WEBVTT 00:00:18.730 --> 00:00:21.570 Well, good morning church. It's good to be with 00:00:21.570 --> 00:00:22.989 all of you. If you don't know me, my name is 00:00:22.989 --> 00:00:28.289 Lucas Liebforth. I serve on the staff here. I'm 00:00:28.289 --> 00:00:31.489 over our family ministries. And it is my joy, 00:00:31.570 --> 00:00:34.270 it is my privilege to be able to bring the word 00:00:34.270 --> 00:00:38.369 of God this morning. I heard a story once about 00:00:38.369 --> 00:00:43.049 a guy who, he had this old ceramic mug that he 00:00:43.049 --> 00:00:45.659 used every single morning. He'd wake up. He'd 00:00:45.659 --> 00:00:48.320 go downstairs, go up to the cupboard, grab the 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:51.859 mug, put it on his coffee maker, turn the coffee 00:00:51.859 --> 00:00:54.340 maker on, he'd use this every day. It was an 00:00:54.340 --> 00:00:58.460 ordinary mug, wasn't anything expensive, it wasn't 00:00:58.460 --> 00:01:01.640 anything that was sentimental, he just used it. 00:01:01.780 --> 00:01:05.120 It was his go -to cup. And one morning, in his 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:08.260 routine, he reaches for it, he grabs it and he 00:01:08.260 --> 00:01:12.180 drops this cup. And it shatters on the floor, 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:15.209 completely. It wasn't. just shattering in two 00:01:15.209 --> 00:01:18.650 pieces, it wasn't a clean break, it exploded 00:01:18.650 --> 00:01:22.730 into all of the impossible fragments that you 00:01:22.730 --> 00:01:26.390 can't even vacuum up. And it makes you think, 00:01:26.609 --> 00:01:30.030 yeah, that cup is done. There's no rescuing that 00:01:30.030 --> 00:01:34.329 cup. And so he did his best to gather all of 00:01:34.329 --> 00:01:37.750 the pieces. He sat with them for just a second 00:01:37.750 --> 00:01:42.150 and he realized something. Some things do not 00:01:42.150 --> 00:01:45.250 break clean. Some things don't break clean some 00:01:45.250 --> 00:01:49.549 things break in a way that you don't know how 00:01:49.549 --> 00:01:52.790 to repair and That reminded me when I heard that 00:01:52.790 --> 00:01:57.409 story of something called Kintsugi Kintsugi it's 00:01:57.409 --> 00:02:01.769 a Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with 00:02:01.769 --> 00:02:05.359 gold They don't hide the cracks, rather they 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:08.039 highlight the cracks. They honor the cracks. 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:12.360 And the pottery, it becomes more valuable after 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:15.500 the breaking because the gold, it doesn't erase 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:19.879 the history. It redeems the history. And that's 00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:24.180 what brokenness feels like in real life. A relationship 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:28.560 cracks, a friendship splinters, a family shifts, 00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:34.169 a church fractures. And at first you think it's 00:02:34.169 --> 00:02:36.409 fine, we can patch this, no problem. But then 00:02:36.409 --> 00:02:41.909 you start to realize as you get closer to the 00:02:41.909 --> 00:02:45.330 pieces that the break is deeper than you wanted 00:02:45.330 --> 00:02:49.810 to admit. That is the world that John is writing 00:02:49.810 --> 00:02:53.629 into. That is the world that he's writing into. 00:02:53.849 --> 00:02:56.509 It's a church that is cracked, a community that 00:02:56.509 --> 00:02:59.400 has fractured. One where people have left, there 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:03.120 are questions that are up in the air. And John, 00:03:03.379 --> 00:03:06.479 he's not showing up with hype, he's not showing 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:10.219 up with a 100 point vision and strategy plan 00:03:10.219 --> 00:03:13.039 of how we can get all of those people back into 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:16.800 our seats. He shows up with gold, he shows up 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:21.659 with the love of God. A love that is strong enough 00:03:21.659 --> 00:03:25.319 to fill the cracks, to fill what fractured. A 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:27.419 love that is steady enough to hold what broke 00:03:27.419 --> 00:03:30.879 and a love that is powerful enough to rebuild 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:34.699 what division shattered. And so before we go 00:03:34.699 --> 00:03:38.099 any further, before we unpack this, I want us 00:03:38.099 --> 00:03:40.599 to hear these words the way the early church 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:43.400 heard them as a letter spoken into the middle 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:45.539 of a fracture. So if you are able to, would you 00:03:45.539 --> 00:03:48.020 please stand with me for the reading of God's 00:03:48.020 --> 00:03:51.719 word. We're in 1 John chapter four, seven through 00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:55.069 11. It will be on the screens. And we stand because 00:03:55.069 --> 00:03:58.409 this isn't just information, this is not just 00:03:58.409 --> 00:04:01.050 ancient literature, this is the living word of 00:04:01.050 --> 00:04:05.129 God, breathed out by the spirit and still speaking 00:04:05.129 --> 00:04:08.789 into real communities today. So listen for the 00:04:08.789 --> 00:04:11.870 heartbeat behind those words. Verse seven, beloved, 00:04:12.409 --> 00:04:16.370 let us love one another for love is from God 00:04:16.370 --> 00:04:19.509 and whoever loves has been born of God and knows 00:04:19.509 --> 00:04:22.980 God. Anyone who does not love does not know God 00:04:22.980 --> 00:04:27.819 because God is love in This the love of God was 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:31.180 made manifest among us that God sent his only 00:04:31.180 --> 00:04:33.899 son into the world So that we might live through 00:04:33.899 --> 00:04:37.899 him in this is love not that we have loved God 00:04:37.899 --> 00:04:40.860 But that he loved us and sent his son to be the 00:04:40.860 --> 00:04:45.180 propitiation for our sins Beloved if God so loved 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:49.220 us. We also ought to love one another Amen, you 00:04:49.220 --> 00:04:54.339 may be seated. Father, thank you for your word. 00:04:55.259 --> 00:04:59.180 Thank you that in every season, in the lows, 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:01.360 in the highs, in the ones that are confusing, 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:05.540 the ones that are painful, that you speak with 00:05:05.540 --> 00:05:09.199 clarity and you speak with love. Lord, would 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:11.939 you open our hearts today? Would you heal what 00:05:11.939 --> 00:05:14.079 is cracked and would you steady what is feeling 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:18.220 shaky? God, would you form us into a people who 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:22.399 look like you, people who love like you, and 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:27.259 live out what we just read. We're listening, 00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:32.040 in Jesus' mighty name, amen. The healing of a 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:35.060 divided church, it does not begin with strategy. 