Participants: J.D. & Shelley Quinn (Host), Eric Durant, Luis & Xenia Capote
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW015009A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:07 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn. I'm JD Quinn. 01:09 And we just want to welcome you to 3ABN's Family Worship. 01:14 And, you know what, I love about the Sabbath, 01:18 this has been a very hectic week for us here 01:21 and I'm sure it has been for you as well. 01:23 But when the Sabbath hours roll around 01:26 on Friday evening and the sun goes down 01:28 it's kind of like we can just take in a deep breath, 01:33 exhale and get rid of the stress 01:36 and just spend that time with the Lord 01:38 and with our families and we are so glad 01:41 that you are spending that time with us today. 01:44 JD, would you like to have our opening prayer? 01:47 Oh, most certainly. 01:49 Father, we just come to You in the name of Jesus. 01:51 We thank You for the special time, 01:53 the special thought time for You the Sabbath. 01:59 And so, Father, as we are gathered here 02:01 with our good friends. 02:02 Lord, we just ask as we, 02:04 as we share this time our main emphasis, Lord, 02:08 is centered around You. 02:10 So, Father, we love You and we thank You. 02:12 I thank You for the ability to share with people 02:15 wherever they are 02:16 and I'm just praying, Lord, that 02:18 that they are brining the Sabbath 02:20 with warm hearts also. 02:22 We give You all praise and glory 02:23 in the name of Jesus, amen. 02:25 Amen. Amen. Amen. 02:27 Well, we always like to start off with arousing song 02:30 and we are gonna make a joyful noise to the Lord. 02:32 We invite you to join us 02:34 because we are going to have the words on the screen. 02:37 This is a wonderful song based on a promise of the Lord 02:41 in Deuteronomy 33:27 02:45 where it says "The Lord is your eternal refuge, 02:47 and underneath are His everlasting arms." 02:50 So let's sing. 02:52 Amen. 02:56 What a fellowship, what a joy divine 03:01 Leaning on the everlasting arms 03:05 What a blessedness, what a peace is mine 03:09 Leaning on the everlasting arms 03:14 Leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus 03:18 Safe and secure from all alarms 03:23 Leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus 03:27 Leaning on the everlasting arms 03:32 O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way 03:37 Leaning on the everlasting arms 03:41 O how bright the path grows from day to day 03:46 Leaning on the everlasting arms 03:50 Leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus 03:55 Safe and secure from all alarms 03:59 Leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus 04:04 Leaning on the everlasting arms 04:09 What have I to dread, what have I to fear 04:13 Leaning on the everlasting arms 04:18 I have blessed peace with my Lord so near 04:22 Leaning on the everlasting arms 04:27 Leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus 04:31 Safe and secure from all alarms 04:36 Leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus 04:40 Leaning on the everlasting arms 04:46 Well, that be-- I love this song. 04:50 And let me introduce to you our special guest tonight 04:54 who are singing here with us. 04:56 First we have Eric Durant 04:58 and, Eric, we are so glad you could join us again. 05:01 We are missing your better half. 05:03 And what did you just say? 05:05 I miss my better half 05:07 and it's hard to smile without her here. 05:10 But the Lord is here 05:12 and that should be enough so I'm smiling. 05:13 Okay. Amen. 05:15 And Marilyn was with us last time 05:17 but so you pray for Marilyn she is really 05:20 put her back out and so... 05:22 She did, she did a good job. 05:23 She is in quite a bit of pain we are sorry about that. 05:26 Then on the other side of us we have the Capote's. 05:29 we have Xenia and Luis and we are so glad 05:33 that you all are joining us again today. 05:34 Amen. It's good to be here. Thank you. 05:36 Wonderful. 05:37 And you will notice that they are matching colors 05:38 this evening. 05:40 I mean, long time ago we used to say was going steady 05:42 now this is taking another step further, right. 05:46 A daughter later and... That's right. 05:48 How many years have you been married? 05:50 Twenty four years. 05:51 Twenty four years. Oh, my goodness. 05:53 Well, we got to be but we are lot older. 05:57 You know, JD and I if we match it's always an accident. 06:00 Because we don't plan that far ahead. 06:04 Well, what we would like to do now 06:06 is have a prayer of praise 06:09 and this is where we are just going to 06:11 go around and think of something 06:13 that you would like to praise God 06:16 for that He has done in this last week for you 06:19 or we are just gonna taking turn, 06:22 just short little praises. 06:24 We don't have to go in order 06:25 but, Luis, I'm gonna ask you to start if you will. 06:29 Our loving Father, we thank You 06:32 because we feel your presence here. 06:35 We thank You, Lord, even though the week was difficult 06:39 we can feel that You had taken care of 06:42 all of our needs and all of our troubles. 06:45 We ask, Lord, that Your spirit be here 06:48 now that we are welcoming another Sabbath 06:51 that we may rejoice and be glad 06:54 that we are in Your presence fill with new joy. 06:58 In Christ name we ask, amen. 07:00 And, Father, I just thank You so much 07:02 for the gift of Sabbath. 07:04 Thank You, Lord, that the Sabbath reminds us 07:07 as You said in Exodus 31:13 07:09 that You are the one who is sanctifying us. 07:13 We thank You, Father, 07:15 for the gift of our Lord and Savior 07:16 Jesus Christ, for the gift of Your Holy Spirit 07:20 and the gift of Your word. 07:22 Lord, these are three divine and powerful gifts of grace 07:27 that work in us to do a sanctifying work 07:32 and we thank You so much for that. 07:36 Heavenly Father, we praise You and we thank You 07:39 for Your guidance and for Your mercy, 07:42 for Your compassion, for Your Son 07:45 who came down and gave His life that we might live. 07:50 We praise You and we love You with all our hearts 07:53 and we just ask that You continue to guide us 07:55 that we might serve You faithfully 07:58 until that wonderful day that we can see Your Son 08:00 coming on the clouds. 08:01 We give You all the glory, we give You all the praise. 