Do You Love You - Robert Madu
Do You Love You - Robert Madu
Transcript
00:00 Hebrews chapter 12 verses 28 and 29. This is the message translation. Come on. Let's read it together as a family
00:08 It says do you see what we've got an?
00:12 Unshakable kingdom and do you see how thankful we must be?
00:17 Not only thankful but brimming with worship
00:22 Deeply reverent before God for God is not an indifferent bystander
00:28 He's actively cleaning house
00:31 Torching all that needs to burn and he won't quit until it's all cleansed God
00:38 Himself is fire. Give yourself a hand you did that good
00:43 God him
00:47 Is fire and now our scripture from where we'll take our thought today the gospel according to Matthew
00:54 Matthew chapter number 22. I want to look at verses 34 through 40 Matthew 22
01:01 Start of verse number 34 and we'll land at verse 40 when you're ready to read it say yeah
01:07 Listen to the Word of the Lord it says hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees the Pharisees got together
01:15 one of them an
01:18 expert in the law
01:20 Tested him with this question
01:22 teacher
01:23 Which is the greatest commandment in the law?
01:27 What a great question and that's as he's saying yo, it's a whole lot of stuff
01:31 I'm supposed to be doing tell me what's the one thing I need to do. What is the greatest commandment?
01:39 I know it's a lot of them
01:40 But what is the greatest one and listen to the reply from the greatest?
01:45 Human who has ever walked the face of this earth. He gives the answer to what the greatest commandment is
01:52 Love the Lord your God
01:54 With all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind
01:59 This is the first and greatest
02:03 commandment in essence
02:06 He's saying the core of Christianity the core of your faith is right there in that verse
02:14 If you would just do that
02:16 Everything else will take care of itself
02:18 Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind
02:23 This is the first and the greatest commandment and then he throws in an extra bonus and says the second is
02:30 Just like it
02:32 love your neighbor as
02:34 yourself
02:36 All the law and the prophets hang on these two
02:41 Commandments all you got to do this. That's red letter talk right there by the way
02:47 Jesus says all I need you to do is love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind
02:53 plus
02:55 Love your neighbor
02:57 As yourself
02:59 Love your neighbor
03:02 As yourself in other words the way you treat your neighbor
03:09 Tells me how you treat you
03:13 The way you love your neighbor is the way you're gonna love
03:17 you
03:19 Don't try this at home. But maybe the next time somebody says I love you a
03:24 Follow-up question should be do you love you?
03:28 Because if you don't love you it's gonna be impossible for you to love
03:34 Because you will love your neighbor
03:37 As you love yourself if you don't like you
03:42 If you don't like you
03:44 How you gonna like me?
03:46 If you are critical and judgmental of you
03:49 Maybe that's why you were on my page talking sideways. You're critical and judgmental of me if you can't forgive you
03:57 Maybe that's why you're so bitter and can't forgive anybody else
04:04 because you will love your neighbor as
04:07 You love
04:11 Yourself, I want to tag this text with the title for the first sermon in the how to love series with this question
04:17 Do you love you?
04:19 Do you love you before you ask your neighbor just let that sit in your cranium for half a second
04:25 Do you love you?
04:28 Now look at the person next to you, whichever one you like the best and just say neighbor
04:31 I'm asking
04:34 Cuz I'm your neighbor
04:36 Do you love you?
04:38 Look at your other person say other person
04:42 Matter of fact the other neighbor I
04:44 Really want to know
04:46 Do you love you?
04:49 Come on if you believe God's gonna speak would you give him some praise? Oh
04:53 Lord
04:57 Speak to our hearts today. Help me preach your word with power and with clarity in Jesus name
05:04 Everybody said amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord
05:10 Do you
05:12 Love you
05:15 Lawrence I was
05:18 yesterday years old
05:20 when I realized
05:22 That all of our relationship series titles have been titles of songs
05:28 Have you noticed this this was not planned, but this just hit me literally yesterday
05:32 All of our relationship series titles have been the titles of song our first relationship series was can we talk?
05:39 Can we talk I love that series because immediately let me know the age difference in our church
05:46 Okay
05:46 Cuz when we said it was can we talk all the old grown folks went straight to Tevin Campbell and went can we talk?
05:53 And all the younger folks was like, I don't know nothing about Tevin Campbell, but I know Khalid can we just talk
06:00 It was amazing to see
06:03 the difference in ages
06:05 Our second series. Well, no, let's back it up
06:07 That first series was great because the highlight in that series was really just talking about communication in
06:12 Relationships and we said that you cannot have a good relationship and not have good words
06:18 Every good relationship has this in common good words
06:22 Every bad relationship has this in common bad
06:26 Words nobody has ever been talked down to and then motivated to live better
06:31 Like nobody's ever said, you know what? I am a dog. I am nothing I need to do better
06:35 So if you want to get your relationship, right work on your words because your words are
06:41 powerful
06:43 Second series we did our relationships was love is blind. Love is blind. How many saw that?
