August 18, 2025 • 51 mins
Have you ever felt limited by your vision of God? Perhaps you've pictured God as distant, judgmental, or similar to disappointing authority figures from your past. In this powerful exploration of John 14, we discover how the Holy Spirit invites us to transform our understanding of who God truly is.
Jesus teaches us that loving Him is inseparable from loving others. "If you love me, obey my commandments," He says—and those commandments are fundamentally about love. What makes us true followers of Christ isn't how well we love those easy to love, but how we extend compassion to those we might deem unlovable. This challenging instruction asks us to examine where we've drawn boundaries around our love.
The promise of the Holy Spirit as our advocate, teacher, and reminder offers profound comfort. We are never alone and never without guidance. In our complex relationships, difficult decisions, and painful circumstances, the Spirit provides wisdom and creative solutions if we pause to listen. This divine presence brings a peace "the world cannot give"—an inner stability even amid external chaos.
Perhaps most powerfully, we're reminded of our oneness with God and each other. When we serve "the least of these," we are serving Christ himself. This truth reveals the profound unity that exists between God, humanity, and all creation. We're invited to stop hiding from this reality and embrace our connection to divine love and to one another.
Ready to experience a renewed vision of God's presence in your life? Join us in this journey of transformation, where the Holy Spirit empowers us to live as people of radical love—both for ourselves and for the world around us.
This podcast is made possible, thanks to the generosity of our donors. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church you can donate at https://www.firstlovechurch.org/giving
In the service of LOVE,
Pastors Dennis and Heather Drake
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the First Love Church podcast.
This is a collection of Sundayteachings inspired by the
Revised Common Lectionary andrecorded weekly in Ocala Florida
.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good morning everybody.
Welcome to First Love Church.
If this is your first time here, thank you for being here.
If this is your manyth timehere, thank you for continuing
to be here.
So everybody say Yahoo.
If you are here online, thankyou for being here online.
Thank you for participatingdigitally.
(00:33):
It's very grateful If you wantto continue to do that.
You can like share differentthings like that digitally.
I'm crying for two reasons.
The first is because I reallycan recognize and see the beauty
in that message that'scommunicated.
That if we really paused forjust a moment and recognized the
beauty in creation that Goddoes for each one of us and then
(00:54):
also recognize that God wantedone of you who's present here
today, it's really neat.
Amen, can't really follow upwith that one too much, but when
mom was reading and startingthe beginning to the worship
today, she reminded me there isa renewal process, right, okay?
(01:16):
One of my friends from Oklahomatold me a story that broke his
heart and broke my heart toothis week and I've been really
thinking about that renewalprocess.
It's present.
Give me one second.
We got you, man.
Thank you, aw.
(01:40):
One of my friends from Oklahomatold me a story about someone
who experienced a renewalprocess of their vision of God
when they were a girl.
They expressed that they onlyhad three times.
They could ask their dad forhelp and that was it.
It could be any day during theweek, any time, but after three,
whatever he determined was help, then he would pause.
(02:03):
So her vision of God God theFather, was three times and that
was it.
So it's hard for me to reallyrecognize that.
Sorry, hold on.
I really view God differentlyand after a conversation with my
friend from Oklahoma, aconversation of really renewing
(02:26):
what God is, she gets to ask Godfor more than three agreed.
So that story really resonatedwith me because if we allow God
to change in our eyes and maybechange the way that we've
experienced him, we can thenhave an opportunity to really
allow renewal and healing totake place.
(02:47):
Amen, okay, I'm done.
We're going to go ahead and goto reading.
So that I'll cry hopefully lesstoo.
So One day, as he saw thecrowds gathering, jesus went up
to the mountainside and sat down.
His disciples gathered aroundhim and he began to teach them.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
God bless those who are poor and realize they are in
need of him, for they need himand want him to be theirs.
God bless those who mourn, forthey will be comforted.
God bless those who are notwhole, for they will be prepared
for the whole earth.
God bless those who hunger intheir search for justice, for
(03:40):
they will be satisfied.
God bless those who aremerciful, for they will be shown
mercy.
God bless us those whose heartsare pure, for they will be seen
by God.
God bless us those who areworthy of these, for they will
be called the children of God.
God bless us those who arepersecuted, for they will be
(04:09):
pardoned.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Amen, amen.
All God's friends and familysaid Amen.
So, as we step into thepresence of God, who is very
present, I would like to Open aninvitation that Allow God to be
transformed.
Maybe your vision of God hasbeen a father figure that has
transformed.
Maybe your vision of God hasbeen a father figure that has
been disappointing.
Maybe your vision of God hasbeen maybe a little skewed from
(04:32):
life, but I would invite you tomaybe look at it differently.
Amen.
So would you guys like towelcome my mom?
Speaker 1 (04:49):
So you know what happened.
I saw Thomas crying and Istarted crying.
I didn't know why, but we werejust crying.
That's what happens when yourfamily, when you love each other
, and I just want to saysomething this morning in case
you missed it.
That is how a man behaves.
That is how a man behaves whensomeone's heart is broken.
Their their heart breaks too.
Don't let for anyone to tellyou that men are cruel and hard.
Men are in the image of God,who loves us, and Jesus, who
(05:13):
wept with us when we weep.
And so do you have to cry overeverything?
No, but let your heart bebroken open and let the
tenderness of God be seen in you.
When someone shares a storywith you, or when you see
something that's wrong, allowyour heart to break.
Tears are sometimes the bestprayers that we can pray.
(05:33):
Sometimes, that's all we haveare our tears, and so there's
something so holy in the tears,in fact so much that the
scripture tells us that, everytime we cry, the nearness of God
is so close to us that Jesuscollects our tears, that they're
so precious that he is rightthere collecting our tears.
(05:54):
I think one of the things thatI'm reminded of when the
scripture tells us that ourtears are collected is.
You have to pay a lot ofattention Because, particularly
if you live a long life, youwill have many opportunities to
shed tears and there will betears that you shed that you
think no one notices.
But I am here to remind you ofwhat Thomas said Allow the
(06:16):
spirit to change your idea aboutGod and know that you have a
loving parent who sees everytear and who honors them as
precious.
I'm grateful to be in the houseof the Lord with you this
morning.
I'm grateful for everybody thatis here.
The light in us greets thelight that is in you and the
goodness and the resurrectionpower that is available to all
(06:40):
of us this morning.
I'm so grateful For everybodythat's online.
I'm grateful for your presencetoo, and it is not without
consequence that we recognizeyour participation in this, but
it is joy when we get to betogether.
Chris is home this morning and Iwas so excited to see him.
I didn't know that he wascoming.
What a beautiful testimony.
If you don't know Chris,introduce yourself to him and
(07:01):
you can ask him that God isstill in the miracle working
business.
You can ask his parents if Godis still in the miracle working
business.
It's so beautiful.
Todd is with us this morning,and this marks the anniversary
of 34 years sober.
God is in the miracle workingbusiness.
I remind us that God doesmiracles, but then Todd makes a
(07:22):
choice every single day to dealwith the things that he
struggles with in a way that isnot harmful to himself or others
.
But it is a day to celebratethe good works of Christ among
us, that every single personhere has some kind of light, has
some kind of giving toward theworld and toward each other.
And in the presence of God thismorning, I remind you that the
(07:45):
spirit of love is within you.
It is with absolute joy that weget to come to this part of the
service where we get toreimagine.
Allow the spirit in us toreimagine who we are and who God
is.
I would like to bless us thismorning with prayer as we begin.
Our lives are so small, o Lord,our vision so limited, our
(08:11):
courage so frail and the hoursso fleeting.
Give us the grace and theguidance for the journey we have
ahead.
We are gathered here thismorning because we believe that
we are called together into awork that we cannot even know
the fullness of, and still wetrust the voice of the one who
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has called us.
And so we offer to you, oh God,all of these things our dreams,
our plans, our vision.
Shape them by your spirit, asyou will Our moments, our gifts,
our resources.
May they be invested towardbright and eternal ends.
Richly bless the work that youhave given us, father.
(08:55):
Shepherd us as well, lest wegrow enamored with our own
accomplishments or entrenched inold habits.
Instead, let us listen for yourvoice, our heart ever open to
the quiet beckoning of yourspirit's endeavor.
Let us, in true humility and inpoverty of spirit, remain ever
(09:16):
ready to move at the impulse ofyour love.
You alone, o God, by yourgracious and life-giving spirit,
have the power to knit ourimperfect hearts, our weaknesses
and our strength, our storiesand our gifts for the benefit of
other.
Unite your people and multiplyour offerings, o Lord, that we
(09:40):
might resound in your glory.
May our acts of service andcreation, frail and wanting as
they are, be met and multipliedby the mysterious workings of
your Holy Spirit, who weavestogether all things toward
redemption, toward good andtoward glorious more glorious
(10:02):
things than we have even yet tosee and the courage to hope that
our love and our labors wouldecho your love and your labors.
Let all that we do here thismorning, let all that we do in
our brief lives, let all that wedo in this moment be love In
(10:23):
the work that you have ordainedfor this community to flower in
winsome and in beautifulforetaste of the greater glories
that are yet to come.
Spirit of God, shape our hearts.
Spirit of God, guide our hands.
Spirit of God, build your mostbeautiful kingdom among us.
(10:46):
Amen.
It is the 10th Sunday ofPentecost, and why does that
matter?
Because we are all stillpracticing what it means to live
in the spirit, to live fullyconnected to ourselves, to live
fully connected to the universe,to the creation around us and
(11:07):
to our brothers and sisters.
And this is a season for us,and so I remind you this morning
that the Spirit of God lives inyou.
You are connected already toGod by God's own Spirit.
