WEBVTT 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:05.120 Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast. 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:06.879 Thank you so much for listening today. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:09.439 We hope it encourages you and inspires you. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:11.199 Here's today's message. 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:11.919 Amen. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:12.480 Amen. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:12.880 Amen. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:21.519 Can we give it up for Pastor Megan for just communicating all the amazing things that we have going on at our church? 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:32.079 I'm so excited about this season, whether it be our equipped classes, groups, all the different things that God is doing in and through us and the things that He invites us to participate in. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:39.359 If you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to go ahead and join me in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 22. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:45.759 We're going to spend some time there, but before I get there, I do want to take a moment to show some love to our online and podcast audience. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:53.600 We're so glad that they're joining us and that they're connecting with us today. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:01:00.799 I do want to take a moment to communicate to all of us that we would love to invite you to be with us next Sunday. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:02.960 Of course, that's our posture every single Sunday. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:05.519 We believe that we need to invest in things that invest in us. 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:07.120 So just showing up is a big thing. 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:09.680 But next Sunday is going to be it's going to be lit. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:10.719 It's going to be a really good one. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:11.920 And I want to tell you why. 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:21.200 So so me and Vinny, we were talking about this the last service, and um and I want to share with you guys that we are we're now in that Labor Day flow, right? 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:26.159 So Labor Day is kind of like it communicates something from a seasonal standpoint. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:29.519 It communicates that we're now going into the fall season. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.560 And so there's a couple of things that you can expect in the fall. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:38.959 The first one, and probably the most important one, is that we are now in pumpkin spice latte season. 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:46.640 I got I got any fans, like I went out and I made my first pumpkin spice latte yesterday, and I literally felt like the presence of the Lord was in it. 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:49.760 Like I felt a Holy Spirit, like it just it just stirred me. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:50.879 It's so it's so amazing. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:56.879 So so we talked about this, but but Vinny, um, what's your what's your love level for for for pumpkin spice lattes? 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:59.040 Are you are you pro pumpkin spice latte? 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:04.640 I he can't. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:07.200 I well, it's not working. 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:10.000 I like just just tell the people. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:12.479 Let me just change quarter here just for a second. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:13.520 I like it. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:14.879 Nicely done. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:19.120 I'm not gonna say it's a requisite of being on staff, but it's a requisite of being on staff. 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:20.479 Like that's part of the interview question. 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:22.719 How do you feel about pumpkin spice latte? 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:26.400 Not so much, I don't feel like God's calling you to be a part of our church family. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:28.800 Um, there's another church down the street that's great for you. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:30.639 Um, and and you'll do well there. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:43.280 Um, but yeah, so we're in pumpkin spice latte season, but in addition to that, we're also kind of going into like one of my favorite times of the year, like that that football season, it's like that that turn of the page where we kind of get into the the sport season as well. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:47.680 And so, and so next Sunday is going to be Team Sunday. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:03:02.240 And what team Sunday is like it doesn't matter what sport you have love for, it doesn't matter what your team is, but we want everyone to show up strong wearing your team merch, wearing your college merch, wherever you could be in high school, whatever that is, we want everyone to come in wearing their jerseys. 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:07.520 It's gonna be an incredible fun opportunity for you to invite some family and friends that that may not typically come to church. 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:11.120 We're gonna have some activities and things that we're not gonna share all of them just yet. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:12.960 You gotta be here to to enjoy it. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:15.439 But we would love for you to participate in Team Sunday. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:19.120 And and I realize not everyone um is a team sports person. 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:20.879 Like some people are like, man, that's not for me. 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:22.639 I'm I'm I'm a little too refined for that. 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:23.840 And and I'm here to pastor you. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:25.840 Like, this is what a part of my job is to do. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:30.319 So let's say that you do not have a team, let's let's say that that the Lord hasn't stirred you. 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:32.319 Let me pastor you on what your next step is. 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:36.159 If you do not have a team, then your team is the Philadelphia Eagles. 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:39.360 It's the Lord's team, it's the it's the Lord's team. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:41.759 You guys have heard me say this over and over again. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:47.360 There's not any other team that exists in an NFL spectrum that is viewed favorably in scripture. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:48.879 Giants, we see what happens to them. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:50.400 Ravens, we see what happens to them. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:53.199 But eagles, God associates his power with eagles. 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:55.680 So I'm just trying to help pastor y'all to your next step. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.000 If you want to be on God's team, then you're gonna come in here wearing your Eagles' paraphernalia. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:03.120 If you want to be on the devil's team, then you'll wear whatever else is out there. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:04.960 Um, Giants and Patriots and such. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:07.120 But we're gonna have a great Sunday next week. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:11.520 It's gonna be a lot of fun, and I think it's gonna be something that we can all get something out of it. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.879 So let's get back into the word of God if we can. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:20.720 Um, we we've been in this, um, we've been in this series for the past couple of weeks called Whole Life. 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:22.639 Somebody say whole life. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:28.560 Okay, so that that whole life is really built on this idea um from 3 John verse number two. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:30.240 It's not the only place you find it. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:32.079 In fact, it's all throughout the course of scripture. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:41.680 But that was our foundational passage where where John is saying, My beloved, I want you to do well and prosper in your whole life just as your soul prospers. 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:45.040 What he's ultimately saying is God is communicating to us. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:46.720 We are triune beings. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:53.439 We're made of a body, which is our flesh, we have a soul, which is our mind, our will, our emotions, our personality, and we have our spirit. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:56.639 That's the that's the part that comes alive when we say yes to Jesus. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:58.720 Mind, body, soul, spirit. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:06.879 And and what can happen a lot of times when we become people that engage the word of God, we can unfortunately believe that I'm only supposed to thrive spiritually. 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:11.279 And so if everything else around me is terrible, it's okay as long as my soul is okay. 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:14.399 But the truth of the matter is that's not God's view for our life. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:25.439 God's vision for every single one of us is he wants us to thrive and move forward and our natural, he wants our mind, our mental health, our actual health to do well as well, but he also wants us to thrive spiritually. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:31.040 The vision that God has for every single one of us is for us to move forward, to have a whole life. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:32.800 That is what the word peace means. 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:38.959 When you see the word peace in scripture, that word shalom means nothing missing, nothing lacking, nothing stolen. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:40.800 Your entire life is doing well. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:47.120 So, over the past couple of weeks, we've been talking about these varying ways that God wants us to experience a whole life. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:52.240 So, if you missed any of that, go back and check it out because we're going to conclude that series uh today. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:58.319 In Matthew 22, we're entering into a moment where Jesus is facing a lot of opposition. 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:03.360 Um, when you look at the ministry of Jesus, it's really broken up and into three stages, three years. 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:05.759 The first year um was his inaugural year. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:09.920 It's when he kind of comes out and people are amazed at the way that he's teaching. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:11.439 They're a little bit mystified by it. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:12.319 That's his first year. 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:15.839 His second year of ministry is what we call his years of popularity. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:17.680 That means that he virtually could do no wrong. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:24.240 He's he's healing sick people, he's multiplying bread, and he's like doing these incredible things that people are like, this is awesome. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:28.240 But now he's in his third year of ministry, and that's called his years of opposition. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:34.160 This is where in the biblical narrative we see that he's facing more questions, more ridicule than he ever has before. 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:36.720 So we're in the third year of his ministry. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:41.439 And when you read coming into this, people are challenging every single thing that Jesus does. 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:47.439 And in the context of it is because the people that are generating these questions, they have an agenda. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:50.639 We we have we have the Pharisees who have a lot of questions. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:07:02.000 Maybe you're familiar with the Pharisees, you probably have heard that term, but what the Pharisees were, these were a group of people that that felt like they shouldn't be intertwined with with the government and all that type of stuff. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:07.680 They dealt with it because they had to, but ultimately they just felt like, man, we wanna we want to live the way that we want to live. 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:12.319 But the caveat to that conviction was, and we're gonna tell you how to live. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:16.959 And if you don't live exactly the way that we want you to live, you're canceled. 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:21.120 Cancel culture is not something that's new, it's literally all throughout the course of the Bible. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:23.360 They were the first ones to create cancel culture. 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:24.800 You did this wrong, you're canceled. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:26.240 You made a mistake, you're canceled. 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:27.680 That was the Pharisees. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:31.759 But then you have the Sadducees, they're they're on the other side of the aisle, so to speak. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:32.560 You know what they were? 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:38.319 They were this political elite group that felt that their faith could be intertwined into politics. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:43.759 And they felt like, man, if we can just if we can just infuse this all together, we can we can create an atmosphere. 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:46.480 But unfortunately, what that did is that led them to compromise. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:55.680 Where things that were built in the kingdom, they would often push it away because it wanted to fit into their political agenda, which was remaining influential in the government context. 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:58.160 Does any of this sound familiar? 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:01.519 There's nothing new under the sun. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:09.600 So everyone is looking at the ministry and life of Jesus and trying to figure out where does he fit in with my beliefs? 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:13.680 Instead of saying, Where does my beliefs fit in with Jesus? 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:18.240 What I believed is is that Jesus or or is that something different? 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:27.839 So what we're having is people who are asking these questions, trying to mine out a way to see if Jesus fits their pre-built-in convictions, their emotions. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:38.080 So they're asking these questions, and so now we find ourselves in the 22nd chapter, and Jesus is dealing with all these questions, we're dealing with all this narrative shift, and now we get to the crux of the whole matter. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:46.639 What the Bible says, starting at verse number 36, they came to him and they said, Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest? 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:54.720 And he said to them, To love your Lord God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:58.639 This is the greatest and most important commandment. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:00.720 And this is so important, verse 39. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:02.879 The second is like it. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:06.000 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:11.360 Love God with everything that you have, and the second is just like it. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:15.039 Love your neighbor just as you love yourself. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:23.200 Today I want to conclude our series on whole life, talking on the subject that I've entitled Overflow. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:27.919 Let's let's pray and let's see what it is that God wants to speak to us today. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:32.399 Heavenly Father, we count it as an honor that we're able to gather in your name today. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:35.440 Lord, we we decrease and ask for you to increase. 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:37.039 In other words, we want you to have your way. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:40.000 We we have no agenda except the kingdom agenda. 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:44.159 So, Lord, we we laid it all down at your feet and ask, Father, for you to speak to us. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:56.639 I ask that you give us open eyes that we can that we can see you even in the obscure things, open ears to hear you, even amongst the the noise and the chaos, God, and open hearts to receive whatever it is you want to deposit into our souls today. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:09:58.159 Holy Spirit, you are welcome. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:03.600 We invite you to act to change us, to challenge us, to inspire us in the name of Jesus. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:05.919 Amen and amen. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:17.600 You know, I um I've I've I've lived long enough to recognize that we can have goals, and and there's moments that when you achieve your goals, you realize that you're just getting started. 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:25.759 I remember as a young man when my first, I would say, goal that I established on my own, I was like 15 years old, and I was like, man, I want to have my own vehicle. 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:33.360 So I remember working really hard in the summer, and I saved up$650 and bought me a Chevy Chevette. 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:35.519 Anybody old enough to remember what Chevy Chevettes are? 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:38.159 That was my first car, 1984 Chevy Chevette. 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:41.360 That was my first car, and I remember how much I loved that vehicle. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:42.080 It was mine. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:45.279 I put all the work in, and I thought that I've achieved my goal. 