Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshipping together. We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website, ecb.asia, or our mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. Well, last week we started a new sermon series called The Servants Devoted
to God. And as the title suggests, in this series, we're gonna look at ourselves as servants of God,
people who love God and who serve Him with devotion. The moment Jesus saved us, not only
did we become children of God, but now we also became servants of God, people who are called
to be active change agents for the sake of God's kingdom. And as Pastor Pablo shared last week,
the moment Jesus saved us, we got a new citizenship. What is that citizenship? Well,
it's citizens of the kingdom of God. We also got a new identity, servant of God. And with all this,
we also got a new purpose, a new mission for our lives, which is to make disciples of the nations.
And in our context here at ECB, it means to make disciples for global impact. And all of this,
also came with a completely different culture. The way of being and thinking and doing in the
culture of the kingdom of God is vastly different from the worldly culture that you and I used to
be part of. We were very used to living for ourselves and for our own interests, but now
we're called to live for God and for His interests. We were very used to giving into our own impulses
and desires, but now we're called to walk by the Spirit. I tell you, that's a different culture.
And that culture requires a getting used to for servants devoted to God. It requires a getting
used to. And one of the things that we need to learn about this culture, the culture of the
kingdom of God, is its motive. What is the driving force for everything that is happening in the
kingdom of God? Well, today we will learn that the motive of the kingdom of God is love. Love is
that motive. And I think you know this, but love can make you do silly things sometimes. Crazy things
sometimes. You may have your own stories, which you can share later on as we are outside after
service having fellowship, but let me share a few stories of the crazy things that love can make
you do that I did after some online research. So there is this guy and he wrote this, I sold nearly
everything I owned. I quit my job, moved three and a half thousand kilometers. For a woman I met online
via a chat group for cat owners. That's one of the silly things that love makes you do. Here's
another one. This one is funny. I took my own braces off with nail clippers. I was head over
heels in love with this girl, but I found out through a friend that she didn't find me attractive.
And as I had my braces already for four years and my teeth were perfectly straight, I figured it
was time. Long story short, we went on one date and that was that. And my parents were furious.
Love makes you do crazy things. One more, just for the fun of it. I flew from Aspen to Denver to
Pittsburgh. That's a lot of flying if you don't know where that is. I rented a car, then drove
12 hours in the midst of a terrible snowstorm that shut the city down all because I wanted to
get back for a date with a boy. Only to find out when I finally got there that he had forgotten
about the date. Love makes you do crazy things. Love makes people do things where you're looking
and you say, really? That's what you did? Yeah, I did because I was in love. Well, the first
apostles, followers of Jesus when Jesus was still on earth, did some very crazy things out of love
for Jesus. They were willing to let go of personal ambitions and security out of love for Jesus.
They were willing to choose a life of sacrifice and service out of love for Jesus. Most of them
were willing to be tortured and to die for the cause of the kingdom of God out of love for Jesus.
Love makes you do crazy things. In 2 Corinthians 5, we get a clue for the motive, the reason why
the apostles were willing to do this. This is what the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5,
for Christ's love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore
all died. He died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him
who died for them and was raised again. Paul explains that it was Jesus' love that made them
decide to no longer live for themselves. Not because Jesus forced them to do that. No,
no, no, no, no. It was their response to Jesus' compelling love for them that made them want him
to love him back and decide to no longer live for themselves but to live for Jesus and for his
mission to seek and to save the lost. That was their motive for being a servant of God. Friends,
loving God is not a matter of forcing yourself to find some feelings or affections for God.