In Romans, chapter 5, it saysthe love of God has been shed in
your heart abroad throughChrist Jesus.
God's Spirit in you.
It's already in you, and so itis with joy this morning.
(11:30):
Jesus says in John, chapter 14,if you love me, obey my
commandments.
It's a lot harder than itactually seems.
Why is it hard?
Are the commandments hard?
Yes and no, it can be both.
No, because they're this.
There's only two of them Lovethe Lord, your God, with all
(11:51):
your heart, with all your soul,with all your mind, with all
your strength, and thank you.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Two things, but those might bethe two hardest things that
we're ever asked to do Loveourselves and love our neighbor.
(12:11):
Now, we have many reasons why wedon't want to love our neighbor
and we have many reasonsagainst ourselves, why we feel
we are not worthy of love.
And Jesus comes and says listen, if you love me, if you love
Jesus.
And I just want to tell you,jesus is wonderful.
I hope we can all agree on that.
I hope that no one has evertold you that Jesus is not
worthy of your love, the mostbeautiful person who has ever
lived in this earth, so full ofcompassion and mercy.
(12:33):
And we can all get this.
And I think it's beautiful howwe can all agree to love Jesus.
But what makes us followers ishow we love Judas.
Yes, what makes us people whofollow the way of Christ is how
we love those that we deem or wejudge are unlovable.
And there is an invitation bythe Holy Spirit this morning to
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expand our imagination, for us,as the people of God, to be
re-enchanted by the hope ofChrist, by this new way of
living.
And Jesus is saying this to thepeople who God to be
re-enchanted by the hope ofChrist, by this new way of
living.
And Jesus is saying this to thepeople who have gathered around
if you love me, then loveeverybody else and love yourself
(13:17):
.
This is what the words say tous this morning.
And then Jesus says and I willask the Father and he will give
you another advocate who willnever leave you.
Now, this is such a beautifulportion of the scripture and
it's an affirmation to us ofGod's own spirit.
Jesus said I'm going to ask theFather, I just want to ask you
(13:39):
this morning to contemplate.
Do you believe that God hearsand answers the prayers of Jesus
?
Right, and so Jesus is askingthat.
The Spirit, that means we'redefinitely getting it, because
you know, has that ever happenedin a family?
Before you go ask?
No, you go ask, you go ask.
You see who has the most favor,to like kind of curry in this
(13:59):
situation.
And Jesus is asking for us.
He has already asked.
It's already happened and hewill give you another advocate.
Please be aware here that Jesushimself considers his humanity
and advocation to God to betweenus that we would learn how to
love the divinity that is in usand also love the humanity for
(14:21):
us, to embrace every part of usand say this is what it looks
like to be a human.
I appreciate very much Thomas'vulnerability this morning, but
this is what it looks like to bea human that our hearts break
when someone else is in pain.
It is not human to be cruel.
It is not human to separateourselves from others.
(14:43):
This is the plan of God for allof us to understand, and Jesus
actually prayed this one too.
John, chapter 17 you can lookit up.
Father, I want you to make themone.
Make them one like you and Iare one.
So this oneness, this is aprayer that Jesus is praying for
us.
This is the goal.
He will give you anotheradvocate who will never leave
you.
Jesus is preemptively sayingthis because his friends are
(15:06):
really worried that the advocatethat they have is leaving.
Well, jesus, if you're not here, then how will we know what to
do?
How will we know how to get tothe Father.
How will all the good thingsyou promised be here?
And Jesus said it's okay, I'mgonna send you another one, I'm
gonna send you the Spirit.
He will never leave you.
The Spirit.
(15:29):
He will never leave you.
Talk for a moment and think fora moment about what it is like
for us, as humans, to fear beingalone.
It is ultimately something thatwe all have experienced, or
have believed.
We've experienced, and this isthe invitation you will never be
left alone.
This is the name of God inGod's own self Emmanuel, god
with us, Love with us.
(15:51):
We are never alone because Godis with us.
He is the Holy Spirit who leadsinto all truth and in the past
few weeks, together as acongregation, we have been
practicing I hope you have.
If you haven't, there's plentyof time, but practicing a prayer
that goes like this it's notvery long.
Holy Spirit, I am willing tosee things differently.
(16:13):
Now.
The time that you would praythis is when you're frustrated
at someone, when someone hasdisappointed you, when someone
has not done what you clearlytold them to do or treated you
the way that you clearly decidedor determined that you should
be treated.
This is the time to pray thisprayer, holy Spirit, I am
willing to change my mind aboutthis.
(16:35):
First of all, the invitation isnecessary because love does
nothing without consent.
Love is all powerful, but lovedoes not force us.
Love does not put dominion overus.
Love invites us.
The Holy Spirit who leads intoall truth.
The world cannot receive himbecause it isn't looking for him
and doesn't recognize him.
(16:55):
But you know him because helives with you now and later
will be in you.
The Spirit of God lives in you.
Beloved, you have the presenceof almighty love with you.
You have with you the Spiritwho, according to Jesus, will
teach you all things.
(17:16):
So I will not abandon you asorphans.
I will come to you.
When I listen to these words, Ihear inner monologue.
I will not abandon you asorphans Because here we are, a
group of adult people who, inthis time, are listening to
Jesus and have followed him, andJesus is talking to them about
(17:37):
their own fears.
We do not want to be left out offamily.
We do not want to have to earnbelonging, be left out of family
.
We do not want to have to earnbelonging.
We do not have to want to feelthat we are going to be left out
, and Jesus is already affirmingto us that that will not happen
, that we are part of the familythat Jesus is making that we
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are part of the family.
What it looks like to be human,and Jesus is saying the spirit
it has given to us will allowJesus to come to us.
So the world will no longer seeme, but you will see me.
Since I live, you also willlive, and when I am raised to
life again, you will know that Iam in my father and you are in
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me and I am in you.
We are a people who believe inthe resurrection.
We are in fact marked by thatresurrection.
We are a people who know thatdeath is no longer the final
separation, that there is noseparation now, because love has
crossed that barrier and loveis eternal.
And every one of us here thismorning understand the power of
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eternal love to some respect.
When someone who has been inour life, who has been dear to
us, dies, we know that love doesnot die.
That person's body may be nolonger visible, but that love is
eternal.
And this is what Jesus isreminding us that love is
eternal.
Bank everything on love beloved, throw it all in on love,
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because love is eternal.
Will people's love sometimesfail you Absolutely?
But will the love of Christfail you Absolutely?
Not.
That is eternal.
In fact, many of the authors inthe text remind us that there is
nothing that could separate usfrom the love of Christ.
In the text remind us thatthere is nothing that could
separate us from the love ofChrist Not death, not hell, not
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angels, not demons.
Nothing uncreated, nothingcreated.
Nothing will separate you fromthe love of God.
Beloved, you are loved exactlyas you are by God because you
are made in the very image ofGod.
In Ephesians, chapter 3, itsays long before the earth was
formed, god had you in mind.
It is good news.
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You are not an afterthought.
You are not just thrown inthere and God going.
I don't know what we're goingto do with her.
God has planned you.
You are in the mind of God.
Beloved, you will always be inthe mind of God.
And God, who loves us, hasplans for us.
And in Ephesians it says beforethe earth was formed, god had
(20:25):
you in mind that we would bemade whole and holy by his love.
Wholeness has always been theplan for the whole human race,
for all of creation.
We read this morning fromRevelation when it said God said
I just wanna remind you, I'mmaking all things new.
Have you ever walked into anartist's studio before?
I have.
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Sometimes it's a littlestartling.
If you didn't already have seenthe end result, you're like, oh
, this is a mess.
But then when you've seen theend result, you're like, okay,
this is process, beloved, all ofus are in process.
Do not look at the mess.
Look at the artist who says Iam making all things new.
And when you look at yourself inthe morning, I hope you'll hear
the words of scripture thatreaffirm to us you are loved and
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God is making all things new.
You are welcomed.
You will know that I am in myFather and that you are in me
and I am in you.
Those who accept mycommandments and obey them are
the ones who love me.
You're gonna hear this repeatedin this portion of scripture
and this is part of the way thatthis particular culture talks
(21:30):
is in a repetition.
But Jesus really wants to get apoint to us across here, and it
is this love looks likeobedience.
Obedience not to everything,not to every rule, to every
person, but obedience tofollowing the commands that
Jesus gave us.
Love yourself and love others.
This is what it looks like tobe a follower of Jesus.
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Jesus said don't even say thatyou love me if you're not going
to love everyone.
That's a little uncomfortablefor us because we have a lot of
ideas about who should be loved.
Jesus comes and says you're tolove everybody without trying to
determine whether they're worthit or not or worthy of it.
We are to love everyone and weare also to love everybody
without trying to determinewhether they're worth it or not
or worthy of it.
We are to love everyone and weare also to love ourselves with
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that same kind of compassion.
Beloved, the Spirit of God inyou is with you and has been
with you In every situation whenyou felt overwhelmed and
abandoned and alone.
The Spirit of God was stillthere, and I am asking the Holy
Spirit this morning that hewould open our eyes, that we
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would see the goodness in theworld around us.
Those who accept mycommandments and obey them are
the ones who love me, andbecause they love me, my Father
will love them.
Jesus is teaching us a lotabout God.
In fact, when Jesus comes toearth as a man and lives in his
full humanity, he tells us overand over again.
(22:58):
You have heard it said, but Isay to you, I'm telling you
something different, and Iappreciate very much.
What Thomas invited us to dothis morning was to allow the
Spirit to reveal to us who Godtruly is.
God is love.
God is all-loving, always,always, always.
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God is all love and you aremade in the image of that love.
You know love and can recognizeit because it's first in you,
and this is the good news.