06:49 How many saw love is blind so maybe still on YouTube. You can like share and subscribe
06:52 But there's a song love is blind and that came from Eve not even the Bible but Eve the first lady of the Rough Riders
07:00 She had this song called love is blind and it'll take over your mind
07:06 What you think is love is really not you need to elevate and find we talked about how culture has tried to shape
07:14 What love is and love really does have the power to intoxicate your senses and how many of us have made some dumb
07:21 stupid decisions in the name of
07:25 Love we talked about in that series how you have to be careful that just because you have a thirst for something
07:32 Doesn't mean you can satisfy that thirst anywhere you want
07:35 Y'all I brought a whole toilet on stage and I told you about my dog Theo who has beautiful fresh water
07:43 Prepared for him, but when he comes in from outside
07:46 All he knows is I'm thirsty and instead of going to the water that's prepared for him
07:50 He goes straight to the toilet and I have to tell him get out that toilet
07:54 Get out that toilet because all he knows is I'm thirsty and I got to fulfill my thirst and how many of us who?
07:58 Have tried to fulfill our thirst for things with toilet water instead of the fresh water that God has already prepared for us
08:06 and
08:07 That was love is blind
08:09 We're tied on this series how to love how to love and believe it or not
08:15 I didn't plan this but that's the title of a song have the lyrics here because I don't listen to secular music
08:21 I just listen to a wonderful worship music all day long. So have you heard this song how to love is by a poet
08:26 From New Orleans, Louisiana by the name of Dwayne Michael Carter and
08:34 These are the lyrics first line is cut the music out a
08:41 Little louder, yeah
08:47 Says you had a lot of critics try and steal. Yeah, this is my song. Let me let me let me just read the lyrics
08:52 Had a lot of cooks trying to steal your heart
08:56 Never really had luck couldn't never figure out how to love
09:00 Hello
09:03 Next line had a lot of moments didn't last forever now you're in the corner trying to put it together
09:10 Hello
09:14 It's quite interesting this this poet Dwayne Michael Carter
09:17 Has released approximately
09:21 245 different songs and this might be the only one that I can actually read the lyrics
09:27 In a church service, which is quite interesting and quite contradictory and and duplicitous and we'll talk about that within this series are our
09:37 contradictions within ourselves because I find it strange that he got
09:41 244 songs that have colorful language and misogynistic
09:45 Turns, but all of a sudden we got one song that says I just want you to know
09:50 That you deserve the best you're beautiful
09:53 That's not what you said in the other songs. I'm just trying to figure out
09:56 Which one is it?
09:59 It's interesting. I think he poses a question in this song
10:03 That all of us are really wrestling with and that is
10:07 How do you love?
10:10 How do you receive love?
10:12 How do you give?
10:15 Love of all the classes that we take in school. Nobody teaches us how to love I took classes on trigonometry
10:22 I took classes on calculus don't remember any of it. I took English classes
10:25 I took all kinds of classes on history, but I never took a class on love. I never took a class on
10:32 Relationships. I think the cry of this song is really the cry of our culture. We are trying to figure out how to love
10:39 I think there's some people who said no, I don't need to figure it out PR. I got it
10:43 I know how to love I know what love I need and I know when I need it
10:47 And if that's you will come grab the mic and you preach this series
10:49 Because I know what it's like to grapple with the complexities of how to love
10:56 How in the world do you give love?
11:00 How do you receive love and maybe the question is not even just how to love?
11:05 I think the question is really how do you love after?
11:09 How do you love after how do you love after the heartbreak?
11:13 How do you love after the hurt?
11:16 How do you love after the abuse?
11:19 How do you love after the molestation?
11:23 How do you love after the affair? How do you love after?
11:28 the second divorce
11:31 How do you love after being ghosted?
11:34 How do you love after you have been disappointed over and over and over again?
11:40 Often the challenge of love is not how do I love is how do I love after I've been through some stuff?
11:47 Because now my perspective has been jaded on what love really is
11:52 How do I love?
11:55 When my father was never there
11:57 How do I love?
12:00 When my mother never cared
12:02 How do I love when I was born day one in an environment?
12:07 When nobody ever showed me what love really looked like this is why you got to be careful who you judge
12:13 This is about it
12:15 Why you got to be careful who you turn up your nose and go I can't believe they behaved in that matter
12:20 Be careful when you rush to quick judgments about the behavior of certain people because how many you know?
12:26 people were broken before you met them and
12:30 Sometimes the best question you can ask I found it's not why did you do that?
12:34 But I've learned to ask the question. What is your story?
12:37 I need to know your story because often there is a brokenness behind that behavior
12:43 You've been through some stuff and although trauma does not excuse behavior. How many you know, it does explain behavior
12:50 I'm gonna say that again because that was a bar that you can tweet later
12:53 Trauma does not excuse behavior, but it does explain
12:59 Behavior, I love this culture in which we live in because everybody's getting serious about mental health
13:04 And I love that we're using a lot of clinical terms
13:07 But there is a casualty to that because some of us are using words like trauma
13:10 You ain't really been through trauma like some of y'all like oh my god. It was rain today trauma boo-boo. That's not trauma
13:15 That that's not trauma. But but some of us have been through some real issues
13:21 We've been through real trauma and I need to let you know because I've sat on the seat of pastoral ministry and counseling
13:26 I'm amazed at how many people want to tell you their trauma and it is painful to hear but they think that the trauma
13:33 Excuses their behavior. No, no, no trauma does not excuse your behavior. It might explain it. You can't just say well I had trauma
13:40 Nobody loved me. That's why I murdered everybody. Okay. Well, you still got to go to jail because there are still
13:46 Consequences for your actions. It does not excuse it, but it does explain why you
13:52 Did what you did?