08:05 In His name we pray, amen. Amen. 08:08 Heavenly Father, want to thank You 08:09 for the Sabbath day, 08:12 a special day that You set aside for us 08:16 just where we can be together with You 08:19 and listen to You in nature and in the word 08:24 and sing praises to Your name, amen. 08:27 Amen. 08:29 And, Father, I just want to thank You 08:30 for my family, for our families, Lord, 08:33 for the families that are involved. 08:36 I just thank You, Lord, for good friends. 08:39 I want to thank You, Lord, that You put joy in our hearts 08:42 and, Father, I thank You that You exchange 08:45 Your strength for our weakness. 08:47 So, Father, as we are here 08:49 we just dedicate this time to You, 08:51 we dedicate ourselves to You. 08:54 We love You and we thank You. 08:56 We thank You, we thank You 08:57 and ask this in the name of Jesus, amen. 09:00 Amen, amen. Amen. 09:02 Well, we are now going to-- we started with a praise song 09:07 a song-- I call praise song 09:08 songs that are about God or Jesus 09:12 but now what we would like to do is 09:15 we are gonna turn to page 569 in our hymnals, 09:18 once again the music, 09:20 the words will be on the screen for you 09:24 but this is a song that is really a prayer 09:27 set to music. 09:28 This is something that we are singing directly to God 09:32 so let's sing. 09:40 Pass me not, O gentle Savior 09:46 Hear my humble cry 09:53 While on others thou art calling 10:00 Do not pass me by 10:06 Savior, Savior 10:13 Hear my humble cry 10:20 While on others thou art calling 10:26 Do not pass me by 10:33 Let me at thy throne of mercy 10:40 Find a sweet relief 10:46 Kneeling there in deep contrition 10:53 Help my unbelief 10:59 Savior, Savior 11:06 Hear my humble cry 11:12 While on others thou art calling 11:19 Do not pass me by 11:25 Trusting only in thy merit 11:32 Would I seek thy face 11:38 Heal my wounded, broken spirit 11:45 Save me by thy grace 11:51 Savior, Savior 11:57 Hear my humble cry 12:04 While on others thou art calling 12:10 Do not pass me by 12:17 Thou the spring of all my comfort 12:23 More than life for me 12:30 Whom have I on earth beside Thee? 12:36 Whom in Heaven but Thee? 12:42 Savior, Savior 12:49 Hear my humble cry 12:55 While on others thou art calling 13:01 Do not pass me by 13:08 Amen and amen. 13:10 And we just want to thank so much 13:13 our precious sister Jill Morikone 13:15 who has been playing on the piano for us 13:18 and unfortunately Jill won't be joining us this evening 13:22 but we thank her so much. 13:24 Jill, thank you. 13:25 Amen. And she was a minute man. 13:27 She had to fill in at the last second 13:29 so thank you so much. 13:31 Well, if you are with this group last time 13:35 we talked about the love of God. 13:39 We talked about His everlasting limitless all inclusive love. 13:46 We talked about how His love is unearned and undeserved. 13:50 It is fatherly, disciplinary, it is protective 13:55 and it is forgiving and inseparable. 13:59 And we just thought that since we were on this topic of love 14:03 we talked about God's love for us last time 14:06 that we would start this or spend this time together, 14:10 this Sabbath talking about our love for God. 14:14 And before we do I want to share something. 14:16 This has become one of my favorite scriptures 14:19 and this is a deep thought 14:21 so I want you to pay close attention. 14:23 This is from 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 13. 14:30 What Paul writes is this. 14:32 He says, "May the Lord make you increase and abound 14:37 in love to one another and to all, 14:40 just as we do to you, so that" 14:44 for the purpose or in other words 14:46 "so that He may establish 14:48 your hearts blameless in holiness 14:52 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 14:54 with all His saints." 14:56 Do you realize that what he is saying here 14:59 God is love and as God pours His love into our hearts, 15:03 His self-sacrificing love. 15:06 God actually establishes us 15:10 in holiness and holiness simply meaning 15:13 He separates us from sin. 15:15 He separates us from hurting Him or anyone else 15:19 by His love but the deep thought is this. 15:23 We know that 1 John 4:8, 16, 15:27 1 John 4:8, 16 says that God is love. 15:33 Do you realize that is the essence of His being 15:37 so His character He is holy, 15:44 His holiness is established because of His love. 15:48 Amen. 15:49 Now isn't that a-- I mean, an amazing thought? 15:53 It is that essence of love that establishes His holiness 15:57 and then as we open our hearts to Him 16:00 He establishes our holiness. 16:03 And I don't know about you but I love the idea 16:06 that it is God who is working in me 16:08 to willing to do His good pleasure so that 16:11 He is the one that's going to make me perfect 16:14 at the coming of the Lord. 16:16 All right, we are going to look this-- tonight 16:19 we are using the life affirmations from scripture 16:23 and we are simply going to be talking about 16:27 loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, 16:30 mind and strength. 16:31 I want to read the affirmation to you 16:33 and these are all taken from scripture, 16:36 the scriptures that we are actually 16:37 going to be reading here. 16:39 This is how the affirmation sounds. 16:42 I love the Lord, my God, with all my heart, 16:45 soul, mind and strength. 16:47 Even in this response to God I'm totally dependent upon Him. 16:54 Father, I know you are the source of love. 16:57 Help me to open my heart 16:59 and allow You to pour Your love into me. 17:03 Empower me to respond to you in love 17:07 and always keep me mindful 17:09 of Jesus Christ my first love. 17:11 Amen. Isn't that powerful? 17:13 It is. Amen. 17:15 We are going to look at the first verse 17:16 and we ill just go around 17:17 take some turns here with versus 17:19 but in Mark 12:28-30 17:22 one of the teachers of the law had come 17:25 and he heard them debating and he noticed 17:28 that Jesus was giving a good answer. 17:30 So he ask Him of all the commandments 17:32 which is the most important? 17:35 And Jesus answered this. 17:37 The most important one is this. 17:41 "Hear, O Israel, 17:42 The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 17:45 Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, 17:49 with all of your soul, with all of your mind, 17:52 and with all your strength." 17:54 You know what, I can't do that in my own. 17:57 It's only as God pours His love into my heart 18:00 that self-sacrificing love that I can't 18:03 so now I pray that back 18:04 and we will go to our next scripture. 