The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM Worship service on February 21, 2010.
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What a concept! We can approach a worship service like a ball game.
Now, most of us found this amusing and funny. Yet, it seems like such a far-fetched concept that someone would approach worship like a sporting event. Obviously, there are not announcers doing interviews here this morning. There are not commentators sitting in a balcony. And certainly, we would never think of choir members, the music minister, or the pastor as players.
Or would we?
Can I be honest with you? One of my greatest fears for the modern church comes in the temptation to make worship a spectator sport. We trudge through a few songs. We listen to the special music performance. And then we hope the preacher gets finished by noon.
We come in and fill our pew, or our seat, and after we get through with the service, we proclaim the worship time is over. Yet, if we’re honest, many times, depending on your heart and attitude, worship for you may have never began.
Worship is more than attendance at a service. It is more than singing along with the book. It is more than listening to the preacher. Worship is not something that we observe. It is not even an hour we set aside each week.
So what is worship?
I would invite you to join with me this morning as we look at Psalm 63.
Read text. (Psalm 63:1-7)
We shared earlier what worship is not. We even asked the question, “What is worship?”
Certainly Psalm 63 gives us an example, an insight as to what welcomed worship looks like.
Perhaps the most accepted, concise definition for worship in modern theological circles comes from Bruce Leafblad, worship professor at SouthWestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He basically sums up what we find in the sixty-third Psalm. He says, “Worship is communion with God in which believers, by grace, center their mind's attention and their heart's affection on the Lord, humbly glorifying God in response to His greatness and His worth."
You could preach an entire message just from his definition. Yet, we are going to use it as a reference- as a summary of the worship we find in our text this morning.
While we’ve offered a definition, I believe that we can learn a few components of true, God-pleasing worship from David’s psalm. First, we find that welcomed worship is marked by…
1.) Proper Direction
“O God, You are my God…” v. 1aThe fact is that we are made to worship. We are divinely designed with the capacity and natural tendency to worship. Proper worship is determined in part by a proper direction.
In short, it is not as much a question of how you worship, as it is a matter of WHO you worship.
David makes his formal declaration at the very beginning of this psalm. He makes his aim and the intended recipient of his praise very clear. He says, “O God, You are my God.”
David understands his capacity to worship and he seeks to make known that his praise is reserved for his God. He is demonstrating the proper direction for our worship to flow.
While modern worship styles are constantly evolving, the mechanics of worship have not. We must still make a conscious choice about the direction and recipient of our praise and adoration.
This morning as you are sitting there, you’re probably thinking, “Well, I’m here, ain’t I?” Yet, we must understand that our faithful attendance does not mean that our worship is always properly directed.
We have an infinite number of choices about where to direct our worship. In fact, some worship money. Others worship their jobs. Some worship their parents. Others worship their children. Some worship the church. Even others, their spouses. And then there is the one most common. We worship ourselves.
As we mentioned earlier, we are made to worship. We are created to offer praise and adoration. The first component of welcomed, God-pleasing worship is found in the proper assignment and direction of our worship.
Our worship must be properly directed, and it should also by fueled by a…
2.) Passionate Desire
“…earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.“ v. 1b
In addition to having properly directed worship, we must also possess a passionate desire for our God.
I love David’s description of his desire for God. He relates it in terms of desperation, the same desperation felt by a man dying of thirst in the desert. David is in the desert, the wilderness, hiding from Absalom or Saul, depending the on the date you accept. He has fled for his life. Yet, his desire is for an encounter with God. He wants the communion with God that comes from worship. In fact, he is desperate for it. His worship is fueled by that passionate desire for an encounter with God.
Our worship must be properly directed, and it should be just as passionate as David’s offering. Welcomed worship desires God’s presence and His glory more than anything else. We should long to see His face with all that is within us.
I am a firm believer that it is not until we reach that point of true desperation that we will find true communion with God. That is worship. Worship is communion with him.
There’s a story about a proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said, “O great Socrates, I come to your for knowledge.”
Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to the sea, chest deep into water. Then he asked, “What do you want?”
“Knowledge, O wise Socrates,” said the young man with a smile. So Socrates put his strong hands on the man’s shoulders and pushed him under. Thirty seconds later, Socrates let him up.
“What do you want?” he asked again.
“Wisdom,” the young man sputtered, “O great and wise Socrates.”
Socrates crunched him under again. Thirty seconds passed, thirty-five. Forty. Socrates let him up. The man was gasping.
“What do you want, young man?”
Between heavy, heaving breaths the fellow wheezed, “Knowledge, O wise and wonderful…”
Socrates jammed him under again. Forty seconds passed. Fifty. “What do you want?”
“Air!” he screeched. “I need air!”
“When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge.”
Like that young man, when we desire God with that same desperation of a drowning man, then we will find Him.
Welcomed worship is marked by a proper direction and by a passionate desire.
It is also marked by…
3.) Practical Demonstration
“Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You. On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night.” v. 3-6While worship is especially dependent on the proper attitude and a right heart, there are still elements of demonstration. There are things that we do in our worship.
David promises that his lips will glorify God. He will praise God for all the days of his life. He will lift up his hands to God. He will sing praises. And he continuously thinks about God.
All of these are practical elements of worship. They are things that we should still be doing today. While it is a good list, it is not an exhaustive list of all of the ways that we can communicate our worship.
Certainly, we want our lips to glorify Him. We should pray and faithfully thank Him for His goodness and grace. We should make His name known among the nations. We should share our faith as part of our worship.
We should sing. I know Bro. Ed especially likes this part. Singing is something that we do as a way to communicate our joy. We should sing to Him a new song.
Now, if you start talking about worship and mention singing, the debate is going to come up about the style of music. Some say that they only worship when they sing hymns. Others believe that they need a praise band and a chorus. There are probably as many different preferences as there are people. It is not as much about style as it is about the message and the heart of the worshipper.
We should be faithful to communicate our love and adoration in worship.
