WEBVTT 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:02.479 Amen. 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:07.759 That phrase that Tony used Trophy of Grace, that's a good one. 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:08.400 That's a good one. 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:09.439 I don't know if you heard him say that. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:12.480 He's not going to be a tragic figure anymore, but a trophy of grace. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:13.279 That's that's killer. 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:14.800 I don't know if he wrote that, but he should. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:17.359 Just go ahead and trademark that and use it. 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:18.640 That's right. 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:20.559 Happy Valentine's Day. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:21.280 Woo! 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.719 It's about the response you get for Valentine's Day, right? 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:27.600 Like you say Merry Christmas, and everyone goes, Merry Christmas. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:31.359 And you say, Happy Valentine's Day, and most people are like, yeah. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:34.640 You know, there's a few men in the room panicking right now. 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:35.200 Right? 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:36.399 A couple guys fidgeting. 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:41.439 And if you're if you're sitting next to a man who's fidgeting, that means he's about to go spend a lot of money on you the rest of today, right? 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:41.920 Right? 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:43.600 So just enjoy that. 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:46.159 Now, Valentine's Day is kind of a funny day. 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:54.079 In fact, whenever I looked at the calendar and realized that Valentine's Day was on a Sunday this year, this wasn't until like three weeks ago because I just don't use calendars very well. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:58.799 Um and I'll be honest, a part of me was like, oh, I guess we got to talk about love. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:00:59.280 Right? 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:02.560 Because it's Valentine's Day and it's on a Sunday, and that doesn't happen that often. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:06.239 And there was part of me that was like, hey, God, you know, we talk about love a lot at his hands. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:08.560 I mean, if you're new, just go ahead and know this. 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:09.760 We talk a lot about love. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:11.439 We're big fans of God's love. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:12.879 Our vision is to love people to Jesus. 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:13.680 That's our mission. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:16.400 We want people to get God's love, grow in his love, give it away. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:19.519 If you've gone here long, you should be able to quote that in your sleep, right? 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:21.120 So we talk a lot about love. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:24.480 We've talked about love last week as we talked about who we are as a church. 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:27.120 We talked about love a few weeks ago as part of our more series. 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:32.239 And so there's part of me that just, to be honest with you, goes, hey, God, I feel like we've got this covered. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:37.040 And then I hear God laughing in my head, right? 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:39.760 Like, oh, oh, you've got love covered. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:40.159 Okay. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:42.319 Yeah, you've got that down. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:43.920 I mean, sometimes we do that, right? 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.359 Those of us who've been following Jesus for a long time, we hear about love and we sort of go, yeah, love. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:47.920 I mean, that's good. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:48.640 It's it's important. 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:53.920 Love's good and all, but, you know, I mean, there's bigger things to focus on, like righteousness and holiness. 00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:56.959 Love, you know, love's this basic thing. 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:00.079 Except when you look at your life, ask yourself a few questions. 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:02.480 Do you have an overabundance of love in your life? 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:06.319 I mean, are any of us sitting here going, hey, my parents, they just loved me a little too much. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:09.840 They gave me too much support, they encouraged me way too much. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:11.199 I got too much love. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:12.319 That's been my problem in life. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.039 I've had this overabundance of love, and I just don't know what to do with all of it. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:18.159 I don't know what to do with all the extra love that I have in my life. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:30.080 Or do we operate more out of a deficit of love and struggle with that and try to fill that vacancy with other things that seem fulfilling, but in reality, if we just had a lot more love at a young age, we'd we'd be good. 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:32.719 Or do you feel like you understand love? 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:35.439 Do you get love, like really get love? 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:38.000 Because love's kind of confusing, right? 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:39.360 Do you really get it? 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:40.240 Do you really understand it? 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:41.840 It's very important to God that you do, by the way. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:47.840 In 1 John 4 8, the Bible says, anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:55.439 And so apparently it's important to God that we understand and we get love because love and God are very, very closely related. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:56.560 Do you get love? 00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:58.639 Or do you have love mastered? 