You know, that's not it. We love because he first loved us. Our love for God is born out of his love
for us. It compels us to love him back and it's only, hear me please, it's only when we're motivated
by love for God that we can function effectively as servants devoted to God. If we have any other
motive for serving God, we will get exhausted, we will give up and we'll easily find excuses to stop
being part of the mission that God has called us to. Only love for God is the motivation to fervently
follow and pursue God's calling for your life. And if love for God drives you, serving him will just
feel so much different, so much different, easier and lighter. You know why? Because love for God
will cause us to love the things that he loves and to pursue the things he pursues. If you're planning
on sleeping during this sermon, taking a nap, at least take this away, will you? This is the one
sentence summary of today's sermon and it's so important that I will make it come back during
the sermon and whenever you see this statement on the screen, I want you to just read it out loud,
okay? Don't ask for my permission. When you see it, you read it and let's practice it once, okay? Are
you with me? Here we go. Love for God will cause us to love the things he loves and pursue the things
he pursues. That's the one sentence summary. Don't get asleep. There's more. Don't nap.
And to understand more of what this means, this statement on the screen, we will have a look at
the life of the apostle Peter. When you find him in the book of Acts, there is this amazing ministry
that he is doing. Peter preaches and 3,000 people come to faith. Peter lays his hand on people and
starts praying and people heal. Peter speaks boldly about his faith in Jesus even when he is faced
with some very challenging circumstances. Great. We love the ministry, but before Peter could engage
in this powerful ministry, there was this conversation that he needed to have with Jesus.
It was a profound conversation that he needed to have with Jesus because Jesus needed to make
sure that Peter's motive for serving God was right. We find this conversation in John chapter 21.
Let me read it for you. When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of
John, do you love me more than these? Yes, Lord, Peter said. You know that I love you. And Jesus
said, feed my lambs. Again, Jesus said, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And Peter answered,
yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said, take care of my sheep. The third time he said to
him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time,
do you love me? And he said, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said,
feed my sheep. This was a heavy conversation for an early morning. It was right after breakfast
that they had. It was a heavy conversation, but it needed to take place because some important
matters had to be discussed. Jesus asked Peter, do you love me? Not once, three times. And yes,
I do believe that one of the reasons why Jesus asked the same question three times was to reinstate
Peter after he had denied Jesus three times the day before Jesus would be crucified. But there was
more to it. Jesus needed to make sure that Peter's motive for taking on board this huge ministry
assignment that Jesus would give him to lead the church, that Peter's motive was set right. If
Peter's motive for serving Jesus, taking on this ministry, huge ministry, was shame or guilt out of
things that he had done wrong to Jesus, or as a way to make good of all the wrongs that he had done
to Jesus, then Peter would not have qualified for the ministry Jesus called him to. He would have
given up easily and he would definitely have dried up. Only the motive, love for God, would enable
Peter to do the powerful ministry that we read about in the book of Acts. Peter's sole motive to
function well as a servant devoted to God had to be love for God. And it was through this motive
that Peter could engage and that the gospel was allowed to spread from the early church in
Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Only with his motive rightly set,
Peter was able to do this powerful ministry that we read about in the book of Acts. Why?
I get it, you need to get the hang of it, right? Shall we read it again? Why? Because love for
God will cause us to love the things he loves and pursue the things he pursues. Indeed, as we will
learn today from the story of Peter, when love for God is your motive, it will change your priorities
and it will change the way you see people. When we look at the Apostle Peter in the book of Acts,
we see a totally different person compared with the Peter that we met in the gospels. Helped by
his motive, which was love for Jesus, and of course as well by the power of the Holy Spirit,
which had been poured out on the day of Pentecost. We see Peter engaging powerfully in ministry,
but also we see a Peter that had his priorities clearly set. And I want to highlight this morning
three priorities that we can learn from Peter as servants devoted to God in our age, in our day.
And I want to do that by looking at a story that we find in Acts chapter 3 and 4. This is how the
story goes. One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer, at 3 in the
afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful,
where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter
and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him as did John, and then
Peter said, look at us. So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
Then Peter said, silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you in the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth walk. And taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's
feet and ankles became strong. This is one of those amazing healing stories that we find in Acts. Who
loves a good healing story? We love those stories. And just so you know, God still works in these ways,
but it's not the miracle I want to focus on today. I want us to focus on Peter's priority. Silver or
gold I do not have. And Peter was right in saying that he did not have any money. He had given up
his fishing business a couple of years before that, when Jesus had called him to follow him.