They will love me, my Fatherwill love them, and I will love
them and reveal myself to eachof them.
And Judas not Judas Iscariot,but the other disciple with that
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name said to him Lord, why areyou going to reveal yourself
only to us and not the world atlarge?
I think sometimes our questionstell more about us than our
search for answers.
And this particular person, whowas a student, was like I
thought you were going to befamous.
Tell the whole world this sothat everyone would know how
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great we are.
We were going to make this allthe way plain for everybody,
right?
This is the new rule.
And Jesus says Like we weregoing to make this all the way
plain for everybody, right?
This is the new rule and Jesussays I'm revealing it to you so
that you will go and reveal thisto the world.
This is how we become, how weactually walk in the light that
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we are, when we become peoplewho are so marked by love.
Jesus said this is what itmeans to love me.
We have these ideas, I think,about God.
I think one of the mostdangerous things that we have
done in a spirituality is putGod in the sky.
God lives far away, way outthere, far in the universe, and
we maybe see him with the Hubbletelescope.
I want to tell you that thescripture tells us and even
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Jesus did that God is so closeto you, he's in your next breath
.
God is here with us, so closeto us, and so I do believe that
God has created the cosmos, andI am a person.
I hope that all of you will be.
I hope the stars will justtestify to you all the time of
how amazing and wonderful God is.
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I hope all of nature willtestify to you.
This has been my new plan to askfor the testimony, because I
have deemed some of nature notas wonderful as others.
I don't know if you have, but Ihave judged certain creatures
as not as worthy of testimony.
I'm like I do not want to hearyou, I don't want to even see
you.
I want to pretend like I didnot see the size of the spider.
(25:28):
We were in the workshop theother day and there was a
carcass of a spider, and justthe carcass of it made me
realize that that had been shedso they could even gotten bigger
and I literally wanted torebuke it.
I was like this is a work ofthe satan.
This is terrible.
It's not.
It is God and all of God'sgoodness.
But you see what I mean.
(25:48):
I have judged some thingsunworthy and I want to tell you
that that is a dangerous thing,because that gets very creepy
into the way that we startjudging people that way too.
And so Jesus is reminding usall things, all things showing
love, all things showing thegood creator, and this is the
hope.
All who love me will do what Isay.
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We pause here for a moment tothank you for joining us today.
If you're finding this episodemeaningful, would you take a
moment to share it with a friend?
This podcast is made possiblethanks to the generosity of
people just like you.
If you would like to supportthe ongoing work of First Love
Church and the continued work ofour podcast, visit us online at
(26:34):
firstlovechurchorg, remindingyou to like, follow and
subscribe.
This is the invitation that we,as people who follow Jesus,
would do what Jesus says.
And Jesus said to love everyoneand love yourself, be
compassionate, be merciful, andwe will come and make our home
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with each of them.
Anyone who doesn't love me willnot obey me.
And remember my words are notmy own.
I am telling you this is fromthe Father who sent me Again.
Jesus is asking us to change theway that we think about God.
It's hard to change your mindabout anything.
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I don't know if you know thatit is.
We are people who havedetermined how we like things,
what we prefer, and it is verydifficult to us to change our
mind.
In fact, it's almost impossible.
But that is why God has givenus the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the thoughtadjuster.
The Holy Spirit is the one whocan elevate our thinking.
The Holy Spirit is the one whocan give us creative ways to
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deal with things that we deem asproblems.
The Holy Spirit is the unifier.
The Holy Spirit is the one whois given to each of us and Jesus
is reminding us.
I am telling you somethingabout God that maybe you did not
know, or maybe someone told yousomething opposite.
We're going to be with you.
I was thinking about that thismorning in one of the songs that
(28:02):
we sang.
I don't know what the futureholds, I cannot predict that,
but I know who's already in thefuture Some of us.
I am, this morning, arecovering worrier.
I don't know if you are, but Ihave practiced worry, and I
would say of myself I also havearrogance.
(28:24):
So I would say of myself,though, that I at one point
could have been Olympic-levelworrier, because I could worry
not only while I was doingeverything, but also while I was
sleeping.
I could, in fact, turn over thepillow at night and be aware of
something and start worryingabout it Beloved, that is not
the life that God promised us.
(28:44):
That is not the goodness ofmercy.
Abandon that, but that's veryhard when that's what you
practiced.
It's very hard, but I want totell you the Spirit is here with
us this morning, and love is away better choice.
But the future is something wecannot control.
We don't even know, but we knowthat love is already there.
Everywhere we go, god goes.
Love already goes with us.
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We do not have to project allof our fears into the future.
We recognize love is already inthe future that we have a God
who is with us.
We do not have to project allof our fears into the future.
We recognize love is already inthe future that we have a God
who is with us, always presentwith us.
I am telling you this becausethe Father sent me.
I am telling you these thingsnow, while I am still with you,
but when the Father sends theadvocate as my representative,
(29:28):
the Holy Spirit will teach youeverything and will remind you
of everything I have told you.
That is such a comfort.
It really is beloved.
Have you ever thought toyourself the reason I'm in this
mess is because I just didn'tknow what to do.
I just didn't know that if Imade this choice, this is where
it was going to end up?
(29:48):
Beloved.
That is not the truth at all.
In fact, the Spirit has beengiven to us Now.
Did we pause to ask the Spirit?
I don't know about that, butthere's a wisdom there.
Did we pause and ask the Spiritto come to us?
There's a wisdom there, but weare never alone.
The Holy Spirit will teach useverything that we need to know.
I don't know what it's like tolive in your home and to live in
(30:12):
relationship with the peoplethat you have, but I know the
Holy Spirit is with you, and theHoly Spirit knows everything.
And the Holy Spirit that is inyou gives you wisdom, gives you
ideas and how to connect withpeople, how to build bridges,
how to forgive people, how toget past things and allow the
love of Christ to heal us andbring us into wholeness.
(30:35):
The Holy Spirit will teach youeverything and remind you of
everything I have told you.
I love this idea of reminding,because that's one of the
reasons we gather every singleweek together.
We need to be reminded of thelove of Christ.
We need to be reminded of theways of Jesus.
We need to be reminded of whatit means to think like God
(30:58):
thinks, to align our thoughtswith God's thoughts.
We sometimes, in the devotionthat we have and in the way that
we live our life, we use wordsand we we even used a word in
the song today, and it said I'mgoing to lift up Jesus.
I've been a child it was a longtime ago but I remember
thinking about things veryliterally, and I heard that song
(31:20):
when I was very little.
I thought to myself I will notbe doing that because people are
much bigger than me and I amnot very strong, so maybe that's
for an adult to lift up Jesus,but I will not be lifting up
Jesus.
We can laugh at that kind ofthought, but there is a truth
that is given to all of us Tolift up Jesus is to exalt or put
above every other thought.
(31:41):
We have the way of Christ whenwe say what I would like to do
is extract vengeance on thisperson.
To exalt or lift up Jesus is togo, yes, but I am to forgive my
enemies.
To exalt or lift up Jesus is togo, yes, but I am to forgive my
enemies.
And this is what it means tolift up, to make it higher than
or make it greater, and so theSpirit will give you these ideas
, and then the Spirit will alsoremind you of everything that
(32:02):
Jesus has told us.
I'm leaving you with a giftPeace of mind and heart Beloved.
This is an evidence of the Holygift.
Peace of mind and heart Beloved.
This is an evidence of the HolySpirit Peace.
When I read the AP news on myphone.
I don't know how you get yournews, maybe a newspaper?
(32:23):
It is my judgment that thisworld needs peace.
I look at that and I think weneed peace here, and this is a
gift.
This is an evidence of God'sown spirit.
This is an evidence, a fruit oflove in our life, and we can
(32:45):
have peace when it looks likeeverything else around us is not
full of peace.
But we are the light of theworld beloved.
We are people who can changethe way that we think by the
power of the Holy Spirit.
And when was the last time thatyou asked the Holy Spirit or
gave space in your life for theSpirit to change how you think
(33:06):
about something?
Jesus is asking us to changethe way we think about God here.
God is good and he's not goingto leave you.
In fact, jesus talks about thiswith the Holy Spirit, and we've
mentioned it a few weeks ago inour rehearsing of this that if
you are a good father and yourkid asks you for a loaf of bread
, you're not going to give him astone.
And the same is true of God.
(33:27):
When you ask for things that arefor the good of everyone, god
is going to give it to you.
Your prayers for vengeance willnot be answered.
Beloved Vengeance is mine, saysthe Lord.
That's always pretty a goodidea Because we as a people
(33:51):
you've seen it happen in smallnurseries right, one kid does
something and then the kid thatit happened to comes back at
like 10 times worse.
You're like that's just adisproportionate.
And so, as human people, weoften meet out judgments in
cruelty and in anger, and God,who is all loving, said leave
that to me, please.
God who sees everything, godwho is a rewarder, god who
(34:16):
watches nothing and does notcome to our aid.
There is everything that isgiven to us in this beautiful
trust of saying my lovingheavenly parent saw what
happened, the good and the bad.
Jesus says you don't tend toeven give a cup of cool water to
(34:39):
a child without me seeing it.
I am leaving you with a giftpeace of mind and heart, and the
peace I give is a gift theworld cannot give.
So do not be troubled or afraid.
Be courageous, dear heart, weare loved, we are held in love,
and love is making all thingsnew.
(35:03):
Remember what I told you I'mgoing away, but I'll come back
again to you.
Listen to this again.
If you loved me, you would bevery happy that I'm going to the
father, who is greater than I.
I have told you these thingsbefore they happen so that when
they happen, you will believe Idon't have much more time to
talk to you because the rule ofthe world approaches, but he has
(35:24):
no power over me.
