Hillsong Church - What is Love?

[Music] how come [Music] now there we sing it out [Music] [Applause] you are [Music] see [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] No [Music] this morning universe [Music] [Music] I'm living in the line [Music] we take your mother to be this morning waving his rifle bus worse [Music] worse [Music] for this Oh [Music] please first look as you play to [Music] you little [Music] Hey [Music] [Music] you [Music] he reigns forever this one is believe it [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] my god [Music] love if you believe is something we sing this [Music] maybe it's a family maybe to work me maybe it's salvation or healing provision let's take a moment to put God in his rightful place over all these situations Church can we see this one more time [Music] the only thing that's one more time [Music] my god [Music] so what could I say [Music] what could I do but offer this hard [Music] completely [Music] seen that again walk lead us [Music] whenever this hard [Music] [Music] you [Music] this morning if you were just entering into his presence [Music] we're going through god is good he's power so come on we sing us out I'll stand [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the earth will say in spamboni [Music] [Music] swear [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] come on Chad [Music] [Music] you know this morning I've been really challenged to think about the words that we've been seen and to think about instead of them just being a song how they actually impacted my life and in a moment we're gonna pray for every single one of these prayer requests but I wonder how he would pray about them if we understood how powerful the name of Jesus really was that every single one of these situations is subject to the name of Jesus there's someone in Hobart believing for their daughter to come to church multiple people believe in for job is people going to have tests and operations this week people in dire situations but every single one of these situations is subject to the name of Jesus so wonder if in Hobart and in Darwin in Church of the air someone could jump up there with your prayer request as well the church could we take a moment and can we pray can we pray believing that the name of Jesus is above every single one of these situations that there is nothing impossible for Jesus that every single one of these situations could turn around as we pray today so church will you stretch out your hand will you lift your voice will you pray for your church family to need come on come on lift your voice father God we thank you that we can depend on you we thank you that every single situation God in our lives is subject to the name of Jesus and so god we pray that you would do what only you can that in every single situation God that you would have your way go we pray for salvation we pray for restoration God but we pray for miraculous healing in the name of Jesus Lord God while we trust you we trust your plan we trust your purpose and every single one of these situations come on church can we sing this one more time this morning come on [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] if they don't happier they came to church on a Sunday morning how common was that one excited that they came to church they're very excited in Hobart or in Darwin in Church of the air I got to give a special shout out this morning we have two new families connecting with us in Church of the air so I got even shout out to Wendy in Clifford station in Queensland and Josh in fitzroy crossing i'll come on church we can do better than that [Applause] [Music] how cool is this this morning there is 27 locations of people in remote parts of Australia that are connecting to this service they get to be a part of our church through church there I think that's worth giving God a little bit of praise for it's not we're gonna do we're gonna give you one minute mingle say hi be friendly be churchy but if you are getting your amazing baby dedicated this morning we have nine families dedicating their babies this morning so come on up you can find your way up here if you're here with the family of any of our babies getting dedicated come right down the front come get the best photo possible on a sky tomorrow our campus pastor to come up as well [Music] [Music] amazing [Music] look at you being all friendly church proud of you all right you can take your seats hey if you're with the family of any of these amazing babies that are getting dedicated please come right down the front we'll get out of your way come get the best photo you possibly can look at all these amazing babies Church how cool is that yeah that's worth praising God for so just so you understand this moment in our church we believe that um that we baptize people in water when they're able to make that conscious decision for themselves but we also believe that it's really important to dedicate babies to God to dedicate their lives and believing that God's plan he has the best plan for them and we have nine amazing families with us here this morning Kiley and we're gonna meet these amazing little children hello what's your name what's your name Zachary hi Zachary you have your shoes are amazing I would wear those shoes and I mean I wouldn't have to do shoelaces either amazing what's your name Amalia hi Samara look at your dress kill the shoes as well hello she's too scared to have my baby up here and get her dedicated because she'll scream in front everyone I'm too self-conscious hi guys what's even too cute oh these guys killing it down here he's strong he's ready to go he's making sure the whole world knows that he is here that's all I'm saying I'm uh I'm gonna be getting dedicated today but it's my day people hey Kayla your brother stealing the show is he nice bowtie who else do we have down here Theodore great name he's a bit tired I'm not gonna make him cry I'm still scared of crying babies I know hello Emma Wow look at your eyes Church can you see her eyes my goodness are you doing are you doing I'm a new dad it's time guys I know I know what I'm doing I'm G cute nice headband you got dressed up for today you got someone stole your shoes someone down there is wearing the same shoes that's awkward hello River Oishi hello how you doing you're beautiful what's this little man's name can I let you pronounce it because I would hate to get it wrong tip you and mushy hello hello my little man you're just chilling you're having a good day today that good is that how go to these families Church hey would you be upstanding I'm nice highly to pray for these amazing babies in a moment just to believe that God's got the best plan for their lives and that we're gonna pray for the parents believing that God's gonna give them wisdom and strength in all of these amazing situations that are ahead of them so karlie would you pray Church would you stretch out your hand and pray with us come on I mean come on Church Lord