Speaker 1: Welcome to the First Love Church podcast.
Speaker 1: This is a collection of Sunday teachings inspired by the revised common lectionary and recorded weekly in Ocala, florida.
Speaker 1: We remind you that we made a commitment this morning when we said this is our worship confession.
Speaker 1: We're here to encounter the sacred and, piggybacking on what Thomas said earlier, we don't encounter the sacred when we're good enough.
Speaker 1: We don't encounter the sacred when we have cleaned ourself up enough.
Speaker 1: The intention is the moment we are aware the sacred is present, the moment we are aware that everything we do we do in the presence of the divine.
Speaker 1: That is when all of God's goodness and all of God's hope can help us return to the good, return to the love that we're created in and we're made in.
Speaker 1: We mentioned this earlier, but there are many people who join us online and we're grateful for that, and we're grateful for the ones actually who reach out and tell us their names and have us pray for them, or who give and participate in that way, and so we want you to know that, although we love so much the gathering physically together, it means something to see someone's face, to witness them, to witness their life, and when we can break bread together and share Holy Communion.
Speaker 1: That is a holy and sacred place, but from distance.
Speaker 1: For those of you, even internationally, who are online and who faithfully every week log on and say, hey, I want to hear what you have to say.
Speaker 1: We say thank you.
Speaker 1: It means something to us.
Speaker 1: We're grateful for that.
Speaker 2: Why don't you give them a round of applause for those people?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, all those people, let's show them right there.
Speaker 1: And that tiny thing.
Speaker 2: And then you, online, you can give a round of applause to those people that showed up here A little louder.
Speaker 1: There we go.
Speaker 2: I think we can hear it, come on.
Speaker 1: We're so grateful to be in the house of God.
Speaker 1: I remind you that this is not the house of God that people are.
Speaker 1: The house of God, where God lives, is a tabernacle of living stones, but God's house assembled to this morning, almost like the transformers.
Speaker 2: Oh, don't say I know, I just.
Speaker 2: What is the one that builds?
Speaker 1: What's the one that builds into the machine?
Speaker 1: Okay, thank you, I appreciate that.
Speaker 1: I saw the cartoons.
Speaker 1: I just wasn't paying attention.
Speaker 1: I was actually doing the work of making breakfast for the little people, but there is a cartoon where all the pieces come together and it makes something huge.
Speaker 1: That's unstoppable.
Speaker 1: And I'm thinking that's the house, that's the Power Rangers.
Speaker 1: No, it's a machine.
Speaker 1: There's a machine.
Speaker 1: It's both.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'll just tell us this beloved.
Speaker 1: It's morphing time.
Speaker 1: That's when I'm going to tell you that all of us need to morph into love, because that's what always have been the problem.
Speaker 1: So you will just be so gracious with me, because I got my cartoons or they're not cartoons, they're not animated, actually it's a show but this idea in our head that when we gather, there is something mystical that happens, there is something supernatural that happens, there is something holy that happens.
Speaker 1: Not only we gather physically, but we join our hearts, and that's the promise that Jesus made to us that the world can change, beloved, when we get our hearts in unity with love.
Speaker 2: Amen.
Speaker 2: Well, we're very grateful that you're here and when you're here, you're welcome to give to the offering boxes that are by each door.
Speaker 2: It's between you and the Lord.
Speaker 2: We're not going to pass the bucket, but you pass the box.
Speaker 2: So you figure out that between you and the Lord.
Speaker 2: Just because we're not high pressure sales doesn't mean that it's not important for you and for the church that you give.
Speaker 2: So we do thank those that are faithful in their giving and whatever capacity you're able to do that, and then we encourage those online that you're a part of our church and your support is greatly appreciated, and you can give by going to our website, firstlovechurchorg, go to the giving section or probably whatever social media device you're watching our service on right now.
Speaker 2: You can go to the bottom and there's a or somewhere there's a donation button.
Speaker 2: Look for it.
Speaker 1: In 1 Timothy, chapter six, command those who are rich in this, who are rich with the things of this world, not to be proud.
Speaker 1: And before you think I'm not rich because you know we all have levels or standards For those of you who used water from a sink today and you flipped a little lever and clean or cold or hot, however you chose water came out and you washed your hands in that, beloved, we are rich.
Speaker 1: For those of you who slept in a bed last night whether it was by your choosing or not maybe you wanted to sleep in a chair, I don't know, but you slept somewhere that wasn't the floor you are rich.
Speaker 1: Command those who are rich with the things of this world not to be proud.
Speaker 1: Tell them to put their hope in God, not in the uncertainty of riches.
Speaker 1: God richly gives us everything to enjoy.
Speaker 1: Beloved, are you enjoying the things that God has given us?
Speaker 1: Are you enjoying the fact that you drove here this morning?
Speaker 1: Are you enjoying the fact that it is hot, oppressive heat with lots of humidity?
Speaker 1: It's good for our skins.
Speaker 1: That's what I tell us.
Speaker 1: It is very good for our skin to have this much humidity.
Speaker 1: We have lush greenery and I try to convince myself of these things.
Speaker 1: Beloved, just leave me there in this, trying to make some gratitude for the humidity.
Speaker 1: God richly gives us everything to enjoy.
Speaker 1: Tell the rich people to do good, to be rich in doing good deeds.
Speaker 1: Be generous and ready to share.
Speaker 1: By doing that, they will be saving a treasure for themselves as a strong foundation for the future.
Speaker 1: Then they will be able to have the life that is true life.
Speaker 1: This is so reminiscent of what Jesus told us when he said I have come, that you would have life and have it to the full.
Speaker 1: What is it like for us to imagine a life that is flourishing and not just for ourselves, beloved?