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:04.719 I mean, would any of us raise our hand and say, yeah, I mean, there's one thing that I am, I nail it day in, day out. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:06.080 I just love people perfectly. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:12.960 I love myself, I love my spouse, I love my children, I love my friends, I love the people that I drive with on 575. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:15.120 I love, right? 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:22.080 I love, I love the people I work next to, I love my boss, I love, I love God, I love Jesus, I love my enemies. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:23.919 I just, I'm so good at love. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:25.520 I've got this down. 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:30.960 And the reality is, even though we think love is a basic thing, it's it's the hardest thing in the world to master. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:34.479 And so I'm really glad that Valentine's Day is on a Sunday this year. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:43.919 In fact, I wish it was every year because we we can't have enough opportunities to stop and reflect on God's love and think about what it means for us and how we can respond to it. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:47.680 We really, we can't do that enough as a perfect day to be here. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:56.319 One thing's for certain, when you think about love, when you think about Valentine's Day, this day that's the celebration of love in our culture, our culture has no idea what love is. 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:57.759 Our culture doesn't get love. 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:03.520 Now, our culture worships love, our culture puts love on this giant pedestal, but it does not understand it, not in the slightest. 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:05.280 Look at love songs, for example. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:12.319 There are a variety of love songs, songs about love, and they tell us all these things about love, but there's no consistency in the message. 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:15.680 So one song tells us that love is all we need. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:16.319 Right? 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:18.000 That's a classic, love is all we need. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:22.560 And then another classic, I believe, tells us that love emphatically stinks. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:23.439 Right? 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:26.480 It's all we need, but it stinks. 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:29.360 And then some songs just ask questions about love. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:31.040 What's love got to do with it? 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:34.480 Like what what is love? 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:35.600 Right? 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:36.800 What is love, baby? 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:37.920 Don't hurt me no more. 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:39.279 What is love, right? 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:40.000 We all know that. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:41.360 It's just what is this thing? 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:42.720 Our culture is confused. 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:44.160 Movies, they don't help. 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:47.199 You look at classic love stories, they don't have a clue what love is. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:50.399 Take something really classic, like, say, Grease, okay? 00:04:50.879 --> 00:05:00.800 Now, if you haven't seen Grease, it came out in the 70s, and there is a statute of limitations on spoilers, so if you've been dying to see Greece, cover your ears, because I'm gonna spoil it for you. 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:02.079 Here's the setup. 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:06.480 Danny, as played by John Travolta, is a bad boy. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:14.720 He wears leather jackets, he smokes cigarettes, he cuts class, he races cars, and he wins dance contests because that's what bad boys do, okay? 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:16.319 That's what they do. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:19.199 And Sandy is played by Olivia Newton-John. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:22.480 She's this wholesome, high-character girl. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:31.199 She makes good grades, she wears poodle skirts, you know, she does what you're supposed to do in life, and then she she falls in love with Danny because opposites attract. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:32.560 And there's this crisis. 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:34.319 Danny tries to change himself. 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:38.639 He ditches the leather jacket for a sweater and he joins the track team, but it's just not him. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:39.439 It's not him. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:40.240 He can't live that way. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:41.439 He's got to be true to himself. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:43.759 He's he's gotta race cars, he's gotta dance. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:46.879 He was born to hand jive, he has to do this, right? 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:49.600 It's it's who he is in his soul. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:51.360 But it's okay, it's okay. 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:53.199 Because Sandy loves him. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:06:02.879 And so she starts smoking cigarettes and wearing leather pants because when you love someone, when you love someone, you change everything about yourself to make them happy, right? 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:04.000 That's what love is. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:06.879 No, it's a stupid story. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:14.319 I wish there's a there's a a Danny and Sandy ten years later, it would not end well, it wouldn't be good. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:17.519 Or let's let's take something more serious, because that's kind of a silly movie. 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:20.000 And I just want you to understand, I'm about to offend some of you. 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:21.519 This guy, okay? 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:24.319 Now, some of us in the room don't know who this is. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:25.920 I wish I was you. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:34.079 Some of us, again, some of you are gonna want to kill me in two minutes, but just forgive me in advance. 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:34.959 Who is this? 