means to love God with all your strength, with all your strength. So why don't you turn with me to Luke 10 verse 27. This is our foundation scripture. You will hear it repeated often throughout this campaign. Luke ten twenty seven, Jesus was answering this question in response to there was like a clever guy, a religious teacher that got up and asked Jesus a question and Jesus answered him and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.
And he said, you will love your neighbor as yourself. And I love how Jesus then goes on and qualifies this. He says, do this and you will live. It's not in verse 27, but if you go and read it in your Bible, you'll see Jesus says, Do this and you will live. And so I just want to quickly just tell you, if you want to live the way Jesus wants you to live, friends, you do what Luke ten twenty seven says.
Because Jesus doesn't just throw it out there as a byline. He says, if you want life and life abundant, John 10 verse 10, he says, love abundantly. And so we need to pay attention friends. And so my big idea comes from John three sixteen. For God so loved all those who live in Birdswood.
All the birdswood goes, yes, thank you Lord! Maybe let's be kind all those that live in Felton Fleis. Any Felton Fleis here this morning? None? Okay, let's go further afield.
God loves all those that live in Arboretum. If you're from Arboretum, make some noise. God loves you. What about if we go to like Aquedine and Brackenham, like Yerkels? Lord, can you?
And those guys on the other side of the lake, like those Barentsiers, like they are dodgy people, can John three sixteen says, God so loved the world. And friends, what I want us to remember this morning is that an all encompassing God requires that we love Him in an all encompassing way. What does that mean? Well, we don't just get to love God on a Sunday morning by coming to church and doing the so called spiritual thing, right? We don't just get to love God by saying, well Lord, I'm not only going to do the spiritual thing, but you know what, I might also just look after my emotional side, but I'll let the health thing slide and I'll let the mental thing slide.
No friends, an all encompassing God requires that we need to love him in an all encompassing way and it includes, as we've heard already, our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength. I want to remind us this morning that as we do that friends, that at the heart of it all is Jesus. We can address behaviour, and we can address practice, and we can address mindsets, and all those types of things, like today we're going to look at health, but ultimately friends, it is Jesus that brings life. We can make all the external adjustments, but we need to make sure that the internal is aligned as well. Because Jesus says, then we will get the the abundance that we need.
So let's pray. And we're going to look at a couple of things quickly. So Father I thank you for your word. I thank you Lord that it is living and active. And even now as I've been preparing Father, I know your active word has gone to work in my life and is helping me make some adjustments Lord.
And so I pray father that your word would go to work this morning, that Holy Spirit, that you would bring the word of God alive. That's what the Holy Spirit says. He's the Spirit of truth. He's the teacher. It's not just words on a page, but it's revelation that comes alive in our lives to change us, make us more like Jesus and bring glory to Him.
Would you do that this morning, we pray in Jesus name. So friends this morning just I want us to, I want to remind us of three simple things, okay? But yet it's sometimes so often when I look at my own life, it's these simple things that I sometimes tend to overlook. And so it's good to be reminded of the simple things. And the simple things I want to remind us of this morning is that God created my physical body.
Genesis one twenty seven it says, So God did what? He created mankind in his own image. In the image of God, he did what? He it's on the board, on the screen, he created them. Male and female, he created them.
And so I want to remind us this morning of the obvious friends, but that thing that you're looking at, that you look at every single morning and you go, Shut up! Or you go, Oh dear Lord! God created that! You didn't get to create it. Although you are part of the process, but ultimately friends, you we need to be reminded that God created you.
And because he created you so much of what we do and see and choose, friends, needs to filter through that revelation that I am a creation of God. I love the way David says it in Psalm one thirty nine, thirteen-fifteen, he says, I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Can you say to your neighbor, I am wonderful? And say it with conviction. Wonderful are your works.
My soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. As I was preparing this morning, friend, also it's not this morning, but as I was preparing this week, I felt God say when I read that verse, that as you sit here this morning, you are not a mistake. You are not a mistake. Circumstances, your life journey might cause you to want to believe and think that you are a mistake.
I was never intended. I was a khlipsi. And often that defines us. We can sort of want to chuckle about it, but often that defines us friends. We were not created per chance.
You went to some random like If you read and believe Psalm 139, Selwyn, it says God intentionally put you together, He knitted you together in your mother's womb, He wove you together, friends. And some of us need to hear that this morning. My mom-in-law and my wife have this incredible gift when it comes to sewing, to tapestry, to quilting, of taking random bits of throwaway pieces of material, random bits of cotton and wool, and putting them together in such a way, creating this incredible picture of beauty from what you and I would consider to be random throwaway. And that's what God does in all of our lives, Is that God creates a masterpiece, Ephesians two verse 10. You are his masterpiece friends, being created in Christ Jesus.
