Responsibility Of The Church
To Love God
Lesson #1
Text: Matt 22:36-38
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
I. Love the Lord thy God
Here is our first and most important task as a child of God
- Our most important task as a church
- Our most important responsibility as a church
- love the Lord thy God
What is it to love someone?
What does it mean to love the Lord?
What does this require from us?
Notice Jesus said to Love the Lord with
- All your heart
- All your mind
- All your soul
This speaks of a complete selling out to God
This means that our first responsibility as a Church is to completely surrender to God
- This means that we need to be of one mind
- Of one accord
- That we need to agree together
- That we need to be heading in the same direction
And that direction is one of complete surrender
How can you love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul and not be completely sold out to Him and the vision He has placed before us
- The answer is simple “you can’t”
- There must be a complete surrender
The problem is we think we can serve God and serve our own interest at the same time
“There can only be one first in your life”
And if you choose to place God first in your life He will not share that position with anyone or anything else
- God must be first
He must be first in your marriage
For your marriage to work God must be first
- Your wife’s feelings can’t come before the will and purpose of God
- Your husband can’t come before you and God
Ex. I have seen men and women who place their spouse’s feelings above God
- It may solve things temporarily
- But it always cost them in the long run
- In most cases I have seen where a man or woman places their husband or wife above the will and calling of God in their lives it ends in divorce
He must come before your Job
- You can’t expect to be blessed in the long run if you place your job above faithfulness in the house of God
- It always leads to ruin
- You may prosper for a time
- The time always comes when you have to pay for your decision and choices
We have a responsibility to place God first in our lives and our church
- As a church we can not be diverted by every wind and doctrine that blows through
- We must remain focused on the task that God has set before us
- We must remain focused on the vision He has set before us
It all comes down to being completely sold out to God
Are you sold out?
Or are you just playing church?
Rom 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation…
This word dissimulation means false, fake, or counterfeit
- Are you truly committed to the things of God
- Are you truly committed to the vision God has given this church and fellowship
Do you truly love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul?
- Or is your love fake
- Is it a counterfeit
- Are you a hypocrite
We are commanded by Jesus as our primary responsibility to love the Lord
What does it mean to love?
II. True love means commitment and loyalty
Are you committed to the things of God?
Many people are committed just as long as it doesn’t cost them anything
I will be faithful pastor
- Until family shows up before church
- Until the newness of ministry wears off and then it becomes like work
- Latter for this
- I didn’t know it was going to be like this
- I didn’t know putting your hand to the plow meant work
Pastor I thought ministry would be fun
Don’t misunderstand me
- Ministry can be fun
- Pastoring this church is the joy of my life but it doesn’t mean that it is not alot of work at times
- Serving God can be fun
- But will you still serve Him when it is not fun
- When you are having to face the strategies of hell
- When things are not going as you thought they should
- Ministry can be fun
- But will you be faithful when it is not fun
- Amazed me how many people wanted to be in the Christmas play until they found out it was going to involve some work and commitment on their part
What we are dealing with is an issue of love
Do you truly love Jesus?
How do you know your wife loves you?
You know because of her faithfulness in the small things
- She washes your clothes
- She makes your bed
- She irons your clothes
- She prepares meals
- She does the dishes
- She keeps house for you
Not trying to be chauvinistic just trying to be real (Our wives work hard many times harder than we do)
It is not because she is down on the corner shouting her love for us to everyone
The same is true in the kingdom of God
God knows we love Him by our faithfulness in the small things
- Faithfulness to church attendance
- Faithfulness to our tithe
- Faithfulness to read the word
- Faithfulness to prayer
- Faithfulness to our areas of ministry
- Faithfulness to clean the church
- Faithfulness to a band
- Faithfulness to a drama team
Faithfulness, faithfulness, faithfulness
We have a confused way of thinking many times
We don’t consider faithfulness to these small things as important or as spiritual as some of the bigger things
By bigger things I mean
- Street meetings (open airs)
- Street preaching
- Movie outreach
- Or even pasturing or evangelizing
Listen to me tonight
Mark it down in your bible
“Faithfulness in these small things does more to show your love of God than many of the so called big things”
I can make a call tonight for those who want to join a big outreach we are going to have Saturday night
- All the area churches are going to be there
- We are going to street preach
- We are going to sing
- We are going to have free transport leave at six
And hands would go up all over this place of people who wanted to go
But what if I make a call for all those who want to join clean up crew to meet me up here after church
- And of those that did come up how many would be faithful for more than six months
Somehow we compute them out different
- We place a different value on them
- Is it because in one place we are seen and in another area we are not?
- Or is it because in most of the small things there is a long term commitment required
- It is not just a one time shot
Jesus said, “He who is faithful in the small things I will make ruler over much”
Jesus said that because
Faithfulness in the small things
- Day in day out
- Week in week out
- Year after year
Is a much greater indication of your love
God demands our total commitment and loyalty
True love is a giving and surrender of ones self
When you truly love someone your desire is to
- Give yourself to them
- Present yourself
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
In true love you surrender your life to that person
Have you truly surrender your life wholly to God and the vision He has set before us
The truth is your Heart
- Your soul
- Your mind
Will be focused on something
Be it self, possessions, the world, power, the flesh, fame, or even another person
God demands that our whole focus be on Him
III. Have you lost your first love
Rev 2:4-5 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Have you lost your first love?
Have you lost your love for Christ?
When you loose your first love it means that Christ is no longer first in your life
You may still love Him
- But He is not first
- Your job or career now comes first
- Your boy friend or girl friend comes first
- Your husband or wife comes first
- Your leisure time comes first
- Your hobbies come first
What or who is first in your life
When you love something or someone it always computes out in involvement
- Your involved with the one you love
- You do what they want to do
- You spend time with each other
Are you still involved in the things of God?
- Are you still doing as much for God as you used to
I always get nervous when I see people dropping out of ministries because it is a sure sign that their love is growing cold or shifting else where
I have heard all kinds of excuses
- Pastor I am just to involved
- I am just to occupied
- I am just to busy
What would you wife say or how would she feel if you told her
- Honey I just feel to involved in this relationship
- This relationship is just to demanding
She would feel hurt and rejected
When we begin to pull back from the things of God this is how He feels
Remember how you felt when you first became a child of God
- Nothing to great
- No level of commitment to high
- No level of involvement to high
- No cost to great
Have you lost your first love?
Matt 24:11-13 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
We are living in the last days
- Many false prophets are rising up
Many will tell you
- You don’t have to get so involved
- You don’t have to be so committed
- You don’t have to be so faithful
- Follow me I can show you a better and easier way
Don’t listen
Don’t be deceived
Don’t back away from the vision God has set before us
Everything we do in this church is to prepare you to fulfill Gods will and calling for your life
Don’t let your love grow cold press on till the end
Our attitude needs to be like the apostil Paul
“This one thing I do”
- This is the attitude we need
- One of total commitment
- Total surrender
Will you allow God to be first in your life?
Have you lost your first love?
Our task as a church is to love God and place Him first in our lives
Next week: To Glorify God