In addition to the things that we just mentioned, there are some instructions and precedents in Scripture that Baptists are not as likely to do.
In this passage, David promises that he will lift up his hands. Now, I don’t know where our timidity and reservations came in, but when was the last time someone lifted their hands? That is the sure way to cause a scene in a Baptist church.
But let’s go a little further.
In 2 Samuel, as David was escorting the ark back to Jerusalem, he was dancing with all of his might before God.
When was the last time that a Baptist broke loose and danced before God.
When was the last time that we were so overjoyed about all that God has done for us that we just had to dance?
I’m afraid that too many share the opinion of one of Emily’s former pastors. Emily took ballet for fifteen or sixteen years. And at a special service at her church, she did a dance to a Christian song. Afterwards, I’ll spare you the exact comment, but she was told that it was inappropriate.
David danced! He shouted! He sang! He lifted up holy hands. David was lost before his God. He didn’t notice anyone else. He simply basked in God’s presence.
Our worship should imitate his.
Welcomed worship begins with the proper direction. It includes a passionate desire to see God’s face and His glory. It involves practical demonstrations. And lastly, we find a…
4.) Promised Development“My soul clings to You; Your right hands upholds me.” v. 7
David not only promised his praise, but he recognized the results of his worship as well.
He said that his soul clings to God and His hand upholds him.
I believe there is a principle and a promise that we can find from David. This was a declaration that true worship produces greater intimacy. True worship equals an encounter with God.
If we will be faithful and diligent to offer proper worship, we will find a closeness with Christ that cannot be surpassed.
Have you ever felt like you were abandoned and alone? Have you ever felt distant from God? You might need to examine whether or not you are truly worshipping.
Worship, inevitably, draws us closer to our God.
Additionally, one of the primary, if not the primary, task of the gathered church is to be a house of corporate worship.
How are we doing? Are we truly worshipping? Are we constantly seeking to exalt the name of Jesus?
Is God receiving your worship? Or is it misdirected?
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on February 14, 2010.
Today we celebrate a holiday. We celebrate something that should be very near and dear to the heart of the church. We observe Valentine’s Day. We observe a holiday about love- the thing that we should know better than anyone else.
(As a side note, I hope that all of the husbands in this room remembered today’s observance.)
The reality is that Valentine’s Day has morphed through the years. It originally began as a Catholic holiday to commemorate the martyrdom of several different Valentines. It remembered Valentine of Rome, Valentine of Terni, and even a third saint named Valentine whom we know little about except that was martyred on February 14 in Africa.
It began as a time to recall the service and sacrifice of these men through the years. In fact, it did relatively little, if anything, to promote a romantic love as it seems to today.
Yet, that changed in the High Middle Ages when Geoffrey Chaucer penned a poem to commemorate the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. In that poem, he referenced Valentine.
Since that time, it has been designated as a day to commemorate and celebrate romance and love. It is a time marked by chocolates, greeting cards, teddy bears, and flowers. It is a day that we hope to spend with our loved ones. It is typically a time when we finally slow down and recognize the gift of love in our lives.
Now, I don’t want to emotionally scar you this morning, but I enjoy our modern celebration of Valentine’s Day. In fact, one of my favorite parts involves curling up on the couch with my wife, snuggling in a warm blanket, and putting in a sappy movie.
In fact, this last week I searched online for opinions on the most romantic story of all time. You would probably be surprised by some of the names on the list. Traditionally, Romeo and Juliet, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, and Wuthering Heights were atop the list. However, there were more modern movies that joined the list. Movies like When Harry Met Sally, Forrest Gump, Ten Things I Hate About You, Wall-E, and Slumdog Millionaire were also considered to be must-see romance movies.
When searching the lists of what have been titled, “romance classics,” I suddenly came to a revelation. There was not a single list that I consulted that contained the greatest love story of all time in it.
And so that is where I want us to spend our time this morning. I want to share with you The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.
Now, before we investigate this story, we need to understand the essential elements of a good love story. A good love story needs to have powerful, realistic characters- people we can identify with. It generally contains elements of abandonment or rejection. It finds itself at a point of climactic separation. Yet, in the face of that abandonment and there is a constant- an unwavering, selfless love that continues to abide. And while some of our culture’s “great stories” don’t follow the same pattern, an exceptional love story should end with restoration and joy. A love story should have a happy ending.
As I thought about the general story line in most great love stories, I realized that the book sitting in most laps this morning contains a story that has never been equaled or surpassed. The greatest love story of all time is found in the pages of Scripture. And it is a story that we are all characters in.
We are going to jump around this morning and try to encompass the entirety of the love story written for us. But first, let’s begin in an overview passage.
Read text. (John 3:16)
This passage, perhaps better than any other outlines the gospel message. It gives a small glimpse at the greatest love story every told.
And we need to notice where it begins. It begins with love. It starts with…
1.) Affection
In almost every great love story through the ages, the beginning was marked by love and affection. It was marked by a consuming desire to be together.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet began with a spark. There was something within them that drew them together despite the opposition of everyone around them.
Their families would never permit their relationship, but at the very beginning for them, there was attraction and affection. Their story began with love.
And our story is no different.
John 3:16, the passage we just read moments ago begins at that same point.
“For God so loved the world…” -John 3:16
The greatest love story of all time, my story, begins with God and His love.
It begins with His unwavering affection. Before anything else is mentioned in the passage that contains the hope for all humanity, we find that God’s love came first. It begins with His affection.
If you rewind to the very beginning, if you turn all the way back to the onset of our story, we find ourselves in the book of Genesis. We find ourselves at an intersection with God and His love.
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Now, you might say, “Well, that’s nice. But what does that matter?” Listen, to understand the impact of this on our story, we must ask the question, “Why did God create them?”
God created the heavens and the earth for you and I. He created them so that we might have opportunities for life and a shared love with Him. God gave to man every seed and fruit bearing plant for food and appointed man over every living thing on the face of the earth.