we just thank you for every single one of these precious children that are up here they are a gift from you and Lord we just pray for wisdom for every single parent here Lord we pray that they will bring these children up in the ways that you would have them bring them up in your way Lord we pray for great wisdom we pray for peace in every family Lord we pray for a blessing Lord we thank you that you have a plan and a future for each single one of these children and Lord we pray Jesus that your will be done in the mighty name of Jesus we thank you for every single one of these lives and for every single family that they've been born into in the mighty name of Jesus amen and man yeah come on church that's a free show these families so we have a first Bible but all about you and a little certificate for today but hey if you've come if your family or anything like that we've also a little morning tea just after the service so go out any of our doors and turn right and you'll find the Western foyer come hang out with us can we appreciate these families one more time come on amazing I still do is my favorite he's still killing you guys can find your seats thank you so much you just can't question the content that babies give you they just it's just always there they're just funnier than normal people man that is the best hey we're gonna continue in our worship this morning and so I'm gonna ask our campus pastor Kylie tomorrow to come back and share around our tithes and offering so give it up for Kyle here she comes out come on thanks look I'm aware that we have so many people visiting us today and so right now we're just going to take up our tithe and our offering and you know if you are new or visiting please don't feel under any pressure to take part of this part of our service but every single week in all of our services we give people the opportunity to give of their finances to our church not just at Hillsong Church but in most Christian churches today as they gather around to talk about Jesus they are given the operon the opportunity to bring their tithe and offering to give to the church to help the message of Jesus go forward and to be able to give money to those who are poor and needy amen we actually believe it's a biblical principle for the message of Jesus to go forward and it comes to us being generous and in fact in the Bible in 2 Corinthians both chapters 8 and 9 are basically dedicated to talking about being generous to the house of God and I'm just going to read from 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 6 and 7 and it says but this I say he who so sparingly will also reap sparingly and he who so is bountifully will also reap bountifully so let each one give as he purposes in his heart not grudgingly or of necessity for God loves a cheerful Giver and so here at Hillsong Church we we give because we want to see the message of Jesus and His salvation go forward not just here as people come to hear the message every Sunday and at youth and as we help people each week as they come and we have great pastoral care team where people come on a Friday night for youth not only do we give for the message of Jesus to go forward but we give so that we can help people in a time of need but not only in our own church and in our own backyard but this message for it to go into our own nation and out into the world and so this morning can I encourage you as you give to remember that we are a generous people we are a generous Church and that this this seed will be sown to go further than what we could ever imagine amen are you ready to give let me pray father I thank you for a generous people lord I thank you for people who come week in and week out and who give of their time and who give of their finances for your message to go forward and lord I just pray for your blessing to be on each and each individual person here in the mighty name of Jesus and together we said amen well host if you'd like to receive our giving as we turn our attention to the screen thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] what's your next step on or under you see is our next steps card with information to help you take your next step if you're interested in discovering more about Jesus of making Hillsong hope you can join us after this service for engage a weekly experience helping you engage in the life of your some church for the undergo or in your connect group the next steps are provides quality content around community for more information on engaged or the app visit the next steps area in the foyer hey Church I just want to take a moment from Julia and myself and our whole church family to give a heartfelt thank you to all our kingdom builders for your incredible generosity we have more people involved in the giving to the Hillsong foundation than we have ever seen as a church and because of your committed contribution we've been able to see the work of the Lord go forward in unprecedented ways we're forever grateful for your continued support it's a joy and a privilege to build Hillsong Church alongside you I know the pastor Brian and Bobbie along with Jules and I are so looking forward to seeing you at the Keenan Buddhist retreat in a few weeks time [Music] I'm not about love more solution can we help anymore people [Music] more food for hungry tummies more healthiness for hurting bodies and for hurting hearts what of history's great kindnesses their head in tomorrow school [Music] do you dare to believe there's more from charge [Applause] Jesus proved by dying on that cross what won't he do to reach and love and save and rescue his people the judge must watch the gun lovable because we were unlovable we were unwelcome we were unworthy until the blood of Jesus made us worthy God can give you so much there is more [Applause] oh come on is any more excited that Donna Crouch is gonna be speaking a Hillsong conference this year well if you're excited about that we've got a treat for you in a couple of minutes time hey conference is um it's just a couple of weeks away and I was I was thinking this morning on my way to church about the first time I walked into I think it was called all phones Arena back then they seemed to change names more than anything else but I couldn't believe I was 17 years old I've been a Christian for six months I didn't think there was that many Christians in Australia letting that went to one church and then my idg leader spent 15 minutes trying to convince me that people flew from around the world to come to a church conference and that took him another 15 minutes to convince me because I couldn't believe it but can I tell you if you've been in the room at Hillsong conference you know there's nothing else like it and an hour great as hard as that our church that the people that we love and that we get to do life with that we wouldn't miss out on what God's gonna do at Hillsong conference this year you know I was thinking about we're working as a team at the moment to work out how