Unsexy Church

Season 3 Episode 8: Expressing Love Around Us

• First Baptist Tampa • Season 3 • Episode 8

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 33:24

Send us Fan Mail

Send a text

The Unsexy Church Podcast

New episodes drop every Wednesday Morning

ABOUT THE PODCAST

The Unsexy Church is a weekly podcast exploring the real, everyday life within our church family. Each week, join Pastor Bob (Senior Pastor) and Darren (Worship & Discipleship Pastor) as they sit down to discuss a wide variety of subjects—from deep theological questions to the practical, often "unsexy" work of following Jesus and building a healthy local church.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THRIVE?

We want to help every person make a genuine commitment to follow Jesus and then follow through with that commitment in Connecting People to a Thriving Life in Christ. These Thriving disciples should Dig In to the Bible, Grow Up in Christ, and Branch Outinto the community.

Our Mission: To Connect People to a Thriving Life in Christ. What is a thriving life in Christ? Scripture says that Jesus Christ came “that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Our mission in the city of Tampa is to make disciples who follow the pattern of the believer in Psalm 1 and desire God’s glory above all things.

NEXT STEPS

Are you looking to get connected or learn more about First Baptist Tampa? We would love to help you find your place in our community.

STAY CONNECTED

Wherever you are in life, you have a purpose. First Baptist Tampa wants to help you find your next step.

Our Student & Young Adult Ministries:

Welcome Back & Listener Requests

SPEAKER_01

Hey everybody, welcome back to the Unsexy Church Podcast. Podcast of FBC First Baptist Church, Tampa, where Pastor Bob and Pastor Darren talk about whatever they want to.

SPEAKER_02

Whatever hits our little noggins. Yes. Whatever.

Reviews And Ratings Housekeeping

SPEAKER_01

Sometimes it's really good. Sometimes it's good. If you want something different, give us an opinion. Yes. We, you know, if you have a question that you'd like us to answer or a topic you'd like us to discuss, talk about, make sure you DM us. That's direct message us on Instagram or in the description below while you're there. If you've been listening for a while, write a review, a nice one, a good one, and rate us. Give us that five star. Five stars. Five star rating. Is it five stars? Yes. Yeah, five star rating. That'll help the uh podcast get pushed out there more and more and more. And people all over the world will be able to enjoy the unsexy church.

SPEAKER_00

That's what they need. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Hey, it's February, man. And that means uh there's a holiday coming up. We've already talked about Groundhog Day. That was last last week. Uh President's Day? Uh President's Day is not the one I had in mind. It is a holiday. But it is a holiday. It's it's coming up. The one I'm thinking of is Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_02

That's a that that's a conspiracy by the greeting card company.

SPEAKER_01

I believe every holiday out there just about is a conspiracy by Hallmark. Not only do they make terrible movies, but they're trying to get us to buy more and more greeting cards.

SPEAKER_02

Greeting cards, and it's chocolate companies, flower companies. It's all a conspiracy.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So I've got some uh facts about Valentine's Day. Okay. Some obscure facts, maybe. Do you guys know how Valentine's Day started? Do you know the history of the I just told you my theory on it? It actually was a long time before there were greeting cards. Oh, okay. Any ideas? There's actually two different theories, two different stories, which I'd only heard one, but that I kind of started researching a little bit. And so there are we don't know for sure there were two Saint Valentines, okay, and we don't know for sure which one is actually the Saint Valentine's Day. Valentine, okay. St. uh Valentine's Day. So there was St. Valentine of Rome, and I'm not sure if I will pronounce this correctly, or Saint Valentine of Ternai. Um they were both martyred. The only one that we really know about is uh Saint Valentine of Rome, and he would uh there was a ban uh I think when Claudius was emperor over Rome, there was a ban on Roman soldiers getting married. They wouldn't allow Roman soldiers to get married, so Saint Valentine was marrying them. Oh, on the down low, huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then so kind of going against the emperor, that doesn't usually go well. No, it usually doesn't go well for folks. And another story behind him also is that he was jailed for it, and while he was jailed, he he fell in love with the jailer's daughter. I kind of I don't know about that one. That sounds like a Hallmark movie.

SPEAKER_02

It sounds like a country song.

SPEAKER_01

Sounds like a dark Hallmark movie. I don't know. But I don't think you're gonna see that one come around next Christmas. Uh, you know, but uh supposedly he wrote her a letter and even signed it, uh Your Sweet Valentine.