Speaker 1: What is it like for us to imagine a world that flourishes in divine love and in brotherly love and in community love?
Speaker 1: That's the hope of the world and that's the good news of Jesus.
Speaker 1: That is what it looks like for us to understand the gospel, not just for our own personal improvement, but that the world would be the realm of love.
Speaker 2: I just can't get away from the importance of gratitude that we would find gratitude and the fact that we, if you missed a meal, probably you were fasting or you were busy because you have so much stuff to do.
Speaker 2: Not, we didn't miss a meal because we just can't eat.
Speaker 2: There's no food.
Speaker 2: We're so blessed and yet we complain about so much.
Speaker 2: I'd really encourage you to let God show you places where gratitude could be replaced for our dissatisfaction and for our complaints.
Speaker 2: That must just be disgusting to hear.
Speaker 2: I was thinking about recently.
Speaker 2: I just live in Florida so I'm complaining about the heat for half of the year, but then I was listening to this guy talk about we're circling around the sun.
Speaker 2: The next closest star is a few hundred light years away.
Speaker 2: If you could figure out a way to travel at the speed of light, it would take you several hundred years to get to it.
Speaker 2: We're by this particular star and if we were a little bit closer we would have burnt up, or a little bit further away we would have frozen this.
Speaker 2: We're right in this spot that you can go outside right now and you can feel the warmth of a sun, of an actual star that's burning, that it's having nuclear explosions, and it's not melting you, it's warming you.
Speaker 2: The next time you're complaining about hot, think about the fact that how much of a miracle it is that you can feel that warmth.
Speaker 2: I've decided I'm never going to have a sunburn again.
Speaker 2: I'm starburned.
Speaker 2: At least that's just cooler.
Speaker 2: I'm pasty and so I'm going to burn, but I'm starburned.
Speaker 2: My God has taken care of me and I can be grateful, even when I'm outside in that muggy heat.
Speaker 2: Just make me think about that.
Speaker 2: When you were saying that we just if we let God shift our perspective, we could be filled with gratitude, and gratitude creates an energy around you that people want to be around, and I'm telling you they're not digging that whole negative vibe thing you got going on.
Speaker 2: Somebody say amen.
Speaker 2: I'm telling you God is offering a transformation for us just in this way.
Speaker 1: People want to be with you.
Speaker 1: They do.
Speaker 1: People want to be with everybody.
Speaker 1: There is something that would make people enjoy themselves more, and it's the practice of gratitude.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we need to be taught how to, or we need just an imagination expansion how to be able to be grateful for the things that we're going through.
Speaker 1: We can create a liturgy.
Speaker 1: I haven't done it yet, but for times of oppressive heat, when it doesn't feel like the star is very helpful at all, feels like the star is way too close to you, you will be thankful for sunscreen and Columbia shirts and nice big hats and shade.
Speaker 1: You could really find a way to be grateful for all the things that we have, but it becomes a practice.
Speaker 1: Do I become an unfaithful narrator in my own story?
Speaker 1: Do I just rehearse the things that feel to me different than how I had planned it, or do I open my imagination and find all of the abundance and all of the goodness that is around me?
Speaker 1: That is the hope of gratitude.
Speaker 2: Nobody that lived in Florida 100 years ago had AC.
Speaker 2: Oh, come on.
Speaker 1: Together, we'll pray for them.
Speaker 2: Lord have mercy, christ have mercy, god have mercy.
Speaker 2: Can you be grateful?
Speaker 2: Amen.
Speaker 2: Okay, you can't, we'll keep trying.
Speaker 1: Really what we're doing is we're weeping with those who weep, we're thinking to our, and then we also say this is what the scripture says the Lord determines the times and the places where mankind should dwell, and I offer to God thank you that you saw me and said she's going to need the air conditioning and so there's hope for us, even in whatever situation we are to find, where is the goodness, where is the abundance?
Speaker 1: Where is the hope beloved?
Speaker 1: It is constantly in the returning to the good.
Speaker 1: We go again at this part of ordinary time, in this practice of ordinary time, where it is the season of Pentecost, where what does it look like for us to fully engage with spirit or wisdom?
Speaker 1: How do we practice living in this current situation, in this current world, not in a place where we hope that it gets better or cooler, but in this world right now, with the news that is happening all around us?
Speaker 1: How do we find wisdom to live, to flourish and to join with what God is doing and bringing the realm of love here, even as it is in heaven?
Speaker 2: You know, it's an amazing gift that God has given you and I of the Holy Spirit, yes, and God's very power, his leading and His direction is available to us.
Speaker 2: And it's maybe not natural, probably why it's called supernatural, and it's something that we learn to do, but it's not like a work thing.
Speaker 2: I loved what Tom was talking about how you're not going to increase a yield of the Holy Spirit by certain things, but by creating this perfect atmosphere for Him.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, I can learn when he is, she is, god, is moving, and I can be quick to step into that flow.
Speaker 2: Amen, you know, I can learn to hear what God of the universe is saying and wants to do, amen, amen.
Speaker 2: And that's a training that I'm excited to be a part of that training.
Speaker 2: Sign me up, because I think about the wonderful things that I can experience, the things that I can see and experience by following after Him.
Speaker 2: That's exciting to me.
Speaker 1: When you're talking like that I'm reminded of in the very beginning in Genesis.
Speaker 1: It talks about the Spirit of God then that the Spirit of God hovered over the chaos.
Speaker 1: If there's any chaos in your life, listen for the hovering of the Holy Spirit, okay, and then join the work of what the Holy Spirit is doing.
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.
Speaker 1: This portion of scripture beloved.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you're here today, because one of the things that the Holy Spirit does and this is revealed to us in scripture is confirm or seal the promise.
Speaker 1: Has anyone made a promise to you and then you thought I don't believe you could do that.
