Love Like You've Never Been Hurt with Jentezen Franklin

hey everybody all of our life churches you chose an amazing day to come and to worship God I want to just welcome all of you every single Life Church across the nation those of you at our open network churches we love you we love your pastor Church online computer screens all over the world thank you for taking time to be with us today you are absolutely a part of our family I want to tell you next week we're starting a brand new message series but today you're gonna be incredibly blessed we have a guy I'm gonna introduce them to you because there may be somebody here for the first time but honestly he's like a part of our family from free chapel Church one of the greatest preachers alive today not just an amazing preacher but an amazing man with the international television ministry that touches homes all over the world and a heart for people in a powerful way my good friend pastor Jensen has written a book and I invited him to come and share on it because I believe so much in the message of this book love's like you've never been hurt we were spent some time together in Sydney and he was telling me the story behind this book and I said when it comes out will you please come and share this message of hope grace and forgiveness to my church so many people I know we've been hurt within the trade we've been let down we're carrying wounds today's a day by the grace of God things will change could you please help me welcome our good friend pastor Jentezen Franklin Wow thank you so much thank you god bless you hey it's an absolute honor to be back at possibly the greatest church in the world I think that what God is doing with this ministry and with your pastors we love pastor Craig pastor Amy to come preach for him is one of the most intimidating things in the world because you just get the best every week and I honor you and I thank God for your friendship I'm honored to be a part of what God is doing here is a tiny part I know that God's gonna speak to you today if you have your Bibles I'm gonna ask you to open them with me to probably a familiar scripture in 1st Corinthians chapter 14 there are only two subjects in the Bible that God felt were so important that he wanted to give a whole chapter to in the Bible only two subjects and one of them is faith and that's Hebrews chapter 11 it just goes by faith this one did that and by faith by faith by faith and the other one is 1st Corinthians 13 and it's about love and as Craig mention I wrote this book love like you've never been hurt and I'll share in just a few moments how the book came alive in my heart but my burden today is to help bless families and relationships 1st Corinthians chapter 13 this is almost like poetry I love these words and I'm going to read more than I normally do but how many of you know we need to read the Bible in church every once in a while though I speak with the tongue of men and angels but I have not love I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal though I have the gift of prophecy and understand mysteries and knowledge and have all faith so that I can remove mountains and so that and I have not love I am nothing for though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned but have not love it profits me nothing love suffers long it's kind it does not envy love doesn't parade itself it's not puffed up it does not behave rudely it thinks no evil it does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in truth it bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things and I want everybody to read verse eight with me out loud ready go love never fails love never let's say it again love never fails I like I like to read famous quotes it's interesting to me how people how quotes become a part of our culture and some of the famous quotes and statements that are made that make their way into everyday life like it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all by Alfred Tennyson knowledge is power Francis Bacon said that another one to err is human to forgive is divine Alexander Pope here's one god helps those that help themselves how many of you thought that was a Bible verse be honest that was one by Ben Franklin I want to give you the title of my book loved like you've never been hurt is a quote that the best that they can tell from a man that maybe you never heard about he was inducted in 1982 as the first African American pitcher in the the American League he played 20 years of baseball his name is Leroy Satchel Paige the amazing thing about him is he played baseball in a time when he was the only black man on the field pitching and he was criticized they would yell racial slurs from the stands at him one of the stories that has verified this told he was such an amazing athlete that they said that one of the teams in an attempt to humiliate him lined up their four best batters straight up you know normally you you go three and then you get your best batter up you go three so that he can knock them in but they took their four best batters and they put them up to try to intimidate him and when satchel page begin to pitch before he did it he said to his outfield go into the dugout and he said to the men on the around the bases for a second and third sit down on the bases and he went on to pitch against the four professional baseball players and he struck every one of them out many times he played two games a day he had some famous pitches one of them was called beat the bee ball another one called the bat Dodger another one called the long-long Tom but his most famous pitch was one called the hesitation pitch it's the most awkward weird-looking stance and he would freeze in that position and when he would it would throw the batter's timing off and that's how he struck out so many people he pitched three innings when he was 60 years old for Kansas City he had some famous quotes one of them was if you want to be a good pitcher keep the ball off the fat part of the bat he's also