SPEAKER_02

Oh my goodness. Of course he did. Yeah, yeah. Of course he did.

SPEAKER_01

I kind of I don't know about that one. I'm not sure about that one.

SPEAKER_02

You're so you're such a sentimental romantic.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, ask my wife about that. So the oldest Valentine or the first Valentine that we know that was ever sent, what year do you think that was?

SPEAKER_02

What year was the first Valentine sent? Yeah. Are we basing this off your information during the reign of Claudius the Emperor? It's gonna be a little later than that. Okay. Just give you a hit, a hint. Um I'm gonna go 1845.

SPEAKER_01

All right. Not that much later. What do you think, Jordan? Not You said not that much later? Not that much later.

SPEAKER_00

I don't even know. Um can we ask questions and follow up?

SPEAKER_02

Sure. Was the postal service used? No. No. Pre-postal service.

Surprising Stats On Roses, Cards, And Spending

SPEAKER_01

I'll give you another clue. It's in Europe, not in America.

SPEAKER_02

I don't think that helps. You're European, man. Uh are the French involved in any way? No. Okay. England?

SPEAKER_00

I have no idea.

SPEAKER_01

1415. 1415. 1415. The Duke of Orleans was a prisoner, a political prisoner in the Tower of Rome, and he sent a Valentine to his wife. To his prisoner's daughter? I I don't I think we're mixing metaphors, mixing stories. Yeah, yeah. Listen to this. This is crazy. 250 million roses each year are grown in preparator in preparation just for Valentine's Day. That I that that I buy. 250 million roses. Do you guys do you guys buy your wife's roses or flowers for Valentine's Day?

SPEAKER_00

Ruckley for me, actually. Lizzie does not like Valentine's.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Whoa. She doesn't like Valentine's at all? No, she does not like it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. She's like, give me flowers every day, not just Valentine's.

SPEAKER_01

Forget about one day every day.

SPEAKER_02

Oh man. I usually do something for Darlene, but it's not the expectation from her. Yeah. Now a card. She's she's big on written cards and those kind of things. So I but not necessarily flowers.

SPEAKER_01

My wife is way too practical for flowers. I learned very early on in our marriage that buying flowers for her was a waste, a waste of money. And that's the way she views it, even like we just say, way too practical for flowers. I think the only time she appreciated flowers when I brought them when I proposed. And I think that's the only time that she said, Well, why did you buy me flowers? 250 million roses each year grown in preparation. How much money do you think is spent on Valentine's Day? Oh gosh. In America. In America? Yeah. Wow. Who knows?$26 billion with a B. With a B every year, roughly.

SPEAKER_02

That's but it's not a conspiracy.

SPEAKER_01

No, not at all. That's crazy. That means like each American averages almost$200 on Valentine's gifts. That's that's crazy. Not a buy house because they don't give their wives flowers every day like Jordan. Man. So back to the greeting cards. 145 million cards. Valentine's Day cards are sent each day. Most of which are really badly written. They're terrible. But who is the who who do you think is the largest recipient recipient of Valentine's cards? Moms. Nope. Daughters? Teachers. Teachers. Teachers? More than anybody else, right?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, actually Lizzie gets a bunch. Yep.

Candy Culture And Conversation Hearts

SPEAKER_01

Yep. I remember doing those every year. Okay, this is crazy to me. Okay, I I don't know. I mean, I'm not anti-animal or anti-pets. I kind of am. I don't but$751.3 million is spent on Valentine's Day presents for pets every year. That is nuts. I'm sorry. So how do you feel about this? I don't care how much you love Fido. What Fido do to you? Or princess or whatever. Oh my word, man.$751.3 million. Wow. Man, that is crazy. Wow. What do you think the most popular gift during Valentine's Day is? Chocolate. Not necessarily chocolate, but candy. Candy. Yeah. But chocolate is a big, is a, is a huge part part of that. The first heart-shaped box of chocolate was made in 1861. Oh see. And since then, or not since then, because of that, over 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold for Valentine's Day every year. That's over 50 million pounds of chocolate. That's crazy. That's a lot, man. That's a lot of chocolate. That's a lot of chocolate. I'm pro chocolate. I may not be pro pets, but I am pro-chocolate. All right. Here's the thing. Okay. You did a lot of research for this back to the day. Think about this. Like, there's like certain um certain candy, you know, that everybody, you know, hates, you know, that kind of stuff. Like for for for Easter, everyone likes chocolate bunnies generally, but most people don't like peeps. You know, those are gross. You know, I just you know, if you like peeps, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02

You probably just full of hot takes today.