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:51.360 But now that I've achieved this goal, I remember that after that first month when my parents came to me because they're trying to teach me responsibility. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:55.200 My mom handed me something that was called car insurance. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:58.799 She said, Hey, like, now that you've achieved your goal, you still got work to do. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:00.559 And I'm like, Well, no, I paid for the car. 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:01.360 I thought I was done. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:04.960 She's like, No, like when you achieve your goal, you still got to continue to work. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:06.799 That was my biggest life lesson. 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:11.279 That just because you achieved your goal, you still gotta steward it, you still got some things to maintain. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:15.679 And just so from that point forward, I began to say, okay, like, what's what's the hidden agenda? 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:19.039 If I got this, then what is it gonna require of me beyond that? 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:26.000 Life takes you on varying turns, but I remember that moment, everybody, that moment, that American dream of when we when we bought our home. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:31.840 And I remember moving in, and I'm like, okay, this is our home, like this is amazing, like I'm I'm loving every bit of it. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:34.159 And so I'm like, I'm I'm excited about it. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:38.639 But then you have that moment where when you realize like when something goes wrong, it's on you. 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:41.600 When when I when I wasn't a homeowner, man, something goes wrong, man. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.080 Call those people, tell them to get out here immediately, or I'm not giving them the rent. 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.159 Like, but now, now, now it's on me. 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:51.840 So one day, Megan and I are at home just chilling out, just watching TV, and I start hearing this noise. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.399 And I'm like, what is that noise? 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:58.320 I felt like I was in the middle of poltergeists, because it was just a weird bubbling noise. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.679 I'm like, did they build this house on top of like a burial ground of some sort? 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:02.960 So I'm I'm a little bit nervous. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:08.879 So I'm beginning to do my investigation, walking around a house as I'm hearing these noises coming from these varying spots. 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:15.200 What I'd learned is that it's coming from every drain in our house has like this bubbling noise that's coming up. 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:16.399 So I'm I'm shook. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:20.080 I'm like, I I I don't know what this is, I don't know what's about to happen. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:25.759 Fortunately, the house was still under warranty, it was new, so we call the people up and and they send they send the plumber out. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:31.840 And it's literally the quintessential, uninterested, unmotivated plumber who's probably on his last day of work. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:33.279 He just he just didn't care. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:41.759 Like, you ever encounter somebody where it's an emergency for you because this isn't your regular thing, but they show up and they're so indifferent to it, like, hey bro, like can you move with some urgency? 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:43.200 Like, that was our experience. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:45.279 So he just shows up, super casual. 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:47.679 He's like, Oh, you know, it's it's it's no big deal. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:50.399 Um, you know, I'll I'll get into it and and and I'll fix it. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:52.960 So now I feel this weight, I feel this responsibility. 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:57.759 So as he does his little investigative work, he said, Oh man, it's a it's a good thing you called me. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:00.480 He said, because like um your your neighbor wasn't so lucky. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:02.240 I was like, Well, like what happened? 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:07.919 He said, Man, like he he didn't call, and the debris from the construction got into the pipelines. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:11.039 And and when that happened, the water began to back up. 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:12.320 And he didn't finish the sentence. 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:13.360 I'm like, what happened? 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:13.919 What what happened? 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:15.840 He said, Well, then he started dealing with overflow. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:18.720 And I was like, Well, okay, he said, Do you know what overflow is? 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:24.080 I said, I feel like I do by just you know just putting together the words, but but do you want to tell me what it is? 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.080 He said, Okay, I'll I'll walk you through it. 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:35.360 He begins to walk me through with vivid detail the process of the debris from the home being caught up in the pipelines, and as water was running, it's slowly backing up. 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:38.080 And if it doesn't get dealt with, it begins to overflow. 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:41.840 And what he said is that it can flow over into your house and affect everything. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:45.360 It's gonna flow over, and everywhere you step, it's everywhere. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:55.039 No matter where you go, the overflow is present because there's something that's inside of the system that is so filled beyond capacity that it's flowing out and it literally changes everything. 