WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:46.680 --> 00:00:47.940 I love our church. 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:48.840 I love our church. 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:50.840 I love... 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:55.560 Check. 00:00:56.540 --> 00:00:57.280 There we go. 00:00:57.500 --> 00:00:57.700 All right. 00:00:58.160 --> 00:01:02.720 For a moment, was it Lou Gehrig that had that at Yankee Stadium? 00:01:02.900 --> 00:01:03.580 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:01:03.740 --> 00:01:04.980 So, there we go. 00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:06.580 That was fantastic. 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:11.340 I promise we check all of these things before we walk in here and get ready. 00:01:11.720 --> 00:01:14.060 But what I was going to say is, I love our church. 00:01:14.460 --> 00:01:20.480 I've never been anywhere where the worship leader jumped off of the stage for an appropriate 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:21.460 reason, right? 00:01:21.460 --> 00:01:23.720 I've been there and seen it happen, not appropriate. 00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:26.620 So, to see it happen for an appropriate reason was fantastic. 00:01:26.860 --> 00:01:30.640 So, well done, everybody upstairs, getting us through that. 00:01:30.740 --> 00:01:32.020 Appreciate and love you guys. 00:01:32.360 --> 00:01:38.460 If you've got your Bible, open it up to 1 John chapter 4, is where we will be this morning. 00:01:39.740 --> 00:01:45.460 A couple of things, if you missed it on our announcements there that I want to press forward, is VBS is 00:01:45.460 --> 00:01:45.940 coming up. 00:01:46.160 --> 00:01:48.260 And so, we'd love to have you and your family a part of that. 00:01:48.340 --> 00:01:52.800 And so, please make sure that you get connected and accounted for for VBS. 00:01:53.360 --> 00:01:59.180 Also, after the service this morning, we're going to have an informational meeting in room 00:01:59.180 --> 00:02:05.140 200, which is the larger room when you first walk into your right in building 2, about our 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:09.240 family mission trip that we're going to do this coming September. 00:02:10.040 --> 00:02:14.080 And so, if you're considering being a part of that and want to get some more information 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:18.520 about that, we would love to have you there where we can talk about Black Mountain in North 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:22.140 Carolina, Black Mountain Children's Home, where we'll be going to serve, the work we'll be 00:02:22.140 --> 00:02:24.820 doing, kind of how the weekend will unfold. 00:02:25.140 --> 00:02:27.440 It is a holiday weekend that we'll be going up there. 00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:30.980 And so, we would love to have you there and to be a part of that. 00:02:31.180 --> 00:02:35.320 And then also, we will be taking the Lord's Supper today as a church family. 00:02:35.460 --> 00:02:39.920 And so, if you did not grab your elements as you walked in, right straight here in front 00:02:39.920 --> 00:02:43.380 of me at the very back of the auditorium, we have some of those. 00:02:43.380 --> 00:02:45.920 And so, you can get by there, pick those up. 00:02:45.980 --> 00:02:48.780 It would be a wonderful time for us to do this together. 00:02:48.980 --> 00:02:52.640 And so, we'll partake at the very end of the service with that together. 00:02:52.860 --> 00:02:57.340 So, this is week number two in our summer series on the fruit of the Spirit. 00:02:57.660 --> 00:03:02.900 And so, what we did last week in Galatians 5 is where Paul gives us the fruit of the Spirit. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:09.040 So, last week, we looked at the context of the passage surrounding the fruit of the Spirit. 00:03:09.040 --> 00:03:13.720 And what we were able to kind of take from that, if I could like break down what took 00:03:13.720 --> 00:03:20.780 me 53 minutes, I know, to do last week, just to simplify that, is we talked about what it 00:03:20.780 --> 00:03:25.600 looks like to walk by the Spirit, to be led by the Spirit, and to live by the Spirit, which 00:03:25.600 --> 00:03:26.820 is what Paul gives us. 00:03:27.040 --> 00:03:32.420 And it's really interesting words of what Paul does, and he builds on those, that we walk 00:03:32.420 --> 00:03:37.640 by the Spirit, we are led by the Spirit, we live by the Spirit. 00:03:38.300 --> 00:03:43.160 And what we saw in that is that there's this battle that is raging in all of us. 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:47.940 So, there's a commonality in the battle that we face in that the battle of the flesh versus 00:03:47.940 --> 00:03:48.880 the battle of the Spirit. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:53.600 And that those of us who are saved in Christ, yes, we have the power of the Holy Spirit, 00:03:53.600 --> 00:03:57.120 the Spirit of God, the Trinity in us, right? 00:03:57.540 --> 00:04:01.980 But we still struggle with the battles of the flesh, the battles of our sin, the battles 00:04:01.980 --> 00:04:03.280 of the desire that we have. 00:04:03.540 --> 00:04:07.900 Like, God didn't save us, and then immediately we're set free from those. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:10.040 We still walk through that, right? 00:04:10.100 --> 00:04:17.300 So, we still battle with greed and lust and anger and pride and jealousy and hatred and all 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:18.400 of those things, right? 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:20.000 We still battle with those. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:24.280 And so, it's the battle of the flesh versus the battle with the Spirit. 00:04:25.060 --> 00:04:27.960 And how we live in the victory, right? 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:34.320 We know that Christ has set and determined the victory for us, and that's what we long for 00:04:34.320 --> 00:04:36.100 in that eternity with Him. 00:04:36.280 --> 00:04:38.500 But we can live in that now. 00:04:38.640 --> 00:04:41.480 And we talked about this, kind of our three action steps, right? 00:04:41.520 --> 00:04:44.280 We set our minds on the things that are above. 00:04:44.700 --> 00:04:45.560 We pray. 00:04:46.460 --> 00:04:48.080 We dive into God's Word. 00:04:48.080 --> 00:04:52.440 We meditate on the truth and the promises and the very character and nature of who God 00:04:52.440 --> 00:04:52.980 is, right? 