do we get all of our young people from Queensland and from Victoria from all around Australia how do we get them to conference as easy as possible but I pray that we wouldn't forget to be a conference when it's only half an hour down the road I was thinking about our amazing people in church to the air maybe it's your year to be able to come and be a part of Hillsong conference that you link in every single week and that's amazing but but to be a part of Hillsong conference to be in the room to be a part of what everything that God is doing so start talking you connect groups start talking to your families get your seeding communities sorted so you could all sit together it's gonna be absolutely unbelievable can I tell you about tonight and I say tonight we have Scott saying our Sam weighs bringing the word in church tonight but I've got to tell you and we say this a little bit the last few weeks of Sunday night church have been miraculous like unbelievable and last week we had Joe LaBelle in the baptismal pool we had 26 people spontaneously make a decision to get baptized and they were down the side they were pulling their keys out of their pockets they were getting in the water we had connected leaders in jeans in the pool it was amazing it was the most unbelievable move of God please don't miss out on tonight because I believe with all my heart it's not just going to be a service it's gonna be a full-on move of God people's lives are gonna be transformed and so five o'clock in the epicenter six o'clock in the CC with saying it's gonna be amazing hey the last thing before we get to the preaching of the word is that straight after this service and we have engaged happening so if you don't know what engage is this is what it is if you want to take a next step in any area of church life it's for you so maybe it's your first week you have no idea what you've walked into and you'd like to know a little bit more about our services or our church it's for you if you're in a connect group and maybe you'd like to start leading a connect group it's for you if you want to start volunteering if you want to just meet some of our team if you want to get into a connect group any of those things it's for you no pressure we're not gonna come and make you get involved or make you start volunteering but if you just want some more information on how this whole place happens and how it works please come and hang out with our team if you go outside look for any of our blue signs we're gonna have team there are waiting for you straight after the service can we tell you the heart of what we're trying to do we don't want you to come into this massive room with all these people and feel like you just come and go without anyone knowing that you were here we'd love to help make this place family for you and so come hang out with us and engage straight after the service our team will help you get that'll be amazing where you stand your feet we have come to the preaching of the word at this morning and I'm pretty excited we have passed a Donna Crouch or bringing the word this morning so will you appreciate Donna as she comes to share come on thankful good morning thank you for being in church this morning for gathering we're continuing this morning with our series real love so today I've got the today it's our what are we up to week 3 week 2 week 3 so today I'm going to talk on what is love and why do we need love so big hello to those joining Church of the air and people watching online and the channel but it's fantastic they were here together but I thought in order to kick this off properly because we've got a pretty good current team Dave where I thought in order to kick off real love you can you can be seated Dave would you set the atmosphere for this morning [Music] [Applause] you haven't got too much fun then you can be seated thank you guys we'll see you we'll see you in a little bit all right so real love so love and all that stuff that song some of you got way too into it for church on a Sunday morning this thing called love can cause us so much pain without it and the abuse of it and the abandonment of it and so much joy when we have love from a partner in our family with our children and feel loved at work and like you know we belong so it's a really important thing in our life in 2018 it'd be easy to think that love is a feeling it's something you fall into and it's something you can fall out of it almost seems like it's got shrunk down honey they shrunk love TV shows have kept us very entertained this year with total strangers marrying total strangers and wondering why it didn't work just a thought Oh beautiful young men and beautiful young women going on beautiful desert islands with beautiful stylists and clothes and outfits trying to find this elusive thing good love and it's it's something that has kept the music industry and the movie industry well and truly alive I mean we all know that a cake for a wedding should cost five times the cost of a normal butter cake because it's a wedding cake and it's got some Gulf oil and some roses on top so therefore it should be worth 800 bucks you should never go to Woolies and just buy for mud cake to stack them on top of each other and put icing around and put some roses on top because a wedding cake is a love cake and it's different yeah a wedding dress a white dress if it's for a wedding or a car for a wedding should cost 10 times the amount of any white dress on the planet because it's a wedding dress we agree love is big business the Bible has a lot to say about love see 151 times their enovate NIV translation love is mentioned in the New Testament the statement love one another is said 11 times Jesus himself three times said love one another and the most famous most beautiful love verse of the whole New Testament is John 3:16 for God so loved the world that He gave His only one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life so the Bible has a lot to say about love so this morning in these next few moments I just wanted to bring a few aspects I'm up here just like you I go back to a very real life I'm on my L plates when it comes to love as wife love as a parent love as a friend it's something that you and I are growing in all the time but the main thing is that we're not adding Christianity to our idea of love but we're transforming our idea of love with what the Bible says and the way Jesus modeled love amen how much more beautiful would this world be if there was more love easy to ask and demand of everybody else the Bible actually instructs you and I to be the ones that change that with the love of God when Steven and I started going out in 1991 I hadn't had a proper boyfriend the whole time nine years of being a Christian it was my first like proper boyfriend we've been going out for maybe four or maybe six weeks and he started to say the l word I love you I said don't say that he said why I love you I really like you and I said well I don't love you I like you