And as far as we know, Peter had not invested in any retirement plans or financial plans,
and for all we know, he lived on gifts and donations. That's how the early church ministry
was financed. Peter had not invested in any financial plans, but it didn't mean that he
come empty handed to the lame man. It was because Peter instead has been investing his life in the
resources of the kingdom of God for years, three and a half years or so. Peter had seen Jesus
proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. He had seen Jesus demonstrating the power of the
kingdom of God. He had been trained by Jesus. He had been seeing Jesus. He had been learning from
Jesus. And at some point, Jesus had looked at Peter and the rest of the disciples and said,
now you go do it. You have seen me doing it for all these years. That was a time of training and
equipping. Now I give you the authority. I give you the mandate. I give you the assignment to go
and do it yourself. Proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and demonstrate the power of the
kingdom of God. Those are the resources of the kingdom that Peter had been investing himself in.
So when he appeared before this paralyzed man who was expecting silver and gold, because that's what
you expect as a beggar in the temple courts, that's not what Peter was able to give him. He was able
to give him something of much more significance and value. He was able to give him healing,
restoration, transformation. Why? Because Peter had invested his life in the resources of the
kingdom of God. Now don't miss the point here, okay? There is nothing wrong with silver or gold.
There is nothing wrong with smart financial planning for the future, whatever that looks
like for you. For as long as you're not obsessed by it, for as long as you're not controlled by it,
you will be fine. But here is the point. As servants devoted to God like Peter, we need
to make it one of our priorities to invest in the resources of the kingdom of God. We need to learn
and understand how to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and how to demonstrate the
power of the kingdom of God. This is exactly the reason why discipleship here at ECB is at the core
of what we are doing. We need to be trained, we need to be equipped in the resources of the kingdom
of God. Yes, for ourselves so that we can be changed and sanctified and all of that, but also
for the world out there, because we've got something to give that they so need. Fullness,
freedom, transformation and restoration in the name of Jesus Christ. Loved ones, invest yourselves
in the resources of the kingdom of God. Well, you can imagine that all of this caused commotion in
the streets of Jerusalem. There was a lame man who they knew from the temple courts was now healed,
and indeed a lot of commotion and excitement happened as the story continues. While the man
held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place
called Solomon's Colonnade. If you don't know what that is, that was a corridor in the temple where
the early church had their first worship services. And when Peter saw this, he said to the people,
fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or
godliness we had made this man walk? It's by faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and
know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has completely
healed him as you all can see. Peter could have easily gone along with the excitement of the crowd,
right? Peter, did you do this? Hmm. As a matter of fact, thank you for noticing. I did. Peter
could have easily used the success stories of the crowd to build a platform for himself,
but that's not what Peter did. What we learn from this is a second priority as servants devoted
to God is that we build God's reputation. We do not build our own reputation. Peter was quick to
say to the people, hey, let's get the facts straight here. Jesus is the one who healed this
man. It wasn't me, people. All credit goes to Jesus. Out of his love for Jesus, it was not at all a
big deal for Peter to direct the applause and to direct the attention to the one to whom all of
that should go, Jesus. Success draws people to you. You may have noticed that already in your own
life. Success draws people to you, whether it's your academic achievements or your giftedness
as a leader, or maybe you're a really good teacher or it's your musical performance. When people see
your success, they are drawn to you. They are excited with you, and before you know it, they
make you the hero of your story. But let's get the facts straight here, shall we? It's because of
Jesus who you are who you are. It's because of Jesus that you have what you have, and it's because
of Jesus that you're able to do what you do. And therefore, all of our success stories give reason
to point to Jesus. We repeat that our successes always give reason for us to point to Jesus.