00:04:53.060 --> 00:04:55.900 So, that's what it means to set our minds on the things of the above. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:58.900 But we also know, right, that it's a battle. 00:05:00.020 --> 00:05:01.760 Spiritual warfare is real. 00:05:02.540 --> 00:05:09.580 And spiritual warfare doesn't just happen, right, to pastors and to missionaries and to the church 00:05:09.580 --> 00:05:13.660 context as a whole, but all the way down to every individual leader. 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:17.620 And you know this, if we're going to be in a battle, we've got to be prepared to be in the battle. 00:05:18.980 --> 00:05:22.540 And so, we talked about last week preparing to fight, right? 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:24.040 We've got to build the discipline. 00:05:24.200 --> 00:05:25.240 We've got to sharpen the skill. 00:05:25.340 --> 00:05:26.460 We've got to lean in. 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:29.220 We've got to take on the armor of God to do that. 00:05:29.320 --> 00:05:36.160 But then lastly, what we talked about of what it means is when we do fail and we will, when 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:42.100 we do fall and it's going to happen, we don't live in the shame or the guilt of that, but 00:05:42.100 --> 00:05:45.760 instead, we live in God's forgiveness. 00:05:47.060 --> 00:05:53.560 And I shared with the words of Billy Graham as he answered this of how often should a Christian 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:56.280 confess, repent before the Lord. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:04.620 And his answer was basically, yes, continually, all the time, this is who we are. 00:06:05.400 --> 00:06:11.480 But we have a loving father who's not sitting there just waiting to catch us, to punish us. 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:16.620 But we've got a loving father who's there ready to love and forgive. 00:06:17.520 --> 00:06:20.280 And that's who he is and that's what we need to live in. 00:06:20.980 --> 00:06:25.560 And so now for the remainder of the summer, what we're going to do is we've got the context 00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:27.320 of the fruit of the Spirit. 00:06:27.520 --> 00:06:33.280 We're going to take each week and look at one of the individual aspects or characteristics 00:06:33.280 --> 00:06:33.880 of the fruit. 00:06:33.880 --> 00:06:38.040 So while you're in 1 John, I want to look up at the screen here and we're going to see 00:06:38.040 --> 00:06:40.140 Galatians 5, 22 through 23. 00:06:41.200 --> 00:06:49.640 Paul writes and says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, 00:06:50.260 --> 00:06:54.080 goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 00:06:54.620 --> 00:06:58.040 Against such things there is no law. 00:06:58.840 --> 00:07:03.440 And so these characteristics, and we're going to begin by looking at love today. 00:07:03.880 --> 00:07:05.460 So we'll move each week. 00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:10.540 In fact, I think you've got a handout on your rows as well of which characteristic we're going 00:07:10.540 --> 00:07:12.340 to look at at different times. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:16.920 But here's some things that just as we get into this, just some reminders, right? 00:07:17.080 --> 00:07:20.800 It's not the fruits of the Spirit. 00:07:21.640 --> 00:07:22.340 This is important. 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:24.280 It's not plural. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:26.240 It's not the fruits of the Spirit. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:31.660 So like we're not walking into the grocery store and saying pineapple over here, watermelon 00:07:31.660 --> 00:07:34.880 over here, apples over here, oranges over here. 00:07:35.720 --> 00:07:42.380 We're not navigating through, but instead we're looking at the singular fruit of the Spirit, 00:07:42.380 --> 00:07:47.060 but the characteristics of the fruit are multiple. 00:07:47.960 --> 00:07:52.180 Singular fruit, but multiple characteristics. 00:07:53.500 --> 00:08:00.820 And that within this, that what we need to acknowledge is that the fruit is from the Spirit of God. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:01.900 All right? 00:08:02.260 --> 00:08:04.040 It's a characteristic of God. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:05.400 So here's what I mean by that. 00:08:05.660 --> 00:08:10.580 Each week, we're not going to be starting off by saying, what is our standard for this? 00:08:11.420 --> 00:08:16.460 So we're not going to begin this week by saying, all right, everybody, how do we define love? 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:20.680 But it's a characteristic of God. 00:08:21.100 --> 00:08:26.340 So instead, each week, what we're going to look at and not set ourselves as the standards of love, 00:08:26.440 --> 00:08:31.340 but we're going to establish that God is the standard of love, and then how does He love? 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:37.020 And then flowing from that, what we understand is that this fruit has been given to us, right? 00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:38.700 And so how do we reflect that? 00:08:38.700 --> 00:08:45.440 How do we show that characteristic and that attribute of the Lord in our lives? 00:08:45.660 --> 00:08:48.240 So it's not what we don't want to show the world. 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:53.680 It's just how we determine how we love, because we mess that up all the time. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:09:00.900 But instead, we want to say, well, how does God love, and how does God love us? 00:09:01.520 --> 00:09:07.700 And then how do we show the world, remember, He's always the hero of the story, right? 00:09:07.700 --> 00:09:09.220 What it means to love. 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:13.420 And so let's look at that in 1 John 4, starting in verse 7. 00:09:15.040 --> 00:09:16.040 Paul starts, and he says, 00:09:16.140 --> 00:09:18.900 Beloved, let us love one another. 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:24.820 For love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:31.200 So at the very beginning in this verse, what we see is this evidence of faith. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:36.260 Paul's writing to the church, I'm speaking to the church, I'm speaking to a group of people, 00:09:36.520 --> 00:09:40.380 mostly who identify themselves as believers and followers of Jesus Christ. 00:09:40.560 --> 00:09:48.980 If you were here today and you were not a follower of Jesus Christ, we could not be any more ecstatic and excited that you are here to hear this. 00:09:48.980 --> 00:09:56.240 But as John is writing this, what he's giving this to is to the church as an evidence of their faith. 00:09:56.440 --> 00:09:58.660 Well, look at this formula that he gives us. 00:09:58.900 --> 00:10:00.620 He begins with giving this call. 00:10:00.940 --> 00:10:02.720 Let us love one another. 00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:03.080 Right? 00:10:03.140 --> 00:10:04.500 The call to love. 00:10:04.640 --> 00:10:13.200 Now, at the very beginning, we recognize, say yes and amen, and the ability to do this has to be from the Lord. 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:14.060 Right? 00:10:14.140 --> 00:10:18.400 Because amen, it can be hard to love us sometimes. 00:10:18.500 --> 00:10:18.680 Right? 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:21.480 It can be hard to love me. 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:25.560 And y'all are easier, but sometimes it can be hard to love you. 00:10:26.680 --> 00:10:30.840 And we can look at each other, and we can look at ourselves and say yes. 00:10:31.760 --> 00:10:33.480 But it's this call that he's given us. 00:10:34.400 --> 00:10:37.580 He doesn't say, let us love one another most of the time. 00:10:38.500 --> 00:10:40.700 Let us love one another some of the time. 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:43.020 Let us love one another when we feel like it. 00:10:44.220 --> 00:10:45.460 He says, let us love one another. 00:10:46.420 --> 00:10:50.300 And then he says this, because love is from God. 00:10:50.300 --> 00:10:53.720 Now, here's what's important about this as we go through this. 00:10:54.280 --> 00:11:01.260 Godly love for others is neither learned nor an innate virtue. 00:11:02.640 --> 00:11:10.680 We can't set up a six-week class and say at the end of it, we're going to check all the boxes and here's how we're going to love each other. 00:11:10.820 --> 00:11:14.880 And this is going to come from this wonderful book that we've come up with and this design that we have. 00:11:15.700 --> 00:11:26.180 No, that we recognize and that we know that in our ability to do this extremely difficult thing, but when we see it happen, we recognize that that love is not from us. 00:11:26.300 --> 00:11:27.240 It's not from me. 00:11:27.240 --> 00:11:30.680 It's not from you, but that this love is from God. 00:11:32.180 --> 00:11:40.400 But that if you love this way, the Bible says, you are both born of God and know God. 00:11:41.260 --> 00:11:42.280 Now, here's what's cool about this. 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:51.760 Here's what I think when we read and understand this, that this means that we are both saved by God, but also have an intimate knowledge of God. 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:57.700 And what it paints in the life of a believer is maturity. 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:17.800 That when we love one another in the godly manner which God has called us to love, recognizing that it's from God, it means that you've been born of God, that you know God, that you're saved by God, have knowledge of God, and that's the definition. 00:12:18.160 --> 00:12:20.460 This is the mark of a high level of maturity. 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:23.460 This is what this means. 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:26.660 And John just didn't come up with this. 00:12:27.760 --> 00:12:28.700 That's what Jesus teaches. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:34.120 On the night that Jesus would wash the disciples' feet, look at what he said in John 13. 00:12:35.460 --> 00:12:44.400 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, you're also to love one another. 00:12:44.540 --> 00:12:46.500 Let's kind of pause there for a second, right? 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:50.700 Jesus doesn't just say, love each other in your love language. 00:12:52.200 --> 00:13:01.820 Jesus says, love one another and let me be your love language, just as I have loved you. 00:13:03.060 --> 00:13:04.740 You are also to love one another. 00:13:05.920 --> 00:13:13.480 And then verse 35, by this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:15.480 Wow. 00:13:16.980 --> 00:13:25.680 This is how Jesus says to the disciples who will be mocked, ridiculed, and executed for their faith. 00:13:27.400 --> 00:13:31.500 This is how they will know that you are my disciples. 00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:36.640 Not that you walk around and say, hey, for the last three and a half years I've been walking around with Jesus. 00:13:38.460 --> 00:13:45.240 Not because you walk into a room and you're able to argue with the most knowledgeable Pharisees and rebuke their argument. 00:13:46.140 --> 00:13:53.820 Jesus says, here's how they know that you are my disciple, if you have love for one another. 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:58.520 Pretty simple and extremely complicated all at the same time. 00:13:59.640 --> 00:14:05.260 Another place, the Pharisees come to Jesus, because Jesus has been stumping every argument that comes to him, right? 00:14:05.380 --> 00:14:06.360 People are trying to catch him. 00:14:07.220 --> 00:14:10.000 And the Pharisees come to Jesus and they ask him a question. 00:14:10.620 --> 00:14:15.960 A question, by the way, which Jesus, if not answered correctly, could be determined a heretic. 00:14:17.400 --> 00:14:23.040 And Jesus answers in Matthew 22, verse 36, they ask the question, teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law? 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:27.940 And Jesus replied, love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 00:14:28.180 --> 00:14:29.720 This is the first and the greatest commandment. 00:14:29.900 --> 00:14:31.060 And the second is like it. 00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:32.620 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:14:32.980 --> 00:14:36.220 All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. 00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:40.780 Now, here's what becomes very hard in this culture, in the world that we live in. 