I know I'm harsh gosh judge me is the patient man and I said if we're gonna go out you can't say I love you because to me it's just a cheap word it meant other things in her life before Christ and it was just cheap and that's just where I was at and love for me I remember when we first got married our first proper fight you know and we weren't we weren't loud fighters we were SOT we are soldiers we fight quietly just shut down and fine fine year by phone so I remember our first proper argument was over love because I'm four years older than Stephen I said I remember I said Stephen we're just gonna have to hope that the love we've got will make it for our married life he went where do you get this stuff from and I go look you're younger than me it's very idealistic of you but I know how it's so bad and I said we're just gonna have to hope the love we've got will last because my understanding of love was I loved him I absolutely loved him but it was a quantity and we had to hope that whatever quantity we have was gonna last us through the decades and he said Donna you've got it all wrong the love we've got can grow or shrink it can be selfish or generous and I went you just do not get it and we remember we had an argument about it and that weekend Casey treat came to our church and preached on renewing your mind and I remember listening to him going could I possibly be wrong about love couldn't possibly be wrong I'm 30 and I decided to take on the verse city preacher Romans 12:1 and 2 and aggressively apply it to my understanding of love could it be that love can grow could it be that love is eternal could it be that there is an endless supply and came to find out very quickly yes there is an endless supply of love the love you have right now or the love that you might feel has diminished right now in your marriage or the love that you might extend towards an ex-partner can love get better absolutely it can so we're going to learn about that this morning I've told you my dirty washing so there you go you know I'm a bit normal so when the Bible talks about love in the New Testament we use we use the word love like love is song love is I love horses love is I love golf I love gardening I love you I love Jesus it's just this love word but in the Greek and New Testament there were four different basic definitions of the word loved the first was eros of which we get our word erotic erotica and eros love in the Greek culture the language of the day was the most low level base and carnal love that could be it was selfish and self gratifying and only pleased itself it didn't give to another interestingly the word eros love is never referred in the New Testament to marriage meaning that it has no place in a Christian marriage there is not to be selfish self gratifying please me I don't care about you love ever in a Christian marriage the second is stir go love which means the love which in a family bond the love I have for my children the love I have for my mom and dad my my father-in-law my my extended family I remember stir go love kicking in and sometimes it couldn't kick in quickly when you have a child and sometimes it can take months to kick in and that's okay but when we had our first child Ethan I remember I went into the nursery at the hospital I just couldn't believe I got this beautiful little baby and this is what I did true confessions I go into the nursery and I looked at all the other babies check them out and went yep yep ugly ugly ugly ugly ugly yeah I won I got the jackpot and I remember going you are so illogical but I can't tell you how real it felt and it's this beautiful bias that kicks in as a parent or you mums and dads that go to your kids and you know graduations and school presentations and dance recitals that go for 55 far2 million hours all you care about is your child Nats struggle of the other kind of love is filial love which means the love for something or someone of which we get the word philanthropy the love of mankind or philosophy the love of wisdom and these are different kinds of explanations of love but the love that the Bible talks about is called agape love everybody say agar pay and this is the kind of love that is talked about in the New Testament we're going to learn a bit about this morning it's mentioned repeatedly and is the majority of definitions of love in the New Testament and it basically means this love that God has for his son his people and all of mankind and the love of God inside a person that means I have a love for God his son are the people and my enemies it's a love that comes from God himself it's the love that in order to give it I've got to have received it from God himself I can't give agape love of God without having received it and it's the most important kind of love and that is the love in a marriage that we have been instructed to have stir go love in a family runs out when your children break your heart but when you have a gap a love of God as a parent it never runs out it means to be in deep or in wonder for the object of the person being loved it has no strings attached knows no limits and no boundaries and expects nothing in return it's like this just in awe of you the God this morning is in awe of not just his crowd or not just the people who nailed it this week but you he's in all of you in so are of you he sent his son into the world to do everything that he could to close the gap that divided us from a relationship with him the agape love of God 1 John 3 I think verse 16 says that the agape love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts and this is the kind of love that we need and that we can give so why do we need love I mean it's it's annoying that we need love but we do need love and so we've got to understand that in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 God hardwired us to need his love Genesis 1 verse 26 says and God said let us make human beings in our image to be like us Robert preached a few weeks ago about how one of the qualities is love that God has is love the agape love of God we've been made in God's image but being made to need the agape love of God and it says here he created human beings in his own image in the image of God he created them male and female he created them he created women you know women uniquely and independent agents of God on their own he did not make women to be a secretary P a housekeeper to a man he said I'm making womankind in my image I'm making mankind in my image so girls if you bought into the movies of you completely no we're not meant to be completed by another that's called Hollywood we've been completed when we experienced the love of God you could clap and I think that's where everything goes crazy psycho wrong cuz we see the love of God sometimes as a consolation price oh you're not married you poor thing just hang in the Lord loves you well somehow if you're not married in church you haven't made it as if the whole goal in church is to get married it's not the