Speaker 1: I don't recognize the authority.
Speaker 1: I've had children and my children make promises all the time.
Speaker 1: I'll never do that again.
Speaker 1: You know what I do.
Speaker 1: Just smile, we'll see, we will see.
Speaker 1: Or they make promises.
Speaker 1: I will never forget this.
Speaker 1: If I had this, I will never want anything again.
Speaker 1: I don't believe you have the authority to make that promise, but when God gives us promises, he also gives us the Holy Spirit, the authority behind what is actually doing this.
Speaker 1: So Paul is in this letter to the church at Rome, and I remind you that he's talking about individual believers that are there, but he's also using big language.
Speaker 1: The syntax here reminds us that we are a part of something that is so much bigger than ourselves.
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.
Speaker 1: For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for.
Speaker 1: Beloved, I think we're all there now when we watch the news or read the news.
Speaker 1: This is when we trust that the Holy Spirit will give us directions.
Speaker 1: What if, while you're having a fight with someone that you love, what does the Holy Spirit want me to pray for?
Speaker 1: Probably not that they're struck dumb, not anything like that.
Speaker 1: Probably that you would understand that.
Speaker 1: But that's what we need to ask, what needs to be acknowledged and what do we need to be aware of?
Speaker 1: For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
Speaker 1: Beloved, that is such a comfort or at least it should be to you that the Holy Spirit is praying for you.
Speaker 2: And I like this idea of the Holy Spirit's promise to help us in our weakness.
Speaker 2: I am so aware of my weaknesses, the areas where I can't seem to get a victory or I can't seem to break through.
Speaker 2: There's a continual habit that seems to be less than where God is inviting me to and I see the opportunity to invite God to that area.
Speaker 2: And also there can be just a trust while I'm in my predicament that he helps me in my weakness.
Speaker 2: Not well, he'll help you if you get out of that, you climb out of that hole and then go ahead and walk with him, but that he's right there in that hole with us and that is such a comfort that he helps us in our weaknesses.
Speaker 2: And I do believe that there's a trajectory out of that.
Speaker 2: But I think that we tend to look at it in such black and white terms that if I have that weakness, then clearly God wants no part of me and he's saying, in fact he's given you a gift for those very moments, implying that he knew that they were going to happen, not like you're the one Christian that just can't seem to pull it off.
Speaker 2: But isn't that good to know that he promises to and that God will move in such a way that we can't even understand it.
Speaker 1: And the Father, who knows all hearts, knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers, in harmony with God's own will, and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Speaker 1: What a beautiful promise.
Speaker 1: What a difficult word, because many times people have used this to negate someone else's pain or their suffering.
Speaker 1: This verse says God will cause everything to work together for the good.
Speaker 1: This promise is a promise that transcends time.
Speaker 1: These people that are here are suffering.
Speaker 1: Jesus has come, he has died, he's been resurrected, he's ascended.
Speaker 1: They're trying to live out this new kind of love and they are suffering and Paul is reminding them.
Speaker 1: Beloved, god knew about this and God is working.
Speaker 1: God is working even in suffering.
Speaker 1: God is not the cause of that suffering, but God is working, even though it's not the magic that we hoped for, even though it's not the paradise that we thought it would be immediately, even though Rome is still oppressing.
Speaker 1: God is at work and that beloved is the promise that we can all cling to and since the beginning of time, god had us in mind and had established for us this thought that we would be made whole and holy by his love.
Speaker 1: So there is for us an understanding that Paul is reminding them from the beginning of time to the very end.
Speaker 1: God exists outside of that and God said there is a plan, god will work it together.
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean that if it's not working together, the plan is finished, but there's a hope for us in understanding that this is big, this is eternal, and we get to be a part of this.
Speaker 2: You know, and here is the apostle Paul talking very matter-factly about the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: Now, I don't know what denomination you grew up in or what teaching you have had up to this point about the Holy Spirit, but some people believe that it's not for today, that it passed away with those disciples, and I would really challenge that teaching with experiences that I've had in my own life and with others.
Speaker 2: I've watched, you know, I've seen God move, but then I've also been around people that stood over young children and screamed at them, speaking tongues, speaking tongues, or you're not filled with the Holy Ghost, and these little children are crying because they got all these people trying to lay hands on them and shout at them and they're terrified.
Speaker 2: You know, and we're calling that a move of God.
Speaker 2: That's more like child abuse in the, but it doesn't mean that the Spirit of God isn't alive and moving, you know.
Speaker 2: And so this is something that we need to talk about, and some I think a lot of churches, if we're this seeker, sensitive church, we're gonna kind of put the Holy Spirit back on a shelf and not really talk about it, because that stuff is a little different, it's a little strange, it's hard to explain.
Speaker 2: It doesn't?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 2: It doesn't test well in markets.
Speaker 2: You know, and you know what.
Speaker 2: We don't care about that.
Speaker 2: We want the truth, we want to know God, and I can tell you that I have shared this message with people, people that don't know a lot about Christianity, haven't been following God a long time, that maybe don't have PhDs or whatever, but they'll come back and go.
Speaker 2: I was at the hair salon and all of a sudden, these people were talking about and I started to share stuff and I didn't even know.
Speaker 2: I knew that, and the whole place started crying.
Speaker 2: What was that?
Speaker 2: Well, it sounds like to me the Holy Spirit used you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was quoting scriptures, I didn't know, and at the end of that we prayed and I just felt God's presence in there.
Speaker 2: And you mean, that's not just for the pastors, that's not just for people that you read about, but the Holy Spirit wants to move in the lives of all of us.
Speaker 2: I believe it's true and I believe it's for today, and what a blessing to help me out of the predicaments that I get myself in on a pretty regular basis.