18:06 Heavenly Father, we thank You 18:08 that it is You who is our source of love. 18:11 We thank You, Father, that is You pour 18:13 Your love into our hearts, 18:15 You empower us to love You 18:17 with all of our hearts, soul, mind and strength. 18:19 We thank You, Father, 18:22 for this great gift of Your love. 18:26 And, Father, we thank You that as Your love is in our hearts 18:30 You empower us to love others as we love ourselves. 18:36 We thank You that You are going to establish us 18:38 in holiness by this love. 18:39 In Jesus name, amen. 18:41 Amen. Amen. 18:43 Luis, you want to take the next one. 18:46 It's in Deuteronomy 30:6 18:50 and it says, "Moreover the Lord your God 18:53 will circumcise your heart 18:56 and the heart of your descendants, 18:59 to love the Lord your God with all your heart 19:05 and with all your soul, so that you may live." 19:09 Amen. 19:11 How beautiful God's love is for us. 19:13 Amen. 19:14 You know, lot of time we take it for granted. 19:16 We go through the weeks and doing all of our work 19:18 and doing all and we sometimes sit down 19:22 and we experience it for like a minute or two 19:25 but once we do 19:26 it erases everything that's happening that day, 19:28 everything that's happening in our lives 19:31 and I love that He is the one 19:32 that is going to circumcise our heart. 19:35 He is the one that's going to take care 19:37 of all of the aspect that are maybe bogging us down. 19:42 All the aspects are maybe are tearing us apart 19:45 or keeping us away from His presence. 19:49 He is the one who is gonna come, 19:51 I will take care of you now. 19:52 I will bring you closer to Me. 19:54 And I like to pray about that. 19:56 I just want to say one thing, I found myself the other day, 20:00 the other evening few nights ago 20:02 that as I was praying 20:04 I said, Lord, circumcise my heart. 20:06 You know, sometimes we don't realize 20:08 we can get so busy in the service of the Lord 20:11 or just so busy in our day 20:13 that we become, I'm not saying hard hearted toward the Lord 20:16 but that we can become sometimes numb almost. 20:21 Detach. And detach. 20:23 And so I felt just a little bit that day 20:25 and I felt like I had really surrendered that day 20:28 so I was praying circumcise my heart 20:31 and I think that something we all need to make sure that 20:34 we got that tender heart toward the Lord. 20:38 And when I was looking this over myself, 20:40 you know, circumcise what did that really mean 20:43 is way as spiritual aspect 20:46 and it dealing with quickening one spiritual perception. 20:51 So as it saying here, you know, Lord, 20:53 you know, quicken my spiritual perception so that, 20:57 you know, I can love You with all my heart. 21:00 You know, it just takes it, it takes it to another level 21:05 because I want my spiritual perception to be quicken. 21:07 Amen. Amen. 21:09 Amen. Okay, Luis. 21:11 Our loving Father, 21:13 we are so thankful that we may come on a day like today 21:16 and be able to glorify Your wonderful name. 21:19 Lord, that You have shown us that You are going to pour 21:23 that love in our hearts. 21:26 You are gonna circumcise our heart that 21:28 we may learn how to love with Your presence 21:32 with Your enjoyment, Lord, that others maybe able to feel 21:38 what a marvelous God You are. 21:40 I thank You, Lord, because I know 21:41 I couldn't do it for my own. 21:43 I know that I need You to come and to fill me 21:47 that I may overflow for all of those around us 21:51 that they may see what a great and powerful God You are. 21:56 We thank You for the sacrifice of Jesus, Lord. 21:58 We ask this in Christ name, amen. 22:01 Amen. Amen. Amen. 22:03 Okay, Xenia. 22:07 2 Thessalonians 3:5, 22:10 "Now may the Lord direct your hearts 22:13 into the love of God 22:15 and into the patience of Christ." 22:19 This is very interesting to me 22:21 because it confirms the fact that of our own 22:26 we cannot come to this patience and this love of God. 22:30 Of our own we know we are sinners, 22:32 we were born that way. 22:34 It's only through God, only God can guide us 22:37 and direct us to be like Him 22:40 and to show other people that love 22:42 and the patience they deserve. 22:44 And that's something that, you know, its clear here, 22:46 it's the Lord who is doing the work. 22:48 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God. 22:52 What do you think the patience of Christ? 22:54 Do you ever feel that that you are not using 22:58 the patience of Christ? 23:00 Have to think, have to-- see that great of a patience, 23:04 you know, that He had 23:07 but we have to grow in patience. 23:10 Yes, amen. 23:12 And I think a lot of times there are lot of tribulations 23:14 and a lot of things that come our way 23:16 are growing us into becoming that patience. 23:20 Yes. 23:21 You know, when we think about being filled with God's love 23:25 it is self-sacrificing one, right. 23:27 So what happened to me the other night 23:29 I had a phone call come in 23:31 and it had been a particularly hectic day 23:34 and as matter of fact I told JD when we went home, 23:37 I said, I'm not doing anything 23:39 when we head about an hour before we go to bed 23:40 I said, I'm gonna go home put my feet up 23:42 and I'm not gonna do anything else 23:45 but put my feet up because I'm too tired to even think. 23:47 One phone call was coming through 23:50 and I had actually missed it but when I went back 23:53 I looked at the name and I thought no, 23:54 I'm not gonna call this person back tonight. 23:57 And then I heard the Holy Spirit say 24:00 you been talking about self-sacrificing love, 24:03 is this self-sacrificing? 24:05 Okay. Amen. 24:07 You know, I mean, we can talk a good game 24:09 but we got to always be open to the Lord. 24:11 Yes, now that's exactly I want. 24:13 All right, Xenia, you want to pray that one please. 24:16 Dear heavenly Father, 24:18 we ask in a special way that You direct our path, 24:22 that You direct us into Your love 24:25 and that we may grow more patient 24:27 and be more like You. 24:29 In Jesus name, amen. 24:30 Amen. Amen. 24:31 Okay, Eric. Okay. 24:35 1 John 4:16, 24:39 "We have come to know 24:41 as I believed the love which God has for us. 24:45 God is love, and the one who abides in love 24:48 abides in God, and God abides in him." 24:50 Amen. Amen. 24:52 This reminds me what you just said about love in that-- 24:58 the more love we have the holier we are, 25:00 the holier we become. 