James A. McMenis | I Am That I Am | Part 3

i want us to continue uh this morning in a series we picked up a couple of weeks ago i am that i am but i wanted to start here and just do this a little bit different today and then we're going to get back to the book of exodus but i want to show you something here in second timothy chapter 3 where we see in verse 13 that men evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived there's no denying that we're living in a culture of seeing that just multiply right before our eyes but god writes through his word to young timothy and to you and me in verse 14 and he says but continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of now this is the apostle paul writing to young timothy who would be his successor and he's saying continuing what you have learned and have been assured of and then secondly he says knowing of whom you have learned them and then we find out in verse 15 that from a child from a child that he had known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in christ jesus now who are the ones that put this truth in him taught him this word that even as a child he was able to learn the word of god well let's back up a couple of chapters and i'll show you so if you would go back with me to second timothy chapter number one and i want to show you the source of this word that had been planted in timothy's life you know there's a lot of talk where people discuss generational curses where brokenness and addiction and bondage seems to pass down from generation to generation and i do believe in the reality of a generational curse but i have to say this because it's bigger and better and that is i believe in the reality of a generational blessing can you say amen and what you're getting ready to see right here through the word is a generational blessing that god is speaking of here to to uh to timothy and i want to show it to you in second timothy one we'll look at it in verse number five where he says when i call to remembrance the unfeigned faith the unfeigned faith that is in thee which was dwelt first in thy grandmother lois and thy mother eunice and i am persuaded that in thee also in other words grandmother had been talking to jesus and then mother started talking to jesus and then young timothy he started talking to jesus and it's acknowledged here by the apostle paul this generational faith that had been passed down from his grandmother to his mother and now into his life and the apostle paul is acknowledging this gift of faith this wisdom and this truth of the word of god that had been planted in timothy's life now i don't know where timothy's daddy is he's not mentioned here i don't know whether he had passed away i don't know whether he was absent i don't know whether or not he was a man of faith i don't know but what i do know is that paul's successor timothy had a grandmother of faith and had a mother of faith and between that dynamic duo that grandmother and that mother timothy ended up growing up knowing the lord knowing the word knowing the scripture having faith having wisdom is there anybody that can relate to a praying and faith-filled grandmother who deposited her faith in your mother and who has deposited that faith in you can you say amen i think we've all been impacted by that kind of generation of faith now i want to say a word that might you know that that might help a mother grandmother or a parent here today that might be discouraged by what they're seeing in their child because our children don't always look like the word that we've tried and intentionally planted in them but there is a word that i stand on and i encourage all parents to stand on it's isaiah chapter 54 verse 13. and that word says this that our children shall be taught of the lord and great shall be the peace of our children one more time that our children shall be taught of the lord and great shall be the peace of our children can we declare that verse out loud together parents our children shall be taught of the lord and great shall be the peace of our children so if you've got a wayward child right now if you're looking at a at a situation right now that's got you concerned i encourage you to stand on isaiah 54 13 go before the lord in prayer and say father your word says that my children shall be taught of the lord and great shall be the peace of my children and just claim that in jesus name we heard a testimony here this morning that i had not heard of where ryan says his grandmother walks up to the rehab center that he was in and grabbed a rock outside the rehab center and put it in her purse so that every time she reached in that purse and felt that rock that she would remember to pray for her grandson and that he had a mother that though he was strung out on drugs and alcohol called the thing that be not as though it were and now this man standing up here today leading worship somebody testify talk to me then they don't encourage appearing today that no matter what the situation may look like god is faithful to his word and something that i am mindful of and and grateful for and that is is that our god is the god of abraham isaac and jacob he's not just a one generation god he is a god that is always looking at future generations some you know my kids are getting older and and you know and i want them to walk in the blessing that's on my life the blessing that's on christie's life and i know as they get older they get you know this development of an ownership mindset of of ownership and i've been trying to impart on them look there's some blessing that i didn't have when i was your age that i now have but god has called you to walk