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When Love Fades: A Letter to Ephesus · The Grove Church

• Church, morning, morning.If you wanna stand on up with us, down in the lobby, come on in.Let's get started with worship today.Oh, our Lord.Oh,How majestic is your name in all the earth.We behold the rising sun.The earth awakes, your hope has come.We look to you.We long for you, oh Lord.We behold breaking dawn.The light that shines over everyone.We look to you.We long for you, oh Lord.majestic is your name in all the earth.We behold the falling rain.Like waters rise and flood this place.We reach for you.We cling to you, oh Lord.Oh,majestic is youryour namename in all the earth.All right.Well, hey, good morning.Welcome to Father's Day at The Grove Church.Glad you decided to join us.Uh, we got a lotta, a good morning planned for us.A couple of announcements I wanna make before we get started though.We've got some things going on this summer, so make sure you're checking your email.If you wanna go to the website, all of it's listed there.Uh, one of the big things, we've got a summer series going.Um, every other Monday night we've got a different teacher, different topic.Uh, tomorrow night's one of those.I'll be teaching, talking about how to hear God's voice and discern his will in your life.And so, we'll spend a little time together here tomorrow night doing that.So if you- you're free and you wanna come on, it's gonna be awesome.Um, also, if you're new, if this is your first time with us, we've got a table in the back of the room called first Steps, and we've got a gift for you.We would just love to meet you.And so, if sometime in the morning, if you wanted to come back there and say hi, one of our staff will be back there, so we'd love to, to meet you.Um, and then also, uh, on the website, there's a, a link to go to, to give.And so, if you interested in worshiping through giving, you can do that on the website.There's also some boxes in the back of the room where you could do that.There's also some people right around you that you probably haven't said hello to yet.And that's kind of the whole reason we're here, so why don't you say what's up to somebody and then we'll get going?O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the world Thy hands have made.I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee.How great Thou art, how great art.Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee.How great Thou art, how great Thou 0art.And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in.That on that cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin.Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee.How great Thou art, how great Thou art.Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee.How great Thou art, how great Thou a-a-a-a-art.When Christ shall come with shouts of acclamation and lead me home, what joy shall fill my heart.Then I shall bow, in humble adoration and there proclaim, my God how great Thou art.Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee.All things have passed away.Your love has stayed the same.Your constant grace remains the cornerstone.Things that we thought were dead are breathing in life again.You cause your sun to shine on darkest nights.This will be our anthem song.Jesus, we love you.You are the one our, our hearts adore.The hopeless have found their home.The orphans now have a home.All that was lost has found its place in you.You make us strong instead.You took these rags and made us beautiful.For all that you've done, we will pour out our love.This will be our anthem song.Jesus, we love you.You are the one our, our hearts adore.Jesus, we love you.adore.Our hearts adore.hearts adore.Our affection, our devotion, poured out on the feet of Jesus.Our affection, our devotion, poured out on the feet of Jesus.Our affection-Our affection, Our devotion.Pouredhearts adore.Jesus, we love you.You are the one our, hearts adore.You are the one our, hearts adore.Let's sing that together.Jesus, we love you.You are the one our, hearts adore.Yes, God, we just say, we love You.We adore You in this place today, Father.We're so thankful and grateful that we're here together, that You've brought us here, Father.And we're ever mindful of the sacrifice that You made through your son, Jesus, that we could come to this place, that we could know You, that we could know a God.The God, the one God.Thank you, Father.We pray that You'll be with us now as we dive into Your word, to the message today.We pray that You'll be with Charlie, that You would just anoint his lips as he speaks to us truth.And we pray that we would have ears and hearts to receive what You have for us today, God, and help us to be encouraged, help us to be challenged, and help us to walk from this place changed from who we were when we walked into this place, God.And we'll give You the glory and the praise for that.Jesus' name we ask these things.Amen.Amen.You can grab a seat.Hey, good morning.If you're new, I'm Charlie.I'm the lead pastor here.Really glad you are worshiping with us.And just like Mark, I'd like to wish the dads in here a happy Father's Day.It has truly been one of the greatest joys of my life.This will be my, I guess, my 28th Father's Day and it's, uh, the, tremendous blessing to be able to have been involved and to love and, 3 incredible daughters.And so, it's great to celebrate that with them and with all of you.Hope you guys are ha- uh, gonna have a great day today.And we are now week 2 into a series.We're kinda go- looking at Revelation 1 through 3.And it's these 7 letters that Jesus has written to the church, to these different churches.And, uh, we talked about this last week, kinda just an overview of kind of what's going on there, where Jesus is kind of giving this revelation to the Apostle John to kind of say, "Hey, there's a message I want you to give to these churches, because this is about what's to happen."Kind of that last part of Revelation that has all of these prophecies about what the end is gonna look