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:47.840 We're told, we're taught, what is ingrained in us is look out for number one, right? 00:14:48.920 --> 00:14:50.300 Look out for number one. 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:53.160 Either you're first or last. 00:14:54.540 --> 00:14:58.100 In a world that teaches take before it's taken away. 00:14:58.640 --> 00:15:04.880 And if you don't believe that this is taught and this is ingrained, then watch babies, right? 00:15:05.560 --> 00:15:15.340 We had the greatest social experience in the world by having two babies of the same age at the exact same time live in our house. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:18.780 And you know what they did really well? 00:15:19.880 --> 00:15:27.080 Was when one had something the other one wanted, before they could speak, they took it. 00:15:28.040 --> 00:15:29.100 They took it. 00:15:29.800 --> 00:15:32.520 And it wasn't like, oh, I'm going to set this down. 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:37.100 It's like, no, I'm in mid-bite of cookie, but I want cookie. 00:15:37.420 --> 00:15:38.740 Let me take cookie, right? 00:15:39.660 --> 00:15:40.860 Looking out for number one. 00:15:42.860 --> 00:15:45.980 But God's word teaches us something different. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:52.780 God's word says, hey, Jesus says, love one another. 00:15:53.880 --> 00:15:54.980 Love one another. 00:15:55.080 --> 00:16:05.800 So we're going to look at this and say, in the body of believers in faith, love one another, your brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:16:06.560 --> 00:16:08.880 But he doesn't just leave that there. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:12.700 Because it's not just loving about those that are in the family. 00:16:13.400 --> 00:16:19.400 He also goes and says, and love your neighbor as yourself. 00:16:20.280 --> 00:16:21.060 Your neighbor. 00:16:22.160 --> 00:16:34.740 So the non-believer, the different lifestyle, the different political party, the different race, the different socioeconomic, 00:16:35.700 --> 00:16:43.780 the person you know, the person you don't know, and everywhere in between, Jesus says, love one another. 00:16:45.620 --> 00:16:50.320 And so it's this call, it's this standard, it's the mark of the believer. 00:16:51.380 --> 00:16:58.560 And as Paul writes in Galatians 5, under the inspiration of the Spirit, it's the first one that he gives us. 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:01.680 And I believe that does matter. 00:17:03.680 --> 00:17:06.220 Love, love, love. 00:17:06.260 --> 00:17:07.520 Look back at 1 John 4, 8. 00:17:09.700 --> 00:17:16.780 Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. 00:17:18.580 --> 00:17:25.120 And again, church, as we read God's word, we can read these incorrectly as suggestions. 00:17:26.560 --> 00:17:29.480 Or we can read this correctly as the truth of God. 00:17:31.100 --> 00:17:33.840 And so this isn't a suggestion, this isn't a maybe. 00:17:34.120 --> 00:17:34.940 1 John 4, 8. 00:17:35.180 --> 00:17:41.020 Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. 00:17:41.900 --> 00:17:48.260 And so what I want us to look at as we continue on in this is what we said we were going to do is understand that God's nature is love. 00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:56.280 I read this from a pastor this week and I want to share this with you as he described what does it mean that God is love. 00:17:56.460 --> 00:17:57.220 And here's what he said. 00:17:57.820 --> 00:18:04.600 Love is from God the way that heat is from fire or the way that light is from the sun. 00:18:05.100 --> 00:18:08.400 Fire gives heat because fire is heat. 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:13.160 The sun gives light because the sun is light. 00:18:14.280 --> 00:18:17.080 And that's how God is love. 00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:22.000 I'm trying to run, okay? 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:31.120 And you guys know that this has been an eight-year battle in my life of more failures than victories. 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:39.160 The other day I was supposed to run and I tried to run in the morning because in the south it becomes 115 degrees at 9 a.m., right? 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:43.240 And I don't know if you can tell, but this body ain't built for that, all right? 00:18:44.260 --> 00:18:48.820 And so I tried to run in the morning, but the other day I couldn't run that morning. 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:53.460 I had obligations that I had to take care of, but it was a half day for our kids. 00:18:53.540 --> 00:18:57.420 And so I was going to work that morning and take off that afternoon so that I could pick them up. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:05.660 And Grayson, who's continuing on in his running, who he gets to experience the victories and I get to experience the moral victories through it all, right? 00:19:05.660 --> 00:19:13.600 And I go and he's got practice at 3 o'clock in Lexington, South Carolina to run. 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:17.260 And I pick him up and we get there. 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:20.960 And when we get there, my truck is sweating, all right? 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:23.040 Like it's just condensation. 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:24.860 It's so hot outside. 00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:32.740 And I pull up the weather app on my phone and it says, with the heat index, it feels like 102. 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:39.840 And I had to make a decision in that moment what I was going to do. 00:19:40.580 --> 00:19:43.820 Am I going to be a runner or not? 00:19:44.700 --> 00:19:46.340 Now, here's the decision I made. 00:19:47.100 --> 00:19:53.980 I got out there and I moved my feet at a faster pace than a slow walk, all right? 00:19:54.060 --> 00:19:54.840 That's what I did. 00:19:55.240 --> 00:19:58.240 And I call it running, but it was what it was. 00:19:58.280 --> 00:19:59.200 But I made a decision. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:01.720 This is what I'm going to do. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:13.820 I made a decision that for the next 30 minutes, I'm going to get out there and I'm going to run around Lexington High School and pray that no one that knows me drives by, right? 