SPEAKER_01

If you like peeps, you're probably buying your pets$200 worth of Valentine's Day for no, I'm just kidding. You're alienating half of our listening audience. I'm just kidding. But rating, right? Exactly. It's crazy. So, but the the candy that I just do not like during Valentine's Day are those little um conversation hearts. The little hearts? Yeah. Do you remember those? Like when you're a kid, you'd give those out in your Jordan's looking at me like I have no idea what you're talking about. I I know what you're talking about. It's just it's just pure sugar, isn't it? Well, it's interesting. Those those started as medical lozenges. And a pharmacist invented a way to make candy and or make those launches look like a heart. A heart. You know, and then they started putting messages on them in 1866.

SPEAKER_02

Because the world the country didn't have anything else to worry about in 1866. Right.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, exactly. Maybe they weren't getting into the Valentine's Day. They were doing really well. So let's, you know, what we need is a card. What we need is a heart with a message on it. Oh of course. Solved all the problems. Yeah. So here are the the first three messages put on the conversation parts. The first one is great. Sorry. Married and white, you have chosen right. Wow. How big is that heart?

SPEAKER_02

How small is that right in?

SPEAKER_01

Oh my gosh. Married and white, you have chosen right. Uh the next next message was, how long shall I wait? And then the last one was, please be considerate. How nice. It's one of the most popular days for wedding proposals or marriage proposals. Um last fact. What what do you think probably the most popular day is for wedding proposal marriage proposals?

Household Takes On Valentine’s Day

SPEAKER_02

Either Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's pretty close. It's one of those two. Yep. Um cliche. Yeah, yeah. X is a nose. X is a no's. You know, people would hugs and kisses. Yeah. Hugs and kisses. Yeah. Did not originally mean hugs and kisses. Well, I wouldn't think so. Yeah, yeah. It may not mean where you're going. I don't know. Uh the the X was uh was signed on a lot of letters during the Middle Ages signifying the Christian cross. And the O meant was meant to be a kiss, but as a seal to an oath. And so people would sign their letters that way, like I've committed my life to Christ, basically. Yeah. So those are a few fun facts about Valentine's Day. How about that?

SPEAKER_02

And that's our episode for today.

SPEAKER_01

Any other questions about Valentine's Day? Direct those to producer Jordan. I'll say this like so is it Valentine's Day, like, is that a big deal at your house, Pastor Bob?

SPEAKER_02

No, Darlene and I, you know, celebrate our relationship and our love, but not necessarily because it's Valentine's Day. You know, we don't it's not one I would ignore, but it's not Darlene does not expect nor want anything special necessarily on that particular day.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_02

Just because it's dictated.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. How about you, Jordan? Well, you said Lizzie does not like Valentine's Day. She thinks every day should be Valentine's Day.

SPEAKER_00

But no, she actually, in a similar fashion, she does not like the fact that it's forced on one day, that it's pushed, that you must think of loving each other that singular day. Seems a little contrived and manipulated, maybe and pushing that commercialized of love on also people that don't have or that lost. And it just is a reminder that they're alone. So she actually doesn't like it.

SPEAKER_01

Wow. Interesting. So she's not gonna like this podcast. She'll just fast forward to this section. What about in your house, Darren? Uh it is not I mean, we give each other cards. And and even most of the time. Most of the time it's those are those are handwritten cards. There's nothing wrong with them. We don't even go buy them because we do think it's a a greeting card conspiracy to take our money. So we just make our own cards. And um okay. I am not crafty, you know, as far as like you know, making you know my card look pretty. So my cards are usually a white piece of paper by 11 folded over with my sloppy ride.

SPEAKER_00

I wanted to see them. It looks like a preschooler room.

SPEAKER_01

It's pretty bad. Yeah. I can I can from the heart. Yeah. Can you remember like in grade school, you would make for Valentine's Day, you would make a Valentine's Day box. Did you guys do do that? And then collect the cards that came from everybody. Sure. Millennium Falcon boxes, or I could just never plain shoe box, hole cut in the top. I just, you know, I can't do that stuff, man.

SPEAKER_02

It always weirded me out because you had to make cards for everybody in your class. But if I don't like that person, I don't want to give Darren a be my Valentine's. I don't want him to be my Valentine.