00:05:35.220 --> 00:05:38.560 The healing of a divided church begins by letting 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:41.899 the love of God reshape how we see him, how we 00:05:41.899 --> 00:05:45.480 see ourselves, and how we see each other. And 00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:47.160 so here's where we're going this morning in this 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:49.839 passage. Our first point is God's love heals 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.000 what division breaks. Then we're gonna move into 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:55.199 God's love lives in God's people. And then our 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:58.259 third point is God's love pushes fear out of 00:05:58.259 --> 00:06:02.279 the room. So it's three movements with a singular 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:05.819 thread throughout. One truth, the love of God 00:06:05.819 --> 00:06:12.160 rebuilds what human strength cannot fix. You 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:15.129 can fake. a lot of things in church. You can 00:06:15.129 --> 00:06:19.550 fake energy. You can fake passion. You can even 00:06:19.550 --> 00:06:23.189 fake spirituality for a season. But you cannot 00:06:23.189 --> 00:06:26.589 fake love. You can't fake love. And if we wanna 00:06:26.589 --> 00:06:30.430 see God move, if we wanna see students discipled, 00:06:30.449 --> 00:06:33.810 if we wanna see families restored and lives transformed, 00:06:33.910 --> 00:06:36.370 it's not gonna happen because we're making Sunday 00:06:36.370 --> 00:06:39.790 morning great. It's not gonna happen because 00:06:39.790 --> 00:06:42.370 our events are executed perfectly. It's not gonna 00:06:42.370 --> 00:06:44.449 happen because Wednesday night we're seeing record 00:06:44.449 --> 00:06:47.370 numbers in our youth and more and more are showing 00:06:47.370 --> 00:06:49.470 up. It's not gonna happen because of that. It 00:06:49.470 --> 00:06:53.670 is going to happen because the love of God actually 00:06:53.670 --> 00:06:58.209 lives inside of us. And that's why we need this 00:06:58.209 --> 00:07:03.389 passage today. Not as a suggestion, not as information, 00:07:03.949 --> 00:07:07.149 but it's foundational to the Christian walk. 00:07:08.269 --> 00:07:10.470 And so we're gonna walk through this, let me 00:07:10.470 --> 00:07:13.370 set up the text for us to give you context, okay? 00:07:13.649 --> 00:07:16.569 I want you to have the full backdrop. So John, 00:07:16.589 --> 00:07:20.709 he's writing to a network of small house churches 00:07:20.709 --> 00:07:24.910 that are in and around Ephesus. These are gatherings 00:07:24.910 --> 00:07:29.170 of 20, maybe 40 people that are meeting in homes, 00:07:29.389 --> 00:07:31.750 that is, they're meeting in these homes under 00:07:31.750 --> 00:07:35.449 the shadow of one of the most spiritually intense 00:07:35.449 --> 00:07:38.800 cities in the ancient world. Ephesus, it wasn't 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:41.379 neutral. In some ways, it's kind of like a modern 00:07:41.379 --> 00:07:43.899 day New York. In some ways, it was loud with 00:07:43.899 --> 00:07:47.800 magical practices, competing philosophies, we 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:50.379 had spiritual elitism, and then you had within 00:07:50.379 --> 00:07:53.420 all of that, you wanted to blend in, right? You 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:56.439 had the social pressure that was just coming 00:07:56.439 --> 00:08:00.379 up from the surface. And so into that atmosphere, 00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:04.459 there's a young Christian community. that had 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:06.480 been growing, they'd been worshiping, and they 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:09.120 had been faithfully learning to follow Jesus 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:13.019 together. They built a real spiritual family, 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:17.899 and like most families, there was a fracture. 00:08:19.620 --> 00:08:22.399 A group from inside the church began drifting 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:25.920 into a dangerous set of beliefs, and this wasn't, 00:08:26.060 --> 00:08:29.180 it was called Gnosticism. It wasn't full -grown 00:08:29.180 --> 00:08:31.939 Gnosticism yet. That comes a few decades later. 00:08:32.330 --> 00:08:36.049 but an early form of it called proto -gnosticism. 00:08:36.409 --> 00:08:38.710 Proto -gnosticism, I'm just gonna briefly go 00:08:38.710 --> 00:08:41.110 through it. This is important for our church 00:08:41.110 --> 00:08:45.029 history. Proto -gnosticism had four core beliefs. 