Terms and Conditions Apply - Nathan Hayes | Church ONLINE

[Music] good morning first church why don't we stand all across this place and give the lord a handcuff of praise come on while you're clapping your hands can you lift up your voice thank you jesus hallelujah come on has anybody got some praise in them right now ready to just give to our god it's worth be first hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah here we go i got a song and i'll sing it loud my praise i wonder if there's anybody in this place that's got breath in their lungs ready to praise the lord this morning [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on is is jesus is [Music] [Music] is this freedom is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] here we go right here come on [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] in this house [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey i got a song and i sing [Music] and i will dance in your freedom now cause you have brought [Music] is [Music] come on it says he gave us a song that the angels cannot sing that we have been reborn that we have been redeemed [Applause] so i will dance in your freedom now but you have broke me up you would rock me [Applause] [Music] no matter what this world may bring no matter what what suffering may come you still got a song we still have an opportunity to praise the name of jesus hallelujah high five your neighbor next to you and say you stepped in god's house this morning high five your other neighbors say it's choir sunday how many people are excited to be in the house of the lord this morning that was really nice if we weren't at church i said how many people are excited to be in the house of the lord david said i was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord what a powerful time that we that god i believe god has in store for you and for me and for our church family and all those watching online it's a powerful day powerful day we're gonna sing a song that's very special um i want you guys to learn this with us so that we can sing it together and uh it simply says these words if you never do anything else you've already done enough i know it's hard for us to sing that because we still got things on our list that we still need the lord to do right but i promise you if you kept record of all the things that you've prayed for over the years and you saw them crossed off my wife told this story before but my wife she we used to have this chalk wall at our house and our first little house that we bought or that we were renting and she used to write her prayers on this huge chalkboard and whenever god would answer she would cross them off and it just brought it just brought so much faith to me that to see like literally see god handle these situations and it just made me think man so many times that i've just forgot about what god has done because i'm just so worried about the next thing that i need him to work on but that's why this song i believe is so powerful because i can look back and see the all those prayers checked off of the list that we've prayed throughout the years this song is simple it says if you never do anything else if you never do anything else you've already done enough you've already done enough come on help us sing that if you never sing [Music] one more time everybody [Music] [Music] now if the lord has done incredible things in your life i wonder if you can lift up your hands right here just begin to worship the lord hallelujah bless the lord oh my [Music] was soul i was found in the life of sin and shame unto jesus brought me out and i've never been the same this is the prayer so i will be grateful cause you have been faithful and i will always choose to give you praise come on sing if you never do anything you've yes you've already [Music] [Music] when i think of the goodness if so i'll praise you at all [Music] i praise you i'll praise you at all times foreign i'm crazy [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on does anybody have that testimony enough [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] you never do you've already [Music] [Applause] [Music] you have been faithful [Music] i will be grateful cause you have been faithful so i will always choose to give you prayers [Music] i will be grateful cause you have been faithful and i will always choose to give you prayer [Music] cause if it's my choice i choose praise i choose [Music] if you give me a choice from god i choose you if you give me the choice oh god i still and i will always choose to give you praise please should be the name of the lord blessed be your name [Music] blessed be the name of the lord blessed be your glory day this is for the family of david patton that passed blessed be the name of the lord blessed be [Music] because you give and take away you give a take away but my heart will choose to sing in this darkness lord blessed be the name somebody said you give it somebody [Music] my heart [Music] oh cause i will be great [Music] [Applause] i wonder if we could intercede for that family right now by the power of the authority of the name of jesus wherever you're watching patton family galena we love you [Music] father i ask you to go with them right now i ask you to be with them alone as hard as this is to understand it's not for us oh god to understand it's for us to say blessed be the name of the lord that you give and you take away but my heart will choose to say though he's slain yet i will trust you i want to let you know that we're praying for you [Music] cause if you never do anything else you've already done enough