And Peter sets the example for us. And again, don't get me wrong, being successful is enjoyable,
okay? I even believe that God wants us to enjoy success, to enjoy the things we do,
to find satisfaction and to thrive. But again, let's keep the facts straight. Our success
stories we owe to Jesus so he gets the applause. I'm not an American football fan. I'm not American,
so I didn't grow up with football. I find it even a little bit silly why you could call a sports
football when you hardly use your feet. Anyways, don't know why I said that. But I did pick up on
the Super Bowl that happened last weekend. If you didn't follow the news, the Kansas Chiefs were
beaten big time by the Philadelphia Eagles. But that's not what drew my attention of the news. I
watched a few post-match interviews with the head coach and a number of players of the Philadelphia
Eagles. And one after the other would say, you know who deserves the glory? Jesus. He's my Savior,
he's my Lord, he's my King, here's my favorite Bible verse. I have built my life on the foundation
called Jesus. What a platform. National television and the fact that it reaches Thailand, that means
international television and streaming. What a platform to build the foundation for the
reputation of God. All of our success stories give reason to point to Jesus. Well, the events in
Jerusalem not only caught the attention of the public, the people, but of course also the Jewish
leaders got the news. And whenever the Jewish leaders heard about Jesus, oh, that's when trouble
began. And we find this in the continuation of the story. The priests and the captain of the temple
guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were
greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the
resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John and because it was evening, they put them in
jail until the next day. A little bit too late because many of them who had heard the message,
they believed. So the number of men who believed grew to about 5,000. What a great day of ministry
it had been. A paralyzed man was healed. Then people were drawn and say, tell us more. So Peter
and John could evangelize in the temple courts and the church grew from 3,000, that's what we read
in Acts chapter 2, to 5,000 in one day. Glory to God. What an amazing day of ministry. The thing is
that amazing day of ministry came abruptly to an end when Peter and John got arrested by the
temple authorities. They were put in jail awaiting the verdict of the Jewish council the day after.
A Jewish council that was greatly opposed against the cause and the case of Jesus. This certainly
was reason for Peter and John to be discouraged and to tone down their message, don't you think?
But they didn't tone down. The day later when they were called in, this is what happened.
Could you help me click? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers and elders
of the people, if we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who
was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel.
It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead,
that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which has become
the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to
mankind by which we must be saved. Does this sound to you like a man who is deeply discouraged or
planning to tone down? Not at all, right? Peter is even upping the game, confronted with a very
challenging situation with people who were greatly opposed to him and to Jesus. Peter speaks boldly,
proclaiming the name of Jesus. And it caused a very awkward situation. There were these leaders,
well-educated, seeing these guys uneducated, speaking wisdom, and courageously and boldly
speaking into that. Not only that, also the lame man who they had known from the gate called
Beautiful, the temple, he was in that room and they could not deny the fact that actually he was
healed. The man could walk and he was praising God. What can you say? And for once the Jewish leaders
were lost for words. And the only thing they could come up with was this. They called Peter and John
in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John
replied, which is right in God's eyes, to listen to you or to listen to him? You be the judges. As
for us, we can't help but speaking about what we have seen and heard. There is no stopping of Peter
and John. They can't help but to speak about Jesus no matter the situation they're in, no matter the
consequences they are facing. Remember, the people they were talking to had the power to lock them up
for years or even to kill them. But that didn't bother Peter. It didn't bother John. They boldly
spoke about Jesus no matter what. This is where we learn the third priority as servants devoted to
God. Out of love for God, we see any opportunity as a good opportunity to represent Jesus. It echoes
the words of Paul in Ephesians 5, to make use of every opportunity. And can I just clarify this a
bit? This doesn't mean that we have to talk about Jesus 24-7, okay? This is very annoying for the
people around you and I don't think that it will help the cause of Jesus much. It's all about
recognizing the opportunity, recognizing the opportunity to represent Jesus and then to decide
to respond to it, whether it is through speaking, through just your attention and listening or being
there or through acting. Recognize these opportunities. Recognize them with a commitment
to respond to them so that others may come to see Jesus through this opportunity. And as we learn