But I will do what the fatherrequires of me so the world will
know that I love the father.
Come on, let's the world willknow that I love the Father.
Come on, let's be going.
I love that part.
That's one of my favorite partsof the verse.
Let's be going.
We're going to talk aboutcourage.
We're going to talk about love.
We're going to talk aboutchanging our thoughts.
But now, on with our lives, onwith the actual living that we
(35:44):
have to do, on with loving ourneighbor.
On with taking care of eachother.
Matthew, chapter 25,.
Jesus is again asking us tochange our mind about God, about
ourselves and neighbor.
And Jesus is telling them astory.
And Jesus says this for I washungry and you fed me.
(36:07):
Over and over in scripture wesee, love does not allow anyone
to go hungry.
Even the miracles of Jesus showthis.
When there is lack, there is away to feed and Jesus asks us to
(36:29):
be a part of this.
I was hungry and you fed me.
I was hungry and you fed me.
I was thirsty and you gave me adrink.
I was a stranger and youinvited me into your home.
I was naked and you gave meclothing.
I was sick and you cared for me.
I was in prison and you visitedme.
I look at all these things asyou do, and this is what love
(36:53):
looks like.
Love looks like effort.
Love looks like whatever is inyour hand, doing it to aid
someone, to bring comfort.
What does that person need andhow will you be the light to
them?
Jesus says I was that person.
And the righteous ones replied.
Ones replied Lord, when did weever see you hungry or feed you,
(37:18):
or thirsty and give yousomething to drink, or a
stranger and show youhospitality, or naked and give
you clothing?
When did we ever see you sickor in prison and visit you?
I mean, they were actuallythinking about this and going.
That never happened.
We never saw you like that.
(37:39):
And the king will say I tell youthe truth, just the verses
previous.
Jesus said the Holy Spirit willcome and will be the spirit of
truth to you.
You will know there will be awitness inside of you.
This is true.
Love is eternal.
This is true.
Hatred cannot be a part, anypart, of God.
(38:03):
There is no darkness in God andthe king will say I tell you
the truth.
When you did it to the least ofthese, my brothers and sisters,
you were doing it to me.
Jesus affirms this oneness.
Jesus affirms that when youtake care of the person next to
you, you're doing it unto Jesus.
(38:24):
When you take care of thoselittle precious children in your
house, you are doing it toJesus.
When you take care of yourelderly neighbor, when you take
care of the person next to youwhen you go out, whatever you do
is the light of the world.
That is good.
You are doing it unto Jesus.
You are doing it because youknow you have been loved first.
You are doing it because thespirit of God in you is making
(38:49):
all things new.
You are invited into thisbeautiful world that says that
there is for us a reality rightnow, in this present place,
where there is joy, where thereis peace, where there is comfort
, where the presence of Jesus is, where the presence of the Holy
(39:09):
Spirit is, there is peace, andso we have a choice to change
our mind about things.
When you find yourself upsetabout something, ask yourself
have I asked the Holy Spirit tochange my mind about this?
Often, we don't really want tobecause we've already figured
out a plan.
I'm going to tell them this onething and that's going to teach
(39:31):
them?
Really?
Probably not.
You've probably said somethinglike that before and it's taught
no one.
What if we followed the way ofthe Holy Spirit?
This is the invitation, andJesus said when you do this, the
Spirit will be with you andyou'll be walking with the
Spirit.
This understanding this, thisunderstanding this oneness that
we are called to, happens in ourdaily living, happens in the
(39:57):
choices that we make towardourselves Beloved.
We are called to becompassionate witnesses toward
ourselves, toward our neighbor,toward our world.
Jesus is calling us to live inGod.
When I think about God and I'msure you have too, and in fact
the video that we watched thismorning was from Isaiah, chapter
40.
People have been thinking aboutGod for a long time, and very
(40:22):
often what we do is think abouthow we have experienced people
or people that have said we'veloved us, and that is why Jesus
is asking us this morningconsider who told you.
There is an account, a poem, inthe very beginning of the text.
It's in the book of Genesis,and mankind finds themselves in
(40:45):
a pickle trouble.
They have really messed thingsup.
This is what they believe, andso they're hiding.
Which, again, when you reallythink about it, all the ways we
hide from each other, all theways we isolate, all the ways we
keep ourselves back.
This has been a human problemsince the very beginning.
(41:06):
And these two say to God Godfinds them.
Of course they're hiding in thegarden that God made, because
they feel like they've donesomething wrong.
So they hide and God says whereare you?
(41:29):
I wonder if the Spirit's askingyou that this morning.
Where are you?
I wonder if the Spirit's askingyou that this morning, where
are you?
Where is the true self?
Where is the one who's createdin God's image, in love's image?
Where are you hiding?
(41:50):
And they said we did what weshouldn't have done and we were
afraid.
So we thought this was a goodidea to go behind the bush.
Do you know how many ways wehide?
And it's, I mean, the spirit isinviting us to something else,
and God said this to them.
Who told you that you had donesomething wrong?
(42:10):
Who told you that you shouldhide?
Who told you?
This is the question we shouldask ourselves all the time.
Who told me I don't belong here?
Who told me?
And then, if someone told youand you feel like they're an
authority, go higher.
God says that we belong.
Go higher with our thoughts.
(42:31):
Allow Jesus to remind you thatevery single one of us are
invited.
We practice holy communion.
Every time we get together, asacred embodiment Together, we
remind ourselves of this andJesus says this to us tell the
story, tell the story, tell thestory, and we tell it with our
bodies every time that we gather, every time we come together
(42:53):
and we remember we're loved.
God has good for us, god hasgood plans for the world, and we
are invited into this new wayof thinking and this new way of
being, and that we couldremember.
Somebody asked me something thisweek and said to me how do you
(43:15):
know?
And I said you know what?
I remember it in my bones.
Have you ever rememberedsomething with your bones.
I encourage you to do it.
It's an ancient rememberingYou're like.
I know this was good.
I know this is the way.
I know that the spirit will befaithful.
Listen to your bones this week.
I know that our bones will alsotell us creaky things, like our
(43:39):
bones will tell us that we'retired and our bones will.
But our bones will also tell usthings that we have forgotten,
that we are loved, that we'remade of stardust, that we are
connected to our creator and toeach other and in the wholeness
(44:02):
of grace.
Whatever you do to the least ofthese, my brothers and sisters,
you are doing it unto me.
Jesus calls us to be people ofradical love for ourselves and
for the world, and then says theHoly Spirit is going to empower
you to be this kind of love.
(44:22):
The Holy Spirit is going toempower you not be this kind of
love.
The Holy Spirit is going toempower you not to be afraid but
to be courageous.
The Holy Spirit is going toempower you to think different
thoughts.
Chris stands as a testimonytoday.
He didn't know that I was goingto make this account and maybe
that's why he didn't show up atchurch before this.
(44:43):
But I will tell you something,because I know his testimony and
it's one of the reasons why allof us need each other.
God is still in themiracle-working business and
when all of us stand here beforewe could be other places, we
could have made other choices,but we stand saying that we
believe in miracles.
People's thoughts can bechanged.
(45:06):
Todd is here as a miracle, asan example.
People's thoughts can bechanged.
Once you thought that the onlyway I could deal with this pain
is through alcohol.
There is another thought, thereis another way of living.
Once you thought that you hadto live a miserable life because
everything terrible hadhappened to you, there is
another way of living.
Once you thought that you hadto live a miserable life because
everything terrible hadhappened to you, there is
another thought beloved.
(45:27):
There is a greater path, thereis a way to wholeness, and you
might need a therapist.
God bless them.
And you might need brothers andsisters to help you with these
things, and you might need theholy communion table.
Jesus is present with us andthere is a grace for us to
(45:50):
understand the wholeness thatChrist is offering us.
Wholeness, holiness.
By the love of God, the kingwill say I tell you the truth
when you did it to the least ofthese, my brothers and sisters,
you were doing it to me.
The spirit of God will alwaysbring unity, will bring oneness.
(46:14):
My father will love them andwill come and will be in them.
Beloved, I affirm to you thismorning what you know you are
worthy, god loves you and seesyou and is with you.
And if you have ideas about Godor stories about God, or
(46:39):
someone told you that God was inany way cruel, then I would
like to ask the Holy Spirit thismorning to change the way that
you think about love.
Love is eternal beloved and Godis love, and together in the
house of God, of God.
(47:03):
O Lord, you whose love iswithout measure, help us.
We pray to love as you love, bybefriending the friendless,
defending the defenseless,caring for the careless and
(47:23):
showing mercy to the merciless,so that we might become your
beloved community in the world,in word and in deed.
This very day, we pray this inthe name of our King Jesus, the
(47:45):
Christ Himself.
Speaker 4 (47:47):
God who is love, amen .
I'm up here to ministercommunion, but I just had a
thought that was being stirredin my spirit as we were going
over these scriptures and I'vereally given much thought to how
it is that when you're doingthings to the least of these,
that you're doing those thingsunto God.
(48:09):
You know, it's really thattruth that God and those least
of these are one.
Those least of these are oneand we're asked to do those
things for those people.
And sometimes we think, yeah,we just got to do some good.
(48:30):
But it's getting surroundingthat idea that we begin to
realize that we're one as well.
And that's the miracle.
(48:54):
And I was wanting to know if youall knew how a moose hides very
poorly.
I don't know the exact weightof a moose, but they're pretty
big and what they'll do isthey'll hide their giant moose
head behind a tree.
But their moose body is waybigger than the tree, their
(49:16):
moose horns are way bigger thanthe tree and that moose is
convinced it is doing a greatjob of hiding because it can't
see you, because its eyes areblocked.
But I'm sorry, moose, that's aterrible job of hiding.