00:13:55.360 --> 00:13:56.720 But it's a good thing you call me. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:58.080 I'm like, yes, indeed it is. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:13:58.960 Hallelujah. 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:06.480 But but when he but when he left, I I couldn't I couldn't get the phrase out of my mind, this concept of overflow. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:13.440 That that when something is so filled that it has an ability to overflow to a place that it begins to affect everything. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:21.200 That that no matter where you go, no matter where you step, there's this there's this residue of what was on the inside flowing out on the outside. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:35.679 What if I were to tell you that God's vision for your life is not for you to live in deficit and lack, but for you to live a life of overflow where there's so much goodness on the inside of you that everywhere you go, there's an overflow that affects everything. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:42.639 That when you're standing in line and you're having a conversation with a cashier, there's an overflow of joy that has an impact on that person. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:52.879 That when you go to your job and you're dealing with people that you don't even agree with, but somehow there's something on the inside of you that's flowing on the outside of you that people are being beneficiaries of the overflow in your life. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:15:03.679 What if I were to tell you that God's vision for your life is to be so filled with his grace, with his peace, that everywhere you go, there's an overflow that literally impacts everything that's in your path. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:11.279 This is the life of what it means to be whole, to live a life of such profound overflow that it affects everything. 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:15.840 Jesus' ministry was the byproduct of the overflow in his life. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:20.480 He didn't do anything on the outside that wasn't already dwelling on the inside. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:22.480 Jesus didn't work from deficit. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:26.960 So when he was about doing his ministry, it wasn't working from a negative place. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:35.360 It was because I spent enough time with my father that I'm filled to the point that the overflow is blessing, the overflow is encouragement, the overflow is people being healed. 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:40.000 Jesus modeled for us what does it look like to live a life of overflow? 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:44.799 But you but you know what had an issue with the overflow in Jesus' life? 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:46.480 Religion. 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:54.080 Religion got involved and they wanted to complicate the overflow that was happening in Jesus' life. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:59.919 Here's what we got to remember: Jesus is God's way to man, religion is man's way to God. 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:04.000 And unfortunately, it can complicate things and it gets in a way. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:07.519 Religion began to complicate a move of God. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:13.919 What's fascinating to understand is that the Pharisees has something to say about the way that Jesus' overflow function. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:18.480 The Sadducees had something to say about the way that Jesus flowed and functioned. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:21.600 The Essenes had something to say, the zealots had something to say. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:27.759 These are all different political, spiritual sects that all had something to say about the way that Jesus functioned and operated. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:31.440 But you know the one people group that didn't say anything about what Jesus was doing? 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:33.039 The actual people he was helping. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:39.840 Isn't it fascinating that we have a lot of people that have a lot to say, but the people who need him the most are the ones who complain the least. 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:47.360 They just want to receive what God has in our lives, and sometimes we can add layers that simply complicate the goodness of God from flowing. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:52.399 It's almost as if we've forgotten that when Jesus came, he came for us as well. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:57.200 This is why the Bible says that salvation is by grace through faith. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:58.879 Least any man should boast. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:03.840 There's not a single human being that walks on the face of the planet that Jesus didn't have to die for them as well. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:05.839 Sometimes we forget that. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:10.640 As if when we were born, we were born holding a lamb in the King James Version of the Bible and we were set. 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:14.720 But the truth of the matter is we still needed the blood of Jesus, and guess what? 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:16.079 Every day we still do. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:22.160 Maybe that can help us to have a different measure of overflow when we look at people who may not be as far along as we are. 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:25.119 When we look at suffering all around us, that we can have a different perspective. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:30.720 Instead of us sitting on our mountain of, if you just do this, no, what if I just looked at you the way that Jesus does? 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:34.720 Jesus lived a life of perpetual overflow. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:43.279 So when the Sadducees and the Pharisees come to Jesus and they're hitting him with all these questions, they come to him and say, What is the most important commandment? 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:52.000 This was a little bit of a trick question because what you need to understand is we're familiar with the Ten Commandments, but there were actually 613 of them. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:57.519 Once again, 613 different ways to live for God. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:17:59.119 It got so complicated. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:09.519 They all had different ideas, and the reason why they wanted to hear what Jesus was going to say, because depending on which one of the 613 he responded with, it may have landed in one group versus the other. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:15.279 So they were trying to put him in a corner and say, Jesus, which of the 613 things are out there is the most important? 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:17.200 Because if you say this, then I knew we were right. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:18.960 If you say that, then I knew that we were right. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:20.640 If you say this, then I knew that they were wrong. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:26.079 So they were trying to trap Jesus in making a statement that would allow them to feel better about themselves. 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:33.119 But Jesus being full of infinite wisdom and knowing what was in their heart, he responded with a single word, love. 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:40.400 He took 613 things and reduced it down to one simple statement. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:41.519 Love. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:46.000 Now, when we hear the word love, love is nuanced. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:55.119 It's it's a simple four-letter word, but it's it's really so hard for us really to wrap our minds around it because when we think about it, love can have different expressions. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:57.039 We can go on vacation, man. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:18:58.160 I I love the weather. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:00.160 We can we can move into a new neighborhood, man. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:01.519 I I love this new neighborhood. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:03.039 We can we can get a new vehicle, man. 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:03.920 I love this vehicle. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:07.119 We can look at someone's picture on Instagram, oh I absolutely love that. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:14.400 And unfortunately, our usage of love becomes so watered down that it seems like it's just about our feelings in the moment. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:19.519 But it seems as if the vision that God had for love was something that was so much different. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:22.480 Not to mention when we talk about loving other people. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:34.559 Because all of us have our own built-in definition of love, and no matter how much you try to Google it or look it up in a dictionary, you're talking to a person who may have a different definition of what love may look like. 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:42.319 I remember early in our relationship, Megan and I, as I'm trying to learn her, I'm I'm loving her the way that I would want to be loved. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:43.759 That's a biblical principle. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:46.079 Do unto others as you will have them do unto you. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:48.960 That that makes perfect sense, and that's certainly appropriate. 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:55.759 But when I started recognizing, there was a little bit of a disconnect because Megan, she she would respond differently. 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:01.599 I'm taking her out to dinner, buying her little gifts, little acts of service, doing all these things. 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:07.279 And and for me, honestly, I'm thinking like, hey, like, I feel like the appreciation level should be a little bit higher. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:11.519 Like I feel like I feel like the gratitude should be a little bit more intense. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:17.039 But then someone had gifted me with a book that changed everything, the five love languages. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:18.799 Oh my goodness. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:34.799 It it literally broke down these five different buckets by the way that people receive love, and they equated it to this when you are speaking or trying to love someone in that's in a way that's not their natural love language, it's like speaking a different language to someone and being frustrated that they don't understand you. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:43.039 What can happen with the way that we understand love is we end up loving the way that we want to love instead of the way that they need to be loved. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:50.640 So Jesus begins to create this idea that I need you to love the way that I need to be loved. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.720 In my relationship with Megan, I learned that her love language was quality time. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:58.160 It didn't matter how much money your boy spent on her. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:00.400 She just wanted to hang out. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:02.000 And I don't blame her. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:03.839 She could not get enough of me. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:09.039 And she's not in here right now, so I'll deal with this later. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:13.519 But she she like and she just she just loved that, and and I didn't understand it initially. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:22.160 But when I realized, like, not only can I save me a whole lot of money, but if I could just sit in a room and talk with her and be with her to her, that filled up her love tank. 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:23.680 So now we literally have the book. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:27.759 We actually have an app now, and it actually tells you how's your love tank. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:29.839 So I'll randomly sometimes send her a little note. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:33.039 She'll get a text and say, Hey, my love tank is empty, girl, like you gotta step your game up. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:42.559 But it's a fun way, but but the reason why I say that is because that means that we're in tune to making sure that we're loving each other the way that we want to receive love. 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:49.599 Jesus uses this statement of love to simplify something so complicated, but he uses it in three different ways. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:52.480 The first way that he says it is love God. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:55.039 Now, here's the challenge. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:58.079 I want you to take everything I just said and apply it to this. 00:21:58.480 --> 00:21:59.759 Have we ever considered for a moment? 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:03.759 That God has a love language that He wants us to respond to Him in? 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:09.920 Unfortunately, we can end up loving God the way that we think He wants to be loved. 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:13.200 Lord, I came to church today. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:14.720 You're welcome. 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:22.720 Lord, I I I actually raised one of my hands halfway during worship. 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:24.400 You're welcome. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:28.319 Lord, they were talking about offering again. 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:30.000 And I gave you a tip. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:31.519 You're welcome. 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:38.400 We can mistakenly love God in a way that we think that He should be thankful for it. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:45.920 But in the same way that I have to love my wife the way that she wants to be loved, have we ever considered how does God want us to love him? 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:49.839 Look at y'all leaning, like, yeah, what does that look like? 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:51.680 Let me tell you what God's love language is. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:54.400 God's love language is obedience. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:22:58.480 His love language is obedience. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:00.960 And it's not from a place of control. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:04.559 It's not from a place of trying to tell us what to do. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:14.480 But God has such a deep love for us and that He's looking at us and He understands that the journey that you're on, if you don't change some things in your behavior, it's going to hurt you. 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:18.240 I love you so much and I hate to see what sin is doing to you. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:22.240 So if you can just respond to what I'm telling you, that's all I'm asking you for. 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:24.240 If you can just obey. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:27.599 Jesus quotes a phrase called the Shema. 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:30.720 This is pulled from Deuteronomy chapter 6. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:33.920 And it's a powerful passage to read in its entirety. 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:38.880 But what he reads is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:42.400 Love him with all your heart, your mind, and all your soul and your strength. 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:46.079 Let me give you the context of why Jesus was reading that off to them. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:51.599 Because the context for the children of Israel is that they had been in the wilderness for 40 years. 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:57.440 The reason why they were in the wilderness for 40 years is because they were rebellious and they didn't listen to God's word. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:01.119 In other words, they weren't loving God by responding appropriately. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:14.480 So now that Moses has been wandering with them for 40 years and they're finally at the threshold of going into the promised land, the place that God has for them, they say, listen, you're about to go and get everything we've been working for for the past 40 years. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:16.960 We're finally at the finish line. 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:21.200 When you get there, don't lose the discipline you developed over the past 40 years. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:24.640 Continue to love God with your obedience. 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:28.000 Because your lack of obedience is gonna it's gonna hurt you. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:34.160 Going into this place, it's a bunch of godless people, and there's a lot of craziness out there, and I want to make sure that you're protected. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:38.960 So just continue to live your life where people can see God in your life. 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:44.319 The best way that we can love God is by making sure He's reflected in everything that we do. 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:46.079 That's how we love God. 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:49.920 When people can look at you and see that you've been with Jesus. 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:58.559 What it says about the disciples when they were in the early stages of the early church, the Bible says that people could look at them and say, I can tell that they've been with Jesus. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:00.160 Imagine that for a moment. 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:06.559 That as the disciples were going out doing their life, that people could look at them and see, I could tell that they've been with Jesus. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:12.160 That's challenging to me because I often wonder, man, when people look at me, can they tell that I've been with Jesus? 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:19.519 When I'm dealing with customer service and I don't know why I got this, I don't know why I got this charge on my card, can they tell that I've been with Jesus? 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:25.200 When I'm standing in line and they're not moving any quicker, can they can they tell that I've been with Jesus? 