God created all that we see, for you and me. And He did this because He loves us and desired a relationship with us.
Our love story, the greatest story ever told begins with God’s affection. It begins with a consuming desire, an unfailing love that longs for interaction.
Unfortunately, it does not remain there. Rather, affection is met with our…
2.) Abandonment
How many love stories began innocently, perfectly but eventually fell prey to rejection and abandonment?
You know the typical storyline. The romance, the love is blossoming. Things seem to be going wonderfully. It seems as if it is physically impossible for the relationship to get any better. Yet, there comes a point of decision. Suddenly, this beautiful romance is interrupted by a tempter or temptress.
Time after time, that person abandons their love to chase after something that turns out to be foolish and empty. Time and time again, pure affection is greeted with abandonment.
You know, we love to hate that person in the story. We love to hate those that unfaithful. The cheaters are always so easy to hate. It seems so despicable on the screen.
Yet, it hits far too close to home. Rather, our story- the greatest love story ever told, is wrought with infidelity and abandonment. The problem, you and I are the cheaters. We are the ones that were found unfaithful.
And it began- in the beginning.
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” -Genesis 3:6-7
Think about this for just a moment. Mankind enjoyed a time of unbridled, open fellowship with God. It was a time of walking through a luscious, beautiful garden created by God’s hand, while physically conversing with the Almighty God of the universe. It was a time when man could openly love, share, and hear the voice of God.
Yet, that wasn’t enough. Rather, God’s affection, His perfect love was met with humanity’s abandonment.
Where God offered perfection, when He offered all of Himself freely, where He offered love unlike anything we could ever find elsewhere, mankind treated Him with distrust and contempt. His goodness was greeted with the worst we could give.
The one thing that God requested of Adam and Eve was for them to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But apparently, their selfish desires were deemed more desirable than a relationship with a loving God.
And so, Adam and Eve disobeyed, they rebelled, cheated on the perfect partner.
Once again, there is a temptation to look on Adam and Eve with the same disdain that we assign to the unfaithful in our love stories. It is easy to point fingers and question motives. Yet, we are exactly the same.
Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin enter the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”We cannot blame Adam or Eve for our separation. Rather, we are the unfaithful. We are the ones that abandoned God. Those cheaters in the story we love to hate, we are those people.
Our story began with a limitless love. It was greeted with abandonment. Yet, in spite of our sinful rebellion, it encountered…
3.) Atonement
We are always amazed in love stories where the victim continues to love and hope for the return of the object of their affection. We are always challenged when the person done so wrong by the cheater continues to love and hope for a renewed relationship.
Story upon story has been written where the one that was left continues to wait and hope for the return of their lost love.
And that is part of the story in our love affair with God. When we essentially spat in His face through a careless lifestyle, when we ran away from His presence and squandered His blessing, He continued to patiently wait for our return.
He did not write us off. He did not prosecute for the wrongs that were done. Rather, He patiently waits for us to determine to return.
God is that faithful, loving person that we celebrate.
But there is more.
It is one thing to wait patiently for the return of a loved one, but it is something quite different to sacrifice personally to help them get back home.
The story is told of a woman in 17th century England. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, ordered a man to be shot for his crimes. He was to be executed at the sounding of the evening curfew bell. However, the bell did not sound. The soldier’s fiancé had climbed into the belfry and clung to the great clapper of the bell to prevent it from sounding. When she was summoned by Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept as she showed him her bruised and bleeding hands. For her sacrifice, curfew did not ring that evening, and her lover was allowed to live.
The sacrifice and strength of a waiting love was enough to earn the return of this lady’s fiance. What a love story that is! But ours is even better.
You see, our God did not cling to the clapper of a bell. Rather, His sacrifice cost His beloved Son- His only Son His life.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”- John 3:16
God’s sacrifice, the thing that He offered to atone for the things that we had done wrong cost Him the person that was dearest to His heart. And even more amazingly, God did not wait for us to indicate that we wanted to return. Rather, He did all of this in hope of our return- to facilitate our coming back to Himself.
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8
God’s love, His atoning sacrifice, was not evidenced by bruised hands. Rather, they were illustrated by the blood-stained, pierced hands and feet of His Son. His love was illustrated by scars from a crown of thorns- and a hole pierced in His side. His love was illustrated through His power to raise His Son from the dead.
We have quite a love story. Our God began our story with love and affection. It was greeted by our rebellion and abandonment. In light of our rejection, He provided an offering of atonement.
He has even prepared for our future together. He has created a perfect, eternal abode where you can be together. But the story is still incomplete. The last chapter of our love story is found in our…
4.) Answer
He is still patiently waiting for you. But He is not forcing Himself on you. He is awaiting your answer. Will you return?
Let me urge you this morning in the words of Joshua found in Joshua 24, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”You have a God that loves your passionately- that loves you so much that He gave His own Son to purchase your ransom. But He is waiting on your decision. He is waiting on your reply. He will not make the decision for you.
The greatest love story ever told includes you. And it is your decision how it ends. You have a God that loves you, that has prepared for you, and longs to spend an eternity with you, but you must decide what you want.
Today we celebrate a holiday. We celebrate something that should be very near and dear to the heart of the church. We observe Valentine’s Day. We observe a holiday about love- the thing that we should know better than anyone else.
(As a side note, I hope that all of the husbands in this room remembered today’s observance.)
The reality is that Valentine’s Day has morphed through the years. It originally began as a Catholic holiday to commemorate the martyrdom of several different Valentines. It remembered Valentine of Rome, Valentine of Terni, and even a third saint named Valentine whom we know little about except that was martyred on February 14 in Africa.
It began as a time to recall the service and sacrifice of these men through the years. In fact, it did relatively little, if anything, to promote a romantic love as it seems to today.
Yet, that changed in the High Middle Ages when Geoffrey Chaucer penned a poem to commemorate the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. In that poem, he referenced Valentine.