whole goal of being in a church community is that you and I becoming more like Christ and we're discovering his plan for our life and and being agents of his change on this earth that's the goal just a heads up so if somebody walked out on you and left you on your own and you've got the kids and you feel like well I don't feel like I make the greater Hill so what you so do marriage is a gift it's a privilege it's an added on top of there's not the whole goal the whole goal bottom line is that we know the love of God yeah if we get that we understand that the roles that have been put on men and women through the ages sometimes don't line up to what God says both madding my image both equally custodians of the earth the only thing you don't get to do is control each other they have stewardship over everything and then he says in Genesis 2 he looks it says the Lord God said is not good for man to be alone I will make a helper who is just right for him so that word in the Hebrew God looked at men he didn't look at surge or he didn't look at Rob stand more and go ah it's not good that Rob Stan was alone what's your name Amanda I'm gonna bring Amanda to help him and be a help her and clean up after him that's not what it means just two heads up we're not going into this isn't a marriage course today this is just what is love overall the word man means Adam the first Adam which means humankind he looked at all of his creation and he could see that there was his sense of isolation still and he made it says he made the woman the word help her means either and it's one of the same words used to describe God himself she's not your PA she's a mighty force to be reckoned with strong powerful beautiful we get this right these foundations right the rest is awesome so good so we've been hardwired for God's love before sin and before the fall we've been hardwired for human relationship before sin and before the fall it is not a weakness to feel that emptiness in life it is not a weakness no matter what love you've experienced it still doesn't feel that deep hole which I so relate to when I was single I was like no matter what I've done it's there's just a place in me that's not satisfied and that place in you and me has been made to no relationship with God himself in his love no human relationship will substitute for the love of God no marriage partner no matter how grand the proposal no matter how big the ring no matter how fabulous your 12 months honeymoon was overseas on Instagram awesome awesome nothing will substitute most daughters sitting there going you're so embarrassing mum she's going to be sending me text messages in the break what to change cuz I embarrassed her listen to me Church no human love will ever suffice for the love of God we've been made to know amen if I receive his love and live in his love I can bring and give his love Donna on her own will run out I made to give receive and give the love of God so we're going to jump now for a few minutes to Ephesians 5 and read some verses and it's just a little lens it's not the only lens in the Bible about love and marriage in a marriage relationship but seeing as you know it's a quest in life will I ever find a partner and if I do how will it work it's interesting in Ephesians 5 the Bible gives us some lessons or some take homes today that I think are so powerful and a feat we're just going to read what it says not what we think it sell it says because I've heard this you know over time things can sort of get a little bit off track so let's read Ephesians 5 verse 21 it's on the screen assess and further submit to one another out of reverence to Christ for wives this means submit to your husband's as to the Lord a husband is head of his wife as Christ is head of the church he is Savior of the body the church is the church submits to Christ he wives should submit to your husband's and everything for husbands this means love your wives say love your wives okay that's your job profile love your wife just as Christ loved the church He gave His life up for her to make her holy unclean washed by the cleansing of God's Word he did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish instead she will be holy and without fault in the same way husband's ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies for a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself goes on last verse so again I say each man must love his wife or the men's they love my wife okay and and as he loves himself and the wife must respect her husband so what's interesting about these verses will unpack this for a few moments these verses if you read them today in 2018 you go what what's going on here what's that all about well this letter to the church in Ephesus was written in about 60 58 60 AD and like many of the epistles are written to a church community to try and help them sort out the messes that were going on in the church it didn't come in a Bible it didn't come with chapter numbers it was just a letter and the letter was to be read out to the congregation and the Apostle Paul is in prison and he's trying to hop the church in Ephesus understand and this letter is written to Christians not to the general community he's trying to help them understand God's Way God's kingdom and how it works as the community how it works as parents because that chapter goes on to talk about parents and how it works in running your household with slaves very powerful verse and I'll say this the verses that were intended to bring absolute freedom and equality to men and women have been at times misused and misunderstood to bring abuse control and justify unacceptable behavior the very thing that Paul is trying to challenge and change is how over the over centuries it could all go the wrong way up so I want to go there this morning so in order to understand what is he saying let's understand what's the backdrop what's the culture of the day well the culture of the day was the Roman the Greco Roman Empire and in the Roman Empire this is how it rolled it was a man's world it was a patriarchal culture and you had one job as a man or a husband in your home the word was Pater familias and it meant you're in charge you're in charge of your wife your children your slaves you have absolute authority and control you decide which child lives and dies you are to raise a good citizen of Rome you are to honor your family clan and ancestral gods and you are to serve Rome and it's political social and religious life it's your job the woman on the other hand you could have sexual partners outside the marriage but a wife in this Empire at the time she was put in an arranged marriage in her teens the goal wasn't loved the goal was to produce heirs and the goal was to have Concordia or harmony in your home if you had sex outside marriage you were considered an adulteress so there are double standards you were not to appear as smart as men you were to tolerate beatings and abuse you have no legal support or recourse one