Speaker 2: Anybody else with me?
Speaker 2: Oh, we need you, lord, and he has provided this way of escape for us.
Speaker 1: I'm also reminding you that the evidence of the Holy Spirit is also when you are depressed and in your bed and you can't think any good thoughts and your body aches and the world around you is dark and you find one thread of hope that beloved is a working of the Holy Spirit as well.
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit's working is everywhere.
Speaker 1: If you go outside, in your garden, the Holy Spirit is at work, and this is amazing.
Speaker 1: If you stand on the ground and feel the breath of God, the breeze of God on your cheek, this is a move of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: And what the Holy Spirit is is this connection to the presence of divine.
Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit is wisdom that gives us direction and that gives us hope, and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Speaker 1: For God knew his people in advance and he chose them to become like his son.
Speaker 1: So this son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Speaker 1: Paul is reminding people who are suffering greatly God has always had a plan, and the plan is big family.
Speaker 1: The plan is there's gonna be a big table and God is calling all the sons and daughters home.
Speaker 1: And this is what Paul is reminding them.
Speaker 1: Yes, rome is still oppressing us.
Speaker 1: Yes, you are still in a hierarchy.
Speaker 1: And then Jesus reminds us there is a new way of love, and love removes hierarchy.
Speaker 1: Love says that there is equality and equity, because we are all sons and daughters of God, and he's painting this picture that goes against what they're actually living in, this empire, this upside down system where some people are slaves and some people have lots of money.
Speaker 1: And Paul is reminding them, god's way of love is family, where everyone is loved and honored.
Speaker 1: And, having chosen them, he called them to come to him and then, having called them, he gave them right standing with himself.
Speaker 1: Beloved, if you didn't need any encouragement today, put this one in your pocket for later, because, having called them, he gave them right standing with himself.
Speaker 1: Seems to me you didn't do a whole lot except turn your face toward the father.
Speaker 1: Yes, because Jesus said come, and you turned, and here he said that I'm giving them right standing with God.
Speaker 1: And having giving them right standing, he gave them his glory.
Speaker 1: This is such a hopeful text.
Speaker 1: It's gonna get better.
Speaker 1: It is, I promise you, even from here it's going to get better, but this is such a good one to remind yourself when you find yourself struggling to perform, when you find yourself saying I didn't do enough, when you find yourself questioning have I done enough to earn it, remind yourself it is God who gave us the ability to stand before him.
Speaker 1: It is God who made us righteous, it is not our own works Another verse of Paul, lest we should boast and so none of us are gonna say I have done it, I have achieved.
Speaker 1: In fact, this is the hope of Christianity that we would understand.
Speaker 1: It is not about what we have earned, but that it is an invitation that the Holy Spirit is saying come home, beloved, come back to love, come back to God who is present with us.
Speaker 1: And then he says this what shall we say about such wonderful things as these?
Speaker 1: He's actually questioning, and it's really important to read the questions that Paul asks, because sometimes we feel like it comes at such a place of it's a statement.
Speaker 1: It's not.
Speaker 1: He's pondering these things and he's inviting us to ask the same thing what do you say about the fact that God has given you the right to stand before him whole and holy and loved?
Speaker 1: Because God said that Consider this with us.
Speaker 1: This is what the Holy Spirit is saying.
Speaker 1: Let's have a conversation, let's ask these kind of questions.
Speaker 1: And then he asks another one If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Speaker 1: We pause here for a moment to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1: If you're finding this episode meaningful, would you take a moment to share it with a friend?
Speaker 1: This podcast is made possible thanks to the generosity of people just like you.
Speaker 1: If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church and the continued work of our podcast, visit us online at firstlovechurchorg, reminding you to like, follow and subscribe.
Speaker 1: Well, I'll think of a list right now.
Speaker 1: Hold on.
Speaker 1: Firstly me, firstly my thoughts and my plans and the things that run through my head and the templates that I use to view the world.
Speaker 1: And then there's other people that I admire or I like or I want to be like, and then I give them more authority and I say well, I'm not sure they would approve, you know so we do this all the time.
Speaker 1: And Paul is saying beloved, be aware of your thoughts.
Speaker 1: I mean, if we would actually consciously say who would stand against God, we would all say not me, I'm gonna stand on God's side.
Speaker 1: I remind you of this story.
Speaker 1: It's in the ancient text, in the Hebrew text.
Speaker 1: Israel is at war, not necessarily in this time of their own choosing, but the Philistines had come against them and they come to steal a bunch of things.
Speaker 1: And the Philistines were quite a people.
Speaker 1: I mean you could look in history about that.
Speaker 1: One thing I know in particular the Philistines apparently loved to lentil and they were constantly after the lentils that the Jewish people there were planting.
Speaker 1: This is not that story, but I just remind you.
Speaker 1: They liked food and this particular Philistine was a giant, so he probably ate a lot of food.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I'm just assuming he's a giant of a man and this is how the Philistines kind of fought.
Speaker 1: I guess until we actually had the skirmish, he would just stand there and say horrible things about the Israelites.
Speaker 1: This is their war tactic Just constant accusations and constant, just a barrage of negativity.
Speaker 1: This is a technique to bring people to war.
Speaker 1: And David shows up.
Speaker 1: His dad sent him to get his brother some cheese.
Speaker 1: I wonder about the whole story because I'm thinking to myself maybe Goliath, had he had some cheese, would stop the rotten talking Like maybe if we shared our Gouda or something smoked Gouda with him.
Speaker 1: Maybe we could have come to the table differently, but it didn't happen that way.
Speaker 1: David goes, listens to his father he's bringing his brother's cheese and he listens to this giant tormenting them by screaming these things and he just simply asks a question who is this uncircumcised Philistine who dares to speak against the armies of the living God?