00:20:14.340 --> 00:20:16.440 Great time of conversation with the Lord. 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:17.500 Chad, you saw me. 00:20:17.660 --> 00:20:18.700 That's embarrassing, man. 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:20.520 I'm sorry, buddy, right? 00:20:21.080 --> 00:20:22.280 He's like, that's my pastor. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:23.540 I'm like, right? 00:20:23.780 --> 00:20:29.480 So, God doesn't wake up in the morning and try to figure out if it feels like loving today. 00:20:31.560 --> 00:20:34.320 God doesn't wake up and say, man, this world's just a mess. 00:20:34.360 --> 00:20:35.300 I don't feel like loving him. 00:20:36.700 --> 00:20:38.400 God is love. 00:20:40.040 --> 00:20:42.100 Never separated from that characteristic. 00:20:43.180 --> 00:20:49.740 That it's in his very core of his nature and he cannot choose not to be love. 00:20:50.940 --> 00:20:51.900 It's who he is. 00:20:53.260 --> 00:20:54.300 And God is love. 00:20:56.260 --> 00:20:59.960 So, what does it mean that God is love? 00:21:00.780 --> 00:21:04.580 What are these characteristics, what does this attribute look like? 00:21:05.700 --> 00:21:11.480 In my study, I just came up with these five descriptions of this. 00:21:11.580 --> 00:21:16.900 I don't think it's all-encompassing, but as I studied this week, it's what the Lord brought me to. 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:18.280 So, I want us to look at these. 00:21:18.460 --> 00:21:20.520 Number one, God's love is great. 00:21:21.560 --> 00:21:22.420 God's love is great. 00:21:22.560 --> 00:21:24.420 Ephesians 2, 4 through 5 says this, 00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:30.400 But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, 00:21:30.560 --> 00:21:36.080 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:40.540 By grace, you have been saved. 00:21:41.620 --> 00:21:42.080 Look at that. 00:21:42.520 --> 00:21:48.300 Because of the great love with which he loved us. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:52.020 Not because of the love in which he loved us, 00:21:52.800 --> 00:21:56.220 but the great love in which he loved us. 00:21:57.140 --> 00:21:59.440 Now, I don't know that this has always been the case, 00:22:00.180 --> 00:22:02.700 but I feel like more so than ever, 00:22:03.260 --> 00:22:08.500 we live in a culture that loves to argue about the greatest. 00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:09.520 Right? 00:22:10.140 --> 00:22:11.320 I like sports. 00:22:11.380 --> 00:22:12.520 I like sports podcasts. 00:22:12.780 --> 00:22:14.020 I like sports TV shows. 00:22:14.020 --> 00:22:20.660 And I feel like every time during the NBA season that I cut on a podcast or I cut on a TV show 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:24.380 that's going to talk about the NBA, the conversation is, well, who is the greatest? 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:31.740 I feel like every time I cut on during the NFL season and I watch the games that are coming on, 00:22:31.820 --> 00:22:34.540 before they're talking about who is the greatest. 00:22:35.520 --> 00:22:38.800 And that we continue on in this conversation of who is the greatest. 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:39.760 And it spills over. 00:22:39.760 --> 00:22:45.480 If you're not a sports person, like, ask someone, what is the greatest movie you've ever seen? 00:22:45.660 --> 00:22:51.140 And if other people are there, you can get great conversation going around the greatest movie ever. 00:22:51.580 --> 00:22:55.640 Talk about the greatest meal or the greatest restaurant that you've ever been to. 00:22:55.760 --> 00:23:00.100 And what you'll find is there are multiple experiences and multiple opinions 00:23:00.100 --> 00:23:04.440 that point people back to the different things that they've been able to sample 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:06.600 and they've been able to taste in their life. 00:23:06.600 --> 00:23:14.800 That defining what is and what consists of the greatest is extremely, extremely difficult. 00:23:15.700 --> 00:23:17.200 And we can't do it. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:26.780 And what I've found is we argue about what is the greatest because of two things. 00:23:27.900 --> 00:23:37.620 Number one is because the margin between two options is probably extremely, extremely narrow, right? 00:23:38.260 --> 00:23:43.160 If I ask you what's the best burger you've ever had and you tell me from this place 00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:47.160 and I ask you what's the best burger you've ever had and you say it's from this place 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:53.600 and if I go and put those burgers together and sample both of them, I may have an opinion, 00:23:53.980 --> 00:23:57.980 but I guarantee you that the margin between the two is minimal. 00:23:59.320 --> 00:24:07.220 Another reason why it's so hard for us to agree on the greatest is because our perspective is different. 00:24:08.340 --> 00:24:17.320 If I talk to someone from, I don't know, New York City about the greatest topping to put on grits, 00:24:18.800 --> 00:24:22.320 they're probably like, can we have this conversation about oatmeal? 00:24:22.500 --> 00:24:24.600 And I'm like, no, that's for cookies, right? 00:24:25.100 --> 00:24:26.100 We're talking about grits. 00:24:26.120 --> 00:24:27.560 This is for breakfast, all right? 00:24:27.860 --> 00:24:29.040 This is what we do, right? 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:29.540 Why? 00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:30.520 Why? 00:24:30.560 --> 00:24:31.400 Are they wrong? 00:24:32.020 --> 00:24:32.360 No. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:33.840 No. 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:36.280 My people from Ohio say no, right? 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:37.920 Am I wrong? 00:24:38.020 --> 00:24:38.300 No. 00:24:39.020 --> 00:24:39.220 No. 00:24:39.360 --> 00:24:40.600 Our perspective is different. 00:24:41.860 --> 00:24:46.040 Where we were raised, what we got used to is different. 00:24:47.300 --> 00:24:50.580 But the Bible says God's love is great. 00:24:52.060 --> 00:24:53.020 It is the greatest. 00:24:54.220 --> 00:24:55.100 And here's why. 00:24:56.620 --> 00:25:06.780 It's because it's from and because of his love that scripture tells us that he takes us who are dead in our sin 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:11.100 and he brings us alive and unites us in Christ. 