you've already done now one more time [Music] [Music] you've already done enough you've already done enough [Music] let's give the lord a handcuff of praise one more time [Applause] thank you jesus one of the hardest things to say this blessed be the name hallelujah got one more song this is a song that is going to speak healing over every person in this room is a declarative song i know that there are people that have come in this place and people maybe a few of you that are watching online that you have been bombarded by things of your past i heard a very interesting sermon on ghosts my brother ryan near incredible evangelist he said a ghost is usually a manifestation of an old spirit something that was living that's no longer living anymore in the physical it's a manifestation of something that was so when we get the holy ghost when the holy ghost comes upon us most ghosts we think about are scary you know some old pirate that died you know on scooby-doo you know it's like oh my goodness i'm so afraid [Music] but that that that that that spirit that holy spirit that we get to have living and breathing inside of us but he preached a message on that and he said if you go to romans 8 we quote it all the time that neither height nor death nor principalities nor powers and then it says nor things present and it says nor things to come that doesn't say things of your past because those things can you can let those things from your past separate you from the love of god it doesn't say the past says things present things to come and i'm here to let you know that if you came in here with things in your past you came to the right place [Music] but it's on you right we sing the song we sing the song all the time there's power in the name of jesus to break every chain break every check he can break the chains but the bible also says let us lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us what good are broken chains if they're still next to you we have to cast them aside so if you're in this place i'm here to tell you that you can cast you can he can break those chains but you can also cast those things aside i believe we're going to speak healing in somebody's life and you're gonna declare it over your life and someone else's father in the name of jesus we ask you o lord to have your way in this place we receive your healing before it comes god we receive your healing by the stripes that are on your back we receive your healing come on let's stay in that spirit [Music] [Applause] [Music] you are here by the stripes upon us back you are healed [Music] by the promises of god you're made [Music] to be strong by his power you will be made strong through [Music] this is your time to be [Music] free from every weight and we say healed in jesus name every chain binding your mind it will be broken cast aside you are here [Music] [Music] of jesus in jesus name the curse is [Music] you are here by the promises [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] every chain in jesus name oh jesus in jesus name christ [Music] of jesus in jesus christ virtue is flowing virtue is flowing virtue is flowing you are here [Music] do it right here [Music] is jesus ahead and worship is lord for what he's doing right here right now father in the name of jesus we feel you in this place we surrender to what you want to do [Music] every sickness be healed in the name of jesus every stronghold be broken in the name of jesus i take authority over any situation that's trying to hold this church family by the power and the anointing in the name of jesus jesus [Music] yes you are [Music] oh and she's just his healing is here [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you i turned around and [Music] pastor dre and everybody left thank you band [Music] oh thank you jesus it's always uh it's always delicate you you try to have a spirit of excellence and and and work after a plan and and try to make sure that we are prepared for each and every sunday but oftentimes the lord likes to show up and then he likes to show off and so in the spirit of what's going on right now praying for one another and declaring healing and and sydney getting the holy ghost right here we believe in the power of prayer here at first church and um there are some some situations on the screen behind me and we have two two uh needs that we need to specifically pray for one of them is is brian and irony aller's dad his name is jim we need to pray and go to the throne room of god on his behalf stage four cancer it doesn't look good and we need god to either heal or to take those are the options so when we're praying pray for that we also need to remember the patton family in south carolina we're praying with you galena and we're believing god's comfort and god's mercy and peace with you and your family so with the rest of the needs on the screen behind me let's go pray before the lord mighty god lord we have feasted already lord your spirit is so real right now god we have seen you do the miraculous already mighty lord but i'm convinced you are not done lord that this isn't the end but god but the beginning so lord right now i pray for jim right now in a hospital bed lord with stage four cancer lord it can seem like an uh insurmountable mountain but lord i look over to my right over here and i see pastor nathan hayes god the prognosis wasn't good here but lord look what you've done so lord i pray a healing right now i pray a a restoration right now for jim in the hospital or let them feel your presence god let them feel your compassion and your mercy right now god i pray over lord galena in this