Speaker 1: Now you read the story later.
Speaker 1: I don't want to spoil it for you.
Speaker 1: But the question is this Is there anybody in your life who can come and listen or see and observe and go?
Speaker 1: If God is for you, who or what can be against you?
Speaker 1: What if it's the mirror in the morning?
Speaker 1: What if we get to retrain the way that we think about ourselves or about our lives and go?
Speaker 1: Wait a second, who is this uncircumcised Philistine who is coming against God?
Speaker 1: If God is for us and it's really essential that he says us, because some people say this if God is for me, beloved me is part of us, just want to tell you that.
Speaker 1: And so this idea of I am the one that special, listen, we're all special because we're all God's children.
Speaker 1: But God is saying us intentionally, he's reminding you you're part of something, you are part of family, you're part of the bigger plan, you're part of hope.
Speaker 1: What shall we say about such wonderful things as these of God is for us?
Speaker 1: Who can ever be against?
Speaker 2: us.
Speaker 2: You know, I wanted to just talk about verse 30 and 31 for a moment because you know I think the loose cannon in Christianity is doctrine and it's rolling all over the ship smashing people.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
Speaker 2: It's throwing some people over.
Speaker 1: It is a loose cannon.
Speaker 2: And it's supposed to be.
Speaker 2: But you know, I want to remind you any doctrine that you've ever heard, ever the best to the weirdest, was concocted by a man.
Speaker 2: Probably Men have thrown some cockamamie doctrines in there now and again, I'm sure, but let's just say by and large as a whole.
Speaker 1: the men haven't let the women do a whole lot of talking, so it's better to say that's always going to be a man.
Speaker 2: For the past couple thousand years, men have had a juggernaut on trying to control this thing and done a wonderful job of creating a bunch of stuff that traps you.
Speaker 2: You know, and you can't feel good because, if I did this and because what about with this and what's happened I noticed over my lifetime of being a Christian is people just come to God with this exciting need for transformation and then next thing you know, they're just derailed and distracted and they chase doctrine and they chase knowledge, as if somehow this knowledge is going to figure God out.
Speaker 2: I even heard one girl say one time that she figured God out and then he had to change and I just thought, well, what kind of drugs are you smoking, or something.
Speaker 2: But the thing is, you know, it's these doctrines of men that get us all twisted up, and they're with good intention, and I'm not saying all doctrine is wicked, but I gotta tell you that sometimes we need to just hold what scriptures?
Speaker 2: What is it saying?
Speaker 2: Verse 30 and 31?
Speaker 2: Real, quickly there in verse 30, I just love that word there.
Speaker 2: No, I wanted 30, but 29 is good too.
Speaker 2: I mean, we can go back as far as you want.
Speaker 2: We'll go back to Genesis right here, but gave them right standing, yeah, but what about?
Speaker 2: Isn't that what rises up in most of us?
Speaker 2: The stuff you were taught, right, these doctrines of men that you know, and if you're Baptist you got a whole bunch of them.
Speaker 2: If you're charismatic you got a bunch of them.
Speaker 2: Or you know Pentecostals to the Presbyterians and we just got all this stuff instead of taking God in His word.
Speaker 2: Wait a minute, I'm right standing with Him, yeah, but how about getting rid of that?
Speaker 2: But he said you're in right standing.
Speaker 2: Go on to verse 31.
Speaker 2: I just love this.
Speaker 2: If God is for us, who can be against us?
Speaker 2: If God is for me, that is even a revelation, because doctrines told me now, because you know you did, and we got all this stuff and we got this maze inside of our head of confusion.
Speaker 2: And I gotta tell you, the Holy Spirit, that was what was amazing to me when I came to the Lord.
Speaker 2: I just knew some stuff and I maybe get some old crusty Christians angry, but when they'd spewed out some stuff, I've always kind of liked being a little bit rebellious, and when they would tell me all their stuff and try to lasso me with it, I just said no, and I'm still doing it right now.
Speaker 2: No to that stuff that you were told, even if it was generations old, even if your grandpa or grandma you loved them so much and they meant so much good when they heaped all of that condemnation on you.
Speaker 2: But I'm telling you you have right, standing with God and man when that really hits.
Speaker 2: And people, they come up with doctrines so afraid.
Speaker 2: If you get that you're gonna go buck wild.
Speaker 2: When you get that you can't help but love and serve this God and you don't do it out of increments and portion it out, but you abandon everything because you realize what he abandoned to reach you.
Speaker 2: And so look at these things and ponder them and let the Holy Spirit do what the Holy Spirit will do with them.
Speaker 2: I mean, it will explode inside of us and transformation will come.
Speaker 2: That's what he's about.
Speaker 1: Since he did not even spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else?
Speaker 1: I mean, paul, the Apostle right here is reminding people that the Gentiles are included because they thought that there was a God that was going to be very narrow with them.
Speaker 1: They were going to get to God and to God's promise and to paradise because they were Jews, and Paul is reminding them beloved.
Speaker 1: The plan has been all around time since the beginning of time.
Speaker 1: It's for everyone and even then, in this encouragement, he's challenging the way that they live this inclusion of God's love.
Speaker 1: The intention was that even the barbarians would come.
Speaker 1: Even though wherever it is that you have a margin, wherever it is that you say not there.
Speaker 1: God is reminding us over and over again, since God gave Jesus and didn't withhold Jesus For everyone beloved, not just for those who had been good or who had followed.
Speaker 1: Jesus was sent for everyone.
Speaker 1: Won't he also give us everything else?
Speaker 1: Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own?
Speaker 1: No one, for God Himself, has given us right standing with Himself.
Speaker 1: Beloved.
Speaker 1: No accusation stands against you because God said you are innocent.