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:13.440 And here's why it's great. 00:25:14.800 --> 00:25:16.840 Because no other love can do that. 00:25:17.780 --> 00:25:18.120 None. 00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:26.480 My love, my grandma's love, my wife's love cannot save you, cannot save me. 00:25:27.540 --> 00:25:32.880 The greatness of God's love is because only God can do this. 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:34.100 No other love can. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:37.240 Number two, God's love is transformative. 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:40.160 God's love is transformative. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:47.920 Romans 5.5, God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:50.160 I want to ask you a question. 00:25:50.360 --> 00:25:53.820 And I haven't done this in a while, so we're going to do this by a quick show of hands. 00:25:54.360 --> 00:25:54.580 All right. 00:25:55.420 --> 00:26:01.760 How many of you at any point in time have ever bought a project? 00:26:02.760 --> 00:26:03.380 Raise your hand. 00:26:04.060 --> 00:26:08.380 Project house, project car, project piece of furniture. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:10.160 Leave your hands up if you've ever bought a project. 00:26:10.780 --> 00:26:11.000 All right. 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:11.760 I see the hands there. 00:26:11.860 --> 00:26:13.200 You can put your hands down. 00:26:13.280 --> 00:26:13.460 All right. 00:26:13.760 --> 00:26:15.280 Here's the, I've done it before too. 00:26:15.700 --> 00:26:15.880 All right. 00:26:16.140 --> 00:26:18.060 Here's the problem with a project. 00:26:18.940 --> 00:26:25.220 There's always way more involved than you knew what it was going to be when you got into it. 00:26:25.220 --> 00:26:25.440 Right? 00:26:26.460 --> 00:26:28.620 You're like, ah, this will take a weekend. 00:26:29.100 --> 00:26:30.600 Three years later, right? 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:34.100 Three years later, you're finished with that piece of furniture. 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:34.360 Right? 00:26:34.360 --> 00:26:40.660 Like, we take on projects, and also, if you're like me, sometimes I take on projects 00:26:40.660 --> 00:26:42.500 that are way above my ability. 00:26:42.620 --> 00:26:42.820 Right? 00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:48.640 I have no need, I have no ability to do this, but I think that I could. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:48.900 Right? 00:26:51.840 --> 00:26:57.040 God knows that you and I are projects. 00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:00.120 We need to be transformed. 00:27:01.300 --> 00:27:02.720 We need to be changed. 00:27:03.520 --> 00:27:05.160 We need to be molded and shaped. 00:27:05.540 --> 00:27:06.120 And here's what he does. 00:27:06.560 --> 00:27:07.660 He saves us anyways. 00:27:09.480 --> 00:27:16.700 God knows the depth of the level of project that you and I are, even more so than we do. 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:22.900 As bad as I know that I am, God really knows how bad I am. 00:27:25.040 --> 00:27:26.280 And he saves us anyways. 00:27:28.780 --> 00:27:29.900 Because here's the thing. 00:27:30.820 --> 00:27:35.580 God loves us too much to save us and leave us how we were before. 00:27:35.580 --> 00:27:37.800 So he transforms us. 00:27:38.900 --> 00:27:45.440 He gives us the Holy Spirit who lives in us and who's working in every moment. 00:27:46.280 --> 00:27:47.500 In every moment. 00:27:48.380 --> 00:27:50.820 Every moment of joy and every moment of defeat. 00:27:51.880 --> 00:27:58.260 He's working in every moment to knock off the pieces that don't need to be there. 00:27:59.140 --> 00:28:01.960 To smooth over the rough spots. 00:28:02.580 --> 00:28:06.660 And to soften what was once hard to make us more like Jesus. 00:28:07.620 --> 00:28:07.780 Right? 00:28:07.820 --> 00:28:08.380 And that's what he does. 00:28:08.940 --> 00:28:10.840 He transforms us. 00:28:11.100 --> 00:28:13.580 So God's love is transformative. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:19.160 But then also, number three, God's love is unchangeable. 00:28:20.680 --> 00:28:23.060 Romans 8, 35. 00:28:23.060 --> 00:28:26.460 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 00:28:27.180 --> 00:28:32.540 So tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 00:28:33.500 --> 00:28:37.840 As it is written, for your sake, we are being killed all the day long. 00:28:37.940 --> 00:28:40.520 We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. 00:28:40.700 --> 00:28:44.980 Knowing all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 00:28:44.980 --> 00:29:01.740 For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:29:03.260 --> 00:29:05.180 Have you ever loved something? 00:29:06.940 --> 00:29:09.260 Had a bad experience with it? 00:29:10.380 --> 00:29:12.040 And then your feelings changed. 00:29:13.500 --> 00:29:20.480 Like, the other night, we went out to California Dreaming with our kids. 00:29:20.500 --> 00:29:21.880 Our kids have never been to California Dreaming. 00:29:22.580 --> 00:29:23.800 We're like, we'll go to California Dreaming. 00:29:24.660 --> 00:29:27.440 And they were talking to us about what we were going to get at California Dreaming. 00:29:27.520 --> 00:29:34.740 Now, it's probably been 15 years since I've been to California Dreaming, and probably the exact time for Aaron to go to California Dreaming. 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:36.460 And our kids said, well, what are you going to get? 00:29:36.540 --> 00:29:37.920 Well, we went back to 15 years ago. 00:29:38.760 --> 00:29:39.120 Right? 00:29:39.780 --> 00:29:41.200 And here's what we got 15 years ago. 00:29:42.020 --> 00:29:46.260 15 years ago, every single time I walked into California Dreaming, I got a California Dreaming salad. 00:29:46.460 --> 00:29:46.640 Right? 00:29:47.020 --> 00:29:50.780 I'm not a salad guy, but when you double up on that bacon dressing, I'm down for it. 00:29:50.820 --> 00:29:51.060 All right? 00:29:53.400 --> 00:29:53.840 All right? 00:29:54.580 --> 00:29:55.680 Extra salad dressing. 00:29:56.140 --> 00:29:56.640 All right? 00:29:57.580 --> 00:29:58.640 And potato soup. 00:29:59.040 --> 00:29:59.360 All right? 00:29:59.600 --> 00:30:00.420 Because you got cheese. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:01.920 And again, bacon. 