from Peter, recognizing and responding to opportunities can even happen at times that are
deeply challenging, even at times of suffering. I was at my father's bedside in the days before
he passed away in 2015. It was on Easter Sunday that year, a day and a half before he would pass
on. He was in deep pain. He had a lot of things going on in his body. He was in deep pain that
the doctors tried to subdue with morphine and other heavy painkillers. So he was groggy all day
basically, but we were at his bedside. But whenever someone came to his bed, whether it was a doctor,
a nurse, a friend, a stranger, someone from their church, he would open his eyes. He would look at
them and he would save it with a big smile on his face. Jesus is alive. Until his final breath,
he recognized the opportunity to represent Jesus and he responded to it amidst deep pain. I'm crying
for two services now. I was not planning to do it. What an example to his son, to my siblings,
and to my mother. Friends, whether it's your mountaintop experiences, whether it's your deep
valley dark experiences, there are always opportunities to represent Jesus. Shall we just
commit to recognize these, open our eyes to seeing them, and to respond to these so that people may
encounter Jesus through that and may come to know Jesus through it. Recognize and respond. I'm gonna
take a sip of water now. By the way, are you still tracking with me? Yeah? Well, let's see. Yes,
well done. You won't forget this line. You know what God loves most and pursues most? What is that?
Anyone? Yeah, it's people. It's people that God loves most and pursues the most. God is building
his kingdom and he wants many more to enter in with our help. And this requires a change in us
because we're biased people. We have preferences for certain kinds of people, but we need to come
to see people the way God sees people. And Peter had to learn this as well and we're gonna learn
alongside Peter through a story that we find a couple of chapters later in Acts, in Acts chapter
10. This is how the story goes. At Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was
known as the Italian regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing. He gave
generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon,
he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God who came to him and said, Cornelius. Cornelius
stared at him in fear. What is it, Lord? He asked. And the angel answered, your prayers and gifts to
the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa, that was a
town about 55 kilometers away from Caesarea, and bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.
He is staying with Simon the tenor whose house is by the sea. Cornelius was a military leader in the
service of the Roman Empire and the Romans were deeply hated by the people of Israel. Not just
because of the military oppression, also because the Romans were Gentiles. There were non-Jews and
therefore, stay far away from these people, impure. But hey, Cornelius and his entire family,
they were devout believers. They loved Jesus. And now God is appearing to Cornelius in a vision
telling him you should send people to this Peter guy who is a couple of hours away and ask him to
come to your house. What Cornelius couldn't know is that around the time when his men were on the
way to get Peter, Peter also got a vision from God. And this was Peter's vision. About noon the
following day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to
pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat and while the meal was being prepared, he fell
into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its
four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals as well as reptiles and birds and then a
voice told him get up Peter, kill and eat. Surely not Lord. Peter replied, I have never eaten anything
impure or unclean. The voice spoke to him a second time, don't call anything impure that God has made
clean. This happened three times and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. While Peter
was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's
house was and stopped at the gates. They called out asking if Simon, who was known as Peter, was
staying there. While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the spirit said to him, Simon,
three men are looking for you so get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them for I
have sent them. You need to understand this was a shocking experience for Peter. He was raised under
Jewish rules and regulations for all of his life so for all of his life he had heard that Gentiles
were to be avoided. Gentiles stink, they're impure, they're unclean so do not engage when you meet one
and definitely never ever enter one of their homes. That is super bad. But God wants him to see people
the way God sees people and he gives him this vision and he tells Peter, I want you to go with
these men who are waiting for you at the doorstep of the house where you're staying. So Peter goes,
what else can you do when God is so clearly telling you to do? He goes and when he enters the house of
Cornelius, he met Cornelius and Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence but Peter made
him get up. Stand up, he said. I'm only a man myself. While talking with him, Peter went inside and
found a large gathering of people and he said to them, you're well aware that it is against our law
for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile but God has shown me that I should not call anyone