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:36.399 Those of you who know, ladies? 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:39.839 Okay, but who's he playing, Colin Firth? 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:40.800 Right here. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:41.600 Mr. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:42.319 Darcy. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:43.439 Mr. 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:44.319 Darcy. 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:45.519 All right. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:47.040 Let me back up for a second. 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:48.560 This is Colin Firth playing Mr. 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:55.759 Darcy in the 1995 AE and BBC six-hour miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, of which I have seen 40 times. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:56.319 Okay? 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:02.319 In fact, I saw this movie like 20 times before I was ever married, which is weird, right? 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:03.279 That's weird. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:04.160 It is. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:05.920 You don't have to deny it. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:06.480 It's strange. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:09.360 See, here's the thing, and my mom's here today, so mom, hi. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:15.839 Um my mom bought this six-hour miniseries on VHS tape back in the mid-90s. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:21.600 And when my dad would leave town, my mom would binge watch it before binge watching was even a thing. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:27.360 Before Netflix came out, my mom was like a pioneer in binge watching, and she would make me watch this. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:28.560 She made me. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:29.920 And so I know all about Mr. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:30.560 Darcy. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:36.079 He lives at Pemberley, it's in Derbyshire, which is a beautiful part of England, and I know all about Ms. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:37.680 Bennett, and I know all about Mr. 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:38.879 Wickham, Mr. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:40.000 Wickham, right? 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:41.920 What a jerk, Mr. 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:42.720 Wickham. 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:46.879 And so, guys, again, spoiler alert, this was written in 1813. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:50.800 So if you don't know it by now, it's it's again, you're about to have it spoiled. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:51.360 Mr. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:55.920 Darcy, he's a rich, handsome young man, never been married. 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:00.399 He uh is very generous, very high character, very upstanding guy. 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:01.600 But there's a big problem. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:03.199 He's kind of a stick in the mud. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:04.480 Doesn't like to dance. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:07.279 When he shows up at the local balls, he just stands there. 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:08.000 He doesn't dance. 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:09.199 And he falls in love with Ms. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:18.879 Bennett, and he proposes to her, but she says no, because how can you marry a rich, attractive, kind-hearted, honorable man who doesn't like to dance, right? 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:22.000 He's like the opposite of Danny from Greece. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:22.959 They're polar opposites. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:24.480 They would not have hung out in high school. 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:25.439 How can she do that? 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:26.399 You can't marry that. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:27.199 He doesn't like to dance. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:28.959 You can't marry him, but it's okay. 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:33.120 Because his love for her, it melts away the rough edges. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:35.679 And occasionally he enjoys a good waltz. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.200 And so she marries him. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:38.159 She marries him. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:42.960 Because it's it's every woman's fantasy, an almost perfect man that you get to fix, right? 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:44.399 Because that's love. 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:45.759 That's love. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:47.919 Except it's not, because Mr. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:49.440 Darcy's not real. 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:50.639 There are no Mr. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:52.480 Darcy's in the world. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:56.080 Men, you should be saying amen right now, but you're not. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:08:58.159 There are Mr. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:08:59.600 Wickham's, but there's no real Mr. 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:00.399 Darcy's. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:02.720 This is a man invented by women. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:08.320 And we we can't, we can't be him. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:10.480 We can't, we try, we can't do it. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:11.440 We can't do it. 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:14.879 That's why over the the last 200 years, it's just the the Mr. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:18.320 Darcy's have downgraded, and it went from that to like Matthew McConaughey. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:20.720 That's the the modern version of Mr. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:21.440 Darcy. 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:23.840 See, our culture, it's just so confused about love. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:25.039 It doesn't know what love is. 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:32.320 It tries to explain it, it tries to personify it, but but our culture doesn't understand love because our culture doesn't understand God and God is love. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:35.360 And you can't understand love if you don't understand God. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:36.480 So our culture gets confused. 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:38.159 You know what else doesn't understand love though? 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:39.120 Religion. 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:41.840 Religion doesn't understand love at all. 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:48.639 Whereas culture doesn't get love because it doesn't get God and God is love, religion forgets that God is love in the first place. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.399 And so what happens with religion is love is undervalued. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:56.240 Love is treated like this elementary thing, it's the shallow end of the pool. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:59.919 And we graduate from that and then we get into deeper things like holiness. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:01.519 Holiness is great. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:09.519 But if you read the Bible, if these are college courses, if you major in holiness and minor in love, you've gotten it backwards. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:11.759 Love is the big thing. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:13.039 There is nothing deeper. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:14.480 Love is the deep end of the pool. 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:16.399 In fact, I love the way that this man named A. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:16.639 W. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:18.879 Tozer put it years ago. 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:21.360 Talking about God's love, he said this. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:23.360 And he lived a while ago, so these are fancy words. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:33.519 His love is an incomprehensibly vast, bottomless, shoreless sea before which we kneel in joyful silence and from which the loftiest eloquence retreats, confused and abashed. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:38.639 In other words, God's love is so big you just can't, you can't even wrap your mind around it. 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:40.399 It's bottomless. 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:44.080 And you can't go deeper than something that's bottomless. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:45.600 You just can't do it. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:48.799 Love is not this easy thing. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:50.320 Love isn't the simple thing. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:52.320 Love isn't the thing we graduate from. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:55.039 I mean, what's what's harder? 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:58.639 Loving people with the intensity of Jesus or following the rules of religion. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:00.960 Think about marriage, for example. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:02.399 There's rules in marriage. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:04.639 There's pretty obvious rules. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:10.480 Then there's there's other rules that, you know, they're not spoken, but you just know, like mow the lawn. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.120 Or pay someone to mow the lawn. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:15.519 And if you pay someone to mow the lawn, it still counts. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:17.120 That's still you get credit for that. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:18.799 You got it done. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:21.360 There's rules. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:24.799 Now I can follow every rule of marriage, every single one of them. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:25.759 I can check them off the list. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:29.759 I've never done this, I've never done this, I get home on time, I provide, I haven't had an affair, blah, blah, blah. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:30.960 I can do all those things. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:31.759 That's good. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:35.360 You want to follow the rules, but you can do every one of those and not love. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:42.080 And so Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, through the Bible, says this in Ephesians 5. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:45.360 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:49.919 He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's word. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:56.159 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or other blemish. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:58.000 Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:11:58.960 Now notice the order. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:00.960 Love comes before holiness. 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:03.519 Love is actually what makes us holy. 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:06.159 Instead, she'll be without fault. 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:13.360 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies, for a man who loves his wife actually shows love to himself. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:15.440 What's harder? 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:17.759 Following the rules of marriage or loving like that. 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:21.120 It's so much harder to love. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:22.240 It's a challenge. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:29.919 And the amazing thing about love is that even if we fail in following all the rules, which we often do, love covers it. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:31.840 It covers it. 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:34.960 1 Peter 4:8 says that love covers a multitude of sin. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:40.159 Most importantly, show deep love for one another because love covers a multitude of sin. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:48.480 If we love with the passion of Jesus, if we love like that, if we become known by our love, and that is the reputation we have, then you know what? 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:59.279 When we make mistakes, when we fall short, when we break a few rules, in our humanity, in our imperfection, it's love that makes up for it. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:00.799 It's love that covers. 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:03.679 So love is kind of a big deal. 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:05.120 It's a big deal to God. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:10.000 And as a church, we can never ever treat love like this thing that we've got it, we've got it down. 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:11.840 We're good, time to move beyond it. 