13:55 Fact it reminds me of a story that I recently heard
13:58 about a young boy
14:00 Who grew up in a household where his parents believed in God?
14:05 But they didn't know how to love
14:07 They didn't know how to love this young boy never heard his mother or his father say I love you
14:14 Never told him or his brother how much they cared about them as a matter of fact
14:18 His mother was a germaphobe
14:20 So she would never show any type of physical affection
14:23 But never kiss him would never hug him as a matter of fact
14:27 The only thing he remembers his mom doing as a sign of her love was buying him a blanket
14:33 That had all these little bunnies on it. He called it his bunny blanket. He loved this blanket
14:39 He went to school with the blanket. He slept with that blanket. It was the only thing he ever got as a sign of love
14:45 He was about nine years old. He begged his mom to give him a dog. She said absolutely not
14:51 I don't want germs in this house all of a sudden this nine-year-old boy developed a tumor in his ear
14:57 And the doctor said we can do surgery
14:59 But it is possible that he will lose his hearing and this boy remember standing in the hallway of his house
15:05 Listening to his mom on the phone talking to a friend and he could hear the friend on the other line saying just buy him
15:12 A dog he could lose his hearing so the mama goes to the pound buys this little boy a dog
15:18 He was so excited. He loved the dog, but he didn't know and the mom didn't know
15:24 That they brought home a sick dog and five days later that dog died
15:30 The mom had somebody come get the dog
15:32 He loved that dog so much
15:34 He gave that dog the blanket but because the dog was sick and would lay on the blanket the mom
15:39 Burned the bunny blanket in front of the boy
15:42 He said that was one of the most traumatic moments of his life
15:46 until he was in college
15:49 20 years old a
15:51 Virgin in college meets a beautiful young girl says I'm gonna marry this girl. They fall in love
15:56 He actually wanted to save himself for marriage
15:59 They ended up sleeping together and he said it's okay. We're gonna live together forever
16:05 The summer of that college year he found out that his love
16:09 Cheated on him and it broke his heart
16:12 that young boy
16:15 became the man
16:17 Hugh Hefner
16:19 Who started playboy?
16:21 magazine
16:23 he started a
16:25 magazine and an empire that
16:28 objectified women and the emblem was connected to a blanket from his
16:35 Childhood when he grew up in a house trying to figure out
16:38 how to love
16:41 how to love
16:43 It's funny when little Wayne tells the song he talks about a woman, but I wonder if he's talking about himself
16:48 Because I've heard his story
16:51 I've heard how he was abused and lost his virginity at 11 and tried to commit suicide at age 12
16:59 And ended up being a father at age 16 trying to figure out
17:05 how to love
17:06 And I could pass this mic around today and all of us would have stories of crooks that tried to steal or stole our hearts
17:13 Never really had luck
17:15 Trying to figure out how to love and maybe the problem is we're trying to figure out how to love
17:23 Instead of running to the one who is the author of love and saying God
17:28 Would you heal the broken parts and me so I can love the way that you designed?
17:34 it
17:36 Tell you this is gonna be a great series
17:38 There's so much to talk about in this series and please don't stop coming back today is just the entree
17:42 Because we're gonna talk about everything we gonna talk about you know how some of y'all are single and searching
17:48 I'm gonna talk to those y'all who are single and desperate
17:51 Don't point it nobody we gonna talk
17:54 Don't talk to y'all who are single and satisfied
17:58 Go talk to y'all who are dating y'all who are hooking up y'all who've been heartbroken y'all who are engaged
18:03 Those who are happily married those who are miserable be married those who are married again. We're gonna talk about friendship
18:09 We're gonna talk about sex. We're gonna talk about what men need to do
18:12 Y'all walked right into that we're gonna talk about what women that need to do
18:19 No
18:23 You notice the difference we're gonna talk about what men need to do that's right, that's right
18:29 I
18:30 Was we gonna talk about what women need to do I ain't about to say nothing now, but she here oh
18:35 That made me laugh
18:39 the list
18:41 The list could go on and on but hearing me. Here's what I'm finding out before we get to any all that
18:45 We got to talk about you
18:47 Cuz I am finding out that the most important relationships here me are not interpersonal relationships the most important relationship is the
18:57 Personal relationship it is the relationship that you have with you
19:01 That is the most important relationship because if you don't want to be with you
19:06 How can you expect somebody else to want to be with you if you don't think you're beautiful?