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:29.440 When when things don't work out my way, can can they tell that I've been with Jesus? 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:36.000 The challenge is for every one of us is to make sure that my love and demonstration of God is not circumstantial when it's convenient for me. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:45.680 It's making sure that even in those moments when it doesn't, when it doesn't look the way that I want it to look, that I still can make sure that people can see Jesus in my life. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:52.640 The love of God means simply making sure that God can be seen in every single thing that we do. 00:25:52.960 --> 00:26:01.920 See, in in Hebrew, that word Shema, which is the statement that I just read to you, it literally means to listen, to hear, and to obey. 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:04.960 Not one of those words, all of those words. 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:09.680 In the Hebrew thought process, those are not separate concepts, it's one thing. 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:12.799 To hear is to listen, and to listen is to obey. 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:18.880 That means if you truly are to love God, it's not a cognitive thing, it's something that has action associated with it. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:24.240 The best way for me to put it is imagine if I tell my wife that I love her but I'm not faithful to her. 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:25.759 Is that really love? 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:31.200 What God wants is to make sure that if you love me, can you be loyal? 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:33.839 That if you love me, can can you spend time with me? 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:41.200 Can if you love me, can you actually love me in the way that I want to be loved, which is simply you reflecting me so that way we can add more people to the family? 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:43.359 Because there's so many folks that are away from me. 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:47.279 And if you only knew, the way that you interact with work is a testimony. 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:51.279 An evangelist is not a person who simply stands on the stage and declares Jesus. 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:55.039 A true evangelist is a person that looks like Jesus even in the midst of hell. 00:26:55.359 --> 00:27:02.640 That's the assignment that God has given every single one of us is to live a life that influences others to say yes to Jesus. 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:11.279 God is challenging us, he's inspiring us, and he's saying the highest way that you can love me is by reflecting me even in environments that seem to be dark. 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:14.000 Jesus is perfect theology. 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:23.839 What that means is while we sit around and we argue about different things, if you want to know what God's view is on any given subject, what did Jesus say about it? 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:25.519 What did Jesus do in it? 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:27.359 How did Jesus deal with the poor? 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:29.519 How did Jesus speak about the rich? 00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:31.119 How did Jesus do these things? 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:35.440 When we can look at Jesus, the Bible says that he's the expression of the invisible God. 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:37.279 Jesus is perfect theology. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:41.039 So when we're looking for ways to model our lives, let's just look at Jesus. 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:45.599 And if we can begin to have the posture of Christ, that is how we're able to love God. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:49.039 That people can look at us and tell that we've been with Jesus. 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:55.680 The next thing that he says is, not only do I want you to love God, but I also want you to love yourself. 00:27:56.160 --> 00:28:09.920 Now, you you may not have picked that up, but when you look at it in its entirety, and this is being pulled from Leviticus chapter 19, he says, Love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength, and love others just as you love yourself. 00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:13.279 We often say, Love God, love people. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:15.119 Love God, love others. 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:22.880 We simplify it that way, and that's powerful, we need to, but it assumes that we love others just as we love ourselves. 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:28.160 Meaning this, if I don't know how to love myself, I am not going to be able to love anybody else. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:33.680 That if I don't have an adequate view of myself, I'm not gonna have a healthy view of anyone else. 00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:40.000 What Jesus is instructing us to do is to make sure that we have a healthy love of self. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:48.319 Unfortunately, this is something that can get lost in our society because we have responsibilities and we have seasons that that require so much of us. 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:55.680 Whether it's a job that has so much of us, whether it's a whether it's being a parent and my kids, they require so much of me. 00:28:55.759 --> 00:29:03.839 Maybe, maybe it's my friend group, but but there are so many things that require so much of me that if that if I'm not careful, I can lose myself in the process. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:08.400 And instead of living from a place of overflow, I do it out of obligation. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:10.799 I've lost myself somehow. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:19.759 And now that I'm in this place where I've lost myself, I'm people pleasing, I'm exhausted, I'm irritable, and now I'm heading dead on to burnout. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:23.279 And all of this is in the name of being selfless. 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:28.079 But interestingly enough, that doesn't sound anything like Jesus. 00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:32.400 Jesus was the most selfless person to ever walk the planet. 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:36.000