Since that time, it has been designated as a day to commemorate and celebrate romance and love. It is a time marked by chocolates, greeting cards, teddy bears, and flowers. It is a day that we hope to spend with our loved ones. It is typically a time when we finally slow down and recognize the gift of love in our lives.
Now, I don’t want to emotionally scar you this morning, but I enjoy our modern celebration of Valentine’s Day. In fact, one of my favorite parts involves curling up on the couch with my wife, snuggling in a warm blanket, and putting in a sappy movie.
In fact, this last week I searched online for opinions on the most romantic story of all time. You would probably be surprised by some of the names on the list. Traditionally, Romeo and Juliet, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, and Wuthering Heights were atop the list. However, there were more modern movies that joined the list. Movies like When Harry Met Sally, Forrest Gump, Ten Things I Hate About You, Wall-E, and Slumdog Millionaire were also considered to be must-see romance movies.
When searching the lists of what have been titled, “romance classics,” I suddenly came to a revelation. There was not a single list that I consulted that contained the greatest love story of all time in it.
And so that is where I want us to spend our time this morning. I want to share with you The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.
Now, before we investigate this story, we need to understand the essential elements of a good love story. A good love story needs to have powerful, realistic characters- people we can identify with. It generally contains elements of abandonment or rejection. It finds itself at a point of climactic separation. Yet, in the face of that abandonment and there is a constant- an unwavering, selfless love that continues to abide. And while some of our culture’s “great stories” don’t follow the same pattern, an exceptional love story should end with restoration and joy. A love story should have a happy ending.
As I thought about the general story line in most great love stories, I realized that the book sitting in most laps this morning contains a story that has never been equaled or surpassed. The greatest love story of all time is found in the pages of Scripture. And it is a story that we are all characters in.
We are going to jump around this morning and try to encompass the entirety of the love story written for us. But first, let’s begin in an overview passage.
Read text. (John 3:16)
This passage, perhaps better than any other outlines the gospel message. It gives a small glimpse at the greatest love story every told.
And we need to notice where it begins. It begins with love. It starts with…
1.) Affection
In almost every great love story through the ages, the beginning was marked by love and affection. It was marked by a consuming desire to be together.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet began with a spark. There was something within them that drew them together despite the opposition of everyone around them.
Their families would never permit their relationship, but at the very beginning for them, there was attraction and affection. Their story began with love.
And our story is no different.
John 3:16, the passage we just read moments ago begins at that same point.
“For God so loved the world…” -John 3:16
The greatest love story of all time, my story, begins with God and His love.
It begins with His unwavering affection. Before anything else is mentioned in the passage that contains the hope for all humanity, we find that God’s love came first. It begins with His affection.
If you rewind to the very beginning, if you turn all the way back to the onset of our story, we find ourselves in the book of Genesis. We find ourselves at an intersection with God and His love.
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Now, you might say, “Well, that’s nice. But what does that matter?” Listen, to understand the impact of this on our story, we must ask the question, “Why did God create them?”
God created the heavens and the earth for you and I. He created them so that we might have opportunities for life and a shared love with Him. God gave to man every seed and fruit bearing plant for food and appointed man over every living thing on the face of the earth.
God created all that we see, for you and me. And He did this because He loves us and desired a relationship with us.
Our love story, the greatest story ever told begins with God’s affection. It begins with a consuming desire, an unfailing love that longs for interaction.
Unfortunately, it does not remain there. Rather, affection is met with our…
2.) Abandonment
How many love stories began innocently, perfectly but eventually fell prey to rejection and abandonment?
You know the typical storyline. The romance, the love is blossoming. Things seem to be going wonderfully. It seems as if it is physically impossible for the relationship to get any better. Yet, there comes a point of decision. Suddenly, this beautiful romance is interrupted by a tempter or temptress.
Time after time, that person abandons their love to chase after something that turns out to be foolish and empty. Time and time again, pure affection is greeted with abandonment.
You know, we love to hate that person in the story. We love to hate those that unfaithful. The cheaters are always so easy to hate. It seems so despicable on the screen.
Yet, it hits far too close to home. Rather, our story- the greatest love story ever told, is wrought with infidelity and abandonment. The problem, you and I are the cheaters. We are the ones that were found unfaithful.
And it began- in the beginning.
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” -Genesis 3:6-7
Think about this for just a moment. Mankind enjoyed a time of unbridled, open fellowship with God. It was a time of walking through a luscious, beautiful garden created by God’s hand, while physically conversing with the Almighty God of the universe. It was a time when man could openly love, share, and hear the voice of God.
Yet, that wasn’t enough. Rather, God’s affection, His perfect love was met with humanity’s abandonment.
Where God offered perfection, when He offered all of Himself freely, where He offered love unlike anything we could ever find elsewhere, mankind treated Him with distrust and contempt. His goodness was greeted with the worst we could give.
The one thing that God requested of Adam and Eve was for them to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But apparently, their selfish desires were deemed more desirable than a relationship with a loving God.
And so, Adam and Eve disobeyed, they rebelled, cheated on the perfect partner.
Once again, there is a temptation to look on Adam and Eve with the same disdain that we assign to the unfaithful in our love stories. It is easy to point fingers and question motives. Yet, we are exactly the same.
Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin enter the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”We cannot blame Adam or Eve for our separation. Rather, we are the unfaithful. We are the ones that abandoned God. Those cheaters in the story we love to hate, we are those people.
Our story began with a limitless love. It was greeted with abandonment. Yet, in spite of our sinful rebellion, it encountered…
3.) Atonement
We are always amazed in love stories where the victim continues to love and hope for the return of the object of their affection. We are always challenged when the person done so wrong by the cheater continues to love and hope for a renewed relationship.
Story upon story has been written where the one that was left continues to wait and hope for the return of their lost love.
And that is part of the story in our love affair with God. When we essentially spat in His face through a careless lifestyle, when we ran away from His presence and squandered His blessing, He continued to patiently wait for our return.