19:10 There is nothing somebody else can say that'll make you feel beautiful
19:14 If you don't have grace for you
19:16 You're never gonna have grace for somebody else if you don't love you it is impossible for you to love somebody else
19:23 Ladies and gentlemen, when are we gonna understand that healthy relationships are built with two healthy
19:29 Individuals many relationship problems are actually just individual issues that we never worked on in the first place
19:37 And I got a newsflash. Nobody is coming to save you. Nobody can complete you
19:43 You gotta get a hold by yourself
19:45 And say God help me love me
19:49 So I can actually be a blessing and not a burden to somebody else. There is no human that can shoulder the
19:57 Responsibility of trying to fulfill everything that you need you gotta find that in you
20:03 Who maybe we should stop telling single people get married get married
20:06 Maybe we should switch it up be like get therapy get therapy get therapy get home get home get home
20:11 That's the question I want to pose today is do you love you
20:19 Truly do you love you? How do you talk to you? Do you love you?
20:25 Better question. Do you know how?
20:29 to love you
20:31 If you want to know how to love you
20:33 Come with me to Matthew chapter number 22. I
20:37 Love this. I love this text if I had time
20:40 I would preach this text for the next two hours because it is a powerful passage of Scripture
20:45 Let me give you the context of the text all of a sudden Jesus finds himself in a place of controversy
20:51 He's in a place of controversy because he has basically
20:53 Made everybody mad
20:56 I've noticed this have you ever read your Bible notice everybody loved little baby Jesus, but everybody had issues with full-grown Jesus
21:03 full-grown Jesus
21:05 annoyed every single
21:07 Political party every power that was alive during that age and when you see this text is an interesting passage
21:13 Because group by group all these different facets all these different organizations are coming to Jesus with their issues
21:19 And they're trying to trap him because none of them like him
21:22 It's funny these groups don't even like each other, but they're in agreement that they don't like him
21:27 Well, you know people will do that. There are people who will hate each other like I don't like you
21:32 I don't like you, but we both hate them. Let's go after them and that's what they're doing with Jesus
21:38 It is the Pharisees it is the Herodians and it is the Sadducees
21:42 These are three political if you will groups who don't even like each other
21:47 But they all don't like Jesus and here's why because Jesus does not fit into the little box that they want to put him in
21:53 Can I just say this before everybody loses their mind during this election season?
21:57 Jesus still today does not fit in any political box that you want to put him in he is not right wing or left wing
22:05 He is the whole bird matter of fact. He named the whole bird he came to bring a kingdom that is
22:11 Unbreakable it is
22:12 Transcended his kingdom is not of this earth
22:15 So stop trying to put him in your own little political party because he is bigger than that
22:20 So each one of these parties realize he doesn't fit in our box. So let's try to trap him. I love it
22:25 The first ones up are the Pharisees they've coupled with the Herodians and they try to get him on a tax question
22:30 They're like Jesus. Excuse me
22:32 What should we do about taxes?
22:35 Should we continue to pay tax to Caesar and I love Jesus because he hits him right in the face
22:39 He says you hypocrites. It's the first words out of his mouth
22:42 I love how Jesus rolls because the people that were sinners the people that were broken. He was so gentle with them
22:48 Have you noticed he was just loving it just but the people who were arrogant and self-righteous and didn't think they needed him
22:54 He came for their throat. He would just hit them with you look like an open grave
22:58 whitewashed grave
23:01 Yeah, clean on the outside dead on the inside. That's you. I mean he would just be so
23:06 Gangster with people who did not think that they needed a Savior. So he hits him in the face that you hypocrites
23:13 It's like you're trying to trap me. He says, okay, you want to know about taxes? Give me a coin
23:16 Give me a coin. Give me a coin takes the coin. He says whose image is on that coin
23:19 I'm like Caesar great give the Caesar what Caesars flipped it and had all them quiet
23:24 Okay, we lost they were amazed at how he answered questions
23:29 The next group up was the Sadducees the Sadducees
23:31 They did not like or believe rather in the resurrection and they come to Jesus with questions about
23:37 Resurrection and gave this lavish story about a husband who died and he had brothers and each one of the brothers died
23:45 And they were wanting to know in the resurrection
23:47 Is the wife gonna be with the first brother the second brother or the third or the fourth of the sixth or the seventh?
23:53 And he hits him in the face again. He says you don't know the scriptures or the power of God
23:59 He said that's your problem. You don't know the scriptures or the power of God
24:03 He said there's not gonna be any marriage in resurrection
24:06 Marriage is an earthly institution and it's only for our time here on earth. That's what marriage is for
24:13 It won't be any marriage in heaven in heaven. You will stand by yourself
24:17 Single you will be held accountable
24:20 Single to a holy and righteous God. It's only for earth that you have marriage now depending on your marriage
24:26 You excited about that? Are you sad?