And I was contemplating themoose because we, because we are
(49:46):
children of God, we're one withGod, but we're all hiding in
plain sight, we're pretendinglike we're not one.
You've been in a game thatyou've played with yourself that
somehow you're different andyou're outside of that.
(50:11):
And God's inviting you and I tothis oneness, because there's
healing there, there's wholenessthere for us.
So don't be a dumb moose outthere, hiding in plain sight, as
(50:33):
if I'm not part of this,because you've always been part
of it.
You're God's plan.
You're God's plan, you're God'sdaughter, you're God's son, and
so he's inviting us today.
(50:54):
And I think these practices areso good for us.
It's so good to see somebodywho's hungry and bring them food
, because we can live a life asif that's not happening.
(51:14):
We're hiding in plain sight whenthere's need all around us, and
that's why I love the practiceof the table, because I'm
pretending like I don't need mydaily bread and I need to be
awakened out of that dream tothe reality that I'm one with
(51:39):
God, and I'm one with you andyou're one with me.
Speaker 1 (51:44):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's sermon.
If you would like moreinformation about us, visit us
online at firstlovechurchorg.
Welcome to the First Love Church podcast.
This is a collection of Sundayteachings inspired by the
Revised Common Lectionary andrecorded weekly in Ocala Florida
.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good morning everybody.
Welcome to First Love Church.
If this is your first time here, thank you for being here.
If this is your manyth timehere, thank you for continuing
to be here.
So everybody say Yahoo.
If you are here online, thankyou for being here online.
Thank you for participatingdigitally.
(00:33):
It's very grateful If you wantto continue to do that.
You can like share differentthings like that digitally.
I'm crying for two reasons.
The first is because I reallycan recognize and see the beauty
in that message that'scommunicated.
That if we really paused forjust a moment and recognized the
beauty in creation that Goddoes for each one of us and then
(00:54):
also recognize that God wantedone of you who's present here
today, it's really neat.
Amen, can't really follow upwith that one too much, but when
mom was reading and startingthe beginning to the worship
today, she reminded me there isa renewal process, right, okay?
(01:16):
One of my friends from Oklahomatold me a story that broke his
heart and broke my heart toothis week and I've been really
thinking about that renewalprocess.
It's present.
Give me one second.
We got you, man.
Thank you, aw.
(01:40):
One of my friends from Oklahomatold me a story about someone
who experienced a renewalprocess of their vision of God
when they were a girl.
They expressed that they onlyhad three times.
They could ask their dad forhelp and that was it.
It could be any day during theweek, any time, but after three,
whatever he determined was help, then he would pause.
(02:03):
So her vision of God God theFather, was three times and that
was it.
So it's hard for me to reallyrecognize that.
Sorry, hold on.
I really view God differentlyand after a conversation with my
friend from Oklahoma, aconversation of really renewing
(02:26):
what God is, she gets to ask Godfor more than three agreed.
So that story really resonatedwith me because if we allow God
to change in our eyes and maybechange the way that we've
experienced him, we can thenhave an opportunity to really
allow renewal and healing totake place.
(02:47):
Amen, okay, I'm done.
We're going to go ahead and goto reading.
So that I'll cry hopefully lesstoo.
So One day, as he saw thecrowds gathering, jesus went up
to the mountainside and sat down.
His disciples gathered aroundhim and he began to teach them.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
God bless those who are poor and realize they are in
need of him, for they need himand want him to be theirs.
God bless those who mourn, forthey will be comforted.
God bless those who are notwhole, for they will be prepared
for the whole earth.
God bless those who hunger intheir search for justice, for
(03:40):
they will be satisfied.
God bless those who aremerciful, for they will be shown
mercy.
God bless us those whose heartsare pure, for they will be seen
by God.
God bless us those who areworthy of these, for they will
be called the children of God.
God bless us those who arepersecuted, for they will be
(04:09):
pardoned.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Amen, amen.
All God's friends and familysaid Amen.
So, as we step into thepresence of God, who is very
present, I would like to Open aninvitation that Allow God to be
transformed.
Maybe your vision of God hasbeen a father figure that has
transformed.
Maybe your vision of God hasbeen a father figure that has
been disappointing.
Maybe your vision of God hasbeen maybe a little skewed from
(04:32):
life, but I would invite you tomaybe look at it differently.
Amen.
So would you guys like towelcome my mom?
Speaker 1 (04:49):
So you know what happened.
I saw Thomas crying and Istarted crying.
I didn't know why, but we werejust crying.
That's what happens when yourfamily, when you love each other
, and I just want to saysomething this morning in case
you missed it.
That is how a man behaves.
That is how a man behaves whensomeone's heart is broken.
Their their heart breaks too.
Don't let for anyone to tellyou that men are cruel and hard.
Men are in the image of God,who loves us, and Jesus, who
(05:13):
wept with us when we weep.
And so do you have to cry overeverything?
No, but let your heart bebroken open and let the
tenderness of God be seen in you.
When someone shares a storywith you, or when you see
something that's wrong, allowyour heart to break.
Tears are sometimes the bestprayers that we can pray.
(05:33):
Sometimes, that's all we haveare our tears, and so there's
something so holy in the tears,in fact so much that the
scripture tells us that, everytime we cry, the nearness of God
is so close to us that Jesuscollects our tears, that they're
so precious that he is rightthere collecting our tears.
(05:54):
I think one of the things thatI'm reminded of when the
scripture tells us that ourtears are collected is.
You have to pay a lot ofattention Because, particularly
if you live a long life, youwill have many opportunities to
shed tears and there will betears that you shed that you
think no one notices.
But I am here to remind you ofwhat Thomas said Allow the
(06:16):
spirit to change your idea aboutGod and know that you have a
loving parent who sees everytear and who honors them as
precious.
I'm grateful to be in the houseof the Lord with you this
morning.
I'm grateful for everybody thatis here.
The light in us greets thelight that is in you and the
goodness and the resurrectionpower that is available to all
(06:40):
of us this morning.
I'm so grateful For everybodythat's online.
I'm grateful for your presencetoo, and it is not without
consequence that we recognizeyour participation in this, but
it is joy when we get to betogether.
Chris is home this morning and Iwas so excited to see him.
I didn't know that he wascoming.
What a beautiful testimony.
If you don't know Chris,introduce yourself to him and
(07:01):
you can ask him that God isstill in the miracle working
business.
You can ask his parents if Godis still in the miracle working
business.
It's so beautiful.
Todd is with us this morning,and this marks the anniversary
of 34 years sober.
God is in the miracle workingbusiness.
I remind us that God doesmiracles, but then Todd makes a
(07:22):
choice every single day to dealwith the things that he
struggles with in a way that isnot harmful to himself or others
.
But it is a day to celebratethe good works of Christ among
us, that every single personhere has some kind of light, has
some kind of giving toward theworld and toward each other.
And in the presence of God thismorning, I remind you that the
(07:45):
spirit of love is within you.
It is with absolute joy that weget to come to this part of the
service where we get toreimagine.
Allow the spirit in us toreimagine who we are and who God
is.
I would like to bless us thismorning with prayer as we begin.
Our lives are so small, o Lord,our vision so limited, our
(08:11):
courage so frail and the hoursso fleeting.
Give us the grace and theguidance for the journey we have
ahead.
We are gathered here thismorning because we believe that
we are called together into awork that we cannot even know
the fullness of, and still wetrust the voice of the one who
(08:32):
has called us.
And so we offer to you, oh God,all of these things our dreams,
our plans, our vision.
Shape them by your spirit, asyou will Our moments, our gifts,
our resources.
May they be invested towardbright and eternal ends.
Richly bless the work that youhave given us, father.
(08:55):
Shepherd us as well, lest wegrow enamored with our own
accomplishments or entrenched inold habits.
Instead, let us listen for yourvoice, our heart ever open to
the quiet beckoning of yourspirit's endeavor.
Let us, in true humility and inpoverty of spirit, remain ever
(09:16):
ready to move at the impulse ofyour love.
You alone, o God, by yourgracious and life-giving spirit,
have the power to knit ourimperfect hearts, our weaknesses
and our strength, our storiesand our gifts for the benefit of
other.
Unite your people and multiplyour offerings, o Lord, that we
(09:40):
might resound in your glory.
May our acts of service andcreation, frail and wanting as
they are, be met and multipliedby the mysterious workings of
your Holy Spirit, who weavestogether all things toward
redemption, toward good andtoward glorious more glorious
(10:02):
things than we have even yet tosee and the courage to hope that
our love and our labors wouldecho your love and your labors.
Let all that we do here thismorning, let all that we do in
our brief lives, let all that wedo in this moment be love In
(10:23):
the work that you have ordainedfor this community to flower in
winsome and in beautifulforetaste of the greater glories
that are yet to come.
Spirit of God, shape our hearts.
Spirit of God, guide our hands.
Spirit of God, build your mostbeautiful kingdom among us.
(10:46):
Amen.
It is the 10th Sunday ofPentecost, and why does that
matter?
Because we are all stillpracticing what it means to live
in the spirit, to live fullyconnected to ourselves, to live
fully connected to the universe,to the creation around us and
(11:07):
to our brothers and sisters.
And this is a season for us,and so I remind you this morning
that the Spirit of God lives inyou.
You are connected already toGod by God's own Spirit.
In Romans, chapter 5, it saysthe love of God has been shed in
your heart abroad throughChrist Jesus.
God's Spirit in you.
It's already in you, and so itis with joy this morning.
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Jesus says in John, chapter 14,if you love me, obey my
commandments.
It's a lot harder than itactually seems.
Why is it hard?
Are the commandments hard?
Yes and no, it can be both.
No, because they're this.