25:02 That's why God said, learn the love, find that love 25:07 and I know from myself when I grew up, 25:09 grew up a young man in New York City 25:11 it's difficult growing up in the city as a young man 25:14 and you become detached from that aspect 25:19 that God wants to put in us which is love. 25:24 The big thing that I learnt when I read this first was that 25:29 open your heart, surrender it to the Lord, 25:33 believe and allow Him in there 25:36 and your growth will make you 25:37 more and more holy as time goes on. 25:39 Yeah, because as He, you know, it says that 25:41 if we abide in His love God abides in us. 25:45 Well, it says, He as we open our hearts as you said 25:49 that God pours His love into our hearts 25:52 and He is actually pouring the essence 25:55 of His being into our hearts 25:56 when He pours His love into our hearts. 25:59 Well, because God is love. 26:00 So I just-- it is exciting to me 26:04 because we can know 26:06 that God wants us to be like Him. 26:09 He created us to be like Him and when we like Him 26:13 we are not going to be sinners, 26:15 we are not gonna be hurting others 26:17 are not gonna be ignoring Him. 26:19 You know, what catches my attention here, 26:20 one abides in love abides in God 26:22 and him abides in us. 26:24 I think of reciprocation. 26:26 That's one of those big words that I learned a long time ago 26:29 that for some reason I just fell in love with that word 26:32 reciprocation then as I began to mature, 26:35 I began to find out that it is exchange, 26:39 it is harmony, it is unity 26:42 and that fits my particular personality 26:45 and so that's what it's saying here, 26:47 you come to me I come to you, we are reciprocate. 26:51 The more you give Me, that more I give you 26:54 and I just love that thought. 26:55 In of all the commandments 26:56 I think love is the most difficult to master. 27:00 The others are almost technical, 27:01 do this, do this, do this, don't do this, don't do this 27:04 but finding that love inside yourself for your neighbor 27:07 that is indeed the most difficult 27:08 it was for me and I know a lot of people 27:10 share that probably that. 27:11 Well, I think that's because we try to love 27:15 by our own power. 27:16 We try to be good, we try to be generous, 27:20 we try to do for others 27:22 and we don't realize that's impossible. 27:25 I mean, we don't have that kind of love 27:27 in us naturally. 27:28 It is a God kind of love 27:30 so we've got to open out hearts to Him 27:32 and let Him pour His love into us. 27:36 So I know what you are saying 27:38 because I used to try to be such a good girl, 27:41 you know, and do everything right and-- 27:43 And sometimes the issue is, is that we mirror back, 27:47 you know, depending upon how they are reacting to you 27:50 it just seems like that, 27:54 that emptiness in you may attack back there. 27:59 Well, really, you are a really a meek person 28:03 but, you know, that protective zone goes up. 28:06 And so, Lord, help me. 28:07 And the Lord lowers that protective help. 28:09 He does, yeah. Exactly. Wow. 28:12 Oh, okay. 28:14 Eric, you want to pray that back to the Lord then? 28:17 The heavenly Father, we have come 28:20 to know You and to believe in Your love 28:21 and to believe in Your sacrifice. 28:25 We ask You, Lord, with all our hearts that You, 28:27 that You abide in us and that You direct us 28:31 and help our hearts whether they be bitter or sweet. 28:35 Help our hearts to grow in love as time goes on. 28:39 We thank You and we praise You 28:40 and we thank You for Your abiding in us right now. 28:43 In Jesus name, amen. 28:45 Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. 28:47 JD. 28:49 Well, I was, I was lucky enough to get Romans 5:5. 28:52 Romans 5:5, "Now hope does not disappoint," wow, fantastic. 28:57 Why? 28:59 "Because the love of God has been poured out" 29:01 the love of God-- in other words, 29:02 His spiritual blessings are being 29:04 poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit 29:08 who was given to us. 29:11 The more, the more I'm learning it doesn't get for JD Quinn, 29:19 it doesn't give me better than having the Holy Spirit 29:22 be there. 29:24 Amen. For all of us. 29:25 And because it's just, just falling in more, 29:28 and more, and more with the trinity, 29:31 with the Holy Spirit because that's who, 29:33 you know, works within me. 29:37 And I was reading the other day 29:38 and it says Holy Spirit, messenger of truth. 29:43 Wow, that's unique, you know, because I know 29:46 that He is the comforter 29:47 so I know He is there to bring comfort 29:49 and peace but now also how does this all work 29:53 as the messenger of truth is there. 29:55 Amen. 29:57 So I just-- now the hope is not disappoint 30:00 thank You, Jesus and I thank and greet Shelley 30:03 that's eager expectations so eager expectation 30:06 does not disappoint if we are looking 30:09 through a healthy set of eyes, okay. 30:12 And I just want to pray that back 30:14 because I just thank You Jesus that I can stand on it. 30:18 I don't have to get caught up 30:19 in disappointment, discouragement. 30:22 And only because it's as He pours His love 30:24 into our hearts by the power of Holy Spirit 30:27 that's, that's the only way. 30:28 You know, we don't learn to love like God. 30:32 We are empowered to love like God. 30:35 We learn what God's love is here 30:38 and how it should look 30:40 but no matter how much you study these scriptures 30:43 you never gonna learn to love like God. 30:45 It is only as we open our hearts to the Lord 30:47 when He has-- you know, we say circumcise our heart, 30:51 pour in that self-sacrificing love. 30:53 I mean, that is another gift of His grace. 30:56 Amen. Amen. 30:57 And here where it says "Now hope does not disappoint." 31:01 I think of our hope, our blessed hope. 31:05 Amen. Amen. 31:07 We won't be disappointed because of God's love. 31:11 Amen. Amen. 31:13 So really what it is, it's a way of God saying 31:17 I'm assuring you of My unchanging love. 31:20 That's for those, for those scriptures of assurance. 31:26 Father, as we come to You in the name of Jesus, 31:28 Lord, I thank You that 31:29 You do have Your promises to us. 31:32 Father, don't let us get caught up 31:33 in disappointment or discouragement. 