given credit for this quote work like you don't need the money dance like nobody's watching and then this is the phrase that changed my life in one of the darkest seasons of our family's life he said after he was attacked and slurred racially by by people screaming from the stands at him they said what do you how do you feel about that he said you've got a love like you've never been hurt sooner or later everyone under the sound of my voice is going to suffer hurt you're going to be rejected you're going to be let down you're going to be talked about you're going to have a conflict with somebody probably that you love you're going to be stabbed in the back and while I said that for most of you a face has already come up before you you're thinking of somebody right now that that has happened to Mark Twain said if you find on the side of the road this hurt the starving this mangy this dirty thus dying and you feed that dog take it home and groom it and nurture it back to health that dog will never bite you and then he went on to say variance between a human being and a dog because many times the people that you've loved the most will hurt you the deepest Jesus had a famous quote when he said in Matthew 17 a fence must come it's going to happen you're going to be offended you're going to get in conflict with somebody that you love and that you have loved greatly and at that point anybody can get along with somebody as long as there's no conflict as long as you have the same viewpoint the same theology the same lifestyle everything's good but what do you do when you get in conflict and you don't agree you've got to love like you've never been hurt the truth is some people wake up every morning and the first thing they do is brush their teeth and sharpen their tongue so they can attack you somewhere you're gonna be hurt in this an encouraging sermon today somewhere are you gonna be offended somewhere you're gonna be deeply wounded maybe even with the people you're working with right now somebody's gonna betray you but you've got to rise up and love like you've never been hurt I'm just laying a foundation for where I want to go but I thought about Joseph I thought about how that I love that picture when he's standing and his brothers are brought and he's got the keys to the whole kingdom and all the corn in the world he has the keys to the barn and everybody's starving and his brothers come who threw him in the pit and then the and the butler is that or the Baker is there and the people who forgot him and Potiphar's wife who falsely accused him and in that moment when he had the power he had to make a choice I can get them back I can use the weight of the authority and position that I have I can extract my revenge on them right now but Joseph a decision I'm going to love these people who have done so wrong to me like I'm gonna love them like I've never been hurt and he saved his family and he saved the world when he chose to love like he had never been hurt Moses wanted to set God's people free but he failed he failed miserably and he ends up 40 years in the desert for decades to think about how he was treated and then God comes in a burning bush and says go back and to those same people and set him free and God said I pet it I pet that dog and he bit me I Moses Moses said I pet that dog God and he bit me I don't want to go back there but God said go back and love like you've never been hurt and he went back and set the people free there's something that happens when we understand that God has called us to love like we've never been hurt David had a father who didn't believe in him he had brothers who who made fun of him and belittled him he had a wife who put him down in Maltese worship he had a son named Absalom who broke his heart he had a father-in-law who tried to kill him and you thought your family was jacked up you thought your kids were crazy I'm saying to you that you have to make up your mind in life I'm not going to be bitter I'm not going to be mean I'm not going to be angry I don't care what you do to me I'm going to love like I've never been hurt sometimes you have to love God like you've never been hurt it's one thing when you've got a prodigal son or daughter that hurts your spirit and hurts you by their behavior but what do you do when you have a prodigal God when God's not acting like you think he's supposed to act job lost ten children in one day he had a wife who said kill yourself and he had said he had four friends who said in a circle around him for seven days and did nothing but level accusation and call and called him a hypocrite called him a liar and told him the judgment of God is why he was sick and why he had lost everything that he owned and in that moment joke could have become bitter but Joe made a decision the Bible said he prayed for those friends and suddenly when he said I'm gonna love like I've never been hurt God said I'm gonna give you double for your trouble I'm gonna restore your life if you'll let me fight your battles and not go with the natural instinct to want revenge at somebody who's done something that you know is wrong against you God will fight your battle and he'll bless you double when you love like you've never been hurt Jesus was afflicted he was beaten he was wounded which is an external hurt he was bruised which is an internal hurt and he lists his voice and he didn't wait until they asked for forgiveness but he made a decision because forgiveness is it's not an emotion it's a choice forgiveness can rewrite your future the Christian walk is nothing but a journey in forgiveness and Jesus hanging on the cross looked down and said Father forgive them I'm gonna love them like I've never been hurt these nails these stripes this pain in my body I'm gonna love those same people who did it to me like I've never been hurt I guess what I'm trying to say is so many Christians and homes and families are in a mess we just don't know how to love one another the body of Christ is full of parents who are