24:29 About that some people like what I'm free in heaven
24:32 I'm sorry. I should have said that that was too honest
24:36 It's interesting
24:40 Jesus shuts both of them down and the third person to come question. Jesus is an expert in the law
24:48 He's an expert in the law and he comes with a question to Jesus this expert in the law
24:56 Don't think like a lawyer in the courtroom. Think like the Old Testament law
25:01 He was an expert in the law and all of the Old Testament and not just knowing the law
25:06 But he was an expert and how that law was to be applied in day-to-day
25:11 Life and he comes to Jesus and the text says he's coming to trap Jesus just like the two parties before
25:18 But this dude is different. I think he's coming to trap Jesus on the surface
25:24 But if you go a little deeper, I think he feels trapped. I
25:28 Think this expert in the law feels trapped by the law because he's been trying to execute the law
25:37 without love
25:39 He's been trying to follow all of the rules without relationship and how many know it is
25:45 Exhausting when you are trying to follow rules without relationship
25:49 It is exhausting to be on the treadmill of performance when you don't understand why you're doing what you're doing
25:56 This is why some people don't want anything to do with church
25:59 It's because you think church is a bunch of rules or you think following Jesus is a bunch of rules
26:04 and if you think it's just rules and I gotta come to church and I gotta lift up my hands and I gotta read my
26:08 Bible and I can't go here and if you think it's a bunch of I can not and you don't understand that all the I
26:13 Cannot ought to be fueled by this love for God. It is frustrating and exhausting
26:20 Because you will always feel like you are on the hamster wheel of trying to perform to get God's love
26:26 I think he was asking the question because he wanted to know the answer because he was tired of being on the treadmill of trying
26:34 It's like I'm trying to fulfill all these commandments, but hey tell me
26:39 What's the greatest one now immediately when he said he wanted to know the greatest one?
26:44 I'm thinking okay. He wants to know what is the greatest one out of the ten, but that's not what homeboy is talking about
26:49 He is an expert in the law. The law there is the entire Old Testament law and how many know they said the ten?
26:55 Those were the ones that were given to Moses. Those were special but the Jews had added
26:59 613 laws
27:04 That's a whole lot of laws
27:06 613 laws that had to be kept and they broke up these laws between
27:10 365 negative laws things you're ain't supposed to do and
27:15 248 positive laws things you are supposed to do fam. Can you imagine?
27:19 Waking up every day going is 365 things that I can't do
27:25 248 things that I can't do can you you think you got anxiety now?
27:30 Imagine waking up every day trying to fulfill
27:35 613 laws and finally he asked the question teacher
27:43 What's the greatest one out of the 613 and look at the answer of Jesus?
27:49 Jesus says you want me to give you the greatest of the 613 you want me to reduce it?
27:54 Okay
27:54 Here it is love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul
28:00 With all your mind if you really want to know what you're supposed to do do that one right there
28:04 And if you can do that one, it will take care of everything else
28:08 Love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind
28:14 Oh, I had another one, but the other one is just like the first one. Love your neighbor as yourself
28:19 That is the totality of what I've called you to do
28:22 Can I just pause and thank God for Jesus who is the fulfillment of the law who is truth and grace?
28:29 That when the law wants to keep me burdened and 613 things that I'm trying to keep up with
28:35 Thank God for Jesus that takes 613 to 2 and says all you got to do is love me with all of your heart
28:42 With all of your soul with all of your mind and love your neighbor as yourself
28:48 I want to thank God that his burden is life and his yoke is easy
28:53 And if you're in here today and the enemy keeps stressing you out about all the things that you have done
28:58 I haven't done I dare you to just fix your attention on loving God with all of your heart with all of your soul
29:05 And all of your mind and watch everything else take care of itself
29:10 See people actually don't like that gospel at all because we want to be able to do stuff
29:16 This is what this is at the heart of religion because when you do stuff you can feel like God owes you
29:21 You like I did it. Hey, I am mr. Sunday yet this year unshakable
29:26 God I've been reading the scripture and I posted a picture on the gram with my coffee cup and I highlighted scripture
29:35 So I did my part now. Guess what this race is coming up. I
29:40 Better get this race
29:43 God you saw me. I'm worshipping you saw me
29:45 It was I used to be right here I took it up this year I'm up here with it now
29:51 I'm doing my part
29:54 How come you do your part?
29:56 That is the essence of religion is performance for acceptance
30:01 It's doing the rules
30:03 It's doing the law without the love and this expert in the law
30:09 Who is exhausted from the law?
30:12 Gets hit in the face with the single greatest commandment
30:17 Which is love God with all your heart soul mind and strength. What is the essence of our faith?
30:24 What is the art of living? Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is loving. Well
30:32 If you are not growing in your love you are not living life at all
30:37 The life here on earth is all about loving God and
30:43 Loving your neighbor as yourself
30:47 This is our primary objective
30:49 This should be our chief focus is simply loving God
30:54 With all of our heart our soul our mind and our strength and watch this from that
31:00 I will begin to love myself and as I love myself then I can love my neighbor
31:05 But there is a reason he gave the lawyer this answer in this order the order matters
31:11 See the reason why we have trouble in relationships trying to love other people because we don't love ourselves
31:16 It's because we don't do the first thing which is to love God
31:19 See you can't skip this step. You can't go straight into I'm a love my neighbor. Okay. Good luck. Try that out
31:27 You can't jump to loving your neighbor. You can't even jump to loving me, you know, the old school
31:32 I believe the children on a future teach them. Well, how many songs do I sing in every sermon?
