Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Hey, happy Valentine's Day, guys! I see some lovely couples and some of us soon to be. No, I'm kidding, I'm not sure. If you didn't come with one, then choose one now. No, but you know, hey, you know, the thing is, what's your favorite love song? I could ask, and odds are that you have something that comes to mind. Maybe for some of us it goes back to high school, maybe, or Your First Love. For some of us, maybe it's something you heard more recently. For some of us, it's maybe, you know, our song that comes to mind, or the thing that you played at your wedding reception. But you know, the thing is, although our culture sings about love constantly, you know, our most popular songs really are love songs.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:47]:
It's the most numerous, our love songs. Sometimes our entire careers, or musicians' entire careers, are built on on falling in love, falling out of love, right? And the whole gamut of that is getting back in love. And romantic movies dominate streaming. Valentine's Day is the largest, one of the largest retail holidays in the country. And it's because I think we're all captivated by love stories. But here's the tension. Last week we talked about loneliness, right? And the pervasiveness of it and how it's at historic highs, that marriage rates have declined, friendships are thinner, people report feeling unknown and unseen, feeling unseen. We know that social isolation is increasing and political hostilities tend to be increasing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:44]:
And so, you know, with all of these things that are happening, you know, We still love the idea of love, but I think what we struggle with is the endurance and the sacrifice and commitment of love. Because it's easier to post the fact that we love and we're being patient, but it's much harder to celebrate— it's much easier to celebrate love in public. It's much harder to do it in private. It's easier to talk about love than to forgive somebody and to extend grace to somebody. We're all entertained by love, a great love story, but the thing is, the problem is, we're not being formed by it. And so Jesus called us to something deeper than slogans and cards. Nothing wrong with slogans and cards, right? We all probably like those things. But John Stott was asked once, he said, "What are we made for?" And he answered, "As fish are made for water, humans are made for love." The theological basis he gets is that we were made to be in relationship with God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:59]:
And Jesus calls us to something deeper than blogs and posts. And so scripture says it, you know, more succinctly, more directly, just says this: God is love. God is love. And if God is love, then he is the one we talked about being in relationship always and inviting us into relationship. And Jesus summarized life like that, that would maybe look like this in Matthew 22. Verses 37 to 38, summarized in these two clips from those verses, it says this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. And so it does play out that we ought to be loving God and having the love of God in us. We ought to be loving people and having the love of God to love people in us, because we're not just meant to experience love.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:58]:
We're meant to become loving people. And that's two different things, right? You can love without becoming a loving person, but we never become the people God wants us to be by accident. It's something that we have to discipline ourselves to. We have to train ourselves for. And so there's that challenge, right? And part of it is because our culture is so strong in talking about the feelings of love that sometimes people will say that simply. What is love? It's that special feeling, right? It's that tingle in your, you know, whatever, that place that you feel in your heart, in your mind, and whatever it is. And he says, but if love is only a feeling, then of course we can fall into it, but we can fall out of it. Because feelings come and go.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:50]:
We all know that. And others say love is just an action, right? Love is a verb. Love is something that you do, so we should just do it. But we've also seen that love without heart can become mechanical, maybe cold, maybe robotic. And so we need to go beyond just the either/or But sometimes we need to look at how do those things, both of them, go together— both a sense of feeling and a sense of action. And how that works together is we talked about in the beginning of our series, the matters of the heart, is the difference between the trained and protected heart and the one that is unguarded and untrained. And what he's saying is the untrained heart, the unguarded heart, can never really love the way we were called to unless it becomes protected, unless it becomes guarded. The Apostle Paul said it like this, probably one of the greatest passages on love in 1 Corinthians 13.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:04]:
He says, if I speak in the tongues of men or angels but have not love, I am a resounding gong. You can say loving things, maybe do loving things, and if you do, what would happen is that if there was not love in us, that's what he says we sound like, right? And I'm glad Aaron is playing drums and not the electronic drum that just goes "tuk" like that. So the thing is that we understand that it's not just saying loving things, right? It's because you can say loving things and not have love. You can serve and not love. You can stay married and not love. Love is not just a feeling. Love is not just an action, but love is the condition of a heart that is being transformed. And so we're going to read together what love looks like according to God in 1 Corinthians 13, verses 4 to 8.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:12]:
Can you be kind enough— let's stand in reverence for God, reverence for his word, and let's read together God's description of love. He says it like this. Ready? Let's read. Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:35]:
It does not dishonor others. It's not self-seeking. It's not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and love never fails. You know, this may not reflect everyone's experience to this point in life, and if it hasn't, if it doesn't reflect all of your experience, your experience at this point in life, would you know this is God's picture of love? And it talks about 8 things that it doesn't do, right? It doesn't brag, doesn't just focus on all your mistakes. Sometimes we need to unlearn some of the experiences we've had.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:29]:
And sometimes it says the things that it does, right? What does it do? It's patient, it's kind, and it always perseveres, always hopes, always trusts. Love never fails. And some of us have had love fail. But this is God's picture. This is God's design. He says when the heart has been changed, this is what love will look like. And so Jesus says it's rooted in the heart. He says it like that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:00]:
You shall love the Lord your God with what? All your heart, right? It's rooted in your heart, but it's not merely behavior. Yes, love has action, But it's— Dallas Willard said it like this: love is not merely behavior, it's a source of action. So God wants to empower your heart to love. And so we're going to look at how we learn to love this evening. And so do me a favor, just turn to your neighbor, sis, and just tell them, I can learn how to love better, right? I can learn to be a more loving person. Because when love becomes the conditions of our heart, actions flow naturally, or supernaturally we could say. And you don't occasionally do loving things, but we become loving people. And that's why 1 Corinthians doesn't describe love as chemistry or excitement as much as character.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:02]:
It's patient, it's kind, it's It's not self-seeking. It's not tallying who did what, when, and keep a record of wrongs. It's protective. It's hopeful. It perseveres, right? That's not butterflies. That's formation. That's transformation. Because the real enemy of love is not hate biblically.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:29]:
It's actually indifference. Because we often think of the opposite of love as hate, right? And so we might even say it like that. But the story of the Good Samaritan paints a picture of people who were really spiritual people, some of the most spiritual people that are around. And it tells about this in Luke chapter 10. In Luke chapter 10, before the passage that we looked at that's printed in your note, It says that it was at that point an expert in the law, someone who knew the scriptures and was well-grounded, probably a scribe or a Pharisee, someone who knew it well. It says he questioned Jesus and it says, you know, what, you know, about eternal life and all of these things. And he talks about love your neighbor as yourself, right? He talks about loving God with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul, all of your strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself. But then it says this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:30]:
He— before Jesus tells the story, he says, seeking to justify himself, seeking to justify himself, Jesus tells the story. And then he launches into the story, and he says, in reply, Jesus said, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and when he was attacked by robbers, they stripped him of his clothes, they beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. And a priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by— where? On the other side, right? So too a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. And I don't think it's because they were all walking on the other side. I think they saw him and they went on the other side. I think that's the implication. And but it says this: But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was And when he saw him, he took pity on him. Let's say took pity on him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:28]:
Sometimes we say this, right? We just say, I don't want to be— I don't want people to pity me, right? And I don't want to give people pity. But in this case, was it— is this a negative thing or a positive thing? It's a positive thing, right? It's this expression of compassion. He says he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. And then he put the man on his own donkey his own donkey, meaning the donkey that the Good Samaritan was riding on. And then he says, the next day he took out 2 denarii, which is 2 days' wages, gave it to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have. And which of these 3 do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? And the expert in the law replied, the one who had mercy on him. And Jesus told him what? Go do likewise.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:25]:
Now the priests and the Levites were some of the most spiritually recognized people in that culture, right? What would a spiritually recognized person look like in our culture? I don't think it's necessarily a guy on TV or the guy who, you know, preaches. But it's, to be honest, we might think they are, you know, it's not— maybe sometimes you think the Pope, maybe, you know, when Mother Teresa was alive, Mother Teresa, and she might have been a person who comes alongside. But when we look at the priest and the Levite, they didn't attack the man, right? They didn't insult him, they didn't hate him, it says, right? So they had no cause, right? They had no harm. They did no harm to the man. What did they do? They just walked by. They just walked by. Indifference says, "That's not my problem." Love says, "I see you. What can I do?" Love begins with attention.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:34]:
And so sometimes hearts grow cold because indifference doesn't happen overnight. It happens slowly. Often we come out of the gate, maybe in relationships, and we're so attentive as much as possible. And then you probably don't hate your spouse, you don't hate God, but you just stop engaging. You don't seek to hate people, probably. You just get tired. And love doesn't die in one instant, usually. It dies when we stop tending to it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:15]:
And Scripture warns us that hearts can grow cold, and that's why our hearts have to be trained. Our hearts can drift, and so that's why it needs to be formed. You know, I grew up, uh, with a family that wasn't believers. And, and, uh, and, you know, my dad— I, I love my dad, and you guys, a lot of you guys know my dad before he passed. And, and sometimes I see my kids and we'll talk about the kid, my dad, and, and they ask, Dad, when you were young? And I'll tell stories about, like, Grandpa. And they said, oh, that don't sound like the Grandpa I knew, right? How many of you guys are grandpas now? Right? And then when your kids talk about you, right, that your grandkids say, well, that don't sound like grandpa, right? Because you guys changed over time, right? That you guys grew over time. My dad did too. But I remember him when I was young saying really dismissive things to my mom in public.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:18]:
And I knew it hurt. I remember one time— I don't know exactly where we were. We had a dining— We're at a table and it was a bunch of people and they were talking, they're telling some story and my mom said something and my dad says, "That cannot be. Are you stupid or what?" And I saw the look on my mom's face and I saw how hurt she was by that comment. My dad didn't say this like all the days of his life, but there was a season in his life. And, you know, I swore I'd never do that. I saw that in my mom's heart, and I thought, I'll never do that to my girlfriend in the future. I'll never do that to my wife in the future.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:05]:
And I didn't, you know, until one day in college. I was in a serious relationship, and we were thinking about marriage and all those things. And we were like a bunch of our friends and telling some story and just talking and laughing. And then it got like into some issue and some— on that debate, but you know, you're kind of explaining and all this stuff. And at that time my girlfriend said something and I just go, are you stupid? That can't be true. And then I saw the same look. And at the end of that time when we were in private, we had a series of intense fellowship moments. But I understood that when I saw the look on her face, that I didn't intend to harm, but I did harm.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:05]:
And sometimes we fail to love because we repeat what has been formed in us through years and observations and previous relationships and all of those things. It fails because we didn't just drift into Christ-likeness. You got to choose that, and you got to place yourself in that. You got to train for it, right? How do we train for that? You do have to practice attention and intentionality. You know, for myself in that moment, I had to stop making excuses. I had to say, I say stuff that's not good, and I can't blame my dad, and I cannot blame what was said. I cannot say— it's like, I need to change. I need to be more careful, right? And so sometimes you, when you're not paying attention, you're not paying attention to people, you're not paying attention to that, you just say— I don't know about you guys, but I can just say stuff, right? And but sometimes there's this aspect we say, I gotta stop making excuses for myself because the thing I excuse, I will never change.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:28]:
And I say I paid attention to this aspect of watching the words that came from my mouth. Is that all there is to love? No, because you got to practice compassion as well, right? And sometimes we start asking, you know, what is it that I can do, or what is it that I should do? And sometimes we— maybe we, before we ask what we should do, maybe we should ask ourselves, what would it feel like to be that person? I thought about that for my girlfriend in that time. I had to think about those things in my kids when the S-word has come up. In my house once, there was like, "Hala, Daddy said the S-word." That was stupid. I said, "Stupid's not a bad word." And then I made excuses. It's not a bad word. It's how it's used. But I needed to say, I needed compassion.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:40]:
I needed to practice prayer because sometimes there's people that it's hard to love because it comes out so easily. Because we're disconnected. We come out so easily because we're disrespected. We come out so easily because we disrespect them. What do we do in places like that? Jesus says we pray, right? In fact, one of the more famous verses which a lot of us tend to ignore is in Matthew 5:44. Pray for your enemies and those who persecute you. Now, what do you— when you pray for your enemies, what it sometimes— it's a very short prayer, really. Get them, Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:29]:
No, but like, we can, right? We can say things, we can pray, but the thing is that what is it saying? There's some people that it's hard to pray for., but we ought to pray for, right? And, and the prayer we pray is for God's moving in their life, God's compassion in their life, God's, God's help in their life. Or we can remain indifferent, just walk on the other side of the road and not cause harm, just ignore them. And sometimes there's just small acts of obedience. I don't know if you've been in this place where God has nudged you to do something you don't want to do— extend yourself to someone you don't want to extend yourself to, be kind to someone who hasn't been kind to you. It's sometimes that small obedience that forms our character. That you don't have to try harder all the time, but you do have to train your heart to become more loving. It's not always easy, and you won't be changed in an instant. But repeated actions, repeated choices, when the source of that action and the source of that extension is because, God, when I cannot love like you can love— have you ever been in this place? I've just asked, I cannot, Lord, but would you love through me somehow? Would you somehow choose, would you somehow move in that way? It's in that moment that at times the whisper becomes clearer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:35]:
But the love of God is not just an example, it's also the source for our strength to love. Right? It's not just an example, it's not just what WWJD, what would Jesus do? It's something that you and I need to experience. Why? Because there's a foundation of it, but it is an experience of it. And it says it like this in, in 1 John 3:1. It says, see what kind— can we say what kind of love the Father has given to us? What kind of love does God give to you and me? And then it says this, that we should be what? Called children of God. I'm sorry if it's got cut off, that this is what it says on the last part of that verse: and so we are. It doesn't just say— I don't know why it got cut like that, but it doesn't just say that God calls us his sons but we're not really. It says, and such we are.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:40]:
Do me a favor, just tell— turn to your neighbor, says, you're a child of God. Right? If you believe in Jesus, you trust him, you're a child of God. And so what does that do? That love— and God, we say God is love. Does it mean because God is not just? Because God is not holy? Because God doesn't care? It's like all the same to him? No, it's not. God's love sees my sin and sees your sin. God's love sees your rebellion and sees my rebellion. God's love saw when I was indifferent and I just walked on the other side. But it's not limited by my sin, because God's love forgives, cleanses, changes, right? We see this in 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:35]:
What does it say? If anyone is in Christ, he is what? A new creation. You know, the gospels say it like this, that Jesus says that you become born again, not physically, but something in you becomes alive, a new spirit, a new heart, and that heart needs to be trained But you don't manufacture this love, you receive it. You, you, you don't pretend and fake your way into it as much as you absorb it and you let it reshape you. There are times we do it. It's not same as faking it, but we face it from times. Lord, I, I don't feel like doing it, but God, I'm asking you Because you said I'm going to do it. I'm going to ask you to love through me today because the reality is I'm not full of love. And there's something that happens when that's done repeatedly and we're focused on the love of God and we receive it for ourselves, be refreshed in the love of grace, the love of God and the grace of God, that something changes in us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:57]:
Now, I had mentioned that at the beginning of this series that every week we're going to have some kind of exercise for us to, to practice, right, to develop, because we're talking about how we're training our heart. And so these are some of the exercises for the week. The first one is this, that practice attention, right, because Indifference happens when we're not attentive. Love begins when we see someone. And ask yourself this: who in my life have I stopped noticing? Sometimes the people we stop noticing the most are the people closest to us. Sometimes it's the people in our house. Sometimes it's literally our neighbor. Sometimes it's that person you go to work with that sometimes rubs you the wrong way.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:02]:
But who have I stopped noticing? Or second one is this: where have I become emotionally numb? Love hasn't died. You just went numb. But practice attention. Second is practice compassion before action. So instead of asking, what do I have to do? Ask— can we read that? What does it say? What would it feel like to be them? And what would Jesus want me to do? Some of the people that I know who have done the most sacrificial loving things in the world when I asked them about it, taking people into their home. I had some, I've seen them taking care of people that I just assumed was family, and then you find out they're not even related. And to be honest, then I thought, oh, that guy must be the nicest guy in the world. And then I find out like, oh, that guy even not that nice.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:08]:
And And I asked them, like, why in the world are you guys doing that? Like, taking care of him, doing all these things, like literally in a care home almost like situation. And the answer I got, well, we just thought that's what Jesus would want us to do. Man, I just— you know what I thought? I'm not there yet. I'm not there yet, but, but I see that it's possible because this is normal local people, right? People at church. Practice prayer for the person you feel nothing, right? Practice prayer for that person. The one who's been your enemy, the one who's backstabbed you, the one who talks stink about you. We all know that. We all have somebody that talks stink about us, right? Right? I'm not the only person.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:10]:
I know there's people who have talked stink about me. I'm not pointing fingers today, but I would talk to you after. No, I'm just joking. No, right? But we all know there's some people that they say uncharitable things because you hear it, right? You'll hear it at work or you'll hear it at a family gathering. You'll hear it at some kind of a session. And so, can you pray? Because the other thing is we just say, I just cut them off. But God says this: if you're going to grow in love, it says even pray for those who are your enemies, even those who hate you, because prayer reshapes my heart as much as it impacts their hearts. And just, just practice small acts of obedience.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:03]:
It's the small acts over a period of time that refines our character, that changes who we are. That sometimes if we wait till we feel something, we'll never do it. But when we willingly decide to engage and treat someone well, to be honest, we change as a result. And sometimes this is the— this is how it is too. It's like you, you change your heart by sometimes choosing how to move your body or engage with someone, or giving yourself to Jesus to say, God, use me in this situation. And that's why sometimes, you know, in worship, did you guys ever hear like the guys when they're leading, they say, hey, hey, let's clap, right? Because sometimes you guys ever come in and worship, and maybe not so much Saturday, but I see it sometimes on Sunday morning, it's like people need an extra cup of coffee before they come. Because it's like, wow. Every once in a while I see that in the morning.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:15]:
Saturday, you guys been up, you come, but sometimes— you ever been in that place, you hear the clap and he says, hey, let's sing everybody, right? Why do they do that? Is it because, hey, we need some help on the low end and the high end and ladies? Is that why they're doing it? That's not why they're doing it. Believe me, that's not why they're doing it. They're doing it because they know If you engage your body, your spirit will change. When we raise our hand, not just because somebody said, but we take that as a cue, "God, I'm just raising my hand to you," and we worship, there's something of surrender that happens. There's times when we worship with our own voice that those words begin to echo in our heart. We smile. To be honest, you generally become happier. Is it in every circumstance? No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:16]:
But over time, in various places, it changes you. What you do and what I do changes us. So practice small acts of obedience. Hey, we want to turn the corner here. You know, we said earlier that indifference was the real enemy of love. And maybe when you think about it, I'm guessing there's some in our room today, you're not angry, you're tired. Some of you, you're not hostile, You're just a little numb at this stage of the game. Some, you don't hate God, you just haven't been close to him for a while.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:08]:
Some of us, we don't hate people, you just stop caring. But I know this evening God wants to move tonight. And that the Spirit of God wants to touch us if we let him, if we invite him. Because the scripture says this: fan into the flame. 1 Timothy 1:6 says this: fan into flame the gift of God. What does that imply? How do you fan into flame something? You fan into flame something means that there's embers somewhere. There's something hot, it's just, it's kind of been covered over and it's receded a little bit. But when it's fanned, that wind provides energy to combust, provides a necessary ingredient.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:14]:
It means there's still something of faith in you, still compassion in you, still calling in you, still love in you. Just sometimes love has a way of covering it over when we haven't trained our heart. So remember what God did in Genesis. What did he do? He took the man. It says he formed him from the dust of the earth. And then what did he do? He breathed, it said, the breath of life, and became living. If we feel like sometimes I'm not living, I'm existing, can we just ask the Spirit of God to breathe? Because you were made to more than exist. You're made to live, and you're made to love.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:05]:
In Ezekiel the wind brought on the bones in the vision, and what happened? They came to life. In Acts, the fearful disciple, when the Spirit came on him, he became bold, but it was by the Spirit of God. So if we're here today If you're saying this, you know, God, I was more on fire for you at some point in my life, he's just saying this: come, fan into that flame, love me like you loved me in the beginning. God, I don't hate you, but I confess my heart's grown cold. He doesn't want indifference in the heart. He wants us to be hot for him. God, would you warm me again? Fan that in me today. This is— when I say that, it's not shame or things, but let's bow our head.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:15]:
Let's bring ourselves before him. And if you're here, just honestly before God, if you look, because in an important relationship in your life. It's not that you hate them, but we become a little distant, we become a little indifferent. Maybe in our walk with God, that it doesn't feel like a relationship, it feels more like the religious thing to do. If that's you and you're in that place and you want that renewal in you, you want the Spirit of God to flow and blow on you all over again, fan into a flame. With our heads bowed, eyes closed, would you just raise your hand to the Lord? Maybe it's so that you can focus on him. Maybe it's so that, that you can love the person that is in your life the way that God wants you to love them. Maybe it's so that you're not walking on the other side of the street, but you're drawing close.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:27]:
Maybe there's this portion that where you can pray for that person who has wounded you, and it's not so much so that they get free, but it's that you can be free. Father, we're just asking right now, Spirit of the living God, You who came from heaven when you hovered over the chaotic waters of the earth, Lord, you brought order out of chaos. Would that same Spirit that fell on the disciples in the upper room, would it fall afresh on us? Fall afresh on us. And would you repeat after me? Holy Spirit, breathe in me. Holy Spirit, breathe on me. Let's say it one more time louder. Lord, Holy Spirit, come breathe on me. Father, we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, we break the spirit of indifference off of our lives.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:48]:
Father, we pray that numbness would be replaced with feeling once again. Lord, we are choosing to refuse to stay cold in our homes. We're choosing today in our marriages, Lord, in our church, Father. We're choosing today in our friendships, Lord, in our city, God, that we're not going to let our heart grow cold. We're going to want it to be fanned into a flame. Would you blow your Spirit on us? Inflame those embers. Cause them to burn brightly again. God, we receive.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:35]:
Lord, we receive your love. We receive your strength. God, change us. We have no excuse. We have need. Come in Jesus' name. Restore the fire in Jesus' name. Fill your people.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:00]:
Restore hope. Restore love. Because we thank you, love never fails. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. Amen. Hey, you know, with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, you know, maybe you've never responded to God's love. In that, in that passage in 1 Corinthians we read, it talks about in heaven there's going to be things that change. In heaven there's going to be no preaching.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:39]:
Some of us are happy there's no need for preaching because we'll know, we'll see. This is going to be no prophecy, right? There's there's gonna be no speaking in tongues, no need for that, because it's all gonna be right in there. But you know what stays? Is love. Love never fails because love never leaves. And when we leave this place to the next place, he says, That love is on forever and ever, only getting greater and stronger. But in order for that to happen, you got to receive that now. You got to start in this life. You don't start in the next life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:31]:
You start in this life. And if you've never responded to God's invitation to become his friend, to become his son, to become his daughter, I invite you today, because until that time happens, you can try all you want, you can do all the best things, you can walk, you know, all the old folks across the street and give to whatever charity you want. But he says this: until we get love in our heart that touches us from the love of God, this is— we're a clanging cymbal and a noisy gong. But he says that when you receive it, you know what happens? You become a new creation. So if you're here or you're at home online, you're somewhere in a car or wherever you're at, if you've never said yes to Jesus, but you said, Lord, that's— I need that today. I need something to change in me. I've tried— some of us, we've tried changing our lives. And it didn't really work.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:36]:
You know what? Let God change you. You don't have to change for him. He says this: when you come to him, he'll start change in you. And it starts by loving you, forgiving you, and cleansing you, because Jesus paid the price for you. If you've never done that, we're going to pray a very simple prayer. I'm going to invite you to come Pray it along with me. Lord Jesus, I recognize I need you and I want you today. Thank you that you want me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:12]:
Thank you that you love me. Thank you that you died in my place so I would not need to suffer judgment and separation from you. For all of eternity. Come, Lord Jesus, forgive me, cleanse me, because of what you've done in my place. I receive you as Savior and Lord. Lead me and guide me and help me to grow and to know you more and more as your child. You, Lord, are my God, my Savior, and I belong to you. In Jesus' name, God's people say amen.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:03]:
Amen. Hey, can we say congratulations to those folks who prayed? And this is the beginning of the journey. It's a great journey. If you've said yes to Jesus tonight, you know, we have some stuff that we'd like to give you. And if you do, you can text us at our text in church. And we'll actually— and give us an email address and we can email you something. Or if you're in the house, you guys know in the back we have some, uh, yes packets in the back, but you can text us at 808-793-5655 and we'll shoot an email, you some of that. But hey, God bless you guys.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:37]:
Thanks for joining us today.