instance that I read a woman got drunk and made her husband embarrassed so he clubbed her to death and the leaders of the city agreed that that was right why because her job is to produce a good family and she shamed the family that's the backdrop Ephesians is talking to absolute inequality women shortchanged and here Paul writes this beautiful letter saying no in God's household in the Christian household this is how it's to be and he goes through the mantra of the Roman Empire was strong families build a strong Empire and a strong Empire defeats the enemy and Paul takes that framework and that outlook and uses it in Ephesians in flipside and he says a strong family builds a strong church and a strong church can defeat the god of this world our enemy Ephesians 6 stand firm against the god of this world the spiritual warfare chapter so he flips it all around he's actually messing with core values of the Roman Empire it's a very dangerous letter and yet here he is in prison fighting for his life saying no this is how the household of God is to work isn't that amazing so let's just look at a few little things here that he flips in Ephesians number 1 he flips the right way up submission Ephesians 5 does not start with wives this means submit to your husband's as to the Lord how that to me has been heard over time as wives submit men are in charge women respect if you've got a bully of a husband you got a bad deal put up and shut up it's not what it says it's not what we read this 21 says I read it again because it's it's stunning it says and further submit to one another out of submit to one another out of reverence for Christ that words submit their men in the Greek is hyper Tasmin hyper Tasso and it means to voluntarily place yourself under the influence of another and it says I want you both to submit in the family of God I want women I want wives I want you to submit to the family of God I want you to submit to one another I want women I want a woman to come under the the guidance of a man and I want a man to come under the guidance of a woman is this psycho crazy radical he's talking to a culture where I'm the man I'm the man in charge I'm the boss that child lives that child's getting sold into slavery you put up you shut up I can sleep around you can't and he says no men come under crazy radical mutual submission so girls if you're here today and you've bought into the Disney theology of I went to color this is not what colors about by the way everything opposite and I heard there was the princess so you know what I'm just looking for the one cuz I'm a princess and I need rescuing so I'm looking for the one who could be good enough strong enough smart enough rich enough better than me to take me to the palace that I deserve to live in is he not here at Hills I might go to another campus oh you're not strong enough for me cuz I'm a princess no you're a child of God you're equally smart intelligent able you need to step up my plan is a man don't Instagram this stupid photo Rebecca last one I had the tattoo I looked ridiculous my plan is a man No your plan is to know God himself and his plan for your life step up help carry the load in a marriage husbands learn to let your wives help you got to learn to listen submit one to the other not just in a marriage but in a Christian community this is this beautiful idea of mutual submission and I'll say it again the only place that this word to place yourself voluntarily under the control of another is verse 21 verse 22 in verse 33 in the Greek you look it up in a concordance that says not in Greek it doesn't use the word submit as such so it's it's used in context of this mutual equal submission one to the other very very powerful and beautiful so young people if you think that marriage is all about if I get married I can have sex on demand wrong if you think marriage is about well I've got the dress I've got the ring I've got the honeymoon booked I just need the guy wrong if you think your body clocks ticking so you better hurry up and just bunker down with somebody wrong if you are going out with someone but there isn't really love chemistry alignment of values and goals don't don't it can be exhausting for a man to carry the load on his own in a marriage there are seasons where a man has to step up there are seasons where the woman has to step up due to sickness or challenge we've got to step up and be this team of mutual submission and helping one another can you say Amen this morning it's a team and I'm saying this because there's a lot of young people in church and you could think again this Disney idea of what marriage is and it's to free-for-all and I can have sex whenever I want no that's called eros it's called selfish love and it doesn't exist in a Christian context it's about giving not just taking yeah number two Jesus redefines leadership and headship he says many times here Paul for husbands this means love your wives do you realize how crazy radical this is he is saying to a culture of Dominion and power and control and abuse of women agape your wife she's not there to produce your ears in the Roman household women weren't allowed out because they couldn't get their bloodline polluted they even lived in a separate part of their house so that their ears were truly their ears and he says agape your wife love her with the love of God and goes on and says using Christ and his love for the church is your example it's a sacrificial giving of oneself to better the other totally turns the culture on its head not I'm the man I'm the warrior I'm the battery Ark of the family what goes in this house is what I say he's saying you mutually submit he's saying you love your wife you make her the focus you're not to go out sleeping around with registered temple prostitutes and slave girls and any other woman who's not married you're now to love her only her flipping the culture around not justify you can clap if you want it's not a bad point it's a good point it's a beautiful point it's not a demanding bullying control of abusive culture that is talking about in the church so young people today if your boyfriend says well if you love me you'll sleep with me no that's not leadership that's demanding and selfish the girlfriend that's possessive and stalking and I saw you on Facebook with two girls where are you haven't called me in four hours don't you love me can you see the culture we're in and what we buy into and the Bible's saying no there's a better way now PK is doing that to those something dumb Romans 12 verse 2 says strength is for service not status each one of us needs to look after the good of people around us asking ourselves how can I help that's what Jesus did so Jesus sorry the Apostle Paul for men in the culture of the day is redefining leadership of not being in charge when I come home he's saying no you love your wife your God pay your wife as Christ loved the church yeah third thing that is flipped here is respect and honor in a culture where women