00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:47.649 The first was that Jesus didn't really come in 00:08:47.649 --> 00:08:50.909 the flesh. So they taught that he only seemed 00:08:50.909 --> 00:08:55.529 human. Number two, salvation came through elite 00:08:55.529 --> 00:08:58.090 spiritual knowledge and not the cross. Okay, 00:08:58.090 --> 00:09:02.350 so they believed the deeper Christians had secret 00:09:02.350 --> 00:09:05.029 revelation, and that if you didn't have that 00:09:05.029 --> 00:09:08.629 secret revelation, you were essentially spiritually 00:09:08.629 --> 00:09:12.090 second class. And then the third point they taught 00:09:12.090 --> 00:09:15.169 was that the physical world didn't matter, and 00:09:15.169 --> 00:09:21.009 so sin didn't matter. If bodies aren't important, 00:09:21.210 --> 00:09:24.169 then obedience isn't important. And if obedience 00:09:24.169 --> 00:09:28.759 isn't important, then holiness is optional. And 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:30.919 here's the fourth one that they believed. They 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:34.919 acted spiritually superior to the church. Okay, 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:37.639 so when this fracture happened, they left with 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:40.820 a posture of we have the real truth and you do 00:09:40.820 --> 00:09:44.820 not. And so they walk away and in the wake of 00:09:44.820 --> 00:09:48.779 them leaving, they leave confusion. They're leaving 00:09:48.779 --> 00:09:50.879 heartache, they're leaving wounds, they're leaving 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:55.159 insecurity. And then suddenly the everyday believers 00:09:55.159 --> 00:09:58.889 are wondering. Are we missing something? Is my 00:09:58.889 --> 00:10:04.950 faith too simple? Are we even in the truth? And 00:10:04.950 --> 00:10:07.929 so John, this is what he's doing. He's stepping 00:10:07.929 --> 00:10:12.070 in like a seasoned spiritual father. He's bringing 00:10:12.070 --> 00:10:16.289 them back to the anchor. He's saying the embodied 00:10:16.289 --> 00:10:19.909 sacrificial love of God in Jesus Christ, not 00:10:19.909 --> 00:10:22.289 secret knowledge, is what makes you the people 00:10:22.289 --> 00:10:25.850 of God. And I also wanna say this before we get 00:10:25.850 --> 00:10:29.190 into it. Bad theology, bad theology, it doesn't 00:10:29.190 --> 00:10:33.330 just create confusion, it creates fractures. 00:10:34.549 --> 00:10:37.289 And so John, he's coming in and he is repairing 00:10:37.289 --> 00:10:41.970 both of these. And I also want you to know this 00:10:41.970 --> 00:10:44.250 matters today. This isn't just ancient text, 00:10:44.289 --> 00:10:48.509 this isn't just history, this is applicable now 00:10:48.509 --> 00:10:52.070 because we're living in a cultural moment where 00:10:52.070 --> 00:10:55.340 people, are building their spirituality out of 00:10:55.340 --> 00:11:01.480 vibes and self -invention. We're living in a 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:04.440 cultural moment where theology is treated like 00:11:04.440 --> 00:11:07.759 a personal preference. I like this, I don't like 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:11.720 that. We're living in a cultural moment where 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:17.200 my truth matters more than actual truth. A moment 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:20.039 where spirituality is detached from obedience. 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:25.580 A cultural moment where love gets redefined to 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:30.519 justify whatever someone wants. And then we also 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:33.100 have Christians that are thinking that emotions 00:11:33.100 --> 00:11:36.820 or experiences are deeper than scripture. And 00:11:36.820 --> 00:11:39.700 so these are the same currents that pulled the 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:43.379 early church apart. They are alive and well right 00:11:43.379 --> 00:11:45.720 now. They just have cooler branding and better 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:49.759 fonts. That's all they have. And I want you to 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:53.809 know this passage, it is not. academic, this 00:11:53.809 --> 00:11:57.389 passage is formative. It is God shaping his people. 00:11:57.629 --> 00:12:00.210 It is God setting guard rails around our hearts. 00:12:00.490 --> 00:12:07.429 It is God pulling us back to himself. And John 00:12:07.429 --> 00:12:09.889 is reminding us that real love begins with God. 00:12:09.970 --> 00:12:14.450 It flows from God and it stays anchored in God. 00:12:15.429 --> 00:12:17.710 That is why we're here and that is why this passage 00:12:17.710 --> 00:12:20.679 matters. So here's our first point, God's love 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:25.600 heals what division breaks. So John, he starts 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:29.559 where God starts, with identity. He starts with 00:12:29.559 --> 00:12:32.779 identity before effort. We see this in this passage, 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:37.620 Ephesians one, in many other passages. Beloved, 00:12:38.299 --> 00:12:40.840 let us love one another for love is from God. 00:12:42.019 --> 00:12:45.379 He's not saying to try harder, he is saying remember 00:12:45.379 --> 00:12:48.960 who you belong to. Because love it doesn't start 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:51.639 with you. You don't produce it you receive it 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:56.519 you receive love Whoever does not love does not 00:12:56.519 --> 00:13:01.059 know God because God is love So if God is love 00:13:01.059 --> 00:13:04.460 anyone connected to him will eventually reflect 00:13:04.460 --> 00:13:08.740 him Love isn't an optional thing for the Christian 00:13:08.740 --> 00:13:12.759 love is essential. It's evidential. It is fruit 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:16.059 not giftedness or passion or Bible knowledge 00:13:17.299 --> 00:13:21.840 Love is what reveals whether the life of God 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:29.220 is in you. Peter says that we have become partakers 00:13:29.220 --> 00:13:33.279 of the divine nature. What that means is when 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:35.980 you belong to Jesus, his character starts to 00:13:35.980 --> 00:13:39.940 reshape yours. If God's nature is love, then 00:13:39.940 --> 00:13:44.740 love will, not should, love will show up in your 00:13:44.740 --> 00:13:49.120 heart. Real Christian love, too. Love that is 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:52.399 humble, that is sacrificial, that is others first, 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:57.120 that is forgiving. That is the evidence of spiritual 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:01.820 life. And love, it doesn't save you, but it does 00:14:01.820 --> 00:14:05.860 show you that you've been saved. And if love 00:14:05.860 --> 00:14:09.059 is consistently absent, then I'd go so far to 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:11.980 say that something deeper is going on underneath 00:14:11.980 --> 00:14:17.059 the surface. And so John, he roots everything 