31:35 Let us contentedly look at You, Lord, 31:38 and depend upon You and Your hope 31:41 knowing, Lord, that You are in the process 31:44 of continually pouring out into our hearts 31:48 the Holy Spirit, the comforter, the love, 31:53 that only You can give us, Lord, 31:55 and let us have that understanding. 31:56 Increase our depth of understanding, Lord. 31:59 And so, Father, we love You and we thank You. 32:03 Thank You, Jesus. Amen. 32:04 Amen. Amen. 32:06 Eric, why don't you take Revelation 2:3-5? 32:09 Okay. 32:11 "You have persevered 32:13 and have endured hardships for my name, 32:15 and have not grown weary. 32:17 Yet I hold this against you. 32:20 You have forsaken your first love. 32:23 Remember the height from which have fallen! 32:26 Repent and do the things you did at first." 32:32 You remember your first love, 32:33 first fell in love with Jesus Christ? 32:36 This is a tough verse for me to read 32:38 because pride was one of my big challenges 32:43 and when you get, when the Lord blesses you 32:46 and you get puffed up then pride comes in 32:48 and starts to interfere with that plan 32:52 that the Lord has for your life. 32:54 So when I read this verse He said, 32:56 "Remember the heights from which you have fallen. 33:00 Repent and do the things you did at first." 33:02 And I literally have to do that everyday. 33:05 I make sure that I approach the day with a humble heart 33:09 and the Lord has blessed me and I struggle with that 33:14 and I'm very thankful that He is there 33:17 and that His grace is there also. 33:19 Absolutely. And that's precious. 33:21 How do you-- when do you-- how do you recognize 33:25 when God is no longer your first love? 33:29 To me it's all about priorities. 33:31 I mean-- You lose interest. 33:35 It doesn't mean that you don't even 33:36 have to lose interest in God. 33:37 Its just when something becomes more important 33:41 where you give other things higher priority before Him 33:45 and that's so simple to do 33:49 and I will repeat once again that even for those of us 33:53 who are in ministry it is possible 33:56 to get so caught up in doing the work for God 33:59 that you put His work before you put the time 34:04 for the relationship aspect of it. 34:06 So I think it's all about our priorities. 34:09 You know, if we have misplace priorities, 34:12 if someone is your first love 34:15 that kind of their top priority in life. 34:18 For me I lose interest in the sense that my job 34:21 became my primary focus and the Bible 34:25 became a secondary focus and slowly over time 34:30 it becomes more about your job 34:32 which gives you more pride and you lose more, 34:34 more focus on what's truly important 34:37 and that's the word and He drew me back 34:41 and I'm so thankful that that happened 34:42 and me and Luis we talk about that all the time 34:45 so quick praise the Lord. 34:46 Amen. Praise the Lord. 34:48 Also you know what, what came to my mind 34:50 as we were praying last night Shelley said, 34:53 you know, and in her prayer she was saying 34:55 and, Lord, please continue to be with our marriage 34:59 and our relationship that we don't take 35:00 each other for granted. 35:03 And as she was praying that, 35:06 you know, that kind of prick my heart 35:08 and thank You, Jesus, because I would-- 35:11 you can't get, you can't find yourself being deeper in love 35:15 and taken things for granted 35:17 and then as you are doing this what could we be doing. 35:21 You could be taking Jesus for granted. 35:23 That's exactly right. 35:24 You know, I know He's there take that 35:27 and I think that it's very important to start 35:30 every morning off by inviting the Holy Spirit 35:33 into your heart, you know. 35:35 So... 35:37 And that's what it says here us to remember. 35:40 You know, every morning, every hour, every moment 35:43 that you go through God is trying to target your heart. 35:46 And it says, remember where I brought you from. 35:48 Remember what I have done from you 35:50 because we are so forgetful. 35:52 We always are going back to the same all the time 35:56 but God has that patience to be able to tell us, 35:59 son, daughter, don't worry. 36:01 I'm gonna be there to remind you 36:03 to come back to Me on a minute by minute. 36:06 I used to say on a day to day 36:07 but it's like a minute by minute 36:09 you got to get to the point where you go back to that, 36:12 that's smiling, that first love. 36:15 When you first got-- I remember when I was baptized 36:17 how beautiful that moment was 36:19 and if you could just go back to that moment 36:21 where you rendered completely to God 36:23 and you woke in that new light, in that new joy. 36:27 And you couldn't help but talk about Him 36:29 wherever you went, right. 36:31 You couldn't help but just having that smile 36:33 and it says and bitter to tell you, 36:35 look all these bad things are happening to you 36:37 why you are always smiling? 36:38 I have Jesus in my heart. The cup runneth over. 36:41 Yes. Yes. 36:42 But, you know, and someone, someone that's watching 36:46 maybe you can never experience that with Jesus 36:49 and you talk about what do you mean first love? 36:51 Have you ever just been badly in love with someone? 36:53 When you fall in love and you want to be with them, 36:57 you want to tell people about them, 37:00 they put a smile on your face and makes your heart 37:03 kind of pity pattered that's, that's the way 37:06 Jesus wants to be to us and I read the Psalms 37:10 and I think, boy, David had it. 37:12 David had-- the love 37:14 he had for God was so passionate. 37:16 It almost sounds like a romantic love 37:19 when you are reading it. 37:20 But that's what God wants from us 37:21 is for us to be patient. 37:24 That reminds me, 37:26 I went by Luis's office the other day 37:27 and look in there the picture of Xenia. 37:30 Oh, so beautiful and I says 37:35 well, who is that pretty girl? 37:38 That's the most beautiful woman in the world right there. 37:41 Twenty four years you been married? 37:42 That's right. 37:43 And still the most beautiful woman in the world. 37:45 Now that's remembering your first love. 37:47 Amen. 37:49 I mean, it was a special time, 37:51 you know, because Luis has a good time, 37:57 you know, but this time 37:59 this was a very upbeat serious time. 38:02 Yes. Amen. 38:04 That's the most beautiful woman in the world. 38:06 I will never forget that, that was really neat. 38:08 Okay, have you prayed that? 38:10 Oh, not yet. Okay. 38:11 Okay. 38:13 Dear heavenly Father, thank You for returning us 38:15 to our first love. 38:18 Some of us have drifted away and You tugged in our hearts 38:21 and we are so happy and blessed and thankful to be back. 38:26 God we repent for the past and we ask that You guide us 38:31 into the future. 