had to honor their husbands they had to or else they'd be killed you had to respect him he says for wives this means submit to your husband's as to the Lord he's saying I know if you don't do what you're told you could be killed I know if you defy him it's illegal in Rome I know that God sees it as your worship so he's saying to the moment of the day I get the control you're under but doesn't use the word hyper Tasso in the Greek interesting and he redefines respect and honor it's amazing how people have pulled out well the wife must respect her husband absolutely as long as we're submitting one to the other as long as husbands are loving their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her six verses by the way Paul writes two men because there's such a dominating culture as long as the man is loving his wife why wouldn't you respect him in that word respect in in the Greek means to stand in or of you know in girls talk circles it's often said are you know or your husband wants sex give him sex and be happy I don't believe that I think your husband wants respect I want you to feel like out of all the men in your world he is the finest and some of you are sitting here today and go well my husband's not a Christian well is he a good man does he love you okay might and be walking with Christ he's a good man he loves you is voted to you being or of him girls we can emasculate our husbands by coming home and talking about our girlfriends and what their husband did and where they went on holidays and what car they drive in your husband can feel like that big and what we learned as a couple in those earlier years of our marriage building a business young family we had to get our eyes on the land that Jesus put us in we had to not compare to anybody else I could make my husband feel like a giant or I could make him feel small and don't emasculate your husband don't make him he wants to be respected agape love agape love is something that relates to how we raise our children the intimate part of our marriage not selfish but how can I give and how can I show love to you I'm not going to go there this morning a great thing to do as a couple is ask each other this is a hard question and don't do it after a fight but ask each other how can I show you love and respect how do I not show you love and respects I'm not meaning not to but how do I get it wrong Steven loves to come home and he loves to come home to a peaceful environment and he loves to come home to dinner and he just he just loves that he's not a good cook when he's cooking he's like am i cooking tonight is takeaway and and I'm good for that he'll call I'm not I'm not standing up here going hey look we're so perfect but for us it's meant you know how do I show love and respect Stevens shown me love and respect by not trying to change the fact I work all weekends in church as do many pastors here and not resent that that takes a big person I've needed to show him or I wanted to show him love and respect that when we started a business that meant it was a big risk there are highs and there are a lot of lives along that way when he started his degree at night I love and respect you I love and respect that dream in you so I'm I'm with you all the way not hey I didn't sign up this we're not going to Fiji this year we still haven't been to Fiji team can come come come team that's okay you partner up with somebody who's got a dream in their heart for Jesus partner up with the character them up their morals their values you enter wearing learning plates for the rest of your life the man I married isn't the many as today we grew we change stuff got added Jordan got added pressures got added illness got added with different people but this beautiful blueprint that we can learn today of this mutual respect it takes a big man to use all that strength to turn it around and serve yeah it takes a beautiful woman to say I'm not going to be like checking out everybody else or working out what he should have but I don't hey I didn't sign up for this I'm checking out it now I'm out of love when you feel out of life just pull out 1 Corinthians 30 and love is patient stop being kind forgiving gentle self-control you know the chapter that's making love it's more than having sex making love is these qualities that we bring to this marriage relationship and as you do that as you pray as you ask God for his love and you fight for the things that matter this fierce like it says in our song of Solomon's it's it's as it's so fierce and love grows if you're sitting in church or watching on the channel today going well where we're at you know we've run dry I want to say the agape love of God not your husband on your wife doing all this stuff but the agape love of God coming in on the inside and filling up first of all my need for love so that I have love to give and it needs both parties this doesn't work if it's just one person yeah and we all bring a culture into a marriage like an ethnicity and upbringing I bought a working-class battlers white Australian culture into my marriage well we're just going to have to hope we last and I've had to lay that down and realize that's not what God says he says no this can grow and this can build and the most important thing this morning most important thing to land with it's a prerequisite for all of this and it's verse 18 of Ephesians 5 this is the prerequisite for everything I just said don't be drunk with wine because that will ruin your life instead be filled with the spirit how do we love how do we mutually submit how do we lay down our lives how do we respect I'd be filled with the spirit it says don't be drunk with wine and that word filled in the Greek means present tense over and over and over and over and over and over and over again be filled daily Allie minute by minute be filled with the spirit when somebody's going to get drunk they get they don't have a glass or two they kept drinking and they kept doing hang in there arm mine I don't know what I'm talking about right I don't see the point where I couldn't drive home fine they're so full of alcohol so dangerous on the road and the Bible says don't get drunk like that but get full of God's Spirit how do we do life how do we love our children how do we love in a marriage how do you love like an ex-partner where you got to see each other every week fortnight with custody of children we need to be filled with God's Spirit we need to be filled with God's love so I can do this so I want us to stand to our feet this morning and in landing this message this morning what am I saying Church what is this message about real love all about first of all you and I were made for love didn't need to leave or move because God wants to do something beautiful right now you and I have been made to receive the love of God the love of a human comes second the love of God is not a consolation prize it is the goal of life itself in a marriage not married it's it's the prize the second thing is that