SPEAKER_01

I thought that was a little weird. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. But at our house, I mean, Mandy always appreciates time together in a date or something, but we don't always do that on Valentine's Day. I mean, it's just it's almost a non, it's barely a blip on our radar as far as like we will give each other, like I said, a little handwritten card or and note.

SPEAKER_02

And and it's important that, you know, as as in our relationships, we're we're realizing it's not one day, but we should be demonstrating it all the time and consistently so that that one day is not as important. Exactly. Not that we do that in yeah, I certainly don't do that well or perfectly.

Pivot To Biblical Love And 1 Corinthians 13

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I hear you. I could definitely do better at that, even after being married for a few decades. Yeah, I could definitely do better. Well, today we're gonna talk about uh maybe what it looks like to express love, not just to our spouse, but just what what does the Bible say about love? Obviously, we're not going to exposite every verse or or plunge the the depth of this subject. I mean, uh first John tells us that God is love, right? So we're never gonna get to the end of end of that. But uh we just kind of wanted to just to talk about that and maybe what that looks like in our our own individual lives and what it looks like in the church, what it looks like um with our with our spouses and and for our family and those around us who who we love and to to a world, right, that is that's in dire need of love and has a a grand misunderstanding of what love really is, right? So uh we talked about maybe uh just looking at First Corinthians 13 and uh talking about that a little bit. So I don't know, but do you want me to read that? Do you want to read that, or do we want to kind of verse by verse it? Or we'll be here a while.

SPEAKER_02

We'll be here a while parsing through 1 Corinthians 13. Yeah. Uh but 1 Corinthians 13 is so yeah, what's the context of this? So the context, it's often pulled out of context and used in various locations. So 1 Corinthians 13 is the chapter of love.

SPEAKER_01

You're gonna hear it almost every wedding.

Love As Willful, Self-Giving Action

SPEAKER_02

You will. You you you will, and I've used it in weddings. I've put it in context. I don't think it's inappropriate, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But the the context is immediately after a discussion of the use of spiritual gifts within the body of Christ. So the church uh loving one another.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And then it's described how that looks. And it's interesting, anytime that the Bible describes spiritual gifts, it immediately has a conversation about love. So putting others ahead of ourselves. And so you see this list in First Corinthians 13 of what love is and how it acts, how it demonstrates itself, and how we should be taking on these characteristics. But it's really a description of God's love. It's really a description, the perfect description of this is what it looks like when God loves us, therefore, this is how we should love one another. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. So so let's just kind of look at that. What are some of the things that what does loving each other what like the way God loves us, what would that what would that what would that look like in the church? Some of these verses. Um I I think as I think about it, as I look at it, um in in almost every verse that the Bible talks about love, there is a an element of self-sacrifice, of giving of yourself. You know, you said putting others' needs ahead of yours, right? Uh scripture tells us uh this is how we know love, right? That God demonstrates it by laying down his life for us, right? Um while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us and put our needs ahead of his own, in a sense, uh as a as a human when he was in his human form. And so um if we really want to get down to it, that's what love is, right? You're just you're giving of yourself and putting others ahead of you. So how do we do that?

SPEAKER_02

Well, l love is uh often when we think about love, and Valentine's Day we think about cupids and hearts and all the things, and we think about emotion.

SPEAKER_01

Draw back your bow and let your arrow flow straight to He forgot what podcast we're on.

SPEAKER_02

Um That was a little too sexy. Sorry. Um When when but when you think biblically about love, there's several different words. Most of us know this. There's there's several different words used for love, but the the one that that refers to godly love, agape love, isn't an emotion. It's not devoid of emotion, but it's not primarily emotion. It's it's an act of the will where you put somebody else before yourself. So uh, and we see this demonstrated in God's love. We wouldn't know love except for God loved us first. God is love. You mentioned first John. Love is all over first John. Yeah, you know, if you if you if you want to be be encouraged by love this if you're feeling down this week, yeah, not feeling very loved, read first John. Then you'll be reminded of just how amazing God is in his love towards us. So yeah, uh the this love that we describe is an act of the will.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Again, it's not devoid of emotion, but it's not driven by emotion.

Patient And Kind: Practicing Love Daily

SPEAKER_01

In the words of DC Talk, love is a verb. Love is a verb. Yeah, exactly. So 1 Corinthians tells us love is is patient, is kind, and it does not envy or boast, um, and it's not arrogant. I mean, just thinking about though those things are all selfless, selfless things, right? To be patient with someone requires you to set aside your own will or your own needs, your own agenda in order for them to catch up, if you will, or in order for them, you know, just to bear wit with them, right?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, how many of our relationships would be better if every party in the relationship was being patient and kind and not jealous and not bragging and not arrogant. If they were putting the others first, how much better would our relationships be?