And so we need to understand God created my physical body and so I need to respond accordingly. Secondly, we need to remember friends that my body doesn't belong to me, right? It belongs to who? My wife. Well, the Bible says that.
Hey Greg, your body belongs to Sharon, buddy, you better look after it. No, ultimately friends, we understand our body belongs to God. One Corinthians six nineteen to 20, it says, Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. If you have a Bible, underline that.
You are not your own because when that penny begins to drop friends, what it should what it should begin to help us understand is that if we are not our own, we got we don't get to treat our bodies as our own because they belong to somebody else. You were bought at a price, Paul tells us, and we understand that according to what we did this morning. Therefore, honor God with your bodies, friends. You were bought at a price. What does that mean?
Well, Paul is speaking to followers of Jesus, Christ followers, and he is saying that Christ purchased you. But now remember Christ purchased all of you. All of you friends. We don't just go to the shop and buy the contents in the packaging. We buy both the contents and the packaging.
And so to Jesus, when he went to the cross and he died for you and I, he didn't just purchase our souls because if it was the case, then it would be like, okay, well, take me to heaven now. But he didn't. He said, no, no, no. There is a purpose for you here on earth. And part of that purpose is to glorify me through the packaging of your life.
Paul goes on, he says, Honour God with your bodies. How do we honor God, friends? Well, simply, and just for the sake of time, I need to cut this down, but very simply friends, we honor God by bringing value and placing value on what he values. That's how we honor God. How much does God value you?
Well, John three sixteen. The only son he had, he sent to die for you. Brutally on the cross, gave his life freely. Why? So he could purchase you.
That's how much he values you. How do we honor God? Well, if God values this so much, I better make sure I place equal value on this like God does. I can't devalue what he values because that just sounds like, what am I doing? We honor God, friends, by understanding that he placed incredible value on us, and so too, we need to value ourselves.
Quickly, while I'm in this body, I must take good care of it. Quentin Preen. Let me start with myself. I must take good care of it. You see, there's two types of people.
There's those that will overtake care of their bodies. And then what happens is their bodies turn into idols. And God says no, no, no. That's not the type of taking care that you need. But on the flip side of that, there's those of us friends that do not take care of our bodies.
And that's equally as bad. And I'm speaking of incredible vulnerability to you this morning. That's equally as bad. And we need to make sure that we adjust and change and reformat our thinking, friends. And so how do we do that?
How do we make this practical? I I I love these campaigns because they put real handles in our hands, friends. Well, I want to share four things with us. You know, Steve said in week one, we're encouraged to take responsibility, to make a commitment and to grow. And so this morning, I want to hopefully give you four handles through which you can take responsibility friends.
Firstly, I want to say we need to choose to love God covenantally. Excuse me. We need to choose to love God covenantally friends. By show of hands, who's been to a wedding? You've been to a wedding?
As you can see, love interaction. Everybody been to a wedding, right? You've either got married, you've been to a wedding, whatever the case might be. But you sat there and you've heard either the bride or the groom make these vows. I promise to love you for better, for richer and only in good health.
Some of us wish we'd know that we'd say, some of don't wish we made those. Have you ever heard a bride or a groom make that commitment? Hey Kenny, I promised to love you for better, for good and only in health. No, we understand that's not how it works. Tell me, how does it work?
I promise to love you for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. And so we understand friends that here on earth the model of marriage is covenant. I don't just get to love my spouse through my convenience, my benefits and my own personal gain. No, there are times, yes, obviously when I get all of those and I'm like, thank you Jesus. But I don't just love her because of that friends, I love her despite other things as well.
And I'm purposely not trying to mention them because I don't want us to go around. But what I'm trying to point out friends is that we get to love God covenantally through looking after our bodies. You see, he didn't say love the Lord your God with just your heart. In other words, just spiritually. He said no, no, there's the full package here and you need to love me with everything that you are.
If I'm an encompassing God, which I am, you need to love me in an all encompassing way and that, friends, the Bible speaks as covenant love, covenantal love. And so we need to remember, we choose to love God covenantally, friends. Covenant is promise, it's sacrifice, it's all those good things. Secondly, in terms of loving with all your strength, we need to choose to worship God biblically. Now you go Quentin, how is that related to strength?
Well, turn to Romans 12 verse one with me. It says: Therefore I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Friends, we get to choose to love God by worshipping God with our bodies. How do we choose to worship God when it comes to health, lifestyle, choices, priorities, our bodies?
Well, it comes down to what Romans 12 verse one says, we get to love God sacrificially as a stepping stone to worship friends. And as, once again, another confession. As you can see, I'm on a journey here. As I sat thinking about this because I felt God dropped this into my spirit this week, and I paused and I said, well Lord, obviously firstly how does that apply to me? I can't get up on Sunday and preach to them if I haven't first asked how does your word apply to me.