in that blessing and don't let anybody ever steal that generational blessing that that god has purposed on your life because he is the god of abraham isaac and jacob and the same god that has blessed you mother and father grandmother is the same god that wants to bless your children and your children's children the word tells me that a good man leaves an inheritance to his children and his children's children i not only want james jared lennon and myla to walk in the salvation wisdom and blessing that god has put on christie in my life i want my grandchildren who i don't even know their names yet to walk in that blessing and i speak it over in the name of jesus because he's a generational god he's a generational god that means whatever the lord has done in you it does not end with you he wants that to be passed on to the next generation and to the next generation god is always looking to secure the next generation now with that thought in mind i want to show you something back over here in exodus so if you would turn back with me to exodus and i want to go back to the third chapter where we've been for the last couple of weeks he's a generational god he's a generational god he wants his blessing passed on from one generation to the next he does not want it to end with you he does not want it to end with you he wants us to continue with your children and your children's children when the lord first came to abraham in genesis 12 and he made all these real big promises of what he was going to do to this man named abram abram abram's response back to god was this he said why would you bless me seeing i have no children seeing that i have no seed to inherit this big thing you're saying you're going to do to me and god said back to abram in genesis 12 oh no oh no you're going to have seed you're going to have seed that's going to outnumber the stars and that seed of abraham became the children of israel and the scene here in exodus chapter number three is that the children of israel the children of abraham were in bondage they were in egypt they were outside the will of god they were outside the best of god and god had come down to deliver them from this bondage he had come to deliver them from the uh being oppressed by pharaoh and the egyptians but not only was god going to deliver the children of israel from egypt and from bondage but that he was going to save them from egypt unto himself just like jesus not only has saved me from my sin he has saved me unto himself and there are many that understand the lord saving us from a thing but we have to recognize that god not only saves me from a thing he saves me to himself and that's what god was saying here to moses in exodus chapter three is that i've heard the pain of my children i have heard their sorrow and i have come down to deliver them from egypt and then he tells us in exodus 3 verse 12 that he would lead them to this mountain mount sinai this holy mount and there he would begin a relationship with them where they would worship him as their god and they would be his people and that's where we get the the the context of this series i am that i am look with me in exodus chapter three and we'll go down to verse number seven well the lord said i have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their task masters for i know their sorrows isn't it awesome that our god has empathy what is empathy empathy is when i feel for you i take on your pain i take on your grief what bothers you bothers me what's aching you is aching me that's empathy and we serve an empathetic god who knows our pain his word says he knows our uprising he knows her down sitting that even the hairs on our head are numbered he's an empathetic god that knows whatever it is that you're bearing right now he knows whatever deliverance you need right now he knows exactly what your need is and when god was approached by moses and he tells moses i'm gonna bring the children of israel out of this pain that i'm sensitive to and that i'm going to lead them to a place where they can worship me and know me moses's first question was who are you who do i tell them you are they're going to want to know who is this god that is able to bring them out of 400 years of bondage all they ever knew was captivity all they ever knew was oppression all they ever knew was the voice of a taskmaster who is this god that could bring them out of such an iron fist as pharaoh and who is this god that they are to worship and that's when the lord gave the answer back to moses i am that i am and that name points to jesus and it points to the meaning of the god who becomes he is a god that will become whatever you need when you need it and he's unlimited in his ability to save you cannot put any restraint boundaries or borders on god's power to deliver and no matter what it is that you need god is saying i am that i am i am that i am that's what that word that name literally means i am what you need i am a god who becomes that god wrapped himself in flesh came into this earth through the avenue of his son jesus emmanuel god with us the everlasting father the prince of peace wonderful one the counselor one and what did jesus say in john 14 6 i am the way i am the truth i am the life and whatever way you need he is and whatever truth you need he is and whatever life he's called you to live he is that i am the way i am the truth i am the life jesus was pointing to him as the i am god who would become whatever we needed for our salvation isn't that good when you come down to verse number 12 god says to moses not only am i going to bring the children of israel out of egypt we see that in verse 11. not only am i going