He did not write us off. He did not prosecute for the wrongs that were done. Rather, He patiently waits for us to determine to return.
God is that faithful, loving person that we celebrate.
But there is more.
It is one thing to wait patiently for the return of a loved one, but it is something quite different to sacrifice personally to help them get back home.
The story is told of a woman in 17th century England. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, ordered a man to be shot for his crimes. He was to be executed at the sounding of the evening curfew bell. However, the bell did not sound. The soldier’s fiancé had climbed into the belfry and clung to the great clapper of the bell to prevent it from sounding. When she was summoned by Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept as she showed him her bruised and bleeding hands. For her sacrifice, curfew did not ring that evening, and her lover was allowed to live.
The sacrifice and strength of a waiting love was enough to earn the return of this lady’s fiance. What a love story that is! But ours is even better.
You see, our God did not cling to the clapper of a bell. Rather, His sacrifice cost His beloved Son- His only Son His life.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”- John 3:16
God’s sacrifice, the thing that He offered to atone for the things that we had done wrong cost Him the person that was dearest to His heart. And even more amazingly, God did not wait for us to indicate that we wanted to return. Rather, He did all of this in hope of our return- to facilitate our coming back to Himself.
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8
God’s love, His atoning sacrifice, was not evidenced by bruised hands. Rather, they were illustrated by the blood-stained, pierced hands and feet of His Son. His love was illustrated by scars from a crown of thorns- and a hole pierced in His side. His love was illustrated through His power to raise His Son from the dead.
We have quite a love story. Our God began our story with love and affection. It was greeted by our rebellion and abandonment. In light of our rejection, He provided an offering of atonement.
He has even prepared for our future together. He has created a perfect, eternal abode where you can be together. But the story is still incomplete. The last chapter of our love story is found in our…
4.) Answer
He is still patiently waiting for you. But He is not forcing Himself on you. He is awaiting your answer. Will you return?
Let me urge you this morning in the words of Joshua found in Joshua 24, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”You have a God that loves your passionately- that loves you so much that He gave His own Son to purchase your ransom. But He is waiting on your decision. He is waiting on your reply. He will not make the decision for you.
The greatest love story ever told includes you. And it is your decision how it ends. You have a God that loves you, that has prepared for you, and longs to spend an eternity with you, but you must decide what you want.
So What Do YOU Want?
The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on January 31, 2010.
We all go through times in life when it seems that everyone around us wants something of us. Work wants your time and energy. Your spouse wants your attention and affection at home. Your children want your time, attention and affection. The church needs your service. The community needs your support. And then there is God.
I believe there are times in life when we want to scream in frustration, “what do you want?” With so many expectations and pressures, it gets overwhelming. And on top of everything else- in addition to the job, the family, the community, the church- then there is God with His desires to.
So before we reach the breaking point- the frustration of trying to determine God’s expectations and desires for us on top of everything else, I would invite you to look with me this morning for a few moments in God’s Word and we can find the answer to that question “What do you want?”
Read text. (Colossians 1:1-14)
Paul in the greeting and opening of his letter to the church at Colossae remained consistent with his format for other letters. He begins with a salutation and greeting and then moves into an explanation of the overriding reason for his address.
He explains that they have been given reason to celebrate the church’s faithfulness and love, and through that joy, they have ceased to pray for God to reveal his will to His people.
Now, if we kept proceeding through the text, we would discover that Paul explains some of the benefits, the rewards for understanding and practicing the will of God. Through their understanding, they would have the opportunity to live in a way pleasing to God. They could evidence spiritual fruit, grow in their intimacy with Christ, and be continually strengthened by the power of God. Through understanding His will, they would also live a life of thanksgiving, patience, joy, and hope of the eternal inheritance that awaits them.
Now, that is a pretty heavy list. I believe that describes everything that we desire in life. Through understanding and following God’s will, we can find fulfillment, peace, joy and hope.
Now, the only question is, what is God’s will? We could talk about His plan for the last days. We could discuss His will that all the world would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We could talk about various aspects, but I want to make certain that it hits home this morning.
Instead of asking simply asking the question, “What is God’s will?,” let’s rephrase it and ask, “What is God’s will for me?”. What does He want?
I believe that as we investigate Scripture, we can summarize God’s desire, His expectation from His people in four words. First, He desires…
1.) Authenticity
“The Lord says, ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish. Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?’” -Isaiah 29:13-15
When God spoke to Isaiah, He provided an urgent message that communicated His desire and expectation for His people. In fact, we find His desire, we understand His will through His judgment and condemnation of those whose words and actions were not consistent.
What we should notice through this passage is the fact that God expects authenticity from His followers. He demands, requires, expects that our relationships will encompass more than mere words.
Listen, most of you will not flinch, will not disagree, in fact some might even “Amen” the statement that God expects more than words. God expects our words to match our lifestyles. He demands that we be real about our relationship with Him.
If we play the part of the faithful, obedient Christian on Sunday, it ought to be consistent with the way we live on Saturday. If we are going to talk the part of the faithful, obedient believer, it must be backed by action.
I’m afraid that there are far too many people that have rejected the cross of Christ because they see inconsistency and hypocrisy in the lives of believers. They notice when we are not real.
Certainly, many of you have images in your head of those people that come to church on Sunday and then cuss like a sailor, drink like a fish, and run around on the “old lady” during the week. Obviously, that is hypocrisy. Obviously, that evidences a lack of authenticity.
But the fact is that most of you are not guilty of this. And that isn’t all this passage spoke to anyway. So let’s bring this a little closer to home for the average believer.
As we are talking about God’s desire of authenticity, we must realize that He was first calling out inconsistency in their attitudes toward Him. He said that “they honored [Him] with their lips but their hearts were far from [Him.]”