Rejoicing In Truth Over Being Right

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, the the it kind of starts out what it is and what it's not, right? It it it it it it is this, it's patient, it's kind, it's not envious or boasting. Those are self-centered things, right? It's not arrogant. Yeah, exactly. It's not prideful. I mean I Mandy and I talk about this a lot, man, because it just pride is such a uh such a bad thing, but such an insidious thing that that sneaks into to our lives and and God is is opposed to it. He opposes the proud. He hates the pride because he's the only one who's worthy of any kind of worship or any any kind of um um uh thanksgiving and glory. And so anyway, it's so patient. Kind, not arrogant, not boastful, it's not rude. Uh does not insist on its own way. How about that one? How many how many of your uh marriage discussions would end better if you just did not insist on your own way? Right. You know? Uh again, another another way, another picture of denying denying ourselves, right? And not insisting that I get my way in a certain certain area, certain um I don't know, certain issue. Um it's not resentful, it's not irritable even early in the morning or late at night. It's not irritable, right? It it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth, man. Uh I think about that a little bit. Just in thinking about just I'm just thinking about my own marriage. A lot of times if when I'm when Mandy and I are in a discussion of some sort too many times I just want to be right and prove my case. Right. And and instead of I ought to be looking for the truth and rejoicing in the truth, even if it's not on my particular side or from my point of view, you know. And so uh man, just thinking through these things and and then in a broader perspective, thinking through what that would look like in the in the church, in the workplace. Um I worked at a trucking company which will not be named. I don't know if uh, you know, it's not I'm not ashamed of it or anything. But I was a logistics guy there, and literally my job was just to make the sales force and the dispatching force hold hands and play nice together. That's all I was that's what they hired me to do, basically. And man, it was just so um, I'm not I'm not like bra, I'm really not bragging, but everyone was just so centered on their agenda, their their particular job, their particular goal and mission. You know, they they cared about the salespeople cared about the customers and nothing about our drivers and our and our driver folks, dispatchers cared about our drivers and nothing about our customers. And so trying to help them set aside um and so I I just decided when I went in I after about a week, I was that's the only way this is gonna work is if I just serve everybody. Right. And and and just and so anyway that and no one and it was just such a counter-cultural thing in that place. Um, it just really within a matter of months, we we turned around a very toxic culture into a very cooperative culture just by being patient, being kind, not insisting our own way, not you know, just giving of you know, not insisting our own own agenda. And so I don't know, it was just it was a way I saw it work out in the workplace. I just kind of I think through that a lot, think through that in churches. What would it what would it look like if we all had that kind of a mindset all the all the time? I'm not I can't do that perfectly all the time for sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

None of us can, but but you were helping them lay down aside personal agendas for a common goal, right? The common goal of the company. What what's the goal of the company? And and if we are going to achieve this goal, then at times I need to lay down my agendas. The same thing in relationship, in in a marriage, right? Our common goal is to glorify God in our marriage. And sometimes that means I need to lay down my agenda or I need to seek that which is true, that which is right. I don't need to be jealous, I don't need to brag, I don't need to keep account of past wrongs and any of those things, which is what is described here.

Workplace Story: Serving To Heal Culture

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, you know, it says it love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. You know, just as believers in the body of Christ, believing the best of each other. I'm I'm a cynical dude by nature. Sure. Um, and so I this I struggle here, believing the best about everyone. I what's your angle? You know, that's what I want to what's your agenda, what's your angle? And so I have to really just check myself a lot um when I'm dealing with with different folks from all kinds of you know backgrounds, and but just not everyone has an agenda that you know, not everyone's out to get everybody, you know, and we've just got to believe the best about each other, especially in the body of Christ.

SPEAKER_02

In the body of Christ. Yeah, that our marriage is in the body of Christ for sure.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so love never fails. It says the bottom line, love never fails. All these other things may go away, but love never does.