to bring them out of egypt but i'm going to bring them to this place where they can worship me we see in english that word serve it gives the picture of worship so he's not only the guy that brings me out he's the god that brings me in the same god that'll bring you out will bring you in because technically when you come out of a thing you're going into a thing and god has called me out of my bondage he's called me out of my sin he's called me out of my brokenness into his wholeness into his peace into his salvation and so that's where we get this context of moses asking the question who am i going to tell them sent me the same god that had brought them in or brought them out was going to bring them in into a relationship with them so that he would be their god and they would be his people and i want to show you what this looks like over in exodus chapter 20 because god was going to separate the children of israel from egypt from bondage unto himself and the word teaches us that they would become a people that would bear his name and bear his glory they would be a people hob of all nations of the earth in praise and in honor and in glory but to separate these people from everyone else in the earth god calls them to this mount after leading them out of egypt he calls them to this mount and he does this this thing in chapter 20 that we're all familiar with he gives them the ten commandments what you say when i came to church on mother's day to hear the 10 commandments i want to show you something beautiful about what god does in this setting where he has called the children of israel out of egypt and he has brought them to this mount where he gives moses these ten commandments something beautiful happens here that i don't want us to miss there's something deep there's a picture that god is painting in the ten commandments that if we're not careful we look right over it and today i'm gonna do everything i can we're gonna use some slides i'm gonna do everything i can to make sure that you leave here today with a different view of the ten commandments and what god was doing and especially for you and i that are those of you along with myself that are parents that we leave here with something today we may have not had that we need to leave here with today so if you're a parent spay pay special attention if you're a child pay special attention amen watch this in exodus chapter number 20. and this is where god lays out these commandments we'll start in verse 1. and god spake all these words saying i am the lord thy god which have brought thee out of the land of egypt out of the house of bondage that's a picture of sin because sin is bondage and whatever we serve becomes our god and god had delivered the children of israel from bondage just as he's delivered us from sin and then he lays out these ten commandments that i want us to look at today and we're gonna i'm gonna use the screen today because there's something i want you to see that the way we've got it put up here i don't think you can miss it what we've done is we've taken the ten commandments and i've broken them up into two categories what you'll see in the first uh four verses the first four commandments are written in white and they all are related to our walk with god the way we view god the way we honor god in our life show up in the first four commandments in the first commandment thou shalt have no other gods before me that i put nothing before god why because whatever is number one in your life whatever you make at any in any season of your life whatever you make number one it inevitably takes control of number two three four five everything else falls to the influence of whatever we put first in our life and i think we've all lived long enough to know that we have not always put the lord first can you say amen but whatever is first in your life controls everything else so god says have nothing before me you will have no gods before me the second commandment is that i worship nothing in this earth i let nothing become my emblem of worship my worship is given to god and his son alone i let no image of this earth draw me to a place of surrender and worship i don't allow anything to become my idol the third commandment i will not take the lord's name in vain i will not misuse his name i will not use his name in a negative or derogatory fashion and you can use the lord's name in vain even without using a curse word when you use his name in vain or in vanity that's the third commandment the fourth commandment is i remember the sabbath the sabbath is saturday it's the last day of the week i remember that god created the heavens and the earth in six days and then he rested on the seventh i look at creation and see the glory of god the first four commandments all deal with the way we view god now four in scripture is a number that represents what god is doing in the earth that's what the number four represents there are four seasons in the earth four directions on the on a compass there are four elements of the earth four represents what god is doing in the earth the fourth clause of the lord's prayer is thou will be done in earth as it is in heaven four beasts that surround the throne and all they do is monitor what's happening in the earth four is a number of what god is doing in the earth god sent his son into the earth and what did he do he called four men to write the story from birth to death in the four gospels four represents what god is doing in the earth and so we have four commandments that are about our relationship with god but then we get to the following six six is the number of man that one might be an easy one because of that