Part of God’s desire of authenticity is simply this: if you sit in His sanctuary and sing His praises, if you talk about how great and mighty God is, if you project the image that you and God have a close, intimate relationship, it better be the truth.
The fact is that week after week, in churches all across America, Christian people file into their pews, play the part of the faithful believer, sing with gusto, “Amen” the sermon, and then walk out the door and do nothing to facilitate and grow a relationship with Christ during the week.
But why? The answer is simple. Their hearts are “far from Him.” There is inconsistency between their lips and their hearts. That is what angers God.
One of God’s primary concerns, desires, requirements from His people is authenticity. But there is more. He also desires your…
2.) Affection
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5
God desires that we love Him. He desires our affection and adoration.
I firmly believe that God desires to hear an “I love you” from His people from time to time.
Let me ask you a simple question. How many of you in this room dislike hearing someone tell you “I love you”? Now, I am not talking about a required, trite, inconsiderate statement without feeling, but a real, “I love you. I’m proud of you. I’m glad you’re mine!”
I believe that is a fundamental desire of every person. We want to know that we are loved. We want to be admired and respected. We want to be adored.
So why is God so different?
I’m afraid that we assigned an identity to God that just is not true. We’ve addressed Him like some inanimate being whose only emotion is anger. There are those that have hijacked the God of Scripture and turned Him into a hate-filled, vengeful monger.
But that is not the God I serve. That is not the attitude of the God I love. Rather, we must realize that, while He is the supreme being, while it may seem at times to our minds that He is far-off and inaccessible, He is not. Nor is He emotionally mute.
You and I were created with a design and purpose. We were created in a Person’s image. Genesis 1:27a says, “So God created man in His own image…”
While that does not make us equals with God, it does mean that there are some similarities. And I believe that feeling, understanding, emotion is one of our similarities.
John 11:35 tells us, “Jesus wept.” Genesis 6:6 says, “The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain.” We are told in Psalm 45 that He “loves righteousness and hates wickedness.” Luke 10 tells us that Jesus was “full of joy through the Spirit.”
If God is capable of feeling all of those emotions, do you think that He is also touched and overjoyed when one of His children thinks to tell and show Him their love?
God desires our affection and adoration. He deserves our love. If anyone has ever deserved and earned our love it is Him. And so as we communicate it, we must remember that love is a verb. It is not just a statement, but an attitude, and a lifestyle that evidences that affection.
God expects authenticity. He desires our affection. He also commands our…
3.) Attention
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” -Deuteronomy 6:4
While God wants our authenticity, while He desires our affection and adoration, He also commands our attention.
This passage is actually the first half of the Shema. It is a cornerstone doctrine in both Judaism and Christianity. It established a monotheistic God. While He may reveal Himself in three Persons- the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, He is still one God.
When God’s instruction was delivered to Israel by Moses, look at how this pivotal point was introduced. It was a command to give ear. It was a bidding to listen intently to what followed.
While that may have been thousands of years ago now, God’s expectation, His desire is still the same. God wants His followers, His children to recognize and respond to the sound of His voice. He desires for us to be attentive and obedient to His instruction.
I believe that an analogy of a Father with His children is an accurate way to understand God’s expectation. For the adults here this morning, when you speak to a child, particularly your child, what do you expect?
You expect them to stop what they are doing, listen to what proceeds from your mouth, and to respectfully respond and obey. That is exactly what our Heavenly Father desires from us. When He speaks, whether through specific revelation or through the revelation of His Word, He expects that we are going to hear His voice and respond respectfully.
I’m afraid if we are completely honest in our assessment of the modern church in general, it seems that most Christians grant little attention to God.
Now, I am not talking about hanging on the preacher’s every word. I am talking about seeking to hear and respond to God’s voice.
We must understand that the vast majority of the church is almost indifferent to God’s voice and Word. Did you know that in a recent survey sixty percent of Christians interviewed said that they read their Bible one time or less in a week? Now, that survey didn’t specify where they read their Bible at. That includes in church services. The majority of Christians may have only opened their Bible during the sermon or in a class at church.
If that statistic is accurate, that means that more than half of our own congregation has not opened their Bible in the last week- including here.
How can we claim that we are attentive to God’s will and His voice if we don’t even bother attempting to hear or read it?
We must be attentive to His Word. Just think about the points that we’ve discussed thus far. We established that God wants our adoration and affection. But do we really love someone if we refuse to give them time? What kind of affection would you be showing your spouse or family if you said, “I love you” in passing, but refused to ever spend time with them or listen to a word they say?
That is what we are doing to our Heavenly Father. We are saying, “I love you, but I don’t have time for you.”
God expects our authenticity. He desires our affection. He commands our attention. And lastly, He bids our…
4.) Allegiance“Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in His name.” -Deuteronomy 6:13
We must realize that our God is a jealous God. He demands that we be faithful to Him. He bids our allegiance.
We serve a God that does not want us to be tossed to and fro by every wind and wave of the imagination. He does not want to be the discarded, only acknowledged when it is convenient for us kind of companion. He wants to know that you are faithful to Him. He desires our allegiance.
Let’s face it, we are good at pledging our allegiance.
We have our pledge of allegiance to the American flag. We declare our faithfulness to our nation. And we are good at keeping it. I doubt seriously that there is any person in this room that harbors a desire for our country to fail.
In many instances, we form an allegiance to our workplaces. We are faithful to them. Just to give you a little example, when I worked for Sara Lee, there was not a time when a loaf of bread from a competitor entered our house. One of the things that was expected of salesmen was an allegiance to our company’s product.
Likewise, if you worked for a Chevy dealership, I doubt that you drove a Ford. If you worked for Pepsi, you wouldn’t be drinking a Coke in the cab of a Pepsi truck. We are good at keeping certain allegiances.
We even make those pledges of faithfulness and fidelity to our spouses. It is part of the traditional wedding vows. It says something to the effect of, “promising to cherish, honor, and keep yourself only unto that person as long as you both shall live.” And in most cases, we are faithful to uphold and keep that allegiance.