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:17.919 No, no, we need to stop often and reflect on God's love because the love of Jesus changed everything. 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:24.000 There's nothing that has the ability to change lives and to change your life today like God's love. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:24.720 Nothing. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:26.159 Nothing. 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:27.919 Jesus loves like no one else. 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:29.519 I mean, he says this about himself. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:30.639 It's pretty bold. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:35.759 In John 15, 13, Jesus says, there's no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:37.919 Now, he's saying this before he goes to the cross. 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:42.720 This is Jesus essentially saying, No one loves like I do. 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:46.320 There's never been love like my love. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:48.080 There's no love greater than my love. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:50.720 No one that's ever lived can love the way I love. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:53.200 That's a bold claim, but Jesus backs it up. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:57.519 See, Jesus' love for you, his love for this world, it's not normal. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:00.960 It's not, it's it's wholly different. 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:02.720 It's wholly different. 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:05.759 Normal love, normal love is all talk. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:09.440 Normal love loves like flowery language. 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:13.200 Normal love is all about over-promising and under-delivering. 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:16.879 That's why, guys, we say very bold things when we fall in love with a woman. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:18.720 I die for you. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:19.519 Right? 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:23.759 Anyone ever said that to your I die for you? 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:33.279 And then, you know, fast forward a few years and there's a big game on, and she wants to go to bed, bath, and be on, and you're like, well, you know, I would die for you. 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:38.720 And if I died for you today, that means I'd miss every game that would ever come on again. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:41.440 But this game's on right now. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:46.720 And so I'll die for you, but I I'm not gonna miss the game. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:47.679 Right? 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:48.879 That's how we are. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:54.080 We we make bold promises, we we overpromise, we underdeliver because normal love does that. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:15:00.159 Normal love talks a big game, but it rarely, rarely backs it up with action. 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:02.000 It rarely does. 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:04.000 Which actually breaks our hearts so many times. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:06.320 Someone told us something, their actions didn't show it. 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:07.679 Jesus is not like that. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:09.679 He's not like that. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:16.159 In Mark chapter 2, there's this man that is paralyzed, and his friends are bringing him to Jesus because that's what you do with someone who needs something. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:16.960 You bring them to Jesus. 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:18.399 It's still like that, by the way. 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:30.080 They bring him to Jesus, and they can't get him into the house that Jesus is in because it's so crowded, and there's all these people there, and apparently they're so fixated on Jesus that they don't bother to turn around and see that there's a person in need that needs to get to Jesus. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:36.080 So these friends they get creative and they go up on the roof and they break through the roof and they lower the man down on a mat in front of Jesus. 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:38.559 Imagine that happening, and you're in the room. 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:43.840 How silent the room would get as this man comes down, mission impossible style, just right there. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:46.960 And then Jesus says something really surprising. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:49.120 Not something you would think he would say. 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:52.240 He says, Your sins are forgiven. 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:58.639 And I'm sure that the guy and everyone else were kind of like, hey, Jesus, I'm not saying that you've missed the obvious. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:05.120 And I'm really glad to know that my sins are forgiven, but I'm here because I need to be healed. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:07.519 And the man's probably confused. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:13.200 The Pharisees, the religious people in the room, probably the same guys who wouldn't let the guy in in the first place, they're furious, they're mad. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:14.559 How dare Jesus say this? 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:17.440 In fact, look at what it says in Mark 2, starting in verse 6. 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:22.639 Some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, What is he saying? 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:24.320 This is blasphemy. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:26.080 Only God can forgive sins. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.159 And Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:31.279 So he asked them, Why do you question this in your hearts? 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:37.440 Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man, Your sins are forgiven, or stand up, pick up your mat, and walk? 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:41.679 So I'll prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:46.399 And then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, Stand up, pick up your mat and go home. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:50.559 And the man jumped up, he grabbed his mat, and he walked out through the stunned onlookers. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:55.679 They were all amazed and they praised God, exclaiming, We've never seen anything like this before. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:58.879 We've never seen anything like this before. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:01.840 See, the Pharisees really accuse Jesus of normal love. 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:06.079 They say, Hey, you're saying something big, but you can't actually do that. 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:08.240 You're making a bold claim about yourself, Jesus. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:10.799 You're saying, Oh, I can forgive sins, but you can't you can't do it. 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:11.680 You can't back that up. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:16.160 You don't have the action to back up your statement, your all talk. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:22.720 And then Jesus proves that his words are true by what he does. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:25.839 See, Jesus' love, it never overpromises and underdelivers. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:28.240 It is always backed up by his action. 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:31.440 And we need to know that because there are things Jesus has promised you. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.480 And you may not know this, but he has promised you some big things. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:38.079 Jesus has promised that he will never leave you or forsake you. 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:43.119 And if Jesus makes that promise to you, this is not him saying, I die for you, because he already did that. 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:46.480 This is Jesus telling you something that he intends to do. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:47.759 He will never leave you. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:18:00.960 When Jesus says, I will give you the Holy Spirit, who will inhabit you, who will transform you, and who will make you able to live the life that I'm calling you to live, this is Jesus telling you the truth. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:02.640 He will do that for you. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:05.039 He will not make you a promise, he doesn't back up. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:09.119 When Jesus tells us, I will come back for my church, he means it. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:13.039 Jesus is love, it's never all talk, it's not normal love. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:16.880 Normal love, it's a lot of things. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:18.240 It's it's safe. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:22.160 Normal love wants one thing, it wants reciprocation. 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:29.599 And that's why when we find out that someone likes us, if we're single and we find out someone's interested in us, they immediately become just a little bit more attractive. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:31.519 Because we like to be loved. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:35.839 So, ladies, there might be a guy and you're single and he likes you and you've never thought about him that way. 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:41.119 And maybe you don't even intend to date him, but your friends say, Oh, he thinks you're awesome, he thinks you're beautiful. 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:44.240 He was talking about you the other day, and you kind of go, Well, hmm. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.000 I mean, he has good taste. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:51.759 So, gotta give him that. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:56.000 And like, be honest, if we're if we're really honest, the person just goes up a notch. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.519 Maybe just a notch, but a notch, because we we love to receive love. 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:00.880 We're actually built that way by God. 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:02.079 We're supposed to receive his love. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:05.759 It's the fact that we try to receive other love instead of his love that messes us up. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:07.279 But we're built to receive love. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:10.640 Normal love is all about reciprocation, it's safe. 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:14.640 What normal love seeks to avoid at all costs is rejection. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:17.440 Normal love doesn't like to put itself out there. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:27.839 That's why, guys, when we when we fall in love with a girl, when we have feelings for a girl, unless we have serious game, which I never had, you just you don't just go ask her. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:30.480 You don't walk up to a girl and say, hey, you're beautiful, you want to go out. 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:31.440 You don't do that. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:33.279 You're not Danny from Greece. 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:34.559 You don't do that. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:36.480 No, what do you do? 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:37.519 You feel it out. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:39.119 You do some recon. 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:40.799 Right? 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:55.279 You you try to pick up on a vibe, you try to get some information, some intel from her friends, maybe you even send some of your guys out, some of your boys to go and get some information for you, bring that back, because you're not gonna ask her out if you don't have at least a 70% chance of success. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:20:00.799 Like you need that 70% before you're you're gonna do that, because you don't want to be rejected. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:03.680 I've been rejected so many times. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:07.279 I got rejected by a girl named Allison Walker in kindergarten. 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:08.640 Kindergarten. 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:11.200 I never I never had the girls or gross phase. 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:12.240 That never happened to me. 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:16.400 I just thought Allison Walker was pretty, and so I wanted to tell her that I liked her. 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:17.279 Kindergarten. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:19.599 I remember this as clear as day, it was semi-traumatic. 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:24.240 And so I went up to Allison one day in kindergarten in Miss Walker's class. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:26.400 She was Allison Walker, but Miss Walker was our teacher. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:27.680 They weren't related, I don't think anyway. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:28.559