infamous number the mark of the beast six six six and what do we learn about that number it is the number of man six is the number of man so we have six commandments that represent how we treat man six is the number of men six plus four is ten ten is god's number of authority it represents his authority in the earth i give a tenth of my income called the tithe to the lord representing his authority over my finances and over all my physiological needs 10 represents god's authority god's power in the earth his authority over the earth his authority over me but notice now let's go to the slide that shows these commandments again that these last six commandments deal with how we treat one another now look at the sixth commandment thou shalt not how many of you not only in shreveport but wherever you might be watching this live stream or wherever you might be watching this telecast in the world how many of you are like me that you only your prayer and your wish would be is that that commandment will be honored in our streets that we could stop this endless killing and this useless and pointless killing where our young men are killing one another where we're seeing just a a a pandemic of murder in our streets don't we wish we live in a society where all men would honor the sixth commandment and wouldn't murder and wouldn't kill wouldn't it be a better world if just that one were honored can you say amen wouldn't it be a better world if we could look at these six commandments that we wouldn't kill that that men would be faithful and not commit adultery that men would not steal and take what does not belong from them if commandment number nine if we didn't lie to one another or of commandment number 10 we didn't covet what another has we live in a world plagued with covetousness covet means i look at what you have and i wish i had it it makes people critical of other folks blessing because i look at what you have and many people view what another person has and that if you have gained that means i have lost that your gain is my loss and that is a lie of the enemy because el shaddai the almighty god is big enough to enrich your life and to enrich my life and i don't ever have to covet what you have because the same god that put that in your life can put that in my life the same good father gives to all of his children covetousness leads to jealousy and envy it can lead to you stealing and lying and even committing adultery if you covet your neighbor's wife covetousness now becomes like this root that leads to other commandments being broken watch this here the six commandments that deal with how we treat one another start with commandment number five commandment number five children honor your father and your mother i believe that the ten commandments are not only vital for us for a community to be civil and safe and at peace i believe that this that the ten commandments are ordered in such a way that even the order of them tell us something that the first four all about my relationship with god could it be that our society is so broken could it be that there's so much hate and anger and murder could it be that the society is so broken because our society has left out the first four commandments or that we've left out the first commandment that we're not truly honoring god and because we don't have a relationship with god it is showing up in how we treat one another could you say amen to that could you agree with that god is laying out these commandments in such a way to teach us something and what's important about these last six commandments is that when you just take the last six alone and you look at the first commandment of the last six the first commandment of the last six is honor your father and mother well what would bring what would happen if you did your days will be long and well on the earth it's the only of the ten commandments that has an attached promise it is the only of the ten commandments that has an attached promise what is the attached promise you're going to have a long good life any parent that wants their child to live a long good life and hears that from god they're going to say i got to teach my child honor what is honor honor is is is respecting people in position of authority honor is is respecting that what your father has said and what your mother has said and allowing your father and your mother to speak into your life and that you obey what your father and your mother have spoken it honor is is a regard an esteem that not only do i give those an authority but i give to all men i honor my coach i honor my teacher i honor those that have been given civil authority i honor ministers and pastors and people in position of authority but where does where is that taught where do we learn that we learn that in the home not when we send our kids to school not when we take our kids to church and sunday school no not when they graduate no they're to learn that in the home so of the six commandments that deal with how we treat each other the first of those six commandments is this children honor your father and honor your mother now for any parent that would want their child to have that kind of life they're going to make sure and pass on this word to their children and for any child that's old enough to understand that this is the ticket to a better life they're going to be respectful and honor their father and mother so before god says don't kill he says honor your daddy and honor your mother before god says don't commit adultery honor your father honor your mother before he says don't steal honor your father and honor your mother so could it be in our society where we're seeing murder