david patton family god for all of his friends and loved ones lord that'll never make sense to us but god if we live based upon what made sense none of us would serve you lord you are faithful you are tried and you are true god somehow in grief somehow god in confusion we trust you god we yield to you we fall into you let your peace be with them let your comfort be with them oh god and for every person in there under the sound of my voice let your healing touch be upon them god be with every person oh god our thought life got our emotions got our health oh god that we would be pleasing to you and that we would be better servants of the lord most high god in your name we declare it done in jesus name oh in jesus name jesus name as you make your way back to your seats if you are a guest with us today our first church family wants to put our hands together and say thank you so much for being with us we are delighted that you have chosen to be here and if you have any questions if you'd like to be a part of this church or or like to hear about what it is that we believe and what we like to hopefully accomplish in this city you can do that you can fill out a connect card it's found in our lobby just fill that out with whatever you're you're comfortable with us having somebody from our pastoral staff will reach out to you this week and to all of our guests and church members online thank you so much for being with us we love you we can't wait to see you all and if you are a guest with us online those connect cards can be found on our website firstchurchstirlingheights.com who's excited for monday night prayer tomorrow we excited we excited you're excited for nothing because we cancel monday night prayer and uh yeah yeah oh we love to pray here at first church and god meets us on a special way each and every monday night uh but tomorrow night for monday night prayer uh it's been the culture of our church pastor has always encouraged us to spend time with family and with loved ones but i would also encourage you to make sure you do set some time aside and don't miss that prayer time just because we're not gathering together corporately make sure you set us up some time aside and uh spend some time with the lord that we may be like him uh who's who's enjoying life groups come on i know they're better than that we got jay back here loving life groups i i love my life group we we met on wednesday night just a fantastic time life groups are just something we do here at the church um not specifically at the church but we get together in homes all over this area and we believe in living life together and growing spiritually with one another and so that's what life groups are and there's so many different life groups you can sign up for there's a list of them online if you're not in a life group i would encourage everyone to pick one sign up for one get connected and get involved to what we're doing here in sterling heights it's a fantastic way to contribute to the kingdom of god and for those of you who are not serving on a served team what are you waiting for we believe in serving very strongly around here in fact last i checked pastor mike it was about 80 of the church family that is currently serving somewhere on a served team so give yourselves a hand for that but if you're one of the 20 percent that maybe you haven't gotten connected on a serve team maybe you don't really know what you're gifted to do or what you'd like to do we have something called growth track happens on the third and the fourth sundays of every month we just try to help identify what god's gifted you to do and how you can plug in and connect in the kingdom of god and help us reach our city and help us reach our world so go through growth track third and the four sundays of every month it's at this time i just want to set an expectation god's already done some amazing things isn't that exciting that that we've already experienced god in such a powerful way but i do i don't believe god is done yet in fact i know god's not done yet because i've already heard pastor nathan hayes message and so we're going to return a tithing and an offering unto the lord but there's going to be a three-minute time of connection on the screen behind me if there's somebody that you don't know somebody maybe you don't recognize i would encourage you to get out of your seat uh go go get on a first name basis with somebody let them know that you're glad that they are here and then after connect time pastor nathan hayes from solid rock church of dearborn is going to come up here and deliver an amazing word of god it's it's always a fitly spoken word whenever he is here and today is nothing short of that uh pastor hayes we're glad that you're here and we celebrate you and your family and uh he calls this his church home and he calls pastor hoffman his pastor and so on behalf of this church and our pastor we'd like to say to you welcome home and preach whatever it is the lord has for you but towards the end he will invite us all to the front and i was speaking with somebody just a moment ago about the bible says if we would draw nigh to him he will draw nigh to us and it's something about that that step of i'm gonna go meet god somewhere it's the action that is on us first and god has promised if we would take that action he would respond in kind that's the altar service if you come up to this front expecting to meet god in a transformation or you need something from him he will meet you around this altar so be expecting and be prepared for that lord jesus we are so thankful lord how could we put a value on what we have