00:14:17.059 --> 00:14:20.700 in the gospel here. In this, the love of God 00:14:20.700 --> 00:14:23.799 was made manifest among us that God sent his 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:26.460 only son into the world so that we might live 00:14:26.460 --> 00:14:29.899 through him. Okay, so God's love, it did not 00:14:29.899 --> 00:14:32.980 stay invisible. He revealed it in Jesus. We're 00:14:32.980 --> 00:14:34.960 gonna talk about this more through the Advent 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:39.240 season. But God sent his son, he made the first 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:43.529 move. Jesus is. the only son, one of a kind, 00:14:43.649 --> 00:14:46.870 who is fully God, fully man. He came into our 00:14:46.870 --> 00:14:50.730 world, our mess, into our darkness, and he came, 00:14:50.730 --> 00:14:53.789 why? So we could truly live, not just eternally, 00:14:54.049 --> 00:14:58.190 but as John 10, 10 says, abundantly. And then 00:14:58.190 --> 00:15:00.649 John proceeds to give the gospel in a singular 00:15:00.649 --> 00:15:03.590 sentence. In this is love, not that we loved 00:15:03.590 --> 00:15:06.470 God, but that he loved us and sent his son to 00:15:06.470 --> 00:15:11.470 be the propitiation for our sins. We didn't love 00:15:11.470 --> 00:15:14.710 God first, but he loved us first. We didn't chase 00:15:14.710 --> 00:15:18.029 him, but he chased us. We didn't fix our sin, 00:15:18.070 --> 00:15:22.289 but Jesus paid for it fully. Propitiation, it 00:15:22.289 --> 00:15:25.750 means he didn't just feel for us. He paid the 00:15:25.750 --> 00:15:29.009 price that our sin demanded. Okay, this is not 00:15:29.009 --> 00:15:31.850 just a sentimental type of love. This is a cross 00:15:31.850 --> 00:15:36.190 -shaped, costly love. That is the type of love 00:15:36.190 --> 00:15:43.019 that Jesus paid. Beloved, since God so loved 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:46.620 us, we also ought to love one another. Okay, 00:15:46.740 --> 00:15:49.840 the sense in this phrase, in this verse matters. 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:52.960 Since God loved us like this, since he moved 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:56.720 first, since Jesus died for us, since his love 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:00.440 is now in us, the natural response is to love 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:03.960 people the way he loved us. That is what spiritual 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:07.740 maturity looks like. That is family resemblance. 00:16:09.870 --> 00:16:13.250 And then John says another thing, no one has 00:16:13.250 --> 00:16:18.210 ever seen God, but if we love one another, God 00:16:18.210 --> 00:16:20.509 lives in us and his love is made complete in 00:16:20.509 --> 00:16:24.669 us. Okay, people can't physically see God, but 00:16:24.669 --> 00:16:29.309 they can see him through the way his people love. 00:16:30.690 --> 00:16:33.009 When believers love with patience, when believers 00:16:33.009 --> 00:16:35.330 love with sacrifice, when believers love with 00:16:35.330 --> 00:16:38.370 honesty and forgiveness, the invisible God becomes 00:16:38.370 --> 00:16:43.460 visible. Real love makes God real to people. 00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:47.940 That is why love is non -negotiable. Because 00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:49.700 if you wanna look like God, you're gonna love 00:16:49.700 --> 00:16:52.759 like God. If you wanna look like God, you will 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:56.379 love like God. And I also wanna say some of us 00:16:56.379 --> 00:16:59.600 claim Jesus but aren't actually walking in his 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:02.600 love. We're quick to criticize, we're slow to 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:05.640 forgive. We're holding grudges, we're keeping 00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:08.990 distance. And I just wanna say scripture, it 00:17:08.990 --> 00:17:12.829 doesn't shrug at that. Scripture says, if love 00:17:12.829 --> 00:17:17.509 is not in you, you do not know God. And that's 00:17:17.509 --> 00:17:19.769 not because God is harsh, but rather the opposite, 00:17:20.029 --> 00:17:24.049 because God is love, and encountering Him changes 00:17:24.049 --> 00:17:31.450 you. If point one shows us that God's love heals 00:17:31.450 --> 00:17:33.130 what division breaks, we're gonna move into our 00:17:33.130 --> 00:17:35.289 next point, and it's gonna show us what happens 00:17:35.289 --> 00:17:39.069 next. Because John, he doesn't stop with how 00:17:39.069 --> 00:17:42.009 God loves us, but he's moving into what the love 00:17:42.009 --> 00:17:46.250 does in us. And this is where the letter starts 00:17:46.250 --> 00:17:49.309 to shift. John goes from saying here's how God 00:17:49.309 --> 00:17:52.809 moved toward you, to saying here's what that 00:17:52.809 --> 00:17:55.309 love now wants to do through you. So it's not 00:17:55.309 --> 00:17:58.569 just vertical anymore, it's horizontal. Not just 00:17:58.569 --> 00:18:01.430 God loving you, but God's love living in you. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:06.200 Verse 12, no one has ever seen God. If we love 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:10.039 one another, God abides in us and his love is 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:13.759 perfected in us. Okay, so John, he's gonna start 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:17.460 continuing his thought from verse 12 into verse 00:18:17.460 --> 00:18:23.299 13 that we've already seen that God becomes visible 00:18:23.299 --> 00:18:26.480 through the way his people love. And so he's 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:28.640 gonna go deeper. He's telling us where that love 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:31.960 now comes from. By this we know that we abide 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:34.960 in him and he in us because he has given us of 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:37.819 his spirit. It is the spirit of God living inside 00:18:37.819 --> 00:18:40.599 of you. It's the spirit of God living inside 00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:44.279 of you. And John, he anchors everything to the 00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:47.819 gospel. The father has sent his son to be the 00:18:47.819 --> 00:18:50.880 savior of the world. Okay, this is fun. In John 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:56.190 4, 42, this is the woman at the well. This is 00:18:56.190 --> 00:18:58.890 when the Samaritans, verse 42 is when the Samaritans 00:18:58.890 --> 00:19:01.710 are telling the woman at the well, we have heard 00:19:01.710 --> 00:19:04.869 for ourselves and we know that this is indeed 00:19:04.869 --> 00:19:08.789 the savior of the world. That's the same language. 