adultery theft where we're seeing lies and folk coveting others and hating each other for what they have and what they don't could our real problem be that we have not taught the word of god in our homes that we have not taken responsibility as parents to make sure that our children know the word of god and if grandmother's not talking to jesus then mama's not talking to jesus and if mama's not talking to jesus i don't have the advantage to talk to jesus what god is saying in his word is that faith and wisdom and truth are generational and there's an obligation and a responsibility to pass on the word to the next generation god couldn't god could have put number five at number 10 but the order teaches us something the order of the commandments is telling us something and church i believe with everything in me that the breakdown that's happening in our nation and in our world and in our communities and in our neighborhoods the breakdown starts with number one because we've not allowed god almighty to be the lord god of our life because we've not accepted jesus as the bridge to the broken relationship that we have with the father without the love of god in my life i don't know how to love my neighbor without the love of god in my life i don't know how to treat my neighbor that it all actually begins with my relationship with god you've heard me say it around here for years that the cross of christ points both vertically and horizontally and i can't have a vertical change with god where he has changed my life and it not affect my horizontal relationship with my neighbor i can't bless god with my mouth and then curse a man that was made in his image with this same mouth that if i really have been restored and renewed and saved and born again in my spirit if i have been re-reconciled to god you ought to be able to see that in my horizontal life in the way i treat those around me and that is the picture of the ten commandments that when you get the first four right you won't have a problem with the last six for the person that kills and commits adultery and is a thief and a liar and a covenanter the the the problem with that is they have missed number one i'm not i'm not saying this in a condemning fashion because you can't just write a commandment inspect people to change and that's why i want us to see something that jesus said in matthew so if you would turn with me to matthew the 22nd chapter i want to show you something that jesus has told us that we may have missed so look at the first four commandments all dealing with my relationship with god my relationship with god think about what jesus did when he taught us to pray our father first words of the prayer our father who art in heaven do you know for many if you're like me the first picture of a father was not the father it was your earthly father the first picture of the grace of god the goodness of god and the truth of god may have not have been in god himself but in your mama or in your daddy amen in other words we learn god in the home we learn the fear of god in the home we're to learn the word of god in the home that's where it starts that's what god knew and he gave an incentive for parents to teach it it's even echoed in the new testament in ephesians 6 where ephesians 6 1 says children obey your parents in the lord for this is right and then the and then the fifth commandment is quoted and even in ephesians 6 the new testament it says this is the first commandment that god gave that has an attached promise that if you want to live a good life if you want to live a long life honor your father and mother that gives an incentive for a parent to make sure and pass that word onto their children and for a child old enough to understand it gives them the incentive that even when they don't want to yes ma'am help me somebody yes ma'am parents we have to teach honor in our own the the th this is this when god calls the children of israel out to establish a new holy nation this was what he gave them i know you might have come to church on mother's day won't hear some big powerful preaching or some i'm not here to be an entertainer i'm here to show you the word of god and what's happening in our society right now is we have moved away from the word of god we don't need no more programs we don't need we can have more programs than direct tv and still not have freedom what we need is the word of the living god this is what we need this is what's plaguing our society right now jesus came to restore the relationship that we can have with god make no mistake about it it's not keeping the ten commandments that would save you because without a heart for god you won't even keep the ten commandments the letter kills it's the spirit that gives life jesus said in john 14 15 if you love me keep my commandments if you love me keep my commandments i'm not going to keep the commandment of god just because some preacher quoted them or i saw them read on a billboard the only way i keep the commandment of god is that i fall in love with god and that love that i have that i have for god was not because i just woke up one day and said you know what i'm gonna love god no when i was unlovable when i was broken when i was in my sin he loved me he saw me in that state and still loved me loved me enough to receive me the way he found me but also loved me enough to not leave me the way he found me and now the love he's put in me i can't help but respond to him and that's why i have to break down in my in praise and in worship because anytime i hear a song that magnifies my father it does something on the inside of me because i know it's like it's it's stirring that love