38:33 In Jesus name, amen. Amen. 38:35 So let me go ahead, I'm gonna summarize that again 38:37 by with the affirmation of all those scriptures 38:39 that we just had and this is our affirmation 38:44 telling God we are-- you know, what we speak with our mouth 38:47 we are speaking with the spirit of faith. 38:50 I love the Lord with all my heart, 38:52 soul, mind and strength. 38:54 Even in this response to God I'm totally dependent upon Him. 38:59 Father, I know you are the source of love. 39:01 Help me to open my heart and allow You to pour 39:04 Your love into me. 39:05 Empower me to respond to You in love 39:09 and always keep me mindful of Jesus Christ my first love. 39:13 Amen. Amen. 39:15 Now we are gonna talk about 39:16 loving your neighbor as yourself 39:18 and I see your time is quickly ticking away here 39:21 so let me just read the affirmation 39:23 and then we will get into the scriptures. 39:26 The affirmation is, I live in love shunning pride 39:30 and arrogance despising evil behavior 39:33 and perverse speech. 39:34 I hate the sin but not the sinner. 39:37 I love my neighbor as myself 39:38 and I'm seeing to do good for others 39:40 just as I would like to have them do to me. 39:43 I realize how much God has forgiven me 39:47 which makes my heart swell with love. 39:50 When it is possible I demonstrate my love 39:52 by my actions and not merely by my words. 39:56 I do not grow vary my efforts to do good works. 39:59 Now let's look at the scriptures 40:00 that support this affirmation. 40:01 Xenia, why don't you start? 40:03 Proverbs 8:13, 40:06 "To fear the Lord is to hate evil, 40:10 I hate pride and arrogance, 40:12 evil behavior and perverse speech." 40:16 Well, the Lord is saying that pride and arrogance, 40:23 evil behavior, perverse speech are evil 40:27 and sometimes we forget this thing. 40:31 We say, you know, His holy pride 40:33 there is no such thing. 40:35 Obviously with this verse. 40:37 Yeah. 40:39 And the Bible says we can't serve to masters 40:44 so you either love or hate. 40:47 So if we love God we have to hate evil 40:52 because we can't be loving evil and loving God 40:56 because it doesn't work. 40:57 Amen. 40:59 And the more God pours His holiness into us, 41:01 His love which establishes His holiness and ours the more 41:06 and we will begin to think like Him, 41:09 think with the mind of Christ 41:10 and the more we spend time in the word 41:13 this is where the mind of Christ 41:15 is found and understand, 41:17 you know, there's things that we may not have realized 41:20 we are perverse before 41:21 but suddenly you are reading in the word 41:23 and you are thinking, Lord, this is displeasing to You 41:27 and I'm guilty of this. 41:28 So all right, you want to pray that back? 41:32 Dear heavenly Father, as we come before You help us, 41:36 Lord, to hate evil to only love You 41:43 and to only have thoughts that are towards You 41:47 so that our minds will always be in accord with You. 41:51 Amen. Amen. 41:52 Amen. Okay, Eric. 41:54 Okay, another powerful verse. 41:57 Mark 12:28-31 42:00 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, 42:03 with all your soul, with all your mind, 42:05 and with all your strength. 42:07 Love your neighbor as yourself. 42:09 There is no other commandment greater than these." 42:13 Amen. 42:14 For me this is a powerful commandment 42:16 because or powerful verse because it's easy 42:21 for me to love the Lord in the sense that 42:24 when you read the Bible you see what He did for you. 42:25 He came down from paradise to this sin sick earth 42:28 and He died, crucified on the cross for me. 42:31 It's easy to love Him. 42:32 It's like a fireman saving you from death. 42:35 You got to love Him for doing that. 42:37 But then I read the second part 42:38 "Love your neighbor as yourself" 42:41 and for me that's the tough part 42:42 because I have a lot of neighbors. 42:46 And I've struggled with that in the past 42:49 and praise the Lord I found it in my heart 42:52 this always good in people. 42:56 Even the people that you outwardly evil 43:00 and you think the worst sometimes, 43:02 there is always something there 43:03 and if they germinate that that's when the Lord 43:05 will help them to grow in faith, 43:08 in love and then in holiness. 43:11 But this love, 43:15 "Love your neighbor as yourself" 43:16 I think this is the biggest challenge 43:19 that everyone has. 43:20 And once again the only way possible 43:22 is when we open our heart to the Lord 43:24 to let Him put it in there. 43:25 But there is no commandment greater than that. 43:28 The others are easy in comparison. 43:30 You know, and this proves, as you look at everything 43:33 every one of God's commandments is a promise 43:35 of what He will do in us. 43:37 I mean, in His Ten Commandments 43:38 which we are not gonna get off from that tonight 43:40 because I could preach on that whole day. 43:42 You want to pray that back? 43:43 But I notice that He says that 43:45 "Love your neighbor as yourself" 43:48 and a lot of times we don't love ourselves. 43:51 Oh, that's a good point. 43:53 And so we have low self esteem and we don't love ourselves, 43:57 we think we are bad and all this kind of things. 43:59 So in message it's telling those love yourself 44:03 like I've loved you so you can give 44:06 the love to other people because we don't feel loved 44:10 that we have a hard time giving love. 44:12 That's true. 44:14 There is something important about this too 44:16 and it's talking about how when you love your neighbor 44:20 have you ever had the circumstances 44:21 that a neighbor has been giving you trouble 44:24 or have done or tried all they can do 44:27 to be able to discourage you and you continue to love them, 44:31 you continue to be friendly, you continue to do it 44:33 and after a while they just give up 44:35 and they say what is about you. 44:37 And this is when you are gonna be able to show 44:39 I love God and I want to give that to you as well. 44:43 And this is what God is trying to tell you, 44:44 when you love your neighbor and they come around 44:47 and they fill, then you could fill them with your love, 44:50 then you could show them 44:51 what a wonderful God He is to you. 44:54 And a lot of times when you think, 44:55 you think that this is for you. 44:56 No, God is telling you love your neighbor 44:58 so He can pour out that whole gift 45:02 that He gives you to those around you 45:05 so they may have abundantly as well. 45:07 And that's something that even before 45:09 I go out and speak anywhere 45:10 I mean, JD hears me say this all the time. 45:12 I'll often tell to people I love you in the congregation 45:16 but it is only because and it has no credit to me 45:19 but I pray before I go and I say, 45:21 Lord, pour Your love into my heart for that person. 