00:19:09.650 --> 00:19:11.829 Not just the savior of the Jews, not just the 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:14.569 savior of the Samaritans, not just the savior 00:19:14.569 --> 00:19:19.069 of the Gentiles, but savior for all who believe. 00:19:20.060 --> 00:19:23.119 And John, he's not speaking secondhand. This 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:25.880 is a first -hand account. This is eyewitness 00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:30.019 testimony because in 1 John 1, 1, he reminds 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:34.099 us that he and the other apostles saw Jesus, 00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:38.779 heard Jesus, touched Jesus. Their message is 00:19:38.779 --> 00:19:42.960 eyewitness testimony. In verse 15, here's our 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:46.319 response. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:48.579 son of God, God abides in him and he in God. 00:19:48.990 --> 00:19:52.170 Okay, this is bringing it back to the first part 00:19:52.170 --> 00:19:55.250 of this chapter in verses two and three, when 00:19:55.250 --> 00:19:59.650 he said the true spirit confesses Jesus. And 00:19:59.650 --> 00:20:03.289 now John is applying it personally. The one who 00:20:03.289 --> 00:20:06.529 confesses Jesus as the son of God is indwelt 00:20:06.529 --> 00:20:12.630 by God himself. Okay, this confession requires 00:20:12.630 --> 00:20:16.529 the full truth. That Jesus is both fully human 00:20:16.529 --> 00:20:20.519 and fully divine. About ten minutes ago. I brought 00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:23.519 up something that might have been new Proto Gnosticism 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:27.299 the first core belief was that Jesus only seemed 00:20:27.299 --> 00:20:31.279 human This completely dismantles that entire 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:36.440 logic in this one verse First Timothy 3 16 calls 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:40.119 this the mystery of godliness God revealed in 00:20:40.119 --> 00:20:43.980 the flesh without His humanity, He couldn't die 00:20:43.980 --> 00:20:46.500 and rise again in our place. And without His 00:20:46.500 --> 00:20:48.920 divinity, His sacrifice, it would not be perfect. 00:20:49.099 --> 00:20:53.059 It wouldn't be sinless or powerful to save. This 00:20:53.059 --> 00:20:58.000 is why John refuses to separate the two. The 00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:02.500 only Jesus who saves is the Jesus who is truly 00:21:02.500 --> 00:21:06.359 God and truly man. And when you confess that 00:21:06.359 --> 00:21:08.339 Jesus, you're not just believing a doctrine, 00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:12.460 you are entering into a union. One where God 00:21:12.460 --> 00:21:17.319 abides in you and you in him His love isn't something 00:21:17.319 --> 00:21:19.519 that you're watching from the sidelines But rather 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:23.440 it is it becomes the life that is flowing in 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:28.299 and through you And then verse 16 pulls all of 00:21:28.299 --> 00:21:31.779 this together So we have come to know and to 00:21:31.779 --> 00:21:34.579 believe the love that God has for us. Okay, so 00:21:34.579 --> 00:21:39.099 John is saying we We to show that all Christians 00:21:39.099 --> 00:21:42.339 share in this calling that we are meant to both 00:21:42.339 --> 00:21:48.660 know and to believe. And modern churches tend 00:21:48.660 --> 00:21:52.779 to divide the two. Some will emphasize believing 00:21:52.779 --> 00:21:55.900 without knowing. So you're getting people who 00:21:55.900 --> 00:21:58.480 accept Jesus, but never actually walk with him. 00:21:58.980 --> 00:22:01.680 And then you have others that are chasing knowing 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:05.180 God through emotional highs or constant activity, 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:07.960 but never actually trust Christ for salvation. 00:22:08.539 --> 00:22:11.220 Okay, their faith. is built on feelings instead 00:22:11.220 --> 00:22:14.680 of the finished work of Jesus. Well, Scripture 00:22:14.680 --> 00:22:19.799 never separates the two. James 2, 17 says, belief 00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:23.940 without action is dead. And John 17, verse three 00:22:23.940 --> 00:22:26.900 is, eternal life is both knowing and trusting 00:22:26.900 --> 00:22:29.720 the one true God in Jesus Christ whom he sent. 00:22:32.980 --> 00:22:35.339 And then John repeats the line from verse eight. 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:40.359 God is love. And whoever abides in love abides 00:22:40.359 --> 00:22:44.619 in God, and God abides in him. Love is the evidence, 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:47.500 the self -giving love that we see in 1 Corinthians 00:22:47.500 --> 00:22:51.539 13 that is patient, that is humble, that is sacrificial. 00:22:51.799 --> 00:22:54.140 That is the kind of love that looks like Jesus. 00:22:55.400 --> 00:22:59.240 And those who continue in that kind of love are 00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:03.180 the ones that are abiding in God. So that is 00:23:03.180 --> 00:23:06.690 the full sweep of 1 John. Chapter four, 14 through 00:23:06.690 --> 00:23:11.089 16, God sent his son. We confess who Christ really 00:23:11.089 --> 00:23:15.029 is. We know and we believe his love. And then 00:23:15.029 --> 00:23:19.009 that love begins to reshape us from the inside 00:23:19.009 --> 00:23:23.589 out as the clearest evidence that we belong to 00:23:23.589 --> 00:23:28.390 him. So I wanna give you a picture. I have a 00:23:28.390 --> 00:23:31.750 lamp here. This lamp, I'd like to say it's beautifully 00:23:31.750 --> 00:23:36.869 designed. It's got a great. shade, right color, 00:23:37.329 --> 00:23:40.829 a good bulb. It fits the aesthetic. It's got 00:23:40.829 --> 00:23:44.930 a wonderful stand that Matthew got for me. Attached 00:23:44.930 --> 00:23:49.549 to a black extension cord. It's in the right 00:23:49.549 --> 