that he put in me and when and it's not that i'm a lover of god it's that he's a lover of me hey glory to god [Applause] so jesus said if you love me keep my commandments but watch this in matthew 22. and before i read this i want you to think about god knew how vile and wicked the heart of man could be every commandment god ever gave is based on a weakness when you look at the commandments that god gives to children wives and husbands in ephesians 5 and into a chapter 6 they're all based on weakness god's commandments are based on our weaknesses he knows what we need he knows where we miss it and so he gives us a commandment so that we don't let that thing ruin us and the beauty of the holy spirit is that it's the echo of his written word which means even when the bible's not open in your life it doesn't silence his spirit from reminding you of what he said glory to god but the lord has called us as parents to plant the word of god in our children's life so that the voice of the spirit can keep them in remembrance of what they have heard and so that's why i believe that the order of those commandments if you look back at it again the first of the six that tell us how to treat one another the first one is honoring your mother and father i believe we don't get that right we're gonna have issue with commandment number six seven eight nine and ten let's just deal with number 10 coveting how many parents i'm a parent our children from a young age coveted what their cousin had huh and they grabbed what cousin had and cousin said mine think of how many children their first word was mama his mother's day happy mother's day their first word mom the second word was mine first word that my mama they were mine it's like it's in us to covet it's in us to want what somebody else has even when our children got old enough to see what their cousins and friends and everybody else had they came back and wanted us to provide an experience for them and what was their line everybody's got one what what's being said in that i'm coveting what my classmate has so would you get me one so i don't have to covet what they have but where do we where do we break the spirit of covetousness we're supposed to break that in the home well we tell our children how bad now put that down that's not yours that's johnny's that's not yours put that down you play with your own toy see we're breaking that spirit that many folk full-grown still have right now you can't walk in god's best or a blessing without somebody asking you a hundred questions about it get your eyes off my blessing we're covered in my blessing you don't you you you don't know what's been done in secret in my life that has allowed the lord to bless me openly and the word tells me that the word tells me that jesus taught it that that my prayer is in secret my faith in secret my fasting and secret though done in secret nobody know about it god gonna make sure it blessed me openly and a lot of folk that are afraid to walk in their open blessing but listen when you have done what you have done and nobody was watching when you have sown and sacrificed and given and prayed and believed and stood in face and fasted and god gives you an open breakthrough baby you better walk in that break through the blessing of the lord it makes us rich and adds no sorrow with it don't let all these coveted people steal you up your blessing amen so but we're supposed to learn that in the home we're supposed to learn to respect and honor man that's made in the image of god not to kill in the home when we're not teaching this in the home our our streets are going to be filled with it that's what's wrong with society now i want you to look at these ten commandments that can be broken down into two categories two categories the first four love god the last six love man now where have we heard that before matthew 22 matthew 22 if you there say amen watch this in verse 35 then one of them which was a lawyer master of the law asked him a question tempting him saying master which is the great commandment in the law jesus messed him up jesus messed him up jesus is the author of the law he wrote it jesus saith unto him verse 37 thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind this is the first and great commandment okay love god number one see if you leave here today and you can't remember the ten commandments can you remember this one love god what's the second one well this lawyer wasn't even looking for a second one because he said master what's the great commandment jesus said number one love god with all of your heart soul and mind he said oh by the way there's another one see let's go back let's let's go back over there and i got these color coordinated here our creative team did but but go back over here see them first four that's loving god how many folk break the last six oh i say well i love god well the lord knows my heart i know you called me stealing but god sees my heart yeah he saw everything i know i'm doing i know i'm doing something not supposed to be doing but you but the lord the lord understands why i had to do it yeah you understand see that that loving god only covers the first four are y'all with me and see how we got the color coordinating here now let's go back to matthew watch this look at look at verse 37 38 the first the first commandments love god with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind but look at the second one the second is like unto it help me with it if you yeah you've got on the screen read it thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself keep reading on these two commandments hang all the law and prophets what's jesus saying