experienced already it can't be bought or purchased anywhere mighty lord it's only in your presence god where there is fullness of joy lord we are a blessed people lord you've been generous and you've been kind to us lord i pray now over this tithe and over the offering that we return to you now god i know you will bless the giver i know god that you were blessed the tithe lord i my prayer is not the blessing we have already been blessed lord everywhere we turn we see your blessing i'll pray over the souls that have yet to know you the people mighty god who are blindly stumbling their way through life lord without your spirit without your name lord without restoration or remission we pray that you would find them send somebody to them and it's our honor to contribute financially to the kingdom so that souls could be reached and lives may be spared in jesus name i pray amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] well praise the lord everybody last time they yelled at me because i wasn't up here in time so that really yelled at me hey it's good to be home it's good to be home you guys uh many of you know who i am and know my story and so i don't have to get too much into my story but i will tell you this first time i preached for sterling heights um was at a youth rally act not a youth rally but a youth retreat um actually i believe a lot of these guys who are now leading things are were part of the youth group at the time i see kentucky then the that year the next year i was diagnosed with cancer and then i got a chance to preach here the year after that and you guys got to watch it through various stages as i was weaker and i've grown stronger but i want you to understand this whenever i first preached here my daughter was nine years old and this last week with the grace of god i was able to walk her down the aisle and give her away and that was to the grace and to the glory of god you've never seen anybody more emotional i don't think than this dad right here because it was a little different than just the traditional get to walk your daughter down the aisle everybody was like aren't you sad i was like you have no idea how glad i am not not the fact that she's getting married but the fact that i get a chance to be here for it and uh god is good amen god is good amen so today i want to preach and teach you for a little while right now she's in a lot of pain right now absolutely let's pray why don't we reach our hands toward debbie and let's pray right now jesus we are asking you god by the power of your word and your blood jesus lord i'm asking you god that you would heal her body lord god do a great and mighty work right now jesus we know that you are able we know that you are willing and you are going to move right now on her behalf jesus god touched her body from the very top of her head to the very soul of her feet jesus god not just symptoms but causes jesus god right now you know how to speak to the root of everything god lord when you said let there be light there was light when you said let there be healing there is healing jesus lord simply at the mention of your name things are possible and we ask you right now god that you would heal her that you would take care of her right now god we give you glory god we give you honor jesus come on can we lift up our voices like it is us jesus right now lord you are able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ask we could thank god but we know you are going to do it in jesus precious name and everybody say in jesus name in jesus name i'm telling you we serve a great god a miracle-working awesome powerful wonderful god so i want i want to teach you know what that's awesome we we need to pray god this is this is what church is we come together we pray for each other we care about each other we lift each other up and so i want to how many of you have ever heard of the phrase terms and conditions apply anybody ever heard of this see i was going to preach something different but in the middle of the altar service you could just feel the power of god fill this place you could watch the love of god at work and so um i'm deviating a little bit so brother gibbs that message you said that i i talked about well hopefully there's another way to record it you can hear it later because that is not what you will hear right now as a matter of fact i won't be very long so musicians don't go too far terms and conditions apply i read this on just about everything every time i sign a contract every time i walk into a situation um if i buy a refrigerator i read this terms and conditions apply if i put a program on my computer terms and conditions apply it is so hard for us to imagine a situation or a god where terms and conditions don't always apply we have a hard time understanding somebody or something that can love us unconditionally i want to read a some a song it's probably my favorite song of all time and i want to read you these lyrics it says this oh love of god how rich am pure those of you who are at least my age probably recognize these lyrics he says how measureless and strong it shall forever more endure the saints an angel song beautiful beautiful song talk about the love of god but many times we don't go into the verse which is probably my favorite part it says could we with ink the ocean fill which is this thing about just picture in your mind for a second could we with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made in other words that the entire oceans were ink and the entire sky were a piece of paper says would every stalk on earth acquil and every man a scribe by trade