like.Because this is the r- world that you guys are about to move into, this is what I need you to understand about who you are now and, and how you need to live and what does it mean to be a church.And so, now we're, uh, you know, 2,000 years later, now we are kind of looking at these same things, like, what does this have to say to us?And it's kinda brought to my mind this idea that I think is important for us to review from time to time, which is, how do I approach the Bible?Like, how, how do I really do it?How do I know what this is supposed to mean for me?Like, how do I apply this?'Cause th- there's a lot of bad ways out there, and I'm gonna make sure we're clear on 'em.And one, and I, and I do this from time to time, I just make fun of Christianese, weird speak kind of stuff.This is probably one of my least favorite ones.This is less cat inspirational poster or cross-stitch on a pillow.This is more billboard.Like, you're minding your own business, you're driving past a billboard, and then there's a big billboard, it says, "Having p- problems with life, question mark?Try reading the instructions."And then there's a picture of the Bible on there.And it's like, pfft, I hate that.Because I don't know, I don't know how many of you have read the Bible.I'm sure everybody in here has given it a tr- a shot, right?You've read some of it, right?And if I handed that book to you and said, "Here is the instruction manual on life," you'd be like, "This is the worst thing ever."There's no table of contents that makes any sense.There's no index in the back that's topical.Right?And you start reading, it's like, there's a lot of genealogies in here, but not a whole lot of instructions.Like, what am I supposed to do?Should I take this job or not?And do I goYou know, what isI- it's just, it's complicated.It's not that.It's also, some people try toThis is gonna date me.I've already said I've been a dad for almost 28 years, so you already know I'm old.Right?It, some people use it like a Magic 8-Ball.Anybody?Magic 8-Ball?Oh,It's this toy, uh, that was shaped like a giant 8-Ball from a, from a pool table, and you would ask it yes/no questions.Should I ask this girl out?And then you flip it over and it's like in this purple liquidy kind of stuff, and it's like this multi-sided, th-, you know, it's more than a cube.Probably it's maybe 8, 8 sides on it.I don't know.And it would just kind of like, pfft.All signs point to yes.ask again later.Definitely not.I mean, it's got all these different sorts of things.And sometimes we, that's how we do with the Bible.Like, you're trying to make a tough decision and you pull out the Bible, it's like, God's gonna speak to me today.And you flip to a random page, you point to a verse, and somehow that is God's message for you today, as if, as if the Bible works that way.And again, God c- I don't wanna go too far.God can speak to you in any number of ways.But I do not believe that that is the primary way that the Bible is meant to be used- utilized by us.It is, it is simpler than some ways, and, and more complicated than others.And lots of times we do.I mean, these are, these are just, these are books.They're, they're written by people inspired fully by God.And so, you've kind of got this dual authorship to a degree, where they had a reason to write this, and they w- they wrote this, be it the poetry, the history, uh, the, the prophecies, the, the letters that Paul and other apostles are writing.They're- they- we have these authors that made a decision to write something on purpose to a very particular audience.And there was something that they were wanting to get across.There was something that they're trying to communicate.Something that the audience is supposed to take from this.And our approach, we need to kind of do what we can to really understand, like, who were these people?Who wrote this?Why, who were they writing it to?What was the situation here?And then, what do I have in common with them?And if I understand what I have in common with them, how I am like them, then it makes it easier for me to kind ofI, I see what you're trying to say to them, and I, and I'm, and I'm like them.in these ways.And so, this message is for me because sometimes too many of us dismiss the Scriptures as irrelevant in some way, because it was written at a- so long ago to s- people that are s- so different than us.And one of the most naive things, I think, that we can say is that people 2,000 years ago are so different than us.People have been people for a really long time, and while there are some technological circumstances that are very different now than were for them, but really, most of kind of the core challenges that people face were being faced in the time of the Scripture.So, it's important for us.So, what we're gonna do as we go through these letters, we'll talk a little bit about kind of what each one of these cities was like.So then, therefore, the challenges the churches would have had, and then understanding Jesus' messages- message to them in these contexts.And so, we're gonna start here with the Book of- of Ephesus, the- the letter to Ephesus here in, um, Revelation Chapter 2.It's kind of a little bit of historical background of Ephesus, right?It's a little bit of the historical background where, umAnd so, here- like, if you understand kind of the, umIf you know about the ancient wonders of the world, the Temple of Artemis was one of them, and then you find that in the s- in the city of Ephesus.And so, it was kind of this religious hub, had a very spiritual quality to it.Not only was there a lot of worship of Artemis, but there was a lot of emperor worship that was happening.And associated with this Temple of Artemis, there were a lot of temple prostitutes and a lot of sexual freedom around the worship of this.And in addition to this, this was a powerhouse political and economic city, was a seaport that had a lot of economic activity, was kind of a capital of its state, and drew a lot ofUh, there were a lot of people that would travel through