Yet, something is different when it comes to the place of God in our lives. While I doubt any of you have ever went through a time when you denounced Christianity and became an atheist, agnostic, or Satanist, there are plenty of times when our allegiance is not with our God.
Rather, we pursue every thing else. We allow money, fame, power, pleasure, comfort, security, notoriety, people, and passions to take His place. In fact, I would suggest that God is the person to whom we are typically least faithful.
God desires, He bids our allegiance. He wants to have sole ownership of your heart.
There is a song that many of you have probably heard that makes a formal declaration of our allegiance to God. It says, “I pledge allegiance to the Lamb, will all my strength, with all I am, I will seek to honor His command, I pledge allegiance to the Lamb.”
We must be faithful. We must pledge our allegiance to our Father.
So what is it that God truly desires from you?
He wants your authenticity. He wants you to be real- to truly be His in both speech and conduct. He wants your affection. God desires and deserves our love and adoration. He is calling for you attention. When He speaks, He expects that we will listen. And lastly, He desires your allegiance. He wants to know that you are His and His alone.
So in short this morning, God wants your all. He wants your heart, your mind, your soul. He wants to be your everything.
So what have you given Him?
We all go through times in life when it seems that everyone around us wants something of us. Work wants your time and energy. Your spouse wants your attention and affection at home. Your children want your time, attention and affection. The church needs your service. The community needs your support. And then there is God.
I believe there are times in life when we want to scream in frustration, “what do you want?” With so many expectations and pressures, it gets overwhelming. And on top of everything else- in addition to the job, the family, the community, the church- then there is God with His desires to.
So before we reach the breaking point- the frustration of trying to determine God’s expectations and desires for us on top of everything else, I would invite you to look with me this morning for a few moments in God’s Word and we can find the answer to that question “What do you want?”
Read text. (Colossians 1:1-14)
Paul in the greeting and opening of his letter to the church at Colossae remained consistent with his format for other letters. He begins with a salutation and greeting and then moves into an explanation of the overriding reason for his address.
He explains that they have been given reason to celebrate the church’s faithfulness and love, and through that joy, they have ceased to pray for God to reveal his will to His people.
Now, if we kept proceeding through the text, we would discover that Paul explains some of the benefits, the rewards for understanding and practicing the will of God. Through their understanding, they would have the opportunity to live in a way pleasing to God. They could evidence spiritual fruit, grow in their intimacy with Christ, and be continually strengthened by the power of God. Through understanding His will, they would also live a life of thanksgiving, patience, joy, and hope of the eternal inheritance that awaits them.
Now, that is a pretty heavy list. I believe that describes everything that we desire in life. Through understanding and following God’s will, we can find fulfillment, peace, joy and hope.
Now, the only question is, what is God’s will? We could talk about His plan for the last days. We could discuss His will that all the world would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We could talk about various aspects, but I want to make certain that it hits home this morning.
Instead of asking simply asking the question, “What is God’s will?,” let’s rephrase it and ask, “What is God’s will for me?”. What does He want?
I believe that as we investigate Scripture, we can summarize God’s desire, His expectation from His people in four words. First, He desires…
1.) Authenticity
“The Lord says, ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish. Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?’” -Isaiah 29:13-15
When God spoke to Isaiah, He provided an urgent message that communicated His desire and expectation for His people. In fact, we find His desire, we understand His will through His judgment and condemnation of those whose words and actions were not consistent.
What we should notice through this passage is the fact that God expects authenticity from His followers. He demands, requires, expects that our relationships will encompass more than mere words.
Listen, most of you will not flinch, will not disagree, in fact some might even “Amen” the statement that God expects more than words. God expects our words to match our lifestyles. He demands that we be real about our relationship with Him.
If we play the part of the faithful, obedient Christian on Sunday, it ought to be consistent with the way we live on Saturday. If we are going to talk the part of the faithful, obedient believer, it must be backed by action.
I’m afraid that there are far too many people that have rejected the cross of Christ because they see inconsistency and hypocrisy in the lives of believers. They notice when we are not real.
Certainly, many of you have images in your head of those people that come to church on Sunday and then cuss like a sailor, drink like a fish, and run around on the “old lady” during the week. Obviously, that is hypocrisy. Obviously, that evidences a lack of authenticity.
But the fact is that most of you are not guilty of this. And that isn’t all this passage spoke to anyway. So let’s bring this a little closer to home for the average believer.
As we are talking about God’s desire of authenticity, we must realize that He was first calling out inconsistency in their attitudes toward Him. He said that “they honored [Him] with their lips but their hearts were far from [Him.]”
Part of God’s desire of authenticity is simply this: if you sit in His sanctuary and sing His praises, if you talk about how great and mighty God is, if you project the image that you and God have a close, intimate relationship, it better be the truth.
The fact is that week after week, in churches all across America, Christian people file into their pews, play the part of the faithful believer, sing with gusto, “Amen” the sermon, and then walk out the door and do nothing to facilitate and grow a relationship with Christ during the week.
But why? The answer is simple. Their hearts are “far from Him.” There is inconsistency between their lips and their hearts. That is what angers God.
One of God’s primary concerns, desires, requirements from His people is authenticity. But there is more. He also desires your…
2.) Affection
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5
God desires that we love Him. He desires our affection and adoration.
I firmly believe that God desires to hear an “I love you” from His people from time to time.
Let me ask you a simple question. How many of you in this room dislike hearing someone tell you “I love you”? Now, I am not talking about a required, trite, inconsiderate statement without feeling, but a real, “I love you. I’m proud of you. I’m glad you’re mine!”
I believe that is a fundamental desire of every person. We want to know that we are loved. We want to be admired and respected. We want to be adored.
So why is God so different?
I’m afraid that we assigned an identity to God that just is not true. We’ve addressed Him like some inanimate being whose only emotion is anger. There are those that have hijacked the God of Scripture and turned Him into a hate-filled, vengeful monger.