Speaker 1: God said you are holy.
Speaker 1: God said you are loved.
Speaker 1: God said you don't have to earn this.
Speaker 1: I gave it to you freely.
Speaker 1: God said beloved.
Speaker 1: Everything else has to bow.
Speaker 1: The written word always has to bow to the living word.
Speaker 1: Jesus is the living word and Jesus has said to us I am the weight, real life.
Speaker 1: No one, for God Himself, has given us right standing.
Speaker 2: You know and know, where are you getting greater accusation than from yourself?
Speaker 2: I would just about guarantee that it's just part of the human experience, part of the struggle, part of why he gave us the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: And so ask the Holy Spirit, you know these things that I feel about myself, these things that constantly come up, is that how you see me?
Speaker 2: Let Him show you.
Speaker 2: And then what?
Speaker 2: Do you have?
Speaker 2: Anyone that you could trust?
Speaker 2: You know, one thing I really like about my relationship with my wife Heather is not only do I have a spouse, but I've got a partner in this following after God thing.
Speaker 2: And sometimes I'll just say things and she'll say who told you that?
Speaker 2: And it's like a light went on and I kind of feel dumb for a second because it's so obvious then.
Speaker 2: But it wasn't until someone I loved and trusted.
Speaker 2: Now I could get angry at her and say, woman, quit pointing out my dumb things that I say and do, and I'll just stay dumb and say in ignorant things.
Speaker 2: Or I could allow the Holy Spirit to speak through my wife, my children.
Speaker 2: I can tell you that our church is so drastically different than it was 10 years ago and I would blame my children for it.
Speaker 2: I'm teasing.
Speaker 2: I'm grateful to God for my children for it, because they have shined a mirror as adults.
Speaker 2: They have shined a mirror on Heather and I and said who told you that?
Speaker 2: And we were just doing stuff because that's what we were taught.
Speaker 2: We're just trying over here and then do you have anybody in your life Sometimes it's your children that can just go, you know what?
Speaker 2: No, I'm not going to swallow that garbage, you know.
Speaker 2: I mean, there was a time when it was just the most offensive thing in the world to wear a hat in church.
Speaker 2: Look at Pastor Lee over there.
Speaker 2: He would be considered a sinner, a chief among sinners.
Speaker 1: No what.
Speaker 2: You look better with that on.
Speaker 2: Put it back on.
Speaker 2: No, no, no, but it's just like.
Speaker 2: Why would we make that the thing that separates us?
Speaker 2: Because we got some doctrine, oh, it's holy and we shouldn't have our heads covered.
Speaker 2: The Bible sits down, and we just get all this weird stuff instead of going hey, if the guy didn't want to do what Heresy has left before he came to church, let him put a hat on Amen and let him worship Jesus, and none of that matters.
Speaker 2: But when we focus on that, we miss the heart, you know.
Speaker 2: And so why do we get distracted by this stuff?
Speaker 2: And do we have somebody that might even say hey, lee, put that back on.
Speaker 2: And that's what relationship and community is about, and that's what the Holy Spirit wants to do Encourage one another through.
Speaker 2: And I'm so grateful for my children and for and Pastor Leo tell me oftentimes the hairs that are out of place in my life, so to speak, and it's and it's not always pleasant to hear, but I'm so grateful for the transformation that it potentially can bring.
Speaker 2: And so we could you look for the Spirit of God in there, because I'm telling you, the biggest accuser is right there, in between your ears, and the Holy Spirit wants to root that stuff out because it's just there to torment.
Speaker 2: Anyone know what I'm talking about?
Speaker 2: Amen, help us Jesus.
Speaker 1: Who, then, will condemn us?
Speaker 1: No one.
Speaker 1: I just want you to be reminded this morning.
Speaker 1: This was the ministry of Jesus.
Speaker 1: If people were hurting, he was healing.
Speaker 1: If people were hungry, he was feeding.
Speaker 1: If they were thirsty, he was giving them water.
Speaker 1: Nowhere did Jesus condemn people, and if we are followers of Jesus, then we should be feeding the hungry, healing those who are hurting and bringing love here, because, beloved, we can talk about this stuff and we can encourage each other, but God is love.
Speaker 1: That's all you need to know.
Speaker 1: And then the Holy Spirit inside of you will tell you this is not loving, not toward yourself or to your neighbor, and this is the hope of what we are remembering no one for Christ.
Speaker 1: Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand pleading for us.
Speaker 1: Again, paul is asking these people who are suffering and he's saying hey, look at this big picture, like, zoom out here and see this.
Speaker 1: Is God not withholding Jesus?
Speaker 1: God has given you Jesus, who died, was buried and is resurrected and now sits in heaven as your intercessor.
Speaker 1: Beloved, I remind you of this no matter what anyone says, jesus is saying something different and I'm going with what Jesus is saying.
Speaker 1: Jesus is saying they are mine, they are holy, I paid for them.
Speaker 1: There's an incredible sermon by Elistar Begg and we have so many good we're going to have to.
Speaker 1: This is going to be a two part.
Speaker 1: You've got to come up to the next part because we'll breeze over these next part.
Speaker 1: But I want to tell you something.
Speaker 1: If you're concerned about, like what do I know?
Speaker 1: Jesus was being crucified between two thieves and one particular thief said to him remember me when you get to paradise.
Speaker 1: And Jesus said this day you'll be with me in paradise.
Speaker 1: This thief did not confess anything.
Speaker 1: The thief didn't say what I've done is wrong and I choose your way.
Speaker 1: Didn't say anything.
Speaker 1: He just said hey, you remember me, think about me when you're there.
Speaker 1: And Jesus said you'll be there with me.