31:38 Somebody should take a note of this. This is my gift. They won't put me on worship team. So I just got to do it
31:43 Teach them. Well, let them lead the way what I found the greatest
31:48 Good luck trying to do that without loving God first
31:55 This is an order it starts with him
31:58 So he says you want to know what you're supposed to do
32:01 Love the Lord your God with all your heart your soul your mind and your strength. It's interesting. St. Augustine says something
32:08 I love he says
32:09 love
32:11 God and
32:12 Do whatever you want
32:14 It almost seems like you're in the license to go. Hey, I can live. However, I want to live. No, no, no
32:19 No, he's saying that if you love God with all of you in
32:24 Essence loving him will transform you to the point that you can do
32:28 Whatever you want, but it starts with this
32:32 Love, can we break this down? Are you bored yet?
32:35 Look at what he says love
32:38 the Lord
32:40 love
32:42 The Lord not love the Savior, although he is Savior
32:46 love
32:48 the Lord
32:50 So if I'm gonna love him, I must establish that he is Lord
32:53 Love the Lord understand that Jesus is not quoting this randomly
32:59 This comes from Deuteronomy chapter 6 in the Old Testament when he told the children of Israel. I am the Lord your God
33:05 I brought you out of Egypt worship and serve me and me alone
33:11 And that was their biggest struggle because they were always trying to worship another idol on top of worshiping God
33:16 So he said let me just establish something right now. I am the Lord your God
33:21 I refuse to share the throne of your heart with anybody else
33:25 You've heard me say it before if he is not Lord of all he is not Lord at all
33:29 He is Lord. So the first step in loving him is acknowledging his sovereignty
33:35 acknowledging his supremacy
33:37 Acknowledging the fact that he is God and beside him and there is no other nobody voted him in nobody can vote him out
33:44 He is God all by himself
33:46 It starts with knowing that he is the Lord of all that he spoke the world into existence
33:52 And the reason some people don't worship him is because you don't know that he is Lord that he rules that he reigns
33:59 That he is supreme it starts with his sovereignty
34:02 You are God. I am NOT love
34:06 The Lord and then here it is your God
34:10 Your God not your grandmama's God
34:14 Not your mama's God
34:16 Your God, do you see the beauty of his sovereignty and then how personal he is?
34:22 He says love the Lord your God that yes, I am sovereign. Yes, I rule and yes, I reign but I'm also
34:29 Personal I love it. Did y'all hear the song that we sang earlier written by our very own?
34:36 Social worship with pastor Keenan in that a beautiful song
34:43 The hands that hold creation are the hands that held the cross
34:49 Do you hear in that language the beauty of his sovereignty?
34:53 The hands that hold creation are the same hands that held the cross
34:59 That's what makes it personal that the God of creation
35:03 Still loved me enough to come from heaven to earth to pay the price for my sin
35:10 He is personal love the Lord
35:12 your God
35:14 with all of your heart
35:17 Your heart is the seed of all your emotions and all your thoughts and all your decisions
35:23 That's what the Bible says in Proverbs guard your heart
35:26 For out of it flows the issues of life with all your heart. What was the next one with all your
35:31 soul, ooh
35:34 That is the immaterial you that I cannot see this underneath your skin
35:38 your soul the essence of who you are and then with all your
35:43 mind
35:46 mind
35:47 Now that confused me when he said mind
35:49 Because Jesus again is quoting Deuteronomy chapter 6 and we get to the crib and you back that thing up
35:55 biblically to the Old Testament
35:58 And you read Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse number 5
36:01 It does not say love the Lord your God with all of your heart with all of your soul and with all of your mind
36:07 It says love the Lord your God with all of your heart with all of your soul and with all of your strength
36:13 So now Jesus is changing it in the New Testament from strength
36:19 to mind
36:21 Jesus I'm confused why you changing it from the Old Testament to New Testament to which he probably say because I have the Lord your
36:27 God I'm sorry for it. I could do what I want
36:29 But one of these also teaching us a deeper principle I wonder if the reason he changes it from mine
36:37 Excuse me from strength to mine is to let us know that the true strength of humanity is not necessarily in your body
36:45 It's in your mind
36:50 It's in your mind and if God really wants to bring change in your life
36:54 It's not necessarily the change that needs to happen in your body or your behavior. There has to be a change in your mind in your
37:01 Thinking. Oh, that's what we're gonna attack over this series
37:04 Some of you are thinking about relationships wrong and it's producing behavior in your body
37:09 And you're trying to fix the behavior in your body. You got to change it in your mind
37:15 until you see your value in your
37:17 mind the behavior in your body that makes you give yourself to anybody and sleep with anybody won't change until you
37:24 Understand what happens in your mind?