SPEAKER_01

I just I never take off my ring, but my marriage my wedding ring, but I've taken it off because on the inside of it, that's what it says. Love never fails, man. Yeah, we had that engraved on the inside, and there's days I need you remember that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

God puts such an emphasis on our marriages because it is a reflection of Christ's love for the church. It is a picture, it's a picture of a love that our world does not comprehend. Right. They haven't experienced it, they don't know what it's like. Um three words that always come to mind when I think about God's love, and I'm a preacher, so they alliterate. All right. Um, one is that it's it's alien, it's just foreign to us. Uh John writes in 1 John 3, what what manner of love is this that God would love us, and yet that's what we are. We're children of God. He said, I I I've never seen this kind of love before. And so our love ought to reflect something of this alien nature of a different kind of love than the world's used to. The world's used to love that is based on conditions and those kind of things. Um, and we need to show that it's not. Um, this love is also active, right? It is um let us love one another, for love is from God. And everyone who loves has been born of God, and everyone who doesn't isn't of God. It is an active thing. We demonstrate God demonstrated his love towards us when we were still sinners. Christ died for us. It's an active love. Um, and then it's absolute, nothing can separate us from it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um unconditional. Unconditional.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And that's what our love in our imperfect ways, yeah. That's what our love should reflect to the world. Yeah. In our relationships, uh, both in our marriages and within the church, and just how we treat people. Yeah. Right.

Bears, Believes, Hopes, Endures

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Just the as we're going through our interactions with coworkers, with co-students, friends, family, believers, each other in the in the body, in our marriages, just kind of walking through this, you know, this not a I don't want to call it a checklist, but just as a but a way to just to uh to measure, you know, am I am I being rude? Am I being arrogant? Am I insisting on my own way? Am I being kind? Am I being patient? Right? Am I bearing all things? Am I believing all things? You know, and just you know, those, those kind of things I just gotta keep rolling through through my head. I we read, I read through the Psalms uh a lot, uh probably probably almost twice every year. And like one phrase that just comes uh through there over and over and over and over again through the book of Psalms is steadfast love. The Lord's steadfast love. You know, that continual, unceasing, never-ending love. Never failing, yeah, never failing love, right? That that exemplifies all these things that we've we've talked about, that rejoices in the truth, that tells me the truth, um, and that calls me to the truth and yet bears with me at all times, right? And just, oh man, it's just it's humbling. And I just want to praise God when I because I know my love falls short. It's not steadfast. And uh, and and it just I just praise God. I know who I am, and I just don't know how he can love me steadfastly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02

That undeserving part of it. I don't deserve that kind of love. I I don't deserve the love that my wife gives me, and I certainly don't deserve the love that my heavenly father gives me. But that love makes a demand on our lives, right? If you receive that love, then he says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. Yeah, right. If you love me, then you'll love one another. These are the things that that that make commands on our life.

SPEAKER_01

And his spirit within us empowers us. Enables us. Enables us to do that. That's right, right? So we can, you know, we just don't sometimes.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. Two greatest commandments love God, love people. That's right. So we can't do that on our own. We have to do it through the the Holy Spirit that empowers us. Only through the power of Christ.

Alien, Active, Absolute Love

SPEAKER_01

Right. Well, we're gonna wrap it up here, I think. We were, you know, we we could we could talk about this a lot. We could go deeper. Darren Darren has to go write his his I have to go write my Valentine's. He has to go fold his paper and start doing his doodles. It's way too early for that. Oh man. Uh no, but uh man, I just as we you know, again, as we as we leave this place, as we go throughout our our our our week, man, let's just think about the love that God has demonstrated and how we know it through his son, Jesus, right? And let's demonstrate that love to those around us, to all those around us, to a watching world who needs true love in in such a great such a great way.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, by this you will know that they will know that you are my disciples. That's right. Love one another.

SPEAKER_01

Love one another. That's exactly right. Hey, don't forget to DM us, don't forget to uh rate us. And if you have a question, we would love to. Oh, George, give me the sign. I forgot, man. We have actually another podcast. Yeah. Actually, I say we. When I say we, I mean Pastor Bob. So I have very little to do with it. Every Monday, every Monday, we will drop another podcast called First Baptist Church, Tampa Sermons. And you'll be able to re-listen to the sermon uh at the podcast level each each m Monday. So if you missed it on Sunday for whatever reason, you were serving it another way and weren't weren't able to get in there. You can you can always re-relisten to it on the podcast, driving home from work, on your commute, where wherever. But it's just another way that we want to help you get into God's word and help God's word get into you. And then don't forget, all of our unsexy church podcasts, those follow, those drop on Wednesday. So every Monday and Wednesday, we're trying to give you some more encouragement. We're so glad that you listened. God bless you guys. Thanks for being here. And let's stay unsexy.

Head Shot

Bob Block

Host
Head Shot

Darren Selvidge

Host