impure or unclean so when I was sent for I came without raising any objection. Peter had had some
time to think about the meaning of this vision. It's a long walk from Joppa to Caesarea and now he
knew, I don't get to dictate the terms on the basis of which people can enter the kingdom of
God. I am not the one to exclude. God is inviting anyone into that kingdom and after he heard from
Cornelius, the vision that Cornelius had been given by God, after he had heard the longing of
all the people who were in the home to listen, to hear more about Jesus, to understand God more,
Peter others these words a couple of verses later. I now realize how true it is that God doesn't show
favoritism but he accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right and what
follows in the verses after. It's a beautiful story that Peter ministers to the people on there. He
shares the gospel with them. People are getting filled with the Holy Spirit and the whole house
gets baptized on that day. This meant a completely new era of the early church. Now also Gentiles
were invited in. Those who were impure and unclean as regarded by the Jews now could enter the kingdom
of God but for that to happen, Peter's mindset needed to change. His heart needed to change. He
had to see people the way God sees people and I want us to take away two things from this story
in Acts chapter 10. Here's the first thing. God's kingdom is inclusive and has no cultural,
religious, social or political barriers. We are part of a highly polarized society where exclusion
and division are common. It seems that you need to meet certain criteria or to have certain
preferences to belong to a certain group and when you don't, you're out. That's not the kingdom of
God. The kingdom of God is inclusive. Anyone who calls on the name of Jesus Christ will be saved
and will be welcomed to enter the kingdom of God. You know what this means? It means that we servants
devoted to God need to be the most inviting, most welcoming, most inclusive, most inviting people on
the planet. We have been given by Jesus the keys to the kingdom of heaven and we have been given
the mandate and the assignment to invite anyone regardless of who they are, where they are from,
or what they have done into that kingdom. If you wonder if this is true, go check out the
favorite audience that Jesus had to hang out with in the Gospels. The kingdom of God is a kingdom
of inclusion, not exclusion. We are people of inclusion, not exclusion. We are people of oneness
and togetherness, not of division. You know what this means? We need to stop making it about our
preferences, whether these preferences are cultural or social or political or denominational or
doctrinal or whatever all. And we need to start making it about God's preferences. To love the
things he loves, to pursue the things he pursues, so that we can have a real shot at making disciples
for global impact here in Bangkok. We're called to make disciples of people from all tribes,
all nations, all tongues, all social classes, all walks of life. And therefore, no man-made
barriers are to interrupt our mission to doing so. But for us to get to that place of no more
man-made barriers for people to enter into the kingdom, we also, that's the second takeaway,
we have to come out of the safety of our bubbles. All of us, no one except, except. We like to hang
out with people who are like us, who look like us, talk like us, behave like us, think like us,
have the same beliefs like us. That's just how it works. It feels homey and safe to us to stay
in that bubble. Well, when you've lived in Bangkok for a number of years, you may have noticed that
we are surrounded by people who are very different from you. They behave different, look different,
smell different, eat different, have different transitions. By the way, they think the same
about you, just so you know. And therefore, staying in your bubble is not an option when you want to
pursue God's calling, when we want to have a real shot at making disciples for global impact. Peter
had to come out of his Jewish bubble, his Jewish bias, his Jewish conditioning. What bubble do you
need to come out of? Is it a bubble of fellow countrymen? You feel safe among the people of
my own country. It's wonderful. There is a place for that, but that bubble needs to be open. We
need to come out of those bubbles for people who are different from us to enter in. Maybe your
bubble is a group of like-minded people, intellectuals who just like to philosophize. Is that a word? I
don't know. There is a place for that, but that bubble needs to be open for people who think very
different from you to enter in and have a real chance of encountering Jesus. Maybe you have a
life group that is very safe, very comfortable, because it's people that are just like you. Shall
we just open those bubbles and invite people from the outside and people who may be very different
than you. Come out of the safety of the bubble. Come out of the comfort and the hominess of that
bubble. You can still do that at different times, but there is a mission to be accomplished. And
that mission can only be accomplished here and now for us in the Bangkok context if we are willing
to get out of the safety of our bubbles. So that's the story of Peter, loved ones. As we can tell,
love for Jesus changed his priorities and changed the way he viewed people completely. He was his
love for God that made him love the things that God loves and pursue the things that God pursues.