Speaker 1: So the thief dies, as does Jesus, and he gets to heaven and he's at the pearly gates and there's some angel there it's not Peter, because Peter hasn't died yet, and at this particular time in attorney, there's somebody else and at the gates of heaven and this is all a story, there's no such thing.
Speaker 1: I mean, there are gates, but we'll talk about those later.
Speaker 1: According to Revelation.
Speaker 1: Her gates will never shut but this is okay.
Speaker 2: Okay, we're just going to go everywhere.
Speaker 1: I'm getting back to this one.
Speaker 1: There's a thief on the cross and he dies and he gets to heaven and the angel there says because this is the story we make up, the angel says on what grounds have you come?
Speaker 1: What do domination do you belong to?
Speaker 1: And he goes I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1: And he said well then, what creed have you confessed?
Speaker 1: And the man said I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1: And he said hang on here, I'll get a supervisor.
Speaker 1: So he gets a supervisor angel.
Speaker 1: And the angel comes and he goes what do we have here?
Speaker 1: He goes I don't know.
Speaker 1: We got some guy here.
Speaker 1: He doesn't know why he's here.
Speaker 1: He doesn't know how he's here and of course we have to ask him the questions to make sure that he's allowed in.
Speaker 1: And the supervisor then said what did your parents believe?
Speaker 1: And he goes I don't know.
Speaker 1: And he goes okay, wait a second, we have a better one.
Speaker 1: What do you believe about the Trinity?
Speaker 1: And the guy says I don't know what the Trinity is.
Speaker 1: And so the supervisor is frustrated and he goes by what merit do you think you can be here?
Speaker 1: And the thief turns to him and said the man on the middle cross said I could come.
Speaker 1: That's it, beloved.
Speaker 1: Jesus said I could come.
Speaker 1: It's not on anything I know.
Speaker 1: It's not on anything that I can perform.
Speaker 1: Jesus said I could come.
Speaker 1: Jesus said you can come to the table.
Speaker 1: Jesus said you can come to a life that is rich and full.
Speaker 1: Jesus said we could come and help him build a whole new kingdom of love.
Speaker 1: Jesus said we could come.
Speaker 2: And it's funny because we get that when we come in and then we kind of go yeah, but I should learn some stuff, right?
Speaker 2: I just don't want to hang out and do nothing.
Speaker 1: Yes, you should learn.
Speaker 1: Learning is fun.
Speaker 1: Let's all get to breathing.
Speaker 1: That's what we do.
Speaker 2: Then we kind of get help me out church.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2: We get derailed by our learning and if that learning doesn't bring you back to that moment that you go oh Jesus, then you've officially been derailed.
Speaker 2: You know, because that learning and that's it, would give us more confidence and more ability, maybe to clearly communicate that.
Speaker 2: But it's like we just pile on these doctrines because we know this stuff, and then we're just but what if it's not really learning?
Speaker 1: What if we have things confused?
Speaker 1: Because learning is not just something you do with your brain.
Speaker 1: Learning is something, is how you live.
Speaker 1: Learning love means I can love greater.
Speaker 1: I can love people well.
Speaker 1: Learning love is not an acquisition of just headniles.
Speaker 1: Learning means that I am empowered by love to love.
Speaker 1: That is what the Holy Spirit is doing.
Speaker 1: Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?
Speaker 1: Paul wants you to think about it.
Speaker 1: Paul wants you to ponder that on your bed at night.
Speaker 1: Paul wants you to think about that when your tire is flat and you didn't make any plans for that.
Speaker 1: Paul wants you to think about that before you go to your checkbook.
Speaker 1: Paul wants you to think about that before you have to hear something from the doctor, because you know what All of those things tell us?
Speaker 1: That we're alone.
Speaker 1: And Paul reminds us of this truth.
Speaker 1: Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?
Speaker 1: Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity or are persecuted or hungry or destitute or in danger or threatened with death?
Speaker 1: As the scripture says, for your sake, we are killed every day and we are being slaughtered like sheep.
Speaker 1: He's reminding them of a painful heritage.
Speaker 1: He's reminding them of grandfathers and ancestors who have been oppressed.
Speaker 1: Paul is not ignoring that.
Speaker 1: Paul is not saying that that never happened.
Speaker 1: What Paul is saying is you've been saying this for a long time, that your people have struggled, and I agree with that.
Speaker 1: That's what he's saying.
Speaker 1: This is not something to be ignored or to be sent away with.
Speaker 1: This is a common human pain, and Paul is saying but don't let that make you believe that you're not loved.
Speaker 1: Now, the hope is that when we all change, that systems will change, that politics will change, that the world will change.
Speaker 1: No, despite all these things, despite all these things, for the rest of your life you get to put, despite all these things, everything that happens to you in this little clause here.
Speaker 1: Despite all these things, no matter who's elected president, despite all these things, no matter what law is passed, despite all these things, no matter how you feel tomorrow, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours, through Christ who loved us, through Christ who loved us.
Speaker 1: I'm very excited about this and I was really hoping to fly by these beginning verses, because the next ones are the ones I want to talk about.
Speaker 1: And so, beloved, we trust the Spirit, but do not miss next week.
Speaker 1: Just do not miss it.
Speaker 1: Despite all these things, overwhelming victory.
Speaker 1: I love that word, that particular word, overwhelming, because I hate that word.
Speaker 1: What overwhelming does to my body is awful.
Speaker 1: I get overwhelmed with heat, I get overwhelmed with anxiety, I get overwhelmed with thoughts, and when I get overwhelmed I cannot use my good God-given brain and thoughts.
Speaker 1: Overwhelmed means it's just too much.
Speaker 1: It has a very negative connotation in the way I just explained it.
Speaker 1: But in this connotation he's saying the victory that you have is not eking by, it's not just getting in under the wire beloved, it is coming right to the table and saying this is my father's house, this is my father's table, the things that I need I will have because love says I can have them.