00:23:53.170 spot in the room. But if it's unplugged, nothing 00:23:53.170 --> 00:23:56.930 happens. It just sits there. It looks the part, 00:23:57.069 --> 00:24:00.210 but it's never lighting the room. And that's 00:24:00.210 --> 00:24:02.500 what the church looks like without love. That's 00:24:02.500 --> 00:24:04.079 what the church looks like without love because 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:06.200 we can have the right doctrine, we can have the 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:09.299 right songs, the right programming, the right 00:24:09.299 --> 00:24:12.859 branding, but if we are unplugged from the love 00:24:12.859 --> 00:24:18.599 of God, the room stays dark. But when we love 00:24:18.599 --> 00:24:20.460 each other with the love that comes from the 00:24:20.460 --> 00:24:24.519 Spirit, when we forgive, when we move toward 00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:28.619 each other, when we carry one another, when we 00:24:28.619 --> 00:24:33.369 stay even when it's messy. That's when the light 00:24:33.369 --> 00:24:37.150 comes on. That's when God becomes visible. And 00:24:37.150 --> 00:24:40.349 that is when the church actually looks like Jesus. 00:24:40.569 --> 00:24:44.890 Love is what plugs the lamp into the power source. 00:24:45.190 --> 00:24:48.609 That is the heartbeat of point two. When God's 00:24:48.609 --> 00:24:51.650 love lives in God's people, the world doesn't 00:24:51.650 --> 00:24:57.829 just see Christians, it sees Christ. And John, 00:24:57.829 --> 00:25:01.019 he's not done here. Because the same love that 00:25:01.019 --> 00:25:04.000 changes how we treat others also settles what 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:07.759 is happening inside of us. Some of us we love 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:11.500 well on the outside, but we are living scared 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:15.480 on the inside. And John, he's speaking to that, 00:25:15.740 --> 00:25:17.940 that God's love, it doesn't just flow out, but 00:25:17.940 --> 00:25:23.059 it calms, it steadies, it quiets fear. So let's 00:25:23.059 --> 00:25:27.579 look at our last point. God's love pushes fear 00:25:27.579 --> 00:25:31.240 out of the room. By this is love perfected with 00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:34.380 us so that we may have confidence for the day 00:25:34.380 --> 00:25:38.200 of judgment because as he is, so also are we 00:25:38.200 --> 00:25:41.099 in this world. Okay, God does not want his kids 00:25:41.099 --> 00:25:46.019 walking through life scared and afraid. He wants 00:25:46.019 --> 00:25:49.779 us confident. He wants us confident, not arrogant. 00:25:50.059 --> 00:25:54.880 He wants us secure. He wants us grounded. Augustine 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:59.000 said, God loves each of us as if there were only 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:04.200 one of us. The more God's love grows in you, 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:06.819 the more confidence that you have in standing 00:26:06.819 --> 00:26:10.819 before him. Confidence that is rooted in love 00:26:10.819 --> 00:26:14.460 is not pride. Confidence rooted in love is assurance. 00:26:16.589 --> 00:26:19.670 John adds because as he is so also are we in 00:26:19.670 --> 00:26:23.170 this world meaning our lives are are to reflect 00:26:23.170 --> 00:26:27.549 Jesus Athanasius an early church father said 00:26:27.549 --> 00:26:30.710 this the son of God became man so that we might 00:26:30.710 --> 00:26:36.029 become like God not divine like God, but Christ 00:26:36.029 --> 00:26:43.509 like The more we abide in love the more we resemble 00:26:43.509 --> 00:26:48.730 Jesus Then verse 18, there is no fear in love, 00:26:49.009 --> 00:26:53.049 but perfect love casts out fear. Fear and love 00:26:53.049 --> 00:26:57.009 cannot live in the same place. Fear, it shrinks 00:26:57.009 --> 00:27:00.750 you, it suffocates you. Fear whispers that God 00:27:00.750 --> 00:27:04.069 is disappointed. God is disappointed in you. 00:27:04.589 --> 00:27:09.269 But perfect love, love that is from God, it drives 00:27:09.269 --> 00:27:14.450 fear out of the room. C .S. Lewis, he once reflected 00:27:14.450 --> 00:27:17.960 on this verse. And he wrote, perfect love we 00:27:17.960 --> 00:27:20.920 know, casts out fear. But so do several other 00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:24.859 things, ignorance, alcohol, passion, presumption, 00:27:25.180 --> 00:27:28.599 and stupidity. Then he goes on, it is very desirable 00:27:28.599 --> 00:27:32.039 that we should all advance to that perfection 00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:35.559 of love in which we shall fear no longer. But 00:27:35.559 --> 00:27:38.920 it is very undesirable until we have reached 00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:42.099 it that we should allow any inferior agent to 00:27:42.099 --> 00:27:46.319 cast out our fear. Okay, Louis is reminding us 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:51.140 that only God's love removes fear in a way that 00:27:51.140 --> 00:27:56.180 heals you and doesn't harm you. Only God's love 00:27:56.180 --> 00:28:00.519 frees you without destroying you. Verse 19, we 00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:05.640 love because he first loved us. We don't originate 00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:10.319 love. God loved first, he pursued, he initiated. 00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:14.160 So everything that we give, Everything that we 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:20.619 give flows from what we have received from him. 00:28:22.299 --> 00:28:25.579 Verse 20, John gives the punch here. If anyone 00:28:25.579 --> 00:28:29.019 says I love God and hates his brother, he is 00:28:29.019 --> 00:28:33.420 a liar. Okay, so John's not softening this language. 00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:36.220 He is protecting the church. He's protecting 00:28:36.220 --> 00:28:39.759 those who are a part of the way, the early church, 00:28:39.819 --> 00:28:44.029 those who claim to be Christians. from self deception 00:28:44.029 --> 00:28:47.309 because you can't claim to love God while you 00:28:47.309 --> 00:28:52.289 are withholding love from people. And Jesus tied 00:28:52.289 --> 00:28:54.410 this together in the great commandment, love 00:28:54.410 --> 00:28:57.630 God and love others, love God fully, love your 00:28:57.630 --> 00:29:02.069 neighbors deeply. If you can't love the people 00:29:02.069 --> 00:29:05.549 you can see, then you can't claim to love the 00:29:05.549 --> 00:29:10.529 God you can't see. And then the summary in verse 00:29:10.529 --> 00:29:16.069 21. Whoever loves God must also love his brother. 