There's only two of them Lovethe Lord, your God, with all
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your heart, with all your soul,with all your mind, with all
your strength, and thank you.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Two things, but those might bethe two hardest things that
we're ever asked to do Loveourselves and love our neighbor.
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Now, we have many reasons why wedon't want to love our neighbor
and we have many reasonsagainst ourselves, why we feel
we are not worthy of love.
And Jesus comes and says listen, if you love me, if you love
Jesus.
And I just want to tell you,jesus is wonderful.
I hope we can all agree on that.
I hope that no one has evertold you that Jesus is not
worthy of your love, the mostbeautiful person who has ever
lived in this earth, so full ofcompassion and mercy.
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And we can all get this.
And I think it's beautiful howwe can all agree to love Jesus.
But what makes us followers ishow we love Judas.
Yes, what makes us people whofollow the way of Christ is how
we love those that we deem or wejudge are unlovable.
And there is an invitation bythe Holy Spirit this morning to
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expand our imagination, for us,as the people of God, to be
re-enchanted by the hope ofChrist, by this new way of
living.
And Jesus is saying this to thepeople who God to be
re-enchanted by the hope ofChrist, by this new way of
living.
And Jesus is saying this to thepeople who have gathered around
if you love me, then loveeverybody else and love yourself
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.
This is what the words say tous this morning.
And then Jesus says and I willask the Father and he will give
you another advocate who willnever leave you.
Now, this is such a beautifulportion of the scripture and
it's an affirmation to us ofGod's own spirit.
Jesus said I'm going to ask theFather, I just want to ask you
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this morning to contemplate.
Do you believe that God hearsand answers the prayers of Jesus
?
Right, and so Jesus is askingthat.
The Spirit, that means we'redefinitely getting it, because
you know, has that ever happenedin a family?
Before you go ask?
No, you go ask, you go ask.
You see who has the most favor,to like kind of curry in this
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situation.
And Jesus is asking for us.
He has already asked.
It's already happened and hewill give you another advocate.
Please be aware here that Jesushimself considers his humanity
and advocation to God to betweenus that we would learn how to
love the divinity that is in usand also love the humanity for
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us, to embrace every part of usand say this is what it looks
like to be a human.
I appreciate very much Thomas'vulnerability this morning, but
this is what it looks like to bea human that our hearts break
when someone else is in pain.
It is not human to be cruel.
It is not human to separateourselves from others.
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This is the plan of God for allof us to understand, and Jesus
actually prayed this one too.
John, chapter 17 you can lookit up.
Father, I want you to make themone.
Make them one like you and Iare one.
So this oneness, this is aprayer that Jesus is praying for
us.
This is the goal.
He will give you anotheradvocate who will never leave
you.
Jesus is preemptively sayingthis because his friends are
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really worried that the advocatethat they have is leaving.
Well, jesus, if you're not here, then how will we know what to
do?
How will we know how to get tothe Father.
How will all the good thingsyou promised be here?
And Jesus said it's okay, I'mgonna send you another one, I'm
gonna send you the Spirit.
He will never leave you.
The Spirit.
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He will never leave you.
Talk for a moment and think fora moment about what it is like
for us, as humans, to fear beingalone.
It is ultimately something thatwe all have experienced, or
have believed.
We've experienced, and this isthe invitation you will never be
left alone.
This is the name of God inGod's own self Emmanuel, god
with us, Love with us.
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We are never alone because Godis with us.
He is the Holy Spirit who leadsinto all truth and in the past
few weeks, together as acongregation, we have been
practicing I hope you have.
If you haven't, there's plentyof time, but practicing a prayer
that goes like this it's notvery long.
Holy Spirit, I am willing tosee things differently.
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Now.
The time that you would praythis is when you're frustrated
at someone, when someone hasdisappointed you, when someone
has not done what you clearlytold them to do or treated you
the way that you clearly decidedor determined that you should
be treated.
This is the time to pray thisprayer, holy Spirit, I am
willing to change my mind aboutthis.
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First of all, the invitation isnecessary because love does
nothing without consent.
Love is all powerful, but lovedoes not force us.
Love does not put dominion overus.
Love invites us.
The Holy Spirit who leads intoall truth.
The world cannot receive himbecause it isn't looking for him
and doesn't recognize him.
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But you know him because helives with you now and later
will be in you.
The Spirit of God lives in you.
Beloved, you have the presenceof almighty love with you.
You have with you the Spiritwho, according to Jesus, will
teach you all things.
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So I will not abandon you asorphans.
I will come to you.
When I listen to these words, Ihear inner monologue.
I will not abandon you asorphans Because here we are, a
group of adult people who, inthis time, are listening to
Jesus and have followed him, andJesus is talking to them about
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their own fears.
We do not want to be left out offamily.
We do not want to have to earnbelonging, be left out of family
.
We do not want to have to earnbelonging.
We do not have to want to feelthat we are going to be left out
, and Jesus is already affirmingto us that that will not happen
, that we are part of the familythat Jesus is making that we
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are part of the family.
What it looks like to be human,and Jesus is saying the spirit
it has given to us will allowJesus to come to us.
So the world will no longer seeme, but you will see me.
Since I live, you also willlive, and when I am raised to
life again, you will know that Iam in my father and you are in
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me and I am in you.
We are a people who believe inthe resurrection.
We are in fact marked by thatresurrection.
We are a people who know thatdeath is no longer the final
separation, that there is noseparation now, because love has
crossed that barrier and loveis eternal.
And every one of us here thismorning understand the power of
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eternal love to some respect.
When someone who has been inour life, who has been dear to
us, dies, we know that love doesnot die.
That person's body may be nolonger visible, but that love is
eternal.
And this is what Jesus isreminding us that love is
eternal.
Bank everything on love beloved, throw it all in on love,
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because love is eternal.
Will people's love sometimesfail you Absolutely?
But will the love of Christfail you Absolutely?
Not.
That is eternal.
In fact, many of the authors inthe text remind us that there is
nothing that could separate usfrom the love of Christ.
In the text remind us thatthere is nothing that could
separate us from the love ofChrist Not death, not hell, not
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angels, not demons.
Nothing uncreated, nothingcreated.
Nothing will separate you fromthe love of God.
Beloved, you are loved exactlyas you are by God because you
are made in the very image ofGod.
In Ephesians, chapter 3, itsays long before the earth was
formed, god had you in mind.
It is good news.
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You are not an afterthought.
You are not just thrown inthere and God going.
I don't know what we're goingto do with her.
God has planned you.
You are in the mind of God.
Beloved, you will always be inthe mind of God.
And God, who loves us, hasplans for us.
And in Ephesians it says beforethe earth was formed, god had
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you in mind that we would bemade whole and holy by his love.
Wholeness has always been theplan for the whole human race,
for all of creation.
We read this morning fromRevelation when it said God said
I just wanna remind you, I'mmaking all things new.
Have you ever walked into anartist's studio before?
I have.
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Sometimes it's a littlestartling.
If you didn't already have seenthe end result, you're like, oh
, this is a mess.
But then when you've seen theend result, you're like, okay,
this is process, beloved, all ofus are in process.
Do not look at the mess.
Look at the artist who says Iam making all things new.
And when you look at yourself inthe morning, I hope you'll hear
the words of scripture thatreaffirm to us you are loved and
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God is making all things new.
You are welcomed.
You will know that I am in myFather and that you are in me
and I am in you.
Those who accept mycommandments and obey them are
the ones who love me.
You're gonna hear this repeatedin this portion of scripture
and this is part of the way thatthis particular culture talks
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is in a repetition.
But Jesus really wants to get apoint to us across here, and it
is this love looks likeobedience.
Obedience not to everything,not to every rule, to every
person, but obedience tofollowing the commands that
Jesus gave us.
Love yourself and love others.
This is what it looks like tobe a follower of Jesus.
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Jesus said don't even say thatyou love me if you're not going
to love everyone.
That's a little uncomfortablefor us because we have a lot of
ideas about who should be loved.
Jesus comes and says you're tolove everybody without trying to
determine whether they're worthit or not or worthy of it.
We are to love everyone and weare also to love everybody
without trying to determinewhether they're worth it or not
or worthy of it.
We are to love everyone and weare also to love ourselves with
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that same kind of compassion.
Beloved, the Spirit of God inyou is with you and has been
with you In every situation whenyou felt overwhelmed and
abandoned and alone.
The Spirit of God was stillthere, and I am asking the Holy
Spirit this morning that hewould open our eyes, that we
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would see the goodness in theworld around us.
Those who accept mycommandments and obey them are
the ones who love me, andbecause they love me, my Father
will love them.
Jesus is teaching us a lotabout God.
In fact, when Jesus comes toearth as a man and lives in his
full humanity, he tells us overand over again.
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You have heard it said, but Isay to you, I'm telling you
something different, and Iappreciate very much.
What Thomas invited us to dothis morning was to allow the
Spirit to reveal to us who Godtruly is.
God is love.
God is all-loving, always,always, always.
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God is all love and you aremade in the image of that love.
You know love and can recognizeit because it's first in you,
and this is the good news.
They will love me, my Fatherwill love them, and I will love
them and reveal myself to eachof them.
And Judas not Judas Iscariot,but the other disciple with that
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name said to him Lord, why areyou going to reveal yourself
only to us and not the world atlarge?
I think sometimes our questionstell more about us than our
search for answers.
And this particular person, whowas a student, was like I
thought you were going to befamous.
Tell the whole world this sothat everyone would know how
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great we are.
We were going to make this allthe way plain for everybody,
right?
This is the new rule.
And Jesus says Like we weregoing to make this all the way
plain for everybody, right?
This is the new rule and Jesussays I'm revealing it to you so
that you will go and reveal thisto the world.