45:26 And sometimes, you know, it's easy too. 45:28 Some people are easy to love, you know. 45:31 Didn't there are some that are little more 45:33 challenging to love 45:34 and when I find myself feeling a little at odds with somebody 45:40 I just ask God pour Your love into my heart 45:42 and there are but people that I don't like 45:45 but I still love them. 45:46 I don't like them because of their actions 45:47 but because God empowers me to love. 45:50 Amen. Amen. Okay, we need to move on. 45:52 Dear heavenly Father, as Shelley said 45:56 pour Your love into our hearts when we read of You 46:00 and Your word You are easy to love by our neighbors. 46:04 Your glory reflects to us when we love our neighbors. 46:07 Strengthen us that we might do what You command us to do 46:11 which is love them to. 46:13 We thank You and we praise You in Jesus name, amen. 46:16 Amen. Amen. Amen. 46:18 Amen. Okay, Luis. 46:20 Matthew 7:12, "In everything, do to others 46:27 what you would have them do to you, 46:30 for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." 46:35 In other words every thing that the Old Testament 46:38 the Law and the Prophets is summed up in this. 46:41 That's right. The golden rule. 46:43 In everything. Isn't that amazing? 46:45 You know, a lot of times we forget 46:47 what that word really means. 46:50 It means when we wake up, when we are sad, 46:52 when we are tired, when we are, when life is just, 46:55 you know, crumbling around us it is telling in everything 46:59 that you do make sure that you, your love 47:02 and that you fill those around you 47:06 that they may be rejoicing 47:09 and that they may find the love of God as well. 47:13 It also strikes me that this verse also tells me 47:16 that we know how we should treat our neighbors 47:19 because we know how we want our neighbors to treat us. 47:22 So everyone knows how to love and be generous 47:25 and how to care for their neighbors 47:27 because we want the same thing too. 47:29 Amen. 47:30 And this kind interesting is this a little word here 47:32 due to other what you would have them 47:34 do to you not for you. 47:37 That's right. 47:38 You know, that is a to you. Yeah. 47:40 And that brings it much closer to home. 47:43 You know, a lot of people say, you know, 47:45 that this is kind of an acid test 47:47 the way that you treat your neighbors 47:49 is how you look at God. 47:51 That's right. And so-- 47:52 And could I take that a step further? 47:55 In the home, remember when my sister 47:58 came to our house first time she visited 48:00 and she told me she went upstairs 48:02 and we were getting ready for bed 48:04 and she said, oh, it's honey this, 48:06 and honey that and please this and please that. 48:08 She said, this is just, she said, 48:10 you guys are sickening, you know. 48:12 And I thought what? 48:13 And she said, why do you do that 48:15 and I said, well, because we love each other 48:17 and I said, I certainly gonna be as-- she said, 48:20 well, you act like you are strangers. 48:21 You are so polite. 48:22 And I said, well, can you imagine 48:24 said he is the one I love the most. 48:26 Of course, I'm gonna treat Him as well as I would a stranger. 48:29 Well, about the third night I overheard her on the phone, 48:32 she was on the phone with her husband and she said, 48:36 you know, I thought this is a little strange 48:38 but she said, it's really peaceful around here. 48:40 She said, we need to give this a try. 48:42 So when we talk about treating others 48:45 as we would like to be treated 48:46 I think it has to begin in the home. 48:48 I mean, that is another litmus test is are we, 48:52 are we living it out in the home 48:54 and I think that's why some kids 48:56 leave the church is they have parents 48:59 who's-- the house, the home relationship 49:03 is dysfunctional and up in a roar. 49:06 They are not practicing what they preach on Sabbath. 49:11 So it's something very important 49:13 that we consistent there. 49:14 And, you know, not to get off so 49:16 but this is an important point 49:17 because the parents are the role models 49:21 and there are many homes 49:23 that are just so loud and frustrating, 49:24 you know, that they can't wait to leave and then they get out 49:27 and they are taking that baggage with them. 49:29 So I mean, I just make a plea to the parents, 49:33 you know, love your children. 49:38 Bring peace and harmony to these homes. 49:40 And, JD, I had a loving and praying mother 49:43 and she made all the difference in the world. 49:45 So what you said is very, very true. 49:47 Amen. Amen. 49:49 And obviously you are a praying and loving. 49:51 The Eric that I know-- 49:53 I'm indeed. I'm indeed. 49:54 But, you know, I remember just-- 49:56 I'm indeed. 49:57 Would you like to pray that back, Luis? 49:59 Our loving Father, we are so grateful 50:02 that You have always shown us such great love. 50:06 Lord, but it says here that we need to love others 50:09 like we want to be loved. 50:11 We take all the love from you, Lord, 50:13 and now we need to pour it out around our neighborhood, 50:16 around our friends, around our workplace 50:19 that, Lord, we maybe rejoiced of the outcome of that. 50:23 Individuals that are going to as well learn and feel 50:28 how great and wonderful and powerful You are. 50:31 We pray that today, Lord, that You show us, 50:34 that You empower us in the way that we may learn 50:39 how to love others and we may learn 50:41 how to love ourselves and fill ourselves 50:44 with You and Your spirit. 50:46 In Christ name, amen. 50:47 Amen. Amen. Amen. 50:49 Okay, we only have about five minutes left 50:51 and we've still got four scriptures to go so, JD, 50:54 we'll kind of keep our conversation down 50:57 but go ahead and do Luke 7. 50:58 Yes, because we are gonna be dealing 51:00 with the fundamental principle here but Luke 7:40-47, 51:04 I will just kind of go through part of this, okay. 51:06 "'Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. 