he's saying if you get these two down then everything i've commanded you won't have no problem with all you got to do is get these two now number one love god with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength number two love your neighbor like you would love yourself if you can get those two down then you can follow all ten commandments why because all ten could be broken up into two categories what you do for god and what you do for man and the one spills over into the other so how in the world are we going to see a change in our society how are we going to see a change in our streets in our families our homes our neighborhoods how are we going to see the kind of change that god was trying to bring when he led the children of israel out of egypt to make them a people of his own when we're ignoring the the civil the civil order that god has laid out so i would say to you go with me to john 14. i would say to you that the reason we're seeing the breaking of the last six commandments let's pull them back up it's because we have not honored the first and i want to point out one more thing we'll close here in a minute between the two categories four my four first four commandments my relationship to god last six commandments my relationship with man notice who or notice what the first commandment that deals with how i treat others what it is is honor your father and mother that's the transition from my direction of all my faith and honor toward god to now being directed toward man the transition is mom and dad so if i were the enemy and i'm not but if i were the enemy and i was trying to to to create a society that would ignore the commandments of six seven eight nine and ten i would just attack the home if i can break the home down i break it all down and that's exactly what the enemy is doing in our society and so when you have fathers and mothers that have not made that have not put god first that have put other things first when we get so caught up in a society where we ourselves as parents go back into egypt and what i mean by going back into egypt is we've gone back to the voice of the task master and where we begin to find our identity and what we're doing and staying busy think of how many people you meet and say how are you doing for many people's words the first thing they tell you when you've asked how they're doing all men just staying busy oh man just staying busy you're staying too busy when your children are not getting what they need when they are not having time at the table time being taught the word time that is intentional when you from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed and everything in between when we're not being intentional as parents we're too busy the enemy knows you break that fifth one down we leave our children vulnerable watch this in john 14 and verse number 15. if you love me keep my commandments let's read that out loud if you love me keep my commandments notice that my honor in god is based on my love for him my honoring god is based on my love for him parents we have to teach our children the love of god we have to teach them and demonstrate to them the love of god because if my child grows up loving god i don't have to worry about him killing i don't have to worry about all these other things because i've raised up my child to love the lord we have to recognize that that's where it begins is receiving the love of god that he gave us through jesus christ his son romans 5 8 says god commended his love for me and that while i was yet a sinner christ died for me john 3 16 for god so loved so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that the very sacrifice of jesus was motivated by the love of god and it's not that i first love god is that he loved me and now that becomes the influence that becomes the passion that drives my honoring god in every area of my life is my love for him churches have have been notorious for wanting offerings and sacrifices and and giving and we we've been too many preachers have gone after folks hands when what god is really after is my heart because if god ever gets my heart he can have what's in my hands freely it's easy to get what's in my hand when you have my heart that's why my wife never hear me say no she got my heart she wants something goats i got to go build it not because she's taking control of my hands because she has my heart if god ever gets your heart he'll have everything in your life the first commandment church this right here is the answer to our society but we can't just put these these commandments on a billboard and think you know cities this city is going to stop killing each other no we got to draw man back to god that's what jesus came to do and that's why we preach the gospel that's why we walk in the love of god as i take this vertical relationship that god has given me and i love my neighbor and my neighbor may not be saved either my neighbor may not know jesus and my neighbor likely won't look like me and my neighbor may like have come from the same background or go to the same church or live in the same neighborhood but jesus answered that question luke 10 who your neighbor is who your neighbor is whoever you happen to pass on the street whoever your neighbor is is who you pass that has need every dealing every encounter every relationship at the mall at the restaurant at the bank on the job on the soccer field every relationship every time you pass somebody that is your neighbor that is your neighbor and god has called you to take that love that you've got from him and to demonstrate that love to every person you see people you don't know people you've never met i