to write the love of god above would drain the ocean dry nor could the scroll contain the hole though stretched from sky to sky what a beautiful way of talking about the incredible expanse of the love of god this is not earth-shaking information to many of you but for some of us we need to remember how great the love of god really is this isn't just the story we tell it's it's not just good words that we use but the reality is that while i was yet a sinner in other words before i ever came close to god he loved me enough to die on a cross for me what an incredible incredible thought that while i was yet a sinner jesus died for me i love it brother john was talking about how if i draw nigh as a god he will draw nigh unto me i want you to use some of the ways that the bible describes god to imagine what this scenario really truly looks like if the earth is his footstool that tells me that he has very big feet call me crazy this is the way my mind works so my ability to draw an eye to god this is what it looks like i stepped forward and god was like right there i want you to see the difference it's not co-equal it's not it's not the same amount of energy it's it's my feeble walk forward as god rushes to me as quickly and as close as the mention of his name isn't that an incredible thing to think that no matter how far removed i am for god i simply say god i need you and oh there he is right there in the blink of an eye so i don't care what mistakes you've made today i don't care how far you're trying to travel toward god understand this is not about might it's not my power but it is my god spirit that comes in like a rushing mighty wind and it fills the house where we are sitting in the love of god how rich and pure and how measureless and strong the love of god surpasses understanding it is amazing when we really think i want you to think today somebody i don't know why but quick into my spirit this morning somebody needs to know how much god loves them somebody needs to understand that it doesn't matter you could try your best and we do try our best we present ourselves a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to god which is our reasonable service but no matter how much we try it's still the grace of god it is still the grace of god that comes rushing in like a rushing and mighty wind i like to phrase it this way i tell our churches all the time i said you know what i have never jumped as high as michael jordan like not even close i might have had about three inches on my vertical at the height of my athletic prowess that at the most i might be able to get it as a matter of fact i used to wear like every new jordan that would come out because i thought it made me jump higher and the reality is it didn't i'm sorry to let you know this but your newest tennis shoes don't make you jump any higher they just make you look a little bit better and so here we go and you know what no matter what and you know what here's the thing though my son he can jump much higher than i ever could it's amazing he still can't jump as high as jordan but he can jump much higher than i ever could but neither one of us no matter how much we try no matter how much jordan would try we are both still so far away from the moon that it doesn't really make a difference in other words no matter if i'm religious and much closer to god than brother john even though i'm up here preaching he might be sitting there both of us are so far removed from our ability to really access god to the best of our ability without the grace of god and so we sit there we realize you know it doesn't matter how good i am it doesn't matter how good he is what matters is oh love of god how rich and how pure oh love of god see the subject i wanna that's weighing heavy on my heart we're gonna preach on the love of god i think we have to emphasize that love is active love is tangible love is action oriented love is a choice that one has to make it's not so much a feeling that we choose to have but it's an action we have to love is an action it is not just an emotion it is an action and so as we look at this jesus says this he says this is my commandment that you love one another as i have loved you you can find this in john 15 verses 12-13 he says this is my commandment that you love one another as i have loved you because why greater love hath no man than this than a man would lay down his life for his friend i think we have a misnomer sometimes in our head when we think about opposites so you look at it and we talk about the opposite of god so you have two different extremes the opposite of god is what see we would think the devil but there is no actual opposite of god god is all-powerful and all by himself the opposite of the devil would actually probably be like gabriel or michael the archangel if it's much different to extremes god has no opposite and so we sit there and we think what is the opposite of love and the thing that comes to our mind automatically is hey hate would be the opposite of love but that isn't necessarily the case i want to i want to make a plea to you that worry a case for you that the opposite of love is actually indifference because at least with hate there's some emotion there there's some there's something there there's some kind of feeling there's some kind of thing that would move me one way or the other but indifference where i just don't care let me tell you something god has never been in a position where he just doesn't care god has never been indifferent to you he has always loved you see we sing songs about how great god is and how much we want to worship him we