My confession. I have long days like most of us, work hard like most of us. And I've recognized a pattern in my life friends, when I come home and I maybe I'm well, I know probably I'm not the only one. I come home and I walk in, I say hello to the wife. And my first port of call is the fridge.
With all heads bowed and all eyes closed, raise your No, joking. This is my confession to you. And what do I do? I look for something, friends, to find comfort, to find joy, and to find just a sense of like And I felt God say this: Quentin, why don't you choose to worship me in front of the fridge every day that you do this? And I said, Lord, what does that mean?
And He said, Well, Romans 12 verse one says, 'Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.' And so when you are standing in front of the fridge, it's a moment of worship. What are you going to choose? Are you going to choose to satisfy that physical whatever? Or are you going to choose to worship me by looking after your body and making the right choice? And I realized there and then, actually, that is worship.
It's not just songs, it's not just instruments. Wherever you are at, friends, choose worship. I shared this on Thursday at the midweek service. And Glen got up afterwards and so I've asked his permission to share this with you. Is he shared with the midweek group after the service that it was something of a penny drop moment for him when he realized that this choosing to worship God physically as a sacrifice means this for him.
He now needs to journey to see that his wheelchair that he sits in becomes an instrument of worship. I can't tell you how that hit me on Thursday. Now I'm not making light of any of any of your situations. But what I'm saying is I think there's a revelation here that we can tap into friends. It's whether, like me, your fridge is your moment of weakness, whether your couch is your moment of weakness, whether your TV is your moment of weakness, whether your alarm clock is your moment of weakness, whether your your your your with all respect, your wheelchair is your moment of weakness.
Your crutches, your hearing aid, your glasses, whatever it is. Paul said, It's a moment of worship, friends. He said this in two Corinthians twelve:nine-ten. He said, but he but but he said to me, and this was this was in response to Paul engaging with God about something of a weakness in his life. He said this, but he said to me, in other words, God speaking back to Paul, he said, my grace is sufficient for you.
For my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in my weaknesses. I delight in insults, in hardships, in persecutions and in difficulties for when I am weak, then I am strong. And so I began to realize friends that I need to reframe some things.
I need to reformat some things. I need to recognize that moment in front of the fridge. I need to reframe that and go Lord, I am weak in my physical, but I know in you I'm strong. And if I choose to worship your grace and your strength is going to flow towards me so that I can make the right decision and not perpetuate the wrong decisions. That was God speaking to me, I'm not as much as I'm sharing it with you, I'm not preaching at you.
But I'm encouraging you. Won't you choose to worship? To worship. I've decided I'm going to go home and in very bold print, size like 180, print, choose worship, stick it on my fridge. And I encourage you wherever your point of weakness is, do the same.
Because what I have realized or what I have begun to realize even this morning driving to church this morning, I felt God say, Quintin, the more you learn to worship Me in those moments, the more you are going to enjoy worshiping Me here. Because this is where I will begin to taste and see that the Lord is good. Not exclusively, but that I felt God say was my journey. Another handle quickly friends, is we need to choose to pay attention. Proverbs four verse 20 to 22, it says, My son, pay attention to what I say.
Turn your ears to words, do not let them out of your sight. Keep them within your heart for they are life to those who find them and health to one's body. We've heard this morning enough about from Thiens and about lights on dashboards. I drive a car at the moment that's like I don't recognize all the lights on the dashboards. These these new cars they come up with these weird and wonderful lights and I'm like what is it?
And you're almost you're tempted to want to pull the car over because you're not sure if you're going to damage the car any further by driving it. It's happened once or twice and so I turned to my wife and I say, woah, woah, woah babe, quickly pull out the owner's manual here. We need to understand what this light means. It's no longer just a spanner for mechanical. It's like all sorts of other things.
Pay attention to your body. Learn about your body friends. Understand how your body works. I've begun to realize last year the effects of stress on your body, the effects of lack of sleep on your body friends, when you sleep only an average of five hours a night, it begins to have an effect on your body and it's cumulative and it builds up and eventually you're like a puddle on the floor and you don't understand where it's come from, but it's your body telling you Honestly, pay attention friends, educate yourself, go and read up, go and ask questions, Go and speak to friends. Speak to your doctor.
But get the information that tells you about what's going on. To those that are married, listen to your spouse. Honestly. Husbands, listen to your wives. Wives, listen to your husbands.
They see things that somehow you don't. Pay attention. Pay attention. And then lastly, choose gratefulness, choose thankfulness. You see many of us, myself included friends, are too quick to complain and too slow to be grateful.
Can your journey of turning this around be a journey of thankfulness as well? Thank you, Lord, for creating me. Thank you for the gift of sight and hearing. Thank you that I can taste food. Thank you that I have energy.
Thank you for a good night's sleep. Thank you for a heart that beats, a brain that works, and lungs that breathe air. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.