00:30:02.080 --> 00:30:02.360 All right? 00:30:02.500 --> 00:30:03.340 All in there. 00:30:05.020 --> 00:30:07.600 And then the cherry on top is what? 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:09.180 The croissant. 00:30:09.300 --> 00:30:09.500 Right? 00:30:10.620 --> 00:30:11.300 Oh, boy. 00:30:11.740 --> 00:30:13.620 And it's got the honey on it. 00:30:14.620 --> 00:30:19.420 And then Aaron, as we were sharing about how great this was to our kids, she looked at me, she's like, I'm a little nervous. 00:30:20.780 --> 00:30:21.920 Like, what if it's changed? 00:30:22.740 --> 00:30:28.200 What if we built this thing up and, like, we walk in and it's like, no, that's not what this needs to be at all. 00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:30.600 But yet we've had this, but now it's changed. 00:30:30.860 --> 00:30:33.920 And how we felt about it would no longer be how we feel about it. 00:30:33.980 --> 00:30:42.120 Well, in the work of the Lord, I still feel the same way now about that salad and about that soup and about that croissant as I did then. 00:30:42.800 --> 00:30:44.520 But we've experienced that, right? 00:30:45.360 --> 00:30:50.480 We've gone into restaurants and had a bad meal and we would go there all the time and now we'll never go there again. 00:30:51.520 --> 00:30:54.960 We watch a TV show that we loved when we were growing up. 00:30:55.280 --> 00:31:00.000 And then we watch it as adults and we wonder, how did I ever watch Saved by the Bell? 00:31:00.060 --> 00:31:00.280 Right? 00:31:02.120 --> 00:31:02.520 How? 00:31:03.280 --> 00:31:03.640 How? 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:06.940 We enter into relationships with people. 00:31:08.460 --> 00:31:09.460 And we love them. 00:31:10.260 --> 00:31:11.340 And we care about them. 00:31:11.760 --> 00:31:12.880 And then they hurt us. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:15.260 They attack us. 00:31:16.120 --> 00:31:17.200 They abuse us. 00:31:18.080 --> 00:31:19.820 They speak poorly about us. 00:31:19.820 --> 00:31:24.280 And our feelings toward them change. 00:31:25.940 --> 00:31:27.640 But not with God. 00:31:29.060 --> 00:31:40.120 That as we walk through the experiences of life, God's love for us is unchangeable. 00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:58.140 So when I don't offer God my best, when I spiritually cheat on Him, when I choose to disobey Him, when I wander from Him, He still loves me. 00:31:59.300 --> 00:32:02.060 He still loves me because God's love is unchangeable. 00:32:02.060 --> 00:32:07.220 The fourth thing, God's love is unmerited. 00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:09.900 God's love is unmerited. 00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:12.360 Romans 5, 8. 00:32:13.360 --> 00:32:19.600 God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:32:19.600 --> 00:32:29.580 Just simply and briefly, when it comes to God's love, you and I did nothing to earn it. 00:32:31.360 --> 00:32:37.620 You and I did nothing that one day God just looked at us and said, oh, now, yeah, now they've done this. 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:38.180 I love them. 00:32:39.140 --> 00:32:39.300 Right? 00:32:40.020 --> 00:32:47.560 God's word even tells us that in our sinful state, that you and I, we didn't even pursue God, but instead He pursued us. 00:32:49.560 --> 00:32:49.660 Right? 00:32:50.100 --> 00:32:51.460 That God's love is unmerited. 00:32:51.980 --> 00:32:59.680 God's love is shown for us that while we were still sinners, meaning enemies and opponents of God, Christ died for us. 00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:08.580 We didn't come to God and make it right to restore the relationship, and instead, God's restored the relationship so that we could come to Him. 00:33:09.960 --> 00:33:11.060 Unmerited work of God. 00:33:13.520 --> 00:33:17.640 And then also, number five, God's love is sacrificial. 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:20.120 Let me read Romans 5, 8 to you again. 00:33:21.600 --> 00:33:27.360 God shows His love for us that while we were still sinners, what Christ died for us. 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:35.060 I don't know if y'all remember this, but in 2004, Oprah gave away a few cars. 00:33:36.100 --> 00:33:36.720 Anybody remember that? 00:33:37.740 --> 00:33:38.600 Yeah, some of us do. 00:33:40.540 --> 00:33:56.880 Oprah Winfrey announced to a national audience that she would give away that day 276 Pontiac G6s to everyone who was in her studio audience that day. 00:33:57.100 --> 00:33:57.580 Do you remember that? 00:33:58.080 --> 00:34:00.220 If not, do you remember this phrase? 00:34:00.780 --> 00:34:03.360 You get a car, you get a car, you get a car, you get a car, right? 00:34:03.360 --> 00:34:06.760 And everybody lost their mind. 00:34:08.100 --> 00:34:10.760 The generosity of Oprah. 00:34:11.980 --> 00:34:22.240 In 2004, the value of the Pontiac G6 as a brand new car was $28,500 per car. 00:34:23.140 --> 00:34:34.080 Meaning that on that day, what was given away was $7,866,000 worth of automobiles. 00:34:35.080 --> 00:34:36.160 Here's the catch. 00:34:38.160 --> 00:34:46.280 The show made you feel like Oprah went out to the lot and said, let me buy these. 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:49.320 But she didn't. 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:56.100 Pontiac donated to the show every single car. 00:34:56.860 --> 00:35:07.980 And then, if you were in the audience that day and you received a car, Pontiac paid for the state sales taxes for those cars. 00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:11.500 And you're thinking, everybody in the audience is like, this is fantastic news. 00:35:12.620 --> 00:35:23.620 But then what you found out was if you were lucky enough to be in the audience for Pontiac to give you a car that Oprah took credit for and then them pay the state sales taxes, 00:35:23.620 --> 00:35:32.740 you were hit with a bill from the government for $6,000 that you owed them for the free car that you didn't ask for that you were given, right? 00:35:35.040 --> 00:35:37.120 Six years later, Pontiac went out of business. 00:35:37.240 --> 00:35:40.720 I don't know if it had anything to do with that, but it's what happened. 00:35:41.900 --> 00:35:45.580 And through this all, Oprah got the credit. 00:35:47.120 --> 00:35:49.800 But she really didn't do anything. 00:35:51.540 --> 00:35:55.020 You see, it didn't cost her anything. 00:35:58.160 --> 00:36:01.480 God's love cost him greatly. 