Speaker 1: Overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us, and I am convinced Come next week, because I have a blessing already written out for this one.
Speaker 1: I am convinced that nothing can separate us from God's love.
Speaker 1: I hope that all of doctrine from now on, all it does is convince you that nothing can separate you from God's love.
Speaker 1: Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.
Speaker 1: No power in the sky above or in the earth below, indeed, nothing in all of creation, will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Speaker 1: Nothing, cosmo, can separate us from God's love, miss Lillian.
Speaker 1: There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God Beloved.
Speaker 1: There is nothing that can separate your children from the love of God.
Speaker 1: There is nothing that can separate your grandchildren from the love of God Beloved.
Speaker 1: There is nothing that can separate anyone from God's love.
Speaker 1: It's too big, it's too wide, it's too hopeful.
Speaker 1: You know that verse where I'm going with all one.
Speaker 1: I hope and I pray that you would know, like all of God's people should, how wide and how high and how deep and how long the love of God is.
Speaker 1: No power in the sky above, in the earth below, indeed, nothing in all of creation, will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Speaker 2: You know I'm not going to go into it in great detail, but from the time I was very young I had panic attacks, and if you haven't had it it's maybe hard to fully understand.
Speaker 2: But my best way to explain it was like if you ever had that moment where you got startled or scared to death by somebody, just and it was like a jolt, you're like, oh my God, it felt like my heart stopped.
Speaker 2: Well, for me, a panic attack, it was just that feeling going on for a minute or two or three, not just that split second.
Speaker 2: So it was kind of a horror, you know, a terror, and it drove me to try to figure out.
Speaker 2: You know I need some help from God, you know.
Speaker 2: And so all the doctrine and the stuff that was handed me was obviously I was the sinner, I deserved all this stuff, and so I meditated on those doctrines, and never meditating on those doctrines never made me better.
Speaker 2: And then the problem is you need to understand demonology, and so I was taught about casting out demons and all the demons are behind, all the demons.
Speaker 2: And the more demons you think about, the more demons you think you see, and the more demonic everything is and the more scared I got.
Speaker 2: So you know I'm trying to learn these doctrines and all this stuff.
Speaker 2: And people are hand to me and then you go into the word movement and they're like well, the problem is, you just need to confess more.
Speaker 2: So I'm getting more word in it and I'm talking about now.
Speaker 2: I'm going through years and years of that.
Speaker 2: I'm just trying to get some help because I'm afraid of these panic attacks and it's terrible when it happens.
Speaker 2: And all of a sudden you know I'm handing these doctrines, you deserve this and all this stuff.
Speaker 2: And all of a sudden you know these kind of verses are always going hey, hey, my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Speaker 2: It can't be.
Speaker 2: It can't be that easy.
Speaker 2: I've paid the price.
Speaker 2: No, I've got to pay something.
Speaker 2: You know I mean I can't go, I can't go.
Speaker 2: I mean at least let me leave the tip.
Speaker 2: Jesus, you know I'm trying to work out some kind of and so I'm fighting him.
Speaker 2: I'm fighting him all the time.
Speaker 2: Now I'm the only person in here, but you know, the thing is is the more I meditate on something, the more real it becomes to me, the more it permeates who I am.
Speaker 2: And when you meditate on being garbage and being not enough, then guess how you feel, guess how you act, guess how you live, guess how you walk in this world.
Speaker 2: And I got to tell you that I have been looking at these promises, that I am enough and I haven't had those panic attacks like I used to have all the time.
Speaker 2: You know, as I got older it seemed like it.
Speaker 2: Just it used to be from every few months to maybe every few years, and I probably hadn't had one in 10 years and it was maybe a year ago I had a full-blown one.
Speaker 2: And when I have them I don't even know if I'm dying.
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm dying and then I'm afraid, because I know where I'm going, because I know I can't make it.
Speaker 2: And you know, I've been working and I didn't realize.
Speaker 2: But I was working on something.
Speaker 2: I was working on really believing that his word is true and it's just that simple that I'm loved.
Speaker 2: And the last time I had a panic attack I go well, if this is it, I'm going in your arms, I'm loved.
Speaker 2: It's not a thing I could do to earn it, but you in your mind, well, you should have did.
Speaker 2: Well, I didn't do anything to earn it in the first place and, all of a sudden, the real truth of what I believed started to pay dividends that I cannot explain to you.
Speaker 2: What happened was the Holy Spirit took that effort that was made and he did something with it.
Speaker 2: That's transformative, and I can't say that it's easy, because it's not easy to surrender, it's not easy to just take that word.
Speaker 2: But I'm going to tell you what.
Speaker 2: If you would just realize what God's offering today, these scriptures, anything that you read in this script.
Speaker 2: We didn't write it in your Bible.
Speaker 2: This is not some funky translation that you find it in yours too.
Speaker 2: When you get home, read this verse and then, when it opposes how you feel about who you really are, decide whose testimony are you going to believe, my own or the living God?
Speaker 2: What will I believe about myself?
Speaker 2: What will I believe?
Speaker 2: Am I loved?
Speaker 2: Am I accepted, or is it just that one thing you did that makes you not good enough?
Speaker 2: It sounds silly when you say it out loud, doesn't it?
Speaker 2: But we live there, many of us.
Speaker 2: Oh, and he's made a way of escape, hasn't he?
Speaker 2: Holy Spirit, I pray you'd use these scriptures that we've heard and we would be reminded, and we would choose to listen to your testimony and not the tapes and the condemnation that tries to play.
Speaker 1: We hope you've enjoyed this week's sermon.
Speaker 1: If you would like more information about us, visit us online at firstlovechurchorg.