estranged from their own children I hear things like I haven't spoken to my child in a year we just don't get along I haven't seen my grandchild that was born six months ago we just had a conflict and we don't talk anymore brothers taking brothers to court people suing one another we're Christians but sometimes parents say but my kids have chosen to live a life of sin so I've just cut them off and and nothing could be further than what God has called us to do it's the saddest thing in the world to me that we don't know how to keep our families to together we'll let our children live across town and never even make a phone call because there's been conflict in the family we'll let our own blood in the same area where we live go by their houses sometimes and never reach out even know what's going on in their lives it's because we think that that that somehow when we have conflict we can just write those people off but Paul said that we have been given the Ministry of reconciliation romans five said when you were estranged from God and you had no righteous compass you were despicable and you were wrong God who is rich in mercy one who knows the truth about you took the first step and every other step to reconcile you back and now he says I want you to reconcile with your own kin in your own blood children parents don't always do right they're not going to raise their kids like you raised your kids and we get into little squabbles I'm a grandparent now my wife and I have five kids we're grandparents sometimes we just need to zip it nitro not if you look up the word nitroglycerin in the dictionary it has two definitions it says it's used to as an explosion to blow up something and then the vet right up under it says or it can heal hearts cuz if you got a nitro pill and you have a heart problem it can settle your heart hurt heart or it can bullet bridges and your words are like nitro in the words that you speak can blow your house up or he can heal broken hearts it's all in the power of your tongue I'm almost where I want to be here sometimes you have to look at kids who have failed and say I may not agree with your lifestyle but I love you I may not approve of what you're doing but as long as you live you're mine and I love you I may not a door Abed you or finance your lifestyle and your if you choose to go this route but nothing's gonna stop me from calling you and talking to you you can't put me out of your life I don't care what kind of lifestyle you go into I'm gonna love you because love never fails it may take a week it may take a year it may take a lifetime but if I'll keep loving you my love will not fail to reach you you've got a great praise if you believe that at every campus giving praise you can't make me I've been through things you raised teenagers nowadays you're gonna go through some stuff and especially if you have to have tough love one of the greatest trials that we ever went through was one of my daughter's went off to college and we just had to picture perfect Camelot family I mean we weren't perfect but we we had a beautiful just it was just that most intimate close family and and and and my child went off this was ten years ago to school and she got around the wrong crowd the same old story one thing led to another and alcohol drugs it all gets in the mix and I'll never forget the day that it's a Wednesday that I was preparing to preach and I had about 30 minutes before I was to walk into the service and my wife came in with tears in her eyes and she said Jensen I'm going to get our daughter and you can stay here and preach if you want to but our daughter if we don't get her now I don't know if we're ever going to get her again we load it up and of course I walked away and gave the service to somebody else and I got in the car and we drove for three hours to that University we got my daughter and put her in the car we left everything in her dorm all the stuff we didn't care we came back home and I thought it would get better but it and get better we tried to bribe her we tried to do everything we could which and to be brutally honest we we overdid it we did some crazy things kids don't come with an instruction manual this was we've never dealt with anything like this it had never been in our house we'd never experienced anything like it and I was broken I was hurt I had anger I was so upset her life was offending me it was embarrassing it was humiliating for our family people knew in the community what was going on and I was so ashamed I didn't have anybody I could turn to I did I felt like quitting I felt like giving up my wife curled up she ran away my daughter ran away and she lived on the couch my wife did for about five days we didn't know where she was and we thought we would lose our mind I got a text one Saturday she said dad I'm married I married the boy that you didn't want me to marry and I'm married and in that moment the dynamic of our family everything changed and in those moments when life gets real that's why I decided to write this book I said I'm gonna remove the Ministerial front because people are going through hell in their homes and they need to know that God's Word can heal that there is a way that God can heal we begin to reach out to our daughter and her new husband and you just have to understand I resented him I could I would lay in bed at night and things that an issue wasn't him at that point it was me I had anger I had rage I despised him the father thing in me the man thing in me wanted to revenge out he had wrecked I felt like my life and God had to do a work in me we began to reach out and we begin to invite and here's the thing how many times do you forgive the Bible said Peter asked that Peter you know he's an interesting guy I like him he was what the kids call he's turned all the way up I mean he cuts you out or cut you a fight with you one minute and preach the next I think he listened to DMX y'all bout to make me lose my mind up in here y'all about to make me do some time and that's