00:36:03.180 --> 00:36:10.140 God looked at a bunch of rebels, a bunch of sinful people who ran from him, 00:36:11.040 --> 00:36:13.480 who pursued others other than him, 00:36:14.460 --> 00:36:16.980 who at their core was his enemy, 00:36:17.900 --> 00:36:22.780 and who had so built up a debt of sin that they could never repay. 00:36:24.460 --> 00:36:25.600 And God said, 00:36:27.020 --> 00:36:28.620 I'll pay for it. 00:36:29.660 --> 00:36:35.860 That the unmerited grace that he gives us was the sacrifice of his son. 00:36:37.640 --> 00:36:39.080 And it cost him greatly. 00:36:40.840 --> 00:36:43.320 That's what God's love is. 00:36:44.820 --> 00:36:46.540 1 John 4, 9 through 10. 00:36:48.720 --> 00:36:51.160 In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, 00:36:51.200 --> 00:36:54.880 that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. 00:36:56.160 --> 00:36:57.980 And this is love. 00:36:59.520 --> 00:37:01.460 Not that we have loved God, 00:37:01.560 --> 00:37:07.200 but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. 00:37:07.660 --> 00:37:12.420 And so God shows his love by sending Jesus. 00:37:13.740 --> 00:37:15.180 Not just to teach. 00:37:16.520 --> 00:37:17.900 Not just to heal. 00:37:19.180 --> 00:37:20.860 Not just to unify. 00:37:23.240 --> 00:37:24.380 but to die. 00:37:24.380 --> 00:37:24.400 But to die. 00:37:25.720 --> 00:37:26.640 But to die. 00:37:27.860 --> 00:37:30.980 And it's not that we loved God, is what scripture says. 00:37:31.980 --> 00:37:33.660 But it's that God loved us. 00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:36.120 That God loved us. 00:37:37.720 --> 00:37:43.000 God didn't send Jesus because he saw our potential. 00:37:44.440 --> 00:37:49.580 God didn't send Jesus because he knew that he couldn't do all of this without him, without us. 00:37:50.740 --> 00:37:55.660 God sent Jesus because he loves you. 00:37:56.800 --> 00:37:58.440 Because he loves you. 00:37:59.400 --> 00:38:05.500 And here's what I want to say to everyone in this auditorium, everybody watching online. 00:38:06.500 --> 00:38:09.380 Whether you love him or not, he loves you. 00:38:10.440 --> 00:38:13.720 Whether you accept him or not, he loves you. 00:38:14.240 --> 00:38:17.680 Whether you believe in him or not, he loves you. 00:38:18.060 --> 00:38:24.320 Whether you obey him or not, he loves you. 00:38:26.040 --> 00:38:27.000 He loves you. 00:38:28.280 --> 00:38:29.200 He loves you. 00:38:30.700 --> 00:38:31.460 But I've done. 00:38:31.640 --> 00:38:32.340 He loves you. 00:38:33.580 --> 00:38:34.900 This is who I am, but he loves you. 00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:37.620 But this is the decision I made, but he loves you. 00:38:38.900 --> 00:38:41.000 And he loves you so much. 00:38:42.960 --> 00:38:44.740 It's not by a simple gesture. 00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:48.080 But it's at the cost of his son. 00:38:52.620 --> 00:38:53.840 That's how much he loves you. 00:38:58.140 --> 00:38:59.380 Let's look at the last verse. 00:38:59.560 --> 00:39:00.860 And we're going to look at this morning. 00:39:00.940 --> 00:39:02.160 Verse 11 and verse John 4. 00:39:03.800 --> 00:39:08.920 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 00:39:10.080 --> 00:39:11.220 We're saved to love. 00:39:12.500 --> 00:39:13.900 We are saved to love. 00:39:15.820 --> 00:39:22.400 Called to reflect the love of God of what we are experienced by those around us. 00:39:22.620 --> 00:39:23.920 So I want to ask you these questions. 00:39:24.520 --> 00:39:26.020 And we'll conclude with this. 00:39:27.460 --> 00:39:29.000 Is your love for others great? 00:39:31.040 --> 00:39:32.240 Here's what I mean by great. 00:39:33.520 --> 00:39:36.580 Is it marked by the sweetness and the truth of the gospel? 00:39:38.580 --> 00:39:41.420 Is your love for others transformative? 00:39:43.020 --> 00:39:49.640 Meaning, do you love others with a desire to seek to see them and yourself grow to be more like Jesus? 00:39:51.240 --> 00:39:53.740 Is your love for others unchangeable? 00:39:54.860 --> 00:39:58.900 Meaning, is your love covered with the grace of God in all circumstances? 00:39:59.260 --> 00:40:01.920 Willing to push through the experience of this life? 00:40:02.140 --> 00:40:05.680 And choosing to love those who choose not to love you? 00:40:07.180 --> 00:40:09.620 Is your love for others unmerited? 00:40:09.620 --> 00:40:18.520 Do you love others not for who they are, but for who you are in Christ? 00:40:21.120 --> 00:40:24.480 Is your love for others sacrificial? 00:40:26.120 --> 00:40:41.100 Setting aside yourself as primary, as the focus, and instead keeping your eyes on the Lord and loving one another and your neighbor, as he calls us to. 00:40:42.100 --> 00:40:42.960 Let's pray. 00:40:46.120 --> 00:40:49.040 Lord, we thank you for this time that we could be here this morning. 00:40:49.840 --> 00:40:54.520 Lord, we thank you for the love that you have for us, Lord, and the love that you call us to. 00:40:57.380 --> 00:41:02.100 Lord, I pray if there's anyone in here who does not know you as their Lord and Savior. 00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:07.880 Lord, I pray today that these words would resonate in them. 00:41:09.260 --> 00:41:11.700 That even though they don't love you, you love them. 00:41:12.840 --> 00:41:15.940 That even though they haven't accepted you, you love them. 00:41:16.680 --> 00:41:19.820 That even though they may not believe in you, you love them. 00:41:20.600 --> 00:41:24.520 That even though they do not obey you, Lord, you love them. 00:41:25.720 --> 00:41:27.680 And you love them at a great cost. 00:41:28.760 --> 00:41:29.880 The life of Jesus. 00:41:31.340 --> 00:41:37.060 Lord, I pray as we prepare our hearts to partake in the Lord's Supper together. 00:41:38.900 --> 00:41:43.620 Lord, I pray that it would be done out of a response of the love that you've shown us. 00:41:44.900 --> 00:41:46.780 The sacrifice of Christ. 00:41:47.920 --> 00:41:52.620 Made so that sinful man could be made right with the Lord. 00:41:54.020 --> 00:41:56.900 In a growing, thriving relationship with him. 00:41:59.840 --> 00:42:01.220 It's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:42:08.540 --> 00:42:20.840 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:42:21.400 --> 00:42:23.640 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:42:24.160 --> 00:42:27.640 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, 00:42:28.260 --> 00:42:32.700 visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:42:32.700 --> 00:42:36.280 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.