37:27 You won't stop looking at pornography and doing things with your body until there's a change in your mind
37:33 To know that the people that you're watching on those screen
37:35 Those are real humans that were made in the image of God and it is objectification to try to get pleasure
37:42 Watching people do things when they were made in the image of God. There has to be a change in your mind
37:50 If we could change your thinking then we would see a change in your behavior in your body
37:55 And God says I want you to love me with all of your heart with all of your soul and with all of your
38:02 Mind. Oh, I didn't plan to do this
38:05 But can I interrupt this regularly scheduled sermon so that you can engage in an exercise?
38:08 would you put your hands on your forehead and
38:11 Just say Lord. I
38:14 Give you permission
38:16 To change my mind
38:19 Help me see
38:21 Relationships the way you see them. Oh
38:24 You just prayed a dangerous prayer
38:30 God says
38:35 Your first priority is to love me as the worship team joins me. I used to think
38:41 That the most important words in that greatest commandment
38:45 were heart
38:48 soul and mind
38:50 But those aren't the words that are repeated
38:52 The words that are repeated is with all
38:56 Don't just love the Lord your God with your heart soul and mind
39:00 Notice what he keeps putting on loop
39:03 Love the Lord your God with all
39:06 your heart with all your mind
39:10 with
39:12 all your soul
39:16 Why does he keep saying all
39:18 Because he knows the human tendency to only give pieces as ourselves
39:24 We give pieces of ourselves to other people and we give pieces of ourselves to God
39:32 God says I don't want pieces of you. I
39:35 Want all of you?
39:38 Love me with your complete being
39:44 Don't give me your heart and then let your mind wander into places that it shouldn't wander
39:49 Don't give me your soul
39:53 But they're not give me your heart where you make decisions
39:56 It's amazing how so many people make big decisions and don't even consider
40:01 Have I asked God have I sought his will on this? Are you just doing it because you feel it?
40:06 God says I want all of you
40:11 And if you give me all of you
40:14 Out of that you will
40:16 love your neighbor and
40:18 That love for somebody else will come out of the overflow of the love that you have for you
40:25 There is a reason
40:28 Jesus gives this order
40:30 Because you cannot love people without loving God
40:35 And you can't love God
40:38 without loving people
40:40 They are connected
40:43 Now I'm not saying you can't be connected to people committed to people have affection for people
40:48 Be enamored by people but this type of love this is a different type of love
40:56 We just use
41:00 Love for everything. I love my wife. I love the Chiefs. I love Ersher. I love Taylor Swift. I love ice cream
41:07 I love my kids. It's a horrible
41:09 Way to use the word love
41:12 this word love is
41:14 a copy
41:16 It is the love that is so selfless
41:19 That it is willing to sacrifice whatever needs to be sacrificed
41:25 for the betterment of the other person
41:28 That is what this love is and that love only comes
41:33 from basking in and
41:35 Receiving that love that your father gave to you
41:40 This is why we must keep our eyes on the cross and the price that was paid for us
41:47 Because how many you know when you keep your eyes on the cross on that self?
41:51 Sacrificing love it is what tempers you it is what balances you I want to ask you again
41:57 Do you love you some of you can answer that question?
42:01 But it's that second Timothy chapter 3 where the Bible says men will become lovers of themselves
42:07 In the last days so some of you you love you so much that all you think about is you and nobody else and it
42:14 Is an ego type of love it is a self and grand eyes type of love
42:18 It is a love that is not selfless
42:21 It is self ish and you think you are all that and that's why you have to fix your eyes on the cross
42:26 Because when I fix my eyes on the cross
42:29 I can never say I'm all that because it was my sin that put him on that cross
42:33 It was my righteousness that was as filthy rags that put him on that cross
42:38 It was me that was supposed to be on there
42:40 So I can't ever get impressed with myself
42:42 Because I understand that it was my sin that put him there and then some of you are on the other opposite end where you hate
42:50 Yourself and you speak to yourself in a way that you wouldn't speak to anybody else and you're rehearsing
42:57 Negative things and saying how ugly you are and how messed up you are and you talk to yourself like you wouldn't talk to
43:03 Anybody else and can I remind you in those moments when you are speaking to yourself and devaluing yourself?
43:10 Can you look at the cross and remind yourself that I must be worth something?
43:16 Because Jesus left heaven and paid the price for my sin. I have to be valuable
43:22 He wouldn't have died for me if I wasn't valuable
43:25 How many of you know you don't know the price of something by what it cost the price of something is by what somebody is
43:31 Willing to pay for it and Jesus was willing to pay for my life with his blood on the cross
43:37 I am valuable. I am redeemed. I am a child of God
43:43 Yes, I made some mistakes, but thank God for Jesus for wiping my sin away
43:49 Somebody ought to thank him
43:53 For who you are in him
43:55 Some of you
44:01 The greatest homework assignment you could do after this message is to track how you talk to yourself
44:09 Are you declaring what your heavenly father says over you?
44:15 Are you repeating things that the enemy wants you to say
44:21 Because as you continue to devalue you that's when you get to the place where I am not worth it
44:26 My life is not worth it. And then you have no capacity to love anybody else
44:31 But some of you gonna have to get real practical if you got to get up every single morning and make a declaration
44:38 Over yourself and say I am a child of God
44:42 Chosen by him loved by him. I am his beloved. I am fully accepted
44:49 He speaks over me
44:51 Words of love
44:55 The cross is
44:58 What keeps us in?