kind of how I felt during this season of my life I'm gonna kill somebody y'all act holy come on dad's you know if somebody messes with you that's how I felt and I think he's one of the few disciples that we know for sure was married because jesus healed his mother and all of a fever and and he says that he asked Jesus he said how many times he wanted a mathematical formula for forgiveness how many times do I have to forgive and and the Pharisees taught three times so he said I'll double it and add one and I'm gonna be super spiritual he said seven times and I think he was thinking about his wife and he had forgiven her six and he was just looking for now I can't prove that but that's my own theology and suddenly I can see Jesus turned and he said not seven times but seven times seventy four hundred ninety times in a day point number one forgiveness is not about keeping score forgiveness is about losing count let me tell you something about forgiveness I love ketchup everybody love ketchup man I don't care if I go in a fancy restaurant I won't steak and I won't catch up it offends them gonna fins the French chef back that I don't care I want some ketchup and I love the fact that your great team got me a glass bottle this is vintage right here see the new stuff is squeezable if you won't catch up all you got to do is pop it open and squeeze it and it comes straight out let me tell you something about forgiveness forgiveness is like this right here and if you don't if you've never a one of these first of all it's a miracle to get it open you need to be as strong as your pastor with muscles or most of the time I have to bite and open it but if you do manage to open it thank you Jesus notice it doesn't come out you know why because the contents are under pressure first step to forgiveness you got to be open to it first step to reconciliation to speak into that ant or that brother or that sister or that grandparent or that mother that father or that that person that offended you is you have to open up but then what is interesting if you go to heinens.com I never knew this only 11 percent of the people who use this product know this they said if you have the glass bottle we have designed the bottle and put the number 57 strategically on the bottle because we did scientific research that if you will tap and I'm not going to do it because I don't want this all over my notes but if I would do that and tap on the in the right place it may not come gushing out but if I'll tap on the 57 and keep tapping eventually the contents which are under pressure but it's there will begin to pour out that's how forgiveness works you just first open up and say I'm open to reconciliation and healing doesn't even mean that somebody has to be in your life all the time sometimes you just have to make it right but you open up and then you start tapping and you keep tapping and you keep tapping and the first time that we called my daughter and her husband over and we had a meal it was up my love was like that but you know what he got better that meal was awkward it was weird it was tough it was if I found myself having to really focus but I kept tapping and I kept tapping and I kept tapping and then we invited them over again invited him over again then we would go out then we would go out to a movie and we're being again we're doing something it wasn't the squeezable stuff it didn't just fly Oh mushy gushy wonderful folks this is real forgiveness I'm talking about when somebody really does something that offends you it's not just boom you got it but keep on tapping because forgiveness is not about keeping score it's about losing count secondly sometimes it takes the worst things done to you to bring out the best in you if you if you understand what I'm saying it'll change your life that God allowed all of that stuff to come into our family we have a happy ending thanks be to God because today that daughter and her husband that I never in my wildest dream believed would be in ministry was hired by a large church in Atlanta they're both doing amazing she runs their whole media department and he's a graphic designer and they gave us our grandbaby come on somebody all of them because I decided to start tapping instead of hating instead of holding a grudge instead of demanding why all the reasons I can count up all the reasons you know how many times see that's the mathematical formula for forgiveness and God said in the middle of all this forgiveness is not about keeping scores about losing count and sometimes it takes the worst things done to you to bring out the best in you and lastly I want to say this I've always heard my whole life that there's one sin that that cannot be forgiven and that's blaspheming the holy spirit but that's not true there's two blaspheming the Holy Spirit Jesus said is an unforgivable sin but there's another one he said if you don't forgive those who have done you wrong your heavenly Father will not forgive you it's unforgivable not to forgive and I want to pray for you and your family in this season it's not I'm not here to play games today I'm here today with a message of reconciliation it's time for somebody to get open again I'm open it's been years that yet you know the the Hatfields and the McCoys you know that the the TV show family feud was inspired by the by the fight between two families and the hills of West Virginia the Hatfields and McCoys and when you watch family feud that's that's their version of that and some of you've got family feuds going on you say well I'm waiting on them to ask me for forgiveness but I'm telling you if you open up and just start tapping what does that mean just reach out send the card do something kind just try again and they may accept that they may not but you know what's beautiful is when you do what's right you can be at peace with the fact everybody's not at peace with you when you do things right and then let God deal with it love never fails I said love never fails just make sense somebody