00:29:17.089 --> 00:29:20.650 Okay, this is not advanced Christianity. This 00:29:20.650 --> 00:29:26.849 is Christianity 101. Love is the visible evidence 00:29:26.849 --> 00:29:32.490 of an invisible God. God's love in God's people 00:29:32.490 --> 00:29:38.720 is how the world is meant to see him. If you've 00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:41.500 had the privilege of seeing or getting to know 00:29:41.500 --> 00:29:45.619 my two -year -old Mac, he's high energy, little 00:29:45.619 --> 00:29:49.559 redhead. He already went home for his nap. But 00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:53.720 Mac, he nowadays flies up and down our stairs. 00:29:54.329 --> 00:29:57.390 Pretty much like it's nothing, but I remember 00:29:57.390 --> 00:30:01.190 Even a year ago when that was not the case Okay 00:30:01.190 --> 00:30:03.650 He was when he was first learning it was as if 00:30:03.650 --> 00:30:06.569 every step both for him and for me and for my 00:30:06.569 --> 00:30:10.490 wife Felt like a cliff right he'd walk up the 00:30:10.490 --> 00:30:13.329 stairs Much better than going down the stairs, 00:30:13.529 --> 00:30:18.609 but he'd walk up as if I got this and then he'd 00:30:18.609 --> 00:30:21.809 look down and then Suddenly those steps seemed 00:30:21.809 --> 00:30:26.480 a lot steeper, way bigger than they were just 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:31.319 a second ago. His hand would grab the railing, 00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:36.319 his legs would wobble. And it was like you could 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:39.960 physically see fear just rising up in his body. 00:30:41.319 --> 00:30:45.299 And so I would go close to him. I'd go up to 00:30:45.299 --> 00:30:47.640 him. I'm not grabbing him unless he needed me 00:30:47.640 --> 00:30:51.400 to catch him. I'm not forcing him to go up or 00:30:51.400 --> 00:30:55.720 down the stairs, but I'm near to him. I'm close 00:30:55.720 --> 00:30:59.339 to him. And the moment that he realized that 00:30:59.339 --> 00:31:02.099 I was there, it was as if everything changed. 00:31:03.140 --> 00:31:06.819 He physically started to relax. His foot reached 00:31:06.819 --> 00:31:10.200 for the next step. He'd look up, he'd smile, 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:14.420 he'd try again. These are the same stairs with 00:31:14.420 --> 00:31:18.119 the same scenario and the same kid. the same 00:31:18.119 --> 00:31:23.519 wobble, and yet the experience was totally different 00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:27.660 because dad was near. That is what the love of 00:31:27.660 --> 00:31:32.680 God does. Because fear, it freezes you. But love, 00:31:33.099 --> 00:31:37.119 perfect love, does for your soul what my presence 00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:40.940 in that moment did for my son. It steadies you, 00:31:40.980 --> 00:31:45.180 it calms you. It fills the space where fear used 00:31:45.180 --> 00:31:50.710 to sit. And so John, he doesn't just give a theory. 00:31:51.809 --> 00:31:54.849 He's describing what it feels like when God's 00:31:54.849 --> 00:31:58.490 love comes close. Perfect love, it doesn't take 00:31:58.490 --> 00:32:02.589 away the stairs. It takes away the fear of falling. 00:32:04.009 --> 00:32:07.150 And so when John says perfect love casts out 00:32:07.150 --> 00:32:09.589 fear, he's not saying that life gets easier. 00:32:09.829 --> 00:32:13.450 He's just saying that your heart becomes more 00:32:13.450 --> 00:32:17.069 secure. And it's not because you're strong, but 00:32:17.069 --> 00:32:21.829 rather because God is near. So Mac, he climbs 00:32:21.829 --> 00:32:25.009 with confidence now. It's not because he's mastered 00:32:25.009 --> 00:32:28.809 the stairs, but because he learned early that 00:32:28.809 --> 00:32:33.549 presence creates peace. And your confidence in 00:32:33.549 --> 00:32:37.289 God grows the same way. And that's not, it's 00:32:37.289 --> 00:32:40.529 through habits, not hype, habits, the daily rhythms 00:32:40.529 --> 00:32:44.589 of walking with Jesus. And so I'm gonna put up 00:32:44.589 --> 00:32:48.589 on the screen a few of the rhythms that form 00:32:48.589 --> 00:32:51.990 you. They're just a few, but opening scripture, 00:32:52.349 --> 00:32:54.670 slowing down in prayer, staying rooted in Christian 00:32:54.670 --> 00:32:57.789 community, worshiping faithfully, serving with 00:32:57.789 --> 00:33:00.890 joy. These are not things that are busy work. 00:33:01.490 --> 00:33:05.390 These are how you stay aware of the Father walking 00:33:05.390 --> 00:33:10.069 beside you. Augustine said, God is closer to 00:33:10.069 --> 00:33:14.750 us than we are ourselves. And we become most 00:33:14.750 --> 00:33:17.869 aware of that closeness in the quiet, in the 00:33:17.869 --> 00:33:24.009 daily, ordinary rhythms. Love, it speaks steadily 00:33:24.009 --> 00:33:27.630 through his word, through his spirit, through 00:33:27.630 --> 00:33:32.750 his people, through his presence. And a life 00:33:32.750 --> 00:33:36.089 that honors God is not built in big moments, 00:33:36.150 --> 00:33:40.710 but it is built in practiced rhythms of love 00:33:40.710 --> 00:33:45.210 over fear. And you don't drift toward holiness. 00:33:47.410 --> 00:33:53.150 You walk there intentionally, step by step, grace 00:33:53.150 --> 00:33:59.069 by grace, because of grace. And some of you this 00:33:59.069 --> 00:34:02.190 morning are exhausted because you think that 00:34:02.190 --> 00:34:05.170 the Christian life is a battle to love harder. 00:34:06.269 --> 00:34:09.789 But underneath that effort is fear, fear of not 00:34:09.789 --> 00:34:12.630 being enough, fear of disappointing God, fear 00:34:12.630 --> 00:34:19.389 of your past still defining you. Maybe fear of 00:34:19.389 --> 00:34:23.469 depending that everything depends on you to hold 00:34:23.469 --> 00:34:26.690 your life together. And I want you to know I 00:34:26.690 --> 00:34:30.230 feel that too. I'm not just saying that, I feel 00:34:30.230 --> 00:34:32.869 that too because I know what it is like to carry 00:34:32.869 --> 00:34:36.860 fear into my walk with God. to love people on 00:34:36.860 --> 00:34:39.699 the outside while embracing for impact on the 00:34:39.699 --> 00:34:45.679 inside. And in that space, John speaks a better 00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:50.599 word. You're not invited to walk with God in 00:34:50.599 --> 00:34:54.820 fear. You are invited to walk with God in love. 00:34:57.539 --> 00:35:00.380 And so before we respond this morning, I wanna 00:35:00.380 --> 00:35:03.860 speak the gospel as clearly and as briefly as 00:35:03.860 --> 00:35:09.659 I can. God, he made you for himself. Sin, it 00:35:09.659 --> 00:35:12.159 broke that relationship. We are separated from 00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:14.699 God spiritually, and there is nothing in us that 00:35:14.699 --> 00:35:19.559 can bridge that gap. But Jesus came. Fully God, 00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:22.139 fully man. He lived the life that we could not 00:35:22.139 --> 00:35:25.360 live. He died the death that our sin demanded. 