51:08 Neither of them had the money to go pay him back, 51:11 so he cancelled the debts of both. 51:13 Now which of them will love him more?' 51:18 Simon replied, 'I suppose the one 51:21 who had the bigger debt cancelled.' 51:23 'You have judged correctly,' Jesus said. 51:25 Therefore, I tell you, 51:27 her many sins have been forgiven 51:28 for she love much 51:30 but he who has been forgiven little loves little." 51:35 It seems like that reality 51:37 of the one of the actions in life 51:40 is that we don't really pay 51:43 a whole lot of attention to things 51:44 that we have little invested 51:46 but those things that we have a lot of stuff 51:48 invested in well, then all of a sudden we get 51:51 it seems like we are spending more time on our needs. 51:55 Help me Jesus, help me, then the month is coming 51:58 we don't have the money. 51:59 Boy, they are praying earnestly at the first 52:01 the month is kind of well, we will get it done, 52:03 we will get it done. 52:04 And so there is a principle involved here and the more, 52:10 the more that, the more that you owe 52:18 the more earnest your prayers may be. 52:21 You know, I'll just real quickly say this 52:22 because my sister well, this is her favorite scripture 52:26 and she learned to love the Lord 52:30 because He first loved her. 52:32 She been forgiven of many sins just very much like Mary 52:36 in this passage here in Luke 7:47 52:39 and because she recognized 52:42 how much she had been forgiven 52:44 her love for the Lord was very great. 52:46 Now there people and you maybe one of them, 52:49 you maybe have been in the church for many, 52:51 many years and you didn't realize 52:53 how much He needed to save you, 52:55 you didn't realize how much He had forgiven you. 52:57 So your passion for God is not that great 53:00 because you just think well, so what? 53:03 So He died on the cross, I've been a good person. 53:05 We actually met a lady here who was here being interviewed 53:08 who said that. 53:10 She said, for 30 years 53:11 she thought what's the big deal? 53:13 You know, I haven't broken any of the big ten, 53:16 but when she finally recognized what a sinner she was 53:18 and how much she had been forgiven 53:20 the more you recognize that you've been forgiven 53:22 the more you will love. 53:24 We are gonna skip the praying 53:25 this back right now and go to Xenia. 53:27 Proverbs 3:27 "Do not withhold good 53:32 from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power 53:37 or the power of your hand to do so." 53:40 So many times we are forced to praise that person 53:44 that is struggling in their walk 53:47 and they do something good we praise them 53:49 or we give them recompense or things like that. 53:54 We forget those people that are doing the right thing. 53:58 We don't acknowledge them, 54:00 you know, they are doing the right thing, 54:01 doing the right path and sometimes-- 54:03 Well, that's good. And we need to do that. 54:06 That's good, I was thinking of this more along the material 54:10 that if you had the material blessing 54:12 that you could give, do good to someone 54:15 don't withhold it if it's in the power of your hand to do so 54:17 but I hadn't thought about as an affirmation. 54:20 You know, JD calls them attaboys 54:22 but and people need to hear that. 54:24 Very good. Very good. 54:25 Honey, you want to do 1 John 3:18? 54:28 Yes, 1 John 3:18, "Let us not love with words 54:32 or tongue but with actions and in truth." 54:38 Well, lot of us get caught up in that, 54:40 our priorities maybe wrong, 54:42 we maybe asked when we want something. 54:44 I think the bottom line here 54:46 is don't have a hypocritical attitude. 54:52 Be who you are, say what's your name 54:54 and staying single in the long road 54:59 you are known as a godly man or godly woman. 55:02 Amen. Amen. 55:03 It's easy to say something, 55:05 the fruits in the pudding my mother always told me 55:07 so you got to love with actions and in truth, okay. 55:12 Luis, you want to do the last one? 55:13 Galatians 6:9, "Let us not become weary 55:17 in doing good, for at the proper time 55:21 we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." 55:25 Amen. What a beautiful verse. 55:28 If we continue to do good 55:30 God is going to makes your-- that harvest is gonna come 55:34 and we are gonna just rejoice. 55:35 Persevere. That's right. 55:36 Absolutely, so let's do 55:39 all those back as an affirmation 55:41 and-- I live in love shunning pride 55:43 and arrogance despising evil behavior 55:45 and perverse speech. 55:47 I hate the sin but not the sinner. 55:49 I love my neighbor as myself and I'm seeing to do good 55:52 for others just as I would like to have them do to me. 55:55 I realize how much God has forgiven me 55:57 which makes my heart swell with love. 56:01 When it is possible I demonstrate 56:03 my love by my actions and not merely by my words. 56:07 I do not grow vary in my efforts to do good works. 56:11 And the reason we speak this back 56:14 the Bible says in Proverbs the power of 56:17 death and life is in the tongue. 56:20 As we pray God's word back to Him, 56:22 as we speak God's word over our life 56:25 it will rewire this little computer up here 56:29 and it will help us to start thinking 56:32 more like Christ and its that's where the power is. 56:36 So we have looked up, last time we were all together 56:39 we looked at the love of God, 56:41 this time we have looked at how we can love God 56:46 and how is this possible. 56:49 Through the Holy Spirit. 56:50 Only through the Holy Spirit it's possible. 56:52 I just want to thank you so much. 56:54 Please give Marilyn our love, 56:56 tell her we are praying for her. 56:58 She is watching. 56:59 She is watching. Oh, wonderful. Oh, Eric-- 57:00 We love you and we miss you, Marilyn. 57:02 Yeah, doing the same without you here 57:04 but thank you, Eric, Luis and Xenia. 57:08 And what is your daughter's name? 57:09 Xelia. Xelia. Xenia and Xelia. 57:13 X is well, right? That's right. 57:15 Okay. Well, thank you for joining us. Honey? 57:18 Amen. Thank you. 57:20 Thank you my, darling. Amen. 57:22 Well, our prayer for you at home 57:23 is that the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 57:26 the love of the Father 57:27 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 57:29 will be with you all Sabbath and everyday. 57:32 Bye-bye. |
Revised 2015-11-02