But that is not the God I serve. That is not the attitude of the God I love. Rather, we must realize that, while He is the supreme being, while it may seem at times to our minds that He is far-off and inaccessible, He is not. Nor is He emotionally mute.
You and I were created with a design and purpose. We were created in a Person’s image. Genesis 1:27a says, “So God created man in His own image…”
While that does not make us equals with God, it does mean that there are some similarities. And I believe that feeling, understanding, emotion is one of our similarities.
John 11:35 tells us, “Jesus wept.” Genesis 6:6 says, “The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain.” We are told in Psalm 45 that He “loves righteousness and hates wickedness.” Luke 10 tells us that Jesus was “full of joy through the Spirit.”
If God is capable of feeling all of those emotions, do you think that He is also touched and overjoyed when one of His children thinks to tell and show Him their love?
God desires our affection and adoration. He deserves our love. If anyone has ever deserved and earned our love it is Him. And so as we communicate it, we must remember that love is a verb. It is not just a statement, but an attitude, and a lifestyle that evidences that affection.
God expects authenticity. He desires our affection. He also commands our…
3.) Attention
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” -Deuteronomy 6:4
While God wants our authenticity, while He desires our affection and adoration, He also commands our attention.
This passage is actually the first half of the Shema. It is a cornerstone doctrine in both Judaism and Christianity. It established a monotheistic God. While He may reveal Himself in three Persons- the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, He is still one God.
When God’s instruction was delivered to Israel by Moses, look at how this pivotal point was introduced. It was a command to give ear. It was a bidding to listen intently to what followed.
While that may have been thousands of years ago now, God’s expectation, His desire is still the same. God wants His followers, His children to recognize and respond to the sound of His voice. He desires for us to be attentive and obedient to His instruction.
I believe that an analogy of a Father with His children is an accurate way to understand God’s expectation. For the adults here this morning, when you speak to a child, particularly your child, what do you expect?
You expect them to stop what they are doing, listen to what proceeds from your mouth, and to respectfully respond and obey. That is exactly what our Heavenly Father desires from us. When He speaks, whether through specific revelation or through the revelation of His Word, He expects that we are going to hear His voice and respond respectfully.
I’m afraid if we are completely honest in our assessment of the modern church in general, it seems that most Christians grant little attention to God.
Now, I am not talking about hanging on the preacher’s every word. I am talking about seeking to hear and respond to God’s voice.
We must understand that the vast majority of the church is almost indifferent to God’s voice and Word. Did you know that in a recent survey sixty percent of Christians interviewed said that they read their Bible one time or less in a week? Now, that survey didn’t specify where they read their Bible at. That includes in church services. The majority of Christians may have only opened their Bible during the sermon or in a class at church.
If that statistic is accurate, that means that more than half of our own congregation has not opened their Bible in the last week- including here.
How can we claim that we are attentive to God’s will and His voice if we don’t even bother attempting to hear or read it?
We must be attentive to His Word. Just think about the points that we’ve discussed thus far. We established that God wants our adoration and affection. But do we really love someone if we refuse to give them time? What kind of affection would you be showing your spouse or family if you said, “I love you” in passing, but refused to ever spend time with them or listen to a word they say?
That is what we are doing to our Heavenly Father. We are saying, “I love you, but I don’t have time for you.”
God expects our authenticity. He desires our affection. He commands our attention. And lastly, He bids our…
4.) Allegiance“Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in His name.” -Deuteronomy 6:13
We must realize that our God is a jealous God. He demands that we be faithful to Him. He bids our allegiance.
We serve a God that does not want us to be tossed to and fro by every wind and wave of the imagination. He does not want to be the discarded, only acknowledged when it is convenient for us kind of companion. He wants to know that you are faithful to Him. He desires our allegiance.
Let’s face it, we are good at pledging our allegiance.
We have our pledge of allegiance to the American flag. We declare our faithfulness to our nation. And we are good at keeping it. I doubt seriously that there is any person in this room that harbors a desire for our country to fail.
In many instances, we form an allegiance to our workplaces. We are faithful to them. Just to give you a little example, when I worked for Sara Lee, there was not a time when a loaf of bread from a competitor entered our house. One of the things that was expected of salesmen was an allegiance to our company’s product.
Likewise, if you worked for a Chevy dealership, I doubt that you drove a Ford. If you worked for Pepsi, you wouldn’t be drinking a Coke in the cab of a Pepsi truck. We are good at keeping certain allegiances.
We even make those pledges of faithfulness and fidelity to our spouses. It is part of the traditional wedding vows. It says something to the effect of, “promising to cherish, honor, and keep yourself only unto that person as long as you both shall live.” And in most cases, we are faithful to uphold and keep that allegiance.
Yet, something is different when it comes to the place of God in our lives. While I doubt any of you have ever went through a time when you denounced Christianity and became an atheist, agnostic, or Satanist, there are plenty of times when our allegiance is not with our God.
Rather, we pursue every thing else. We allow money, fame, power, pleasure, comfort, security, notoriety, people, and passions to take His place. In fact, I would suggest that God is the person to whom we are typically least faithful.
God desires, He bids our allegiance. He wants to have sole ownership of your heart.
There is a song that many of you have probably heard that makes a formal declaration of our allegiance to God. It says, “I pledge allegiance to the Lamb, will all my strength, with all I am, I will seek to honor His command, I pledge allegiance to the Lamb.”
We must be faithful. We must pledge our allegiance to our Father.
So what is it that God truly desires from you?
He wants your authenticity. He wants you to be real- to truly be His in both speech and conduct. He wants your affection. God desires and deserves our love and adoration. He is calling for you attention. When He speaks, He expects that we will listen. And lastly, He desires your allegiance. He wants to know that you are His and His alone.
So in short this morning, God wants your all. He wants your heart, your mind, your soul. He wants to be your everything.
So what have you given Him?
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