want to be a walking billboard of the love of god so i'm going to greet you and be kind to you and be loving to you and if i got 10 items in my bag and basket and i'm in line to check out and you got one you know i'm pulling my bug away so you don't have a one come on in front oh now that's all i know that's all right and while you come in front of me i get a chance to share the love of god and kick up a conversation with you you know what you might be white i might be black you might be black i might be white but i'm gonna talk to you why because there's a narrative in this world that we're supposed to be hating each other and we're supposed to be divided but the love of god has changed my life and i'm going to be a walking billboard of what he can do and if he has really restored me to himself then i will let him use my life to restore others through me to him you might be the only bible somebody will ever read you might be the only jesus someone is ever going to see and we can't change our community until we let god change us and parents i know how discouraging this world looks i'm a parent i look and i say man i hate it and my children have to grow up in a society like this but no i got to do my part we got to do our part as a church and as and as christian families to raise up a generation that know the truth so that we can one day or someone can one day look at our young timothies and say ah i saw that faith in your grandmother i saw that faith in your mother hey now i'm seeing it in you and even when it don't look like that's the way it's going we heard a testimony today that that is the way it can be that's the power of intercession that's the power of a mother and a father standing in the gap for brokenness halloween let me pray for you this morning father we thank you today for your word and i ask right now father in this moment that you would bring to our remembrance every individual that you have used to influence us to faith that has influenced us to prayer and to belief in your word to know your son jesus with every head bowed and all eyes closed just for a minute just for a minute i won't keep you alone think of that person that's planted truth in your life and how they influenced you now think of who god has given you influence over parents moms dads grandparents let's let's dig into our own heart for a minute what are we doing to secure the next generation what are we doing to secure a generational blessing on our children and single moms i want to say a word to you paul wrote to timothy and he addressed his grandmother and his mother you can do all things through christ who gives you strength don't get weary and will doing the heads i want to speak to you we got to be intentional we got to provide more than just electricity water and gas in our homes fathers you are the first father figure to your children when i say father figure i'm talking about their heavenly father figure and god knew that there would come a day when there would be a disconnect between fathers and children because the last prophecy in the old testament the very last one in malachi 4 is that god would restore the relationship between a father and his children and there's a pandemic in our world right now of fatherless homes and if you're here today and you've not known the faith of a mom or a dad i give you the words that david prayed when he said when my mother and my father forsook me the lord raised me up he's the father to the fatherless he's the husband to the widow to our single mamas the word says the lord my maker is my husband god bless every single mama that got their babies up this morning brought them to the house of god to learn the word of god holding down a job getting their kids to school staying up late working out the homework preparing the meals getting the clothes ready you feel like you're alone you are not alone parents we've got to make a decision to give our children more than the latest iphones but that we're going to secure the next generation by being intentional about placing god's word before them making it the culture of our homes daily father forgive us for where we've missed it forgive your church for not teaching our children your word for making church a show bring us back to you bring us back to truth if there'd be one person today watching this live feed or this here today that's not made you number one let's put other things before you may this be the day of reconciliation draw them back god draw them back by your spirit to put you first with every head bowed if that's you today if you know the lord's not been first in your life it doesn't take long to see what happens when he's not first come back to him he's rich to all that call upon him in faith jesus died so that we could have a relationship with the father i invite you to pray this prayer with me heavenly father i acknowledge my own sin and all the times in my life that you've not been first i ask forgiveness i believe jesus died for me because you love me and i receive your love for me today that you raised jesus from the dead that i could have eternal life and be filled with your spirit and to walk in newness of life i know you love me help me to receive your love and to show that love to you and my neighbor keep me in remembrance of what i've read in your word today give me a conviction by your spirit every day to challenge myself to love you and to love my neighbor use my life to advance your kingdom to make you known to bring you glory in jesus name [Music] amen you

Channel: WOGM

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Id: 4B30_U2ZIGU

Length: 53min 45sec (3225 seconds)

Published: Mon May 10 2021