What an inspiring example for us, right? As servants devoted to God in our day,
inspiring example to learn from. But as I wrap up this message, can I ask you this question? What
is in the way for you to love what God loves and to pursue what God pursues? Let me ask the same
question in a slightly different way. Is love for God the leading motive of your life? Maybe you
have been actively serving God in whatever capacity. It could be your workplace, it could
be a ministry of sorts. Maybe it's here at ECB. You're doing great things for God. But now you've
heard this message and you do some reflection and you say, Pastor Rene, if I'm really being honest
with you, although I'm doing these great things for God, it feels dry and as a matter of fact,
I'm kind of tired of doing these things. If I just express how you feel about serving God,
could it be that your doing for God has overtaken your being with God? Before doing anything for
God, you know what God wants? He wants you to be with Him. Before getting busy in doing the things
of God, God wants you to be in Him, to be intimate with Him, to sit with Him. You know why? Because
it's at that place of being with Him and being in Him where we get to know and experience His love
for us. And it's then when our love for Him kindles in our souls. But if we have not been at that place
of seeking God's face, of being in His presence, our service to Him will be dry. It will exhaust
you. You will get tired. So if this is you, get back to that place of being. Be a Mary,
more than a Martha. Seek His face. Be in His presence. Allow Him to express His love for you
in deep ways and make that the starting point of anything. And if this means that you need to pause
your service to God for a little while, do it. There's bigger fish to fry. Make sure that your
being with God is the basis for anything that you do. And as you will be reflecting, I hope,
in the coming days on this question, let me also throw in this question. Are your loves rightly
prioritized? You have more loves in your life than only God, and God knows that, and God is very fine
with that. God wants you to love your spouse, your child, your friends. He wants you to love your job.
He wants you to really love things and enjoy things. But when the order of your loves is flipped,
when God is not your first love, you will end up serving and following that other love. The Bible
calls that idolatry. Another love has taken the first love of God, and then it will impact you.
You have no desire of loving the things God loves or pursuing the things He pursues. No, no, no. It's
that other love that dictates the terms. If this is you, God is not angry with you. He is not upset
with you, but He does want to get this love relationship between Him and you right, for your
sake as well as for His sake. So come back. Confess and say, God, yeah, another love has overtaken,
but I want to come back to you. I want love for you to be the leading motive of my life.
Would you join me in a couple of moments of silence before I pray?
Your love is so compelling, Jesus.
When we gaze upon your beauty and we dwell in your house and your presence,
what we see is true love and pure love, because you are love, Jesus. And it's your love that drives
out fear. It's your love that restores and renews our souls. Thank you for your love, Jesus.
But your love also kindles our love for you. As we're about to sing this song of declaring
that you are truly our best portion, we want to pray that, Holy Spirit, you pour out the love
of the Father on us. Some of us here today have great difficulty loving you and loving people,
because they have not yet tasted and seen your love. Holy Spirit, I ask you, pour out the love
of the Father, the good, good, good Father, on those who have dried up and have yet to taste
of your love. Others in the room, Lord, they have tasted and seen your love. There is a dueling
love. There is an idol. There is something or someone else that has overtaken that love. Lord,
speak, reveal, make my brother or sister aware of that thing, of that someone, Lord, that has
overtaken priority love for you. You're not angry. You're not upset. But you're calling your son,
your daughter back to you. Holy Spirit, would you do your beautiful work? Continue to minister to
us. Lord, you are so beautiful. We need more of you. We desire more of you. So Jesus, come
and encounter your people. In your name we pray. Amen. Thank you for tuning into the ECB Sermon
Podcast. Whether near or far, if you are looking for community or are in need of prayer, we welcome
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bless you.