there to do business, a lot of business, kind of this economic and political hub for the entire Roman Empire.And so, you put all of that together, and it's kind of what Ephesus is like is, there's a lot of religious diversity and a lot of pressure to not be so exclusive with Christianity.That was a lot of the- the persecution that they were feeling, is like, "Man, you can have your own thing, but you can't talk about Jesus as if he's the only thing, because we've got this incredible temple here, and we've got the emperor that we're supposed to worship.We can incorporate a little bit of that, but you can't be as rigid as you are."And at the same time, again, around that temple, because it was such a- a significant cultural piece, it kind of brought with it a- a sexual freedom.There was a lot of, again, temple prostitutes, a lot of sexual rituals around worship there, to the point to where you could really describe this community and its environment as just a lot of se- again, sexual freedom.Any consenting adults of any number, 2, 3, 4, 5, any consenting adults should feel and have the freedom to do whatever they feel is right to them sexually.So, if I were to describe to you this city, a city with- that is an economic powerhouse, that maybe has a handful of businesses that not only are really important for that city, but regionally and really worldwide, there's a huge draw to this area because of the economic powerhouse that it is.And at the same time, the culture around is really promoting a lot sexual freedom and kind of religious pluralism.You don't really have to stretch your brain too hard to be like, "I know a place like that.I know a place.There are some businesses around here, you may have heard of them, that are kind of a big deal, and there's kind of a lot."And again, there's kind of this- this- this pressure, this life that they're struggling with, the things that Ephesus is going through.So, when you read the Book of Ephesians that Paul writes, he says some things there that feel culturally weird to us in the 21st century.It would have been culturally weird to them too.TheySometimes we think of the people of Bible times as being like Puritans from the 1600s or sitcoms from the 1950s.But in reality, some of these cities and these cultures were a lot more similar to ours than we realize.And that's what we have here with Ephesus, so let's go here to the passage starting in verse one, Revelation chapter 2."To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write, 'These are the words of him who holds the 7 stars in his right hand and walks among the 7 golden lampstands.I know your deeds, your hard work, and your perseverance.I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people.They have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false.You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary.Yet I hold this against you.You have forsaken the love you had at first.Consider how far you have fallen.Repent and do the things you did at first.If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.But you have this in your favor.You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.""Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."So, we go back to those first 3 verses there in Revelation chapter 2.I mean, he's kinda got a lot of really nice things to say about them."I know your deeds, your hard work, your perseverance.I know you don't tolerate wicked people.You've tested people who claim to be apostles, but they're not, and you've found them false.You have persevered and endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary."So, just to kinda sum up kind of what these strengths are, the way he's describing them here, the strengths that they have is that, man, you guys are working hard.You wo- you are working hard.You are committed to do what is right, to have moral, t- good moral character.You're committed to holiness, and you're rejecting false teaching.There's all this pressure on you to be something different, to believe different things.In fact, it's gotten to the point of persecution because you are not really quite assimilating well enough here into our culture, and you've experienced at least, uh, you know, uh, some people have been arrested.But, like, at least this kind of, this emotional, mental, physical pressure to be something different, and you're hanging in there.You've endured some hardships, but you're doing great.Good job.And you're working hard.Every day can be difficult, but you are hanging in there.And even though you live in a culture that is telling you that it is okay and that you have freedom here and freedom here and freedom here, you're making a decision to live the way that God has called you to.And so if you kinda sum all of this up, right?I mean, it's like, hey, listen, you're doing great.Um, you're rejecting the false teaching.You got these people who say that they're apostles, and they, y- y- you test them and you see what they're teaching is true, and you're rejecting false teachers.Great job.Well done by you.You're not giving into this moral pressure to live a certain way or to not live a certain way just because the culture's telling you.Great job.And even though things are tough, you're persevering the hard work.Can you imagine, can you imagine that- that- that, I mean, this is my first thought when I read it.Can you imagine that- that being Jesus' praise of you?I mean, you- you- you- you believe all the right things, you're doing all the right things, and you're hanging in there no matter what this pressure is.G- great job by you.I mean, to me, that- that, I mean, that- that's it, right?I mean, that- that- that- that- that- that feels like wha- everything it's supposed to be.I mean, like, eh, even though they're f- they're under all of this pressure.They've got these people saying, it's like, "I get that you follow this Jesus, but you should be a little more open-minded about all the different paths there are to God."And you got all these people coming in and saying, "Actually, you