00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:28.219 He rose from the grave with real victory. And 00:35:28.219 --> 00:35:31.159 through his life, his death, his burial, his 00:35:31.159 --> 00:35:33.960 resurrection, he offers forgiveness, he offers 00:35:33.960 --> 00:35:37.039 freedom, and he offers a restored relationship 00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:41.820 with God. The gospel, it is not self -improvement. 00:35:41.820 --> 00:35:45.480 It is not a way of you earning yourself back 00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:48.739 or your way back. The gospel is Jesus taking 00:35:48.739 --> 00:35:53.159 your place and offering you his life. And the 00:35:53.159 --> 00:35:56.619 response that scripture calls for is trust. to 00:35:56.619 --> 00:35:59.199 turn from sin, to repent of your sin, and to 00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:03.280 turn to Christ, to kneel both physically and 00:36:03.280 --> 00:36:05.699 spiritually before the King of Kings and the 00:36:05.699 --> 00:36:10.440 Lord of Lords, to say, Jesus, I believe. I trust 00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:14.099 you as Lord and Savior. My life belongs to you 00:36:14.099 --> 00:36:17.840 now. That is the invitation that God is holding 00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:23.559 out right now. There's another invitation for 00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:27.090 all of us in here. I'm gonna ask you, if any 00:36:27.090 --> 00:36:30.070 of these apply, would you physically stand if 00:36:30.070 --> 00:36:34.110 you were able to? If fear has been shaping your 00:36:34.110 --> 00:36:39.250 rhythms, would you stand? If anxiety or pressure 00:36:39.250 --> 00:36:43.110 has shaped your habits, would you stand? If you 00:36:43.110 --> 00:36:46.070 need God's love to recenter your daily walk, 00:36:46.269 --> 00:36:50.210 would you stand? If you need his love to push 00:36:50.210 --> 00:36:54.000 fear out of your life, would you stand? Maybe 00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:56.900 it's fear of rejection, or spiritual failure, 00:36:57.179 --> 00:37:01.420 or of not being enough, or of disappointing God. 00:37:03.219 --> 00:37:11.199 Would you stand? And if some of you, if you wanna 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:14.460 respond to Jesus for the first time, or you wanna 00:37:14.460 --> 00:37:16.980 rededicate your life to Him, would you stand? 00:37:21.000 --> 00:37:23.380 There's no embarrassment here. This is family. 00:37:23.440 --> 00:37:27.039 This is God's family. We're brothers and sisters 00:37:27.039 --> 00:37:32.119 in Christ. And as you respond, I want you to 00:37:32.119 --> 00:37:35.760 hear this. We love because He first loved us. 00:37:35.900 --> 00:37:38.860 You're not standing to earn God's love. You're 00:37:38.860 --> 00:37:41.880 standing because His love has already come after 00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:46.179 you, daily, faithfully, relentlessly, recklessly. 00:37:47.139 --> 00:37:50.559 So let Him meet you. Let Him save you. Let him 00:37:50.559 --> 00:37:54.119 steady you, let him anchor your identity. Let 00:37:54.119 --> 00:37:57.360 him walk beside you like a father beside his 00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:03.940 wobbly kid, strengthening you step by step. And 00:38:03.940 --> 00:38:11.840 let his love do what only his love can do. Father, 00:38:11.860 --> 00:38:14.920 thank you for meeting us today. Thank you for 00:38:14.920 --> 00:38:17.800 a love that he doesn't wait for us to get it 00:38:17.800 --> 00:38:21.329 right. a love that moves toward us, even when 00:38:21.329 --> 00:38:26.190 we feel distant or afraid. Lord, for every heart 00:38:26.190 --> 00:38:29.489 in this room that is carrying a hurt or heaviness, 00:38:29.590 --> 00:38:32.050 would you bring healing? For every place that 00:38:32.050 --> 00:38:34.989 feels cracked, would you bring your steadying 00:38:34.989 --> 00:38:38.630 presence? For every person that is wrestling 00:38:38.630 --> 00:38:41.289 with fear, let your perfect love drive it out. 00:38:42.309 --> 00:38:43.869 Or would you settle us, would you strengthen 00:38:43.869 --> 00:38:47.840 us, would you hold us close? Holy Spirit, fill 00:38:47.840 --> 00:38:51.039 us again with the kind of love that we cannot 00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:55.239 produce on our own. A love that reflects you, 00:38:55.360 --> 00:38:58.039 that makes you visible, that brings unity where 00:38:58.039 --> 00:39:02.800 division once lived. Make us a church that is 00:39:02.800 --> 00:39:05.320 shaped by your love, not just in moments like 00:39:05.320 --> 00:39:08.400 this, but in the way that we speak, in the way 00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:10.800 that we forgive, in the way that we serve, and 00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:15.440 how we walk with one another this week. Draw 00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:20.239 us. into your heart, Father. Root us deeply in 00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:23.800 your love and let everything we do flow from 00:39:23.800 --> 00:39:29.599 the fact that you loved us first. In the mighty 00:39:29.599 --> 00:39:33.340 name of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, 00:39:34.059 --> 00:39:47.190 in Jesus' name. Thank you for listening today 00:39:47.190 --> 00:39:50.690 to 563 Church, a production of Cornerstone Church, 00:39:50.989 --> 00:39:53.369 Eldridge, Iowa. For more information about our 00:39:53.369 --> 00:39:55.650 church or just getting right with God, please 00:39:55.650 --> 00:39:59.130 visit us at 563church .com. You can also find 00:39:59.130 --> 00:40:01.989 us on Facebook and Instagram. Have a great week.