sing songs about his wonder in mercy and we talk about his miraculous power we sing today about his healing we speak about the need for lives to be changed being filled with his spirit being baptized in the wonderful name of jesus we speak about his love and his compassion how he is all powerful how many of you have ever heard somebody describing god is all-powerful he is all-powerful he is omnipotent in other words he is all-powerful he is omniscient or he knows everything he's omnipresent he is everywhere present all at one time so many things describe the greatness of god how he created the earth out of chaos or out of nothing and he formed man out of the dust of the earth and he breathed into man a man became a living soul and i am so thankful today for a god that became flesh right he robed himself in flesh and came and lived among us and we beheld his glory the glory is the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth i am so thankful for god how many of you are thankful for god today just raise your hand you're thankful for god i look at i try to understand god but one thing i don't understand why does he love me i know that he loves me we talk about the love of god we sing about the love of god we believe in the love of god but we have a hard time wrapping our heads around this simple question why why would god love me i understand that he paid a debt that i could not pay and i understand that he does love me but why see many of us come from backgrounds that seem unlovable many of us have done actions that make us feel like we would be unlovable many of us this week have thought things or done things or been in situations that would make us feel like there is no way that an almighty god who is that perfect could love me why does god love me why does an all-powerful all-knowing god care about me this is hard for me at my root of my personality i'm a insecure person i'm loud i try to be funny i try to be in the middle of situations and be around people but at the root of things i'm an insecure person i have to have validation even for my own wife all the time oh honey you look so good should come up and grab a muscle right why because i need validation all the time i need somebody to come up and pat me on the back and say oh what a wonderful job and it's hard for me to really wrap my head around a god who would love me no matter if i did a good job or not it's hard for me to wrap my head around a god who would care about me if i didn't care about him see that's how we do we are quid pro quo you love me i love you yet the bible says that while i was yet a sinner he loved me what can separate us from the love of god we can separate ourselves from the love of god but nothing as an outside force has the ability to separate me from the love of god see i'm a nobody from nowhere who never deserve the grace of god maybe you're different but let me tell you something even if you can jump higher than me you're still far away from the moon you're still far as removed away as i am from really deserving the love of god why did he lay down his life for me young people i was so impressed today watching you guys create an atmosphere where the miraculous could happen i'm telling you you created an atmosphere simply by surrendering yourselves over and saying god i need you but something you have to understand now and that is god loves you yes jesus loves me for the bible tells me so it's simple but yet it's very hard for us to really truly believe john first john 3 verse 1 says this see what kind of love the father has given to us that we should be called the children of god and so we are the reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him he didn't have to do it but i'm glad he did it's an old song again i keep going back to old lyrics in my head he didn't have to do it but i'm so glad he did ii samuel 24 verse 14 says this and david said unto god i am in a great strait let us now fall into the hand of the lord for his mercies are great and not let me fall into the hand of man one of the reasons why it's hard for us to believe in a god that loves unconditionally is because we know what it's like to be unloved by human beings and we know what it's like to be disappointed by a friend or disappointed by a loved one or disappointed and we know what it's like to lose somebody we love we know what it's like to go through hurt and pains caused and created at the hands of others and so it's very difficult but let me describe what god is like and this is not a mind-blowing concept i understand that instead of instead of love right here i want you to put the name god put jesus right here first corinthians 13 though i speak with the tongues of men and angels but have not love i become sounding brass or a clanging symbol though i have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though i have all faith so i could remove mountains and have not love i am nothing and 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 i want to describe what god is like just just for a second i want to describe what god is like god suffereth long and is kind oh man that is so different than sometimes the interactions we've had with people this is so different than sometimes how we've treated others let's not put all the blame on other people because we've done it to others as well i know i have i know you probably have as well says this does not behave rudely does not seek its own is not provoked thinks no evil does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth he bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things god never fails i want you to