45:00 Balance and if you ever want to know how much he loves you look at that cross with his arms stretched out wide
45:06 He says that's how much
45:08 That's how much do you love you? I
45:11 Do because I am receiving the love from God
45:17 And as I receive that love from him, then it can fill me up and go over to my neighbor
45:23 This is the first step in any relationship
45:26 Is to love God
45:29 With all of you
45:31 How do you do it?
45:33 By receiving the love that he gave for you
45:36 You don't have to perform
45:41 You don't have to be like this lawyer trying to keep up with 613 when he's reduced it down to two
45:47 It's not a love you have to perform for it's a love that must be received
45:53 Would you stand to your feet today all over this place?
45:56 We're gonna ask every head be bowed and eyes be closed
46:01 Father
46:08 Thank you for your love
46:11 Lord
46:13 I pray today
46:16 That you would give us a revelation of how much we are loved by you
46:21 Though it is so easy
46:25 To look in the mirror and see what we don't like it's so easy to repeat
46:35 Negative
46:39 Words saying I'm
46:41 I'm worthless. I'm this I'm that I can't because of who wasn't there. I
46:45 I'll never become this or that father
46:49 Open up our eyes
46:53 To see how much we are loved by you
46:56 And then out of that love
47:00 Let it overflow to our neighbor
47:06 My father we take the first step, excuse me, not the first step because this is love
47:13 Or that while we were sinners you died for us
47:18 God we just respond to your love
47:21 And as we respond
47:25 We receive within us the capacity to love our neighbor
47:29 God I pray over this series
47:33 There would be healing and restoration and relationships
47:36 God I pray that you would uproot
47:40 Trees of bitterness that have poisoned our hearts
47:45 Lord I pray that hearts of stone that have become so jaded
47:50 God would become soft again, and we would open up our hearts
47:55 to love again
47:58 What I pray over this series that you would break generational curses
48:04 That just because we did not receive the love of a father or a mother we do not have to perpetuate it God to our
48:10 Children God we will be the difference maker
48:14 But Lord we know the source
48:17 It is you
48:20 So no more pieces
48:23 All of our heart
48:26 All of our soul
48:29 All of our mind
48:31 Lord we give it to you
48:33 Heads are bowed eyes are closed all over this place today. I
48:37 Want to pray for some people who would be so honest to say you know what I've not surrendered my life to Jesus
48:46 What blows my mind about this love is that he did it giving you the option to respond
48:58 And if it was just you he would have died on that cross
49:01 And maybe you have this mindset that it's
49:06 laws and rules
49:10 When it's really love
49:13 It's out of the love that I want to do the rules
49:23 It's out of the love and I got married to my wife on August 24th 2012 I
49:30 Wasn't at the altar thinking. Oh, what are the things that I have to do and I can't do
49:35 That wasn't flooding my mind
49:39 What's flooding my mind was how much I loved her
49:44 And that love produces a behavior
49:49 But it starts with love and you have to receive it
49:54 In spite of the enemy telling you how unworthy you are of it
49:58 You were that valuable that he paid the price for you heads are bowed eyes are closed
50:05 But if you'd be so honest to say pastor Robert
50:07 I've never responded to this love or given him my life if that's you
50:12 I'm just gonna ask you to lift up your hand high enough and long enough to where I could see it if that she's saying
50:16 I didn't give Jesus my life today. Come on. You know what he's speaking to you. I see those hands anybody else come on
50:23 I'm looking at somebody that's watching the service online
50:25 Somebody that's watching on pando right there as you're incarcerated
50:29 How many know God's love it knows no limits. He'll meet you in that prison cell right now
50:35 That's why you're watching this moment
50:37 And you can't cut off the screen because God is trying to let you know that his love has been
50:42 Pursuing you his love has been chasing you
50:47 Anybody else just lift it up and put it right back down
50:50 Thank you. God. I want to lead you in this prayer, but I want you to say it from your heart. Would you say this?
50:56 Say Jesus
51:00 Thank you
51:02 For your love
51:05 Father thank you
51:07 For loving me enough
51:10 To pay the price
51:12 for my sin
51:15 Lord I know
51:17 That you lived the life
51:19 That I was supposed to live
51:22 You died the death
51:25 That I was supposed to die
51:27 You took my place
51:30 So my response
51:33 Is to give you all
51:36 all of me
51:38 No more pieces
51:41 all of my heart
51:43 all of my mind
51:45 All of my soul
51:48 It is yours
51:51 And Lord today
51:53 as I receive your love I
51:55 Thank you that I will show that love
52:02 to my neighbor I
52:05 Have been forgiven
52:07 So I can forgive I
52:10 am loved
52:13 So I can love
52:15 I've been given grace
52:17 So I can show grace
52:20 In Jesus name amen amen amen amen
52:27 Come on if you met what you prayed would you give Jesus some praise today?
52:32 (audience cheering)