This is how we become, how weactually walk in the light that
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we are, when we become peoplewho are so marked by love.
Jesus said this is what itmeans to love me.
We have these ideas, I think,about God.
I think one of the mostdangerous things that we have
done in a spirituality is putGod in the sky.
God lives far away, way outthere, far in the universe, and
we maybe see him with the Hubbletelescope.
I want to tell you that thescripture tells us and even
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Jesus did that God is so closeto you, he's in your next breath
.
God is here with us, so closeto us, and so I do believe that
God has created the cosmos, andI am a person.
I hope that all of you will be.
I hope the stars will justtestify to you all the time of
how amazing and wonderful God is.
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I hope all of nature willtestify to you.
This has been my new plan to askfor the testimony, because I
have deemed some of nature notas wonderful as others.
I don't know if you have, but Ihave judged certain creatures
as not as worthy of testimony.
I'm like I do not want to hearyou, I don't want to even see
you.
I want to pretend like I didnot see the size of the spider.
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We were in the workshop theother day and there was a
carcass of a spider, and justthe carcass of it made me
realize that that had been shedso they could even gotten bigger
and I literally wanted torebuke it.
I was like this is a work ofthe satan.
This is terrible.
It's not.
It is God and all of God'sgoodness.
But you see what I mean.
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I have judged some thingsunworthy and I want to tell you
that that is a dangerous thing,because that gets very creepy
into the way that we startjudging people that way too.
And so Jesus is reminding usall things, all things showing
love, all things showing thegood creator, and this is the
hope.
All who love me will do what Isay.
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We pause here for a moment tothank you for joining us today.
If you're finding this episodemeaningful, would you take a
moment to share it with a friend?
This podcast is made possiblethanks to the generosity of
people just like you.
If you would like to supportthe ongoing work of First Love
Church and the continued work ofour podcast, visit us online at
(26:34):
firstlovechurchorg, remindingyou to like, follow and
subscribe.
This is the invitation that we,as people who follow Jesus,
would do what Jesus says.
And Jesus said to love everyoneand love yourself, be
compassionate, be merciful, andwe will come and make our home
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with each of them.
Anyone who doesn't love me willnot obey me.
And remember my words are notmy own.
I am telling you this is fromthe Father who sent me Again.
Jesus is asking us to change theway that we think about God.
It's hard to change your mindabout anything.
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I don't know if you know thatit is.
We are people who havedetermined how we like things,
what we prefer, and it is verydifficult to us to change our
mind.
In fact, it's almost impossible.
But that is why God has givenus the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the thoughtadjuster.
The Holy Spirit is the one whocan elevate our thinking.
The Holy Spirit is the one whocan give us creative ways to
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deal with things that we deem asproblems.
The Holy Spirit is the unifier.
The Holy Spirit is the one whois given to each of us and Jesus
is reminding us.
I am telling you somethingabout God that maybe you did not
know, or maybe someone told yousomething opposite.
We're going to be with you.
I was thinking about that thismorning in one of the songs that
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we sang.
I don't know what the futureholds, I cannot predict that,
but I know who's already in thefuture Some of us.
I am, this morning, arecovering worrier.
I don't know if you are, but Ihave practiced worry, and I
would say of myself I also havearrogance.
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So I would say of myself,though, that I at one point
could have been Olympic-levelworrier, because I could worry
not only while I was doingeverything, but also while I was
sleeping.
I could, in fact, turn over thepillow at night and be aware of
something and start worryingabout it Beloved, that is not
the life that God promised us.
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That is not the goodness ofmercy.
Abandon that, but that's veryhard when that's what you
practiced.
It's very hard, but I want totell you the Spirit is here with
us this morning, and love is away better choice.
But the future is something wecannot control.
We don't even know, but we knowthat love is already there.
Everywhere we go, god goes.
Love already goes with us.
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We do not have to project allof our fears into the future.
We recognize love is already inthe future that we have a God
who is with us.
We do not have to project allof our fears into the future.
We recognize love is already inthe future that we have a God
who is with us, always presentwith us.
I am telling you this becausethe Father sent me.
I am telling you these thingsnow, while I am still with you,
but when the Father sends theadvocate as my representative,
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the Holy Spirit will teach youeverything and will remind you
of everything I have told you.
That is such a comfort.
It really is beloved.
Have you ever thought toyourself the reason I'm in this
mess is because I just didn'tknow what to do.
I just didn't know that if Imade this choice, this is where
it was going to end up?
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Beloved.
That is not the truth at all.
In fact, the Spirit has beengiven to us Now.
Did we pause to ask the Spirit?
I don't know about that, butthere's a wisdom there.
Did we pause and ask the Spiritto come to us?
There's a wisdom there, but weare never alone.
The Holy Spirit will teach useverything that we need to know.
I don't know what it's like tolive in your home and to live in
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relationship with the peoplethat you have, but I know the
Holy Spirit is with you, and theHoly Spirit knows everything.
And the Holy Spirit that is inyou gives you wisdom, gives you
ideas and how to connect withpeople, how to build bridges,
how to forgive people, how toget past things and allow the
love of Christ to heal us andbring us into wholeness.
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The Holy Spirit will teach youeverything and remind you of
everything I have told you.
I love this idea of reminding,because that's one of the
reasons we gather every singleweek together.
We need to be reminded of thelove of Christ.
We need to be reminded of theways of Jesus.
We need to be reminded of whatit means to think like God
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thinks, to align our thoughtswith God's thoughts.
We sometimes, in the devotionthat we have and in the way that
we live our life, we use wordsand we we even used a word in
the song today, and it said I'mgoing to lift up Jesus.
I've been a child it was a longtime ago but I remember
thinking about things veryliterally, and I heard that song
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when I was very little.
I thought to myself I will notbe doing that because people are
much bigger than me and I amnot very strong, so maybe that's
for an adult to lift up Jesus,but I will not be lifting up
Jesus.
We can laugh at that kind ofthought, but there is a truth
that is given to all of us Tolift up Jesus is to exalt or put
above every other thought.
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We have the way of Christ whenwe say what I would like to do
is extract vengeance on thisperson.
To exalt or lift up Jesus is togo, yes, but I am to forgive my
enemies.
To exalt or lift up Jesus is togo, yes, but I am to forgive my
enemies.
And this is what it means tolift up, to make it higher than
or make it greater, and so theSpirit will give you these ideas
, and then the Spirit will alsoremind you of everything that
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Jesus has told us.
I'm leaving you with a giftPeace of mind and heart Beloved.
This is an evidence of the Holygift.
Peace of mind and heart Beloved.
This is an evidence of the HolySpirit Peace.
When I read the AP news on myphone.
I don't know how you get yournews, maybe a newspaper?
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It is my judgment that thisworld needs peace.
I look at that and I think weneed peace here, and this is a
gift.
This is an evidence of God'sown spirit.
This is an evidence, a fruit oflove in our life, and we can
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have peace when it looks likeeverything else around us is not
full of peace.
But we are the light of theworld beloved.
We are people who can changethe way that we think by the
power of the Holy Spirit.
And when was the last time thatyou asked the Holy Spirit or
gave space in your life for theSpirit to change how you think
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about something?
Jesus is asking us to changethe way we think about God here.
God is good and he's not goingto leave you.
In fact, jesus talks about thiswith the Holy Spirit, and we've
mentioned it a few weeks ago inour rehearsing of this that if
you are a good father and yourkid asks you for a loaf of bread
, you're not going to give him astone.
And the same is true of God.
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When you ask for things that arefor the good of everyone, god
is going to give it to you.
Your prayers for vengeance willnot be answered.
Beloved Vengeance is mine, saysthe Lord.
That's always pretty a goodidea Because we as a people
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you've seen it happen in smallnurseries right, one kid does
something and then the kid thatit happened to comes back at
like 10 times worse.
You're like that's just adisproportionate.
And so, as human people, weoften meet out judgments in
cruelty and in anger, and God,who is all loving, said leave
that to me, please.
God who sees everything, godwho is a rewarder, god who
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watches nothing and does notcome to our aid.
There is everything that isgiven to us in this beautiful
trust of saying my lovingheavenly parent saw what
happened, the good and the bad.
Jesus says you don't tend toeven give a cup of cool water to
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a child without me seeing it.
I am leaving you with a giftpeace of mind and heart, and the
peace I give is a gift theworld cannot give.
So do not be troubled or afraid.
Be courageous, dear heart, weare loved, we are held in love,
and love is making all thingsnew.
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Remember what I told you I'mgoing away, but I'll come back
again to you.
Listen to this again.
If you loved me, you would bevery happy that I'm going to the
father, who is greater than I.
I have told you these thingsbefore they happen so that when
they happen, you will believe Idon't have much more time to
talk to you because the rule ofthe world approaches, but he has
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no power over me.
But I will do what the fatherrequires of me so the world will
know that I love the father.
Come on, let's the world willknow that I love the Father.
Come on, let's be going.
I love that part.
That's one of my favorite partsof the verse.
Let's be going.
We're going to talk aboutcourage.
We're going to talk about love.
We're going to talk aboutchanging our thoughts.
But now, on with our lives, onwith the actual living that we
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have to do, on with loving ourneighbor.
On with taking care of eachother.
Matthew, chapter 25,.
Jesus is again asking us tochange our mind about God, about
ourselves and neighbor.
And Jesus is telling them astory.
And Jesus says this for I washungry and you fed me.
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Over and over in scripture wesee, love does not allow anyone
to go hungry.
Even the miracles of Jesus showthis.
When there is lack, there is away to feed and Jesus asks us to
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be a part of this.
I was hungry and you fed me.
I was hungry and you fed me.
I was thirsty and you gave me adrink.
I was a stranger and youinvited me into your home.