should believe this.God told me this, God told me this, God told me this," and you're rejecting all of that.And people are telling you that you can live this way or you shouldn't live this way, and you're holding all that together no matter what happens.You are hanging in there.Great job.You're, you believe right, you're doing right, and you're working hard.I mean, these are the pressures that we feel, and I think it would be great to have that sort of affirmation from God.Because, I mean, again, this is the life we live, and I, again, I've been doing this in some form, this kind of professional pastor ministry kinda thing, for 30-plus years now.And, and, and I have experienced this pressure and I've walked with so many people through it, because there is.There's all this teaching out there.Again, like he says, you got these people who are claiming to be voices of God, and they're coming to you, and y- and you're figuring it out.And again, I've been around long enough, people c- would come up to me 30 years ago be like, "Man, I just, I just read this book," or, "I just, I just came out of class at this lecture, and th- and this professor and this author, they said"Da-da-da-da-da-da.And it was like, and Jesus is, you know, you should be a little more open-minded about who Jesus is, and you should be more open-minded about what is or is not permitted sexually or morally."You should just be a little more open-minded.Charlie, what do you think about it?"And so we have these conversations.And I'm old enough, like, I've heard that, and then, and then a few years later, it's like, "Man, I"I was reading this blog post on the internet the other day, and it says, this guy says, 'You should be a little more open-minded about Jesus, and a little bit more permissive in kind of what you are willing to accept, you know, and have more freedom sexually and morally, and all these things.' Charlie, what do you think about that?"I saw this YouTube video the other day, and this YouTube video says we should be more permissive about who, uh, about m- mor- morally, and it says that Jesus, we should be more open-minded about what other religions are."He says, "Charlie, what do you think about that?""Hey, man, I was on TikTok the other day, Charlie."And it's always the same, these same sorts of pressures, and I would imagine, I think it is harder for us now really, in a lot of ways, than it would have been for them in Ephesus because the access that this pressure, th- th- that these false teachers would have is fairly limited.It's constant.It's constant.You carry a device around with you that gives you access to everyone's opinions and thoughts from everywhere, and there is this constant cultural pressure that is being put on to just- justYou- you- I mean, you can keep being a Christian.Christians, Christianity is great, but you need to kind of conform in these very particular ways.You need to kind of believe that all religions are the same, and that- and that- and that- and that you have freedom to kind of act however you want, and- and God will- God will be very pleased with you no matter what you do.And- and there's all this constant pressure, and again, for at least for 30+ years, these different people using different mediums are constantly pushing you to change, to be different, to think different, to kind of fit in better.And amongst all the pressure of that that the Ephesians felt, Jesus looks at them and says, "Great job, guys.Well done.I- I can onl- It isI know it is incredibly hard.You've endured a lot of hardships, but you're hanging in there.You feel all this pressure, but you're not giving in.You're working hard.You're examining teaching, and notAnd just because it sounds good, feels good, feels right, you're rejecting it.You're- you're- you're testing these things, and then you are living the way that I've called you to live.Great job all around."I would love to hear that.That was my first thought when I kind of re-read this passage and re-studied it for today.My second one was, like you can just kind of feel it, right?There's a "but" coming, comma, butLike, but what is it?Like what is theWhat- what- what could it possibly be?You believe all the right things, you're doing all the right things, you're working hard.What else is even left?Because I think we have, as American Christians, we have kind of built the Christian movement and Christian living simply around those things.Believe the right things, do the right things, and work hard.That- that is the Christian life.Like, what could he possibly say after that that was anything other than that should be it?"And- and you're working hard, and you're persevering, and you're doing good, and you're being good.Love you.XOXO, Jesus," right?I mean, that's kind of how it should end, but he hasHere's what he says.Let's go back to the passage, verse 4."Yet I hold this against you.You have forsaken the love you had at first.Consider how far you have fallen.Repent and do the things you did at first."So, you're working hard, you're committed to holiness, you're rejecting false teaching, but the challenge that he gives them is this.The challenge is, "You need to reclaim your first love.You have forsaken your first love.There's- there's a love that you have, and it is gone, and I need you to get that back."And again, if- if you're reading this, like if you're kind of now trying to think this through, like, "I'm trying to understand what he's saying here," it's like Jesus is saying, "You- you- you're doing all of this, but I need you to- I need you to reclaim your love for me."I- I- I don't know.I can't put my mind fully i- into the mind of a first-century Ephesian, but like, part of me is like, you- youJohn's like, "Hey man, this is what Jesus had to say.It's like, it's like 2 paragraphs.Here it is."And you're like, "Are you kidding me?Are, are you, are you kidding me right now?Reclaim your first love?Like, what el- what else am I doing?I'm working hard.I'm persevering.I am, I am rejecting falsehoods.I amI'm, I'm living a, uh