look at this scripture in a little different the way and i'm not trying to create theology but i want you to understand the depths of the love of god as our musicians come we already had an altar call god is moving in this place you can feel the tangible presence of god in this place you really can earlier when i was preaching i said this and i want you this phrase to kind of stick in your head and that is don't let your feelings take you back to where your faith brought you from you can feel unloved it doesn't mean you are unloved you can feel like you don't belong it doesn't mean that you don't belong your feelings are are very powerful and they lie to you a lot i want you to understand that your feelings are very powerful they lie to you a lot we've come this far by faith it takes faith to know that god loves you it really does so we can sit there and nod and and yet we're going to go home tonight and i'm just i'm telling you what it's like as a preacher so i'm just going to assume that a lot of people fall in this category we'll go home tonight and we'll we'll believe it we'll hear the message and then we'll find and we'll say god are you disappointed me god do you really love me god why are you letting this happen god loves you god loves you somebody needs to really understand how many of you have ever felt unlovable i just see your hand if you've ever felt unlovable how many of you have ever been unlovable okay maybe that's a better question felt or not spouse raised your other spouse's hand you have been on level right but do you realize that god loves you he loves you if you've been living for him for a day he loves you if you've been living for him for 40 years and have gotten frustrated with him he loves you if you have failed he loves you when you succeeded he loves you when you're reaching the lost he loves you when you folded your arms and said i ain't reaching nobody he loves you that is so hard for us to wrap our heads around or really wrap our heads around that god loves me as to the answer why there's another song that i want to take you to it says i don't know why jesus loved me i don't know why he cared i don't know why he sacrificed his life but i'm glad so glad he did let me give you the reason why god did it you ready for this mind-blowing statement i don't know now i know this isn't something you're supposed to say from the platform because you're supposed to have all the answers when you're speaking from this point why did god love me i don't know maybe i spend too much time trying to figure out why and not enough time appreciating that he does maybe we spend too much time maybe we spend too much time coming to this altar right here or come to this altar over here begging and pleading god to forgive us and to love us rather than to coming up and saying i don't know why you did it i walked my baby girl down the aisle and i'm like god why did you allow this to happen me when other people haven't had this opportunity and my answer is i don't know why but god i appreciate that you did but you know what i've been on the other angle of it i've been on the other angle of it and i lost my father young god why did you do that i don't know why but god you had my best intent and you love me so i'm glad you did what you did because you do things perfect so today i'm wondering i'm wondering if we could do this today i'm wondering instead of coming to an altar and begging god to love us if we would come to an altar and just with our hands lifted up and say god i don't know why you do but i'm so thankful and i'm so grateful and i'm so appreciative that that my terms and conditions god that you love me when i am unlovable you love me but i don't even love myself you love me when i make mistakes you love me when i make successes do you love me when we're building churches and you love me when i'm failing at what i'm trying to do can we stop getting our self-worth by how great we are and start getting our self-worth by how great god is and god you created me you breathed into me and i became a living soul [Applause] so i'm wondering if we could stand up all over this place this world is broken sin has tried to destroy every relationship that the bible has ever used to describe how god loves us i want you to see this the bible talks about the relationship of a father and what has this world done it is destroyed the way we view a relationship with the father he talks about a mother hen who longs to gather you under the wings and what has this world done it's destroyed what people look up as the love of a mother i want you to see this it talks about the love of a friend that god would lay down his life for a friend and yet our world has it to where friends betray each other all the time and stab each other in the back it talks about the love of a bride and a groom and we are at over 50 divorce rate in our society no wonder it's so hard for us to look about the love of god when all the relationships the bible compares the love of god to have all been destroyed by this world so i'm begging you i'm asking you today when you come don't just view it as an unhealthy relationship view it as a perfect unadulterated incredible love of god who has never failed he will never leave you or forsake you but he will be with you always even to the ends of the earth that's the kind of love i'm talking about i'm talking about an unconditional love i'm talking about a love who loves you before you were ever even close to being unlovable come on god is moving in this place he's ministering to somebody and i want to ask you would you come forward come on wherever you're