I was naked and you gave meclothing.
I was sick and you cared for me.
I was in prison and you visitedme.
I look at all these things asyou do, and this is what love
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looks like.
Love looks like effort.
Love looks like whatever is inyour hand, doing it to aid
someone, to bring comfort.
What does that person need andhow will you be the light to
them?
Jesus says I was that person.
And the righteous ones replied.
Ones replied Lord, when did weever see you hungry or feed you,
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or thirsty and give yousomething to drink, or a
stranger and show youhospitality, or naked and give
you clothing?
When did we ever see you sickor in prison and visit you?
I mean, they were actuallythinking about this and going.
That never happened.
We never saw you like that.
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And the king will say I tell youthe truth, just the verses
previous.
Jesus said the Holy Spirit willcome and will be the spirit of
truth to you.
You will know there will be awitness inside of you.
This is true.
Love is eternal.
This is true.
Hatred cannot be a part, anypart, of God.
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There is no darkness in God andthe king will say I tell you
the truth.
When you did it to the least ofthese, my brothers and sisters,
you were doing it to me.
Jesus affirms this oneness.
Jesus affirms that when youtake care of the person next to
you, you're doing it unto Jesus.
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When you take care of thoselittle precious children in your
house, you are doing it toJesus.
When you take care of yourelderly neighbor, when you take
care of the person next to youwhen you go out, whatever you do
is the light of the world.
That is good.
You are doing it unto Jesus.
You are doing it because youknow you have been loved first.
You are doing it because thespirit of God in you is making
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all things new.
You are invited into thisbeautiful world that says that
there is for us a reality rightnow, in this present place,
where there is joy, where thereis peace, where there is comfort
, where the presence of Jesus is, where the presence of the Holy
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Spirit is, there is peace, andso we have a choice to change
our mind about things.
When you find yourself upsetabout something, ask yourself
have I asked the Holy Spirit tochange my mind about this?
Often, we don't really want tobecause we've already figured
out a plan.
I'm going to tell them this onething and that's going to teach
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them?
Really?
Probably not.
You've probably said somethinglike that before and it's taught
no one.
What if we followed the way ofthe Holy Spirit?
This is the invitation, andJesus said when you do this, the
Spirit will be with you andyou'll be walking with the
Spirit.
This understanding this, thisunderstanding this oneness that
we are called to, happens in ourdaily living, happens in the
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choices that we make towardourselves Beloved.
We are called to becompassionate witnesses toward
ourselves, toward our neighbor,toward our world.
Jesus is calling us to live inGod.
When I think about God and I'msure you have too, and in fact
the video that we watched thismorning was from Isaiah, chapter
40.
People have been thinking aboutGod for a long time, and very
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often what we do is think abouthow we have experienced people
or people that have said we'veloved us, and that is why Jesus
is asking us this morningconsider who told you.
There is an account, a poem, inthe very beginning of the text.
It's in the book of Genesis,and mankind finds themselves in
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a pickle trouble.
They have really messed thingsup.
This is what they believe, andso they're hiding.
Which, again, when you reallythink about it, all the ways we
hide from each other, all theways we isolate, all the ways we
keep ourselves back.
This has been a human problemsince the very beginning.
(41:06):
And these two say to God Godfinds them.
Of course they're hiding in thegarden that God made, because
they feel like they've donesomething wrong.
So they hide and God says whereare you?
(41:29):
I wonder if the Spirit's askingyou that this morning.
Where are you?
I wonder if the Spirit's askingyou that this morning, where
are you?
Where is the true self?
Where is the one who's createdin God's image, in love's image?
Where are you hiding?
(41:50):
And they said we did what weshouldn't have done and we were
afraid.
So we thought this was a goodidea to go behind the bush.
Do you know how many ways wehide?
And it's, I mean, the spirit isinviting us to something else,
and God said this to them.
Who told you that you had donesomething wrong?
(42:10):
Who told you that you shouldhide?
Who told you?
This is the question we shouldask ourselves all the time.
Who told me I don't belong here?
Who told me?
And then, if someone told youand you feel like they're an
authority, go higher.
God says that we belong.
Go higher with our thoughts.
(42:31):
Allow Jesus to remind you thatevery single one of us are
invited.
We practice holy communion.
Every time we get together, asacred embodiment Together, we
remind ourselves of this andJesus says this to us tell the
story, tell the story, tell thestory, and we tell it with our
bodies every time that we gather, every time we come together
(42:53):
and we remember we're loved.
God has good for us, god hasgood plans for the world, and we
are invited into this new wayof thinking and this new way of
being, and that we couldremember.
Somebody asked me something thisweek and said to me how do you
(43:15):
know?
And I said you know what?
I remember it in my bones.
Have you ever rememberedsomething with your bones.
I encourage you to do it.
It's an ancient rememberingYou're like.
I know this was good.
I know this is the way.
I know that the spirit will befaithful.
Listen to your bones this week.
I know that our bones will alsotell us creaky things, like our
(43:39):
bones will tell us that we'retired and our bones will.
But our bones will also tell usthings that we have forgotten,
that we are loved, that we'remade of stardust, that we are
connected to our creator and toeach other and in the wholeness
(44:02):
of grace.
Whatever you do to the least ofthese, my brothers and sisters,
you are doing it unto me.
Jesus calls us to be people ofradical love for ourselves and
for the world, and then says theHoly Spirit is going to empower
you to be this kind of love.
(44:22):
The Holy Spirit is going toempower you not be this kind of
love.
The Holy Spirit is going toempower you not to be afraid but
to be courageous.
The Holy Spirit is going toempower you to think different
thoughts.
Chris stands as a testimonytoday.
He didn't know that I was goingto make this account and maybe
that's why he didn't show up atchurch before this.
(44:43):
But I will tell you something,because I know his testimony and
it's one of the reasons why allof us need each other.
God is still in themiracle-working business and
when all of us stand here beforewe could be other places, we
could have made other choices,but we stand saying that we
believe in miracles.
People's thoughts can bechanged.
(45:06):
Todd is here as a miracle, asan example.
People's thoughts can bechanged.
Once you thought that the onlyway I could deal with this pain
is through alcohol.
There is another thought, thereis another way of living.
Once you thought that you hadto live a miserable life because
everything terrible hadhappened to you, there is
another way of living.
Once you thought that you hadto live a miserable life because
everything terrible hadhappened to you, there is
another thought beloved.
(45:27):
There is a greater path, thereis a way to wholeness, and you
might need a therapist.
God bless them.
And you might need brothers andsisters to help you with these
things, and you might need theholy communion table.
Jesus is present with us andthere is a grace for us to
(45:50):
understand the wholeness thatChrist is offering us.
Wholeness, holiness.
By the love of God, the kingwill say I tell you the truth
when you did it to the least ofthese, my brothers and sisters,
you were doing it to me.
The spirit of God will alwaysbring unity, will bring oneness.
(46:14):
My father will love them andwill come and will be in them.
Beloved, I affirm to you thismorning what you know you are
worthy, god loves you and seesyou and is with you.
And if you have ideas about Godor stories about God, or
(46:39):
someone told you that God was inany way cruel, then I would
like to ask the Holy Spirit thismorning to change the way that
you think about love.
Love is eternal beloved and Godis love, and together in the
house of God, of God.
(47:03):
O Lord, you whose love iswithout measure, help us.
We pray to love as you love, bybefriending the friendless,
defending the defenseless,caring for the careless and
(47:23):
showing mercy to the merciless,so that we might become your
beloved community in the world,in word and in deed.
This very day, we pray this inthe name of our King Jesus, the
(47:45):
Christ Himself.
Speaker 4 (47:47):
God who is love, amen .
I'm up here to ministercommunion, but I just had a
thought that was being stirredin my spirit as we were going
over these scriptures and I'vereally given much thought to how
it is that when you're doingthings to the least of these,
that you're doing those thingsunto God.
(48:09):
You know, it's really thattruth that God and those least
of these are one.
Those least of these are oneand we're asked to do those
things for those people.
And sometimes we think, yeah,we just got to do some good.
(48:30):
But it's getting surroundingthat idea that we begin to
realize that we're one as well.
And that's the miracle.
(48:54):
And I was wanting to know if youall knew how a moose hides very
poorly.
I don't know the exact weightof a moose, but they're pretty
big and what they'll do isthey'll hide their giant moose
head behind a tree.
But their moose body is waybigger than the tree, their
(49:16):
moose horns are way bigger thanthe tree and that moose is
convinced it is doing a greatjob of hiding because it can't
see you, because its eyes areblocked.
But I'm sorry, moose, that's aterrible job of hiding.
And I was contemplating themoose because we, because we are
(49:46):
children of God, we're one withGod, but we're all hiding in
plain sight, we're pretendinglike we're not one.
You've been in a game thatyou've played with yourself that
somehow you're different andyou're outside of that.
(50:11):
And God's inviting you and I tothis oneness, because there's
healing there, there's wholenessthere for us.
So don't be a dumb moose outthere, hiding in plain sight, as
(50:33):
if I'm not part of this,because you've always been part
of it.
You're God's plan.
You're God's plan, you're God'sdaughter, you're God's son, and
so he's inviting us today.
(50:54):
And I think these practices areso good for us.
It's so good to see somebodywho's hungry and bring them food
, because we can live a life asif that's not happening.
(51:14):
We're hiding in plain sight whenthere's need all around us, and
that's why I love the practiceof the table, because I'm
pretending like I don't need mydaily bread and I need to be
awakened out of that dream tothe reality that I'm one with
(51:39):
God, and I'm one with you andyou're one with me.
Speaker 1 (51:44):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's sermon.
If you would like moreinformation about us, visit us
online at firstlovechurchorg.
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