this agape love is something I've got to know first in order to give it away and then in relationships what's required is this beautiful flow of honor and respect and for every couple here today that's going to look different for each and every one of you you've got to work it out together what does honor and respect look like and that we be filled with his spirit so Dave we're gonna sing Valentine together can we grab this moment and sing this song cuz it's about the agape love of God come on church [Music] the sake my visions his LOI of grapes first and [Music] as you play [Music] to [Music] [Music] times [Music] [Music] [Applause] you [Music] space [Music] [Music] Senor [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] I'm going to pray for two groups of people but the first prayer I want to lead us in this morning is a prayer for us just normal people in this room to make our peace with God maybe you once walked with Jesus but right now today in your heart of hearts you know that you don't have a vibrant living relationship with Jesus Christ and you know what the good news is you can you don't have to buy your way you don't have to prove your way into anything the agape love of God has always and will always be on you and on me and maybe you are like me you came into church like this and never knew that you could know Jesus for real at a personal personal level thought it was religion not talking about religion today we're talking about a relationship with Jesus I'm going to ask you as a church if you this morning know in your heart of hearts would you mind closing your eyes for a moment if you know in your heart of hearts this morning that that's you and you want to get the relationship with Jesus right in your life could you just lift your hand wherever you are just so I know who I'm including in this prayer and we're all going to pray together thank you for those people around the room already who are lifting your hand and you know in your heart if you have Christ as Lord he loves you he's for you you don't have to it's about receiving his love not about proving you're worthy of his love he loves you in his for you so church this morning we're gonna pray this prayer and it's a prayer of accepting Christ as Lord and Savior and for those that are doing this for the first time or recommitting back to Christ he hears you this morning let's all pray this together dear Jesus this morning I'm asking you to come into my heart forgive me of all of my sin and all of my mistakes thank you that you love me that you enter that cross for me and today I receive your love your forgiveness and I start a relationship with you I'm a child of God amen amen and amen Bible says those that call upon the name of the Lord will be saved please don't leave there's a few more things I want to do but when you leave this morning if you prayed that prayer whether you put up your hand or your didn't on all of our exits our team you're going to have this Bible it's our gift to you the Bible is God's Word it's how we learn who God is and how he works in our life we'd love to we'd love you to take it and we want to help you in your walk with the Lord so let our team help you in that way okay and even if you're new here for baby dedications you're like I just want the Bible that is so fine by us okay we'd love to give that to you and that last thing I want to do is I just want to pray I know this message has found people who right now you have never met the love of your life and that reality of living as a single person a pure single life in this world where and it's a challenge and I get that I know that but you know what God's love is the most important he can sustain you he can help you I am so grateful for God's timing in my life in this area I'm so grateful that he knew what he's doing he's got your life sussed and for marriages and for couples and maybe you feel right now like the tanks empty there's so much demand you know the love of God is our source so now I pray for you can you lift your hands to him father this morning as a church family and we are a spiritual community together lord I thank you Lord that there are so many that know and are living in the blessing of God but lord the challenges of life and the stretch of life father this morning may we be filled afresh with your love the agape love of God the agape love of God may we receive it so that we can be it and bring it and give it in our families with our kids with our partner with people that we were married to once Lord but we need to have some kind of respect and honor that works going on out there and that father there is more there is so much more there is an unlimited source of love from you from you today I pray in Jesus name Amen can you say Amen I just want to put up on the screens just want to refer on the screens our church is totally committed to family and marriage and there is so much pathways in our church I put all this stuff up for young people dealing with anger and violence at home we've got marriage support we've got domestic violence and abuse support we've got a ton of courses at night to help us as parents and families nailed this thing called love okay and that's there because we as a church love you and want the best for you amen so take a screenshot of that if you need to PK thank you [Music] come on chance we can do better than that for a message like that come on Donna thank you so much for that message it was it was stunning but I think also honor where it's Zhu Steven and Donna thank you for the example of your lives because that message it wasn't just words that was a lifetime that you brought it said thank you so much we appreciate you did you enjoy church this morning and what an amazing morning hey don't forget engage is happening straight after church hey maybe you maybe you just prayed that prayer that Donna let us in and you want to go ahead and get a Bible and you really have no idea about the decision you just made jump in engage that's where we can help you we can explain a little bit more about it don't forget saying as bringing the word tonight don't just hear about everything that God did does tonight be a part of it don't miss out if I can't pray for you before we go well we thank you so much God for everything you've done today God for people meeting you God for lives change so I pray that as we go out from this place God what allow us to keep developing that love and an understanding of how much you love us Jesus made that impact every word we say everything we do this week in your mighty name whenever I said we love your church we'll see tonight we sing one last time you've come come and we have never last [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] you [Music] Church will see

Channel: Hillsong Church

Views: 34,111

Rating: 4.8783784 out of 5

Keywords: jesus, hillsong, praise, worship, Donna Crouch

Id: vg54H1dlNTs

Length: 89min 2sec (5342 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 21 2018