at could you just come forward to this altar come on can we lift up our hands and can we just ask god god give me an understanding and an insight to what it looks like to be loved by you [Music] come on jesus right now we worship you lord god i thank you jesus come on let's reach our hands out come on you might not ever be able to fathom the reason why but it's okay [Music] no terms or conditions right now just you and god who loves you you might have had the worst most failing miserable week you might have had a successful week you might have made the most mistakes you've ever made but i'm asking you just to accept the love of god right now jesus lord we worship you jesus oh come on come on let god minister to your spirits today come and let a minister to your heart today jesus right now jesus right now [Music] oh [Applause] you [Music] is [Music] come on reach your hand over pray for someone father in the name of jesus we stretch our hands forth as a new soul goes down in your name o god old things are passed away and behold all things are become new and becoming new we thank you o lord for your word for your promise that we're standing on god that when we listen to your voice that when we are obedient to your scripture oh god lord you said that you would come and change our entire life with your presence with your love with your spirit of god so lord in that wonderful name of jesus this church binds together and we pray and pray oh god of blessing upon her as she comes out of that water raised in the name of jesus [Music] [Applause] [Applause] recklessly [Music] oh yes [Applause] we thank you jesus we thank you jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] tear down [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] still you give yourself away recklessly [Music] [Music] [Music] he loves us [Music] [Music] no matter what we're going through no matter who we are he loves us [Music] [Applause] one more time oh [Music] he loves us [Music] [Music] is [Music] he loves us [Music] jesus he loves us oh [Applause] how he loves us [Music] you love us [Music] love is perfect [Music] come on celebrated this house the chains that have been broken the healings that have taken place come on he's worth it the lives that have been raised to life hallelujah this is where we find hope this is where we find peace totally in your presence [Music] [Applause] one more time [Music] [Applause] yes [Music] that the creator of the universe [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] i love that answer that pastor hayes gave us i don't know gives me some comfort with some of the things that i'm trying to figure out in life and in the word of god it's okay to not know some things but it's not okay to be ungrateful and if we have an attitude of gratefulness just look what god's doing look what he's doing around us that the day we've had the service that we've had it's just been a whole lot of fun and great things are in store for this group of people mimi we're rejoicing with you got filled with the power of god this an incredible day and there was a there was a baptism right i missed the baptism hopefully you didn't miss it but just fun isn't this fun i don't i don't want to go to a church where where there's not life where god's you know god's doing some things here and we're going to keep pursuing and keep striving after the spirit of god and that his will would be done in sterling heights as it is in heaven it's a fun journey and i'm glad to be on it with all of you lord we are so thankful god let there always be a spirit of gratitude in this room and in our hearts god you you've been far better than we deserve lord there's no way we could ever qualify lord to belong to you to be a part of this body of christ to experience your mercy and your forgiveness and your love your compassion your healing oh mighty jesus you're the very best thing that ever happened to me lord and i thank you lord that i get to serve you that i get to know you that i get to live a life set aside pleasing unto you please help me and help all of us to do it with a little bit more excellence lord for you are deserving of nothing less than my very best please be with us all as we leave your house today god i know that we are taking you with us we are taking your love with us your peace and comfort with us but help us mighty god help us because we have the high honor to be your ambassadors it's not enough for us to feel this way in your house and then to leave on a sunday only to come back a monday or a life group or god forbid the next sunday we have to take what we feel in this room the power that we have experienced and try to find somebody else who doesn't know you who doesn't know this even exists for you must mighty god return to a house that is full that is without spot that is without blemish help us today to do it better to do it at a greater capacity as you see fit lord we trust you in all things in jesus name amen amen amen reminder tomorrow there is no monday night prayer and uh if you are a able-bodied person we have some pews that we need to move out of here to make way for some new sound equipment if you could stay here meet me up here around the front if you'd like to help us move these pews would be greatly appreciated shouldn't take too long but god bless you have a fantastic holiday and a great week we'll see you in life groups this week oh [Music] your grace my [Music]

Channel: First Church Sterling Heights

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Id: c90fh2mWXkY

Length: 101min 18sec (6078 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021