somewhere in the city there's a there's a 19 year old girl in the hospital having a baby with her boyfriend and her Christian parents are so upset what they really need is a mother what they really need is a mama who walk in there with tears in her eyes and say I love you and I'll show you how to change diapers and I'll show you how to raise this job this is what love does this is what love is some where there's a there's a husband or wife who has been unfaithful to their mate and you can legally write them off and spiritually you have scripture that you can let them go or maybe God let you hear this message today to say not through with that family I'm not through with that marriage and you can love like you've never been hurt if you'll let my love touch you and set you free today how many of you believe that our families we need a move of God in this area like never before can I pray for you would you stand to your feet at every at every campus would you stand to your feet in here today and wherever you are would you just stand to your feet and I'm gonna pray for you right where you are and pastors gonna come but if you're if you're listening to me right now and you would say I need a miracle of reconciliation in my home in my own life maybe with your mother your father wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a revival of reaching out this week that people that we haven't been speaking with and had any contact with we reached out and said I'm open I'm open and it may not all come gushing out but I'm tapping in the right place ask and keep on asking pray and keep on praying forgive and keep on forgiving father in the name of Jesus I speak peace over every relationship over every marriage over every family I pray for reconciliation in an amazing way let there be a revival of reconciliation across the campuses today let families hug let them let them eat together let them talk on the phone again let them take pictures and post them on Instagram let them love one another like they've never been hurt because that's exactly what you did for us on the cross in Jesus name Amen Thank You pastor if you guys will remain standing at all of our church that's just an attitude of Prayer father thank you for this word today thank you for your grace as all of you are praying nobody looking around today those who would say I have been hurt maybe you've taken on the offense of someone else perhaps you're going through some sort of a relational trauma right now and you would simply say god I am open to what you want to do god help me to do what Jesus did for me god help us he'll help me forgive would you lift up your hands right now just all over the place just lift up your hands all of our churches father thank you today for your presence for the healing power of your spirit God we just pray for those even who have wronged us knowing God that our prayers may or may not change them but our prayers always change us God as far as it depends on us lead us empower us by your spirit to do what's right I ask God we ask for healing and marriages for healing and families for parent and children relationships for siblings for friendships in the body of Christ bring restoration as you keep praying today all of our churches nobody looking around there are many of you you're gonna recognize that you are not in a right relationship with God even that language alone might be confusing to some I grew up believing in God but had no idea that you could actually know him personally why is it that sometimes he seems distant from us the reality as he desires to be an intimate fellowship with every single one of us but because we're sinners because we've done things wrong because we're born with a sin nature and offended the heart of God with the way that we live our sin separates us from a holy God and this is why the truth of God is called the gospel the good news the grace of God that in his love and mercy God became one of us in the person of his son Jesus who was born of a virgin perfect in every way never ever ever send became for us sin on the cross died in our place and rose again so that anyone and this includes you who calls on the name of Jesus your sins would be forgiven and you would be made completely brand new you wouldn't just become some religious person but you can have a living relationship with a loving God because of his grace through Jesus and all of our churches those who say I don't have that and I want it today I'm turning from my sin I'm calling on Jesus when you do hear your prayer forgive your sin make you brand new you're not here today by accident you're here because it's your day to experience new birth and the grace of a relationship with Jesus all our churches those who say yes I need His grace I turned to him I call on Jesus lift your hands now all of our churches and say yes that's me as hands are going up in all of our different churches Church online you simply click right below me and together would you join your voices to celebrate with those who are coming to faith in Christ just pray a lot very Heavenly Father I turn to you asking you to forgive me of all of my sins Jesus saved me make me brand new fill me with your spirit so I could live for you every single day my life is not mine I give it to you thank you for a new life now you have mine in Jesus name I pray what everybody worship big thank God for new life in Christ as a church it's our honor to play a small part in all that God is doing in and through your life to find out what your next steps could be check us out at Life Church slash next and to stay connected throughout your week and everywhere you go download the Life Church app available anywhere you download apps it's our mission to become fully devoted followers of Christ because we know that whoever finds God finds life [Applause] you

Channel: Life.Church

Views: 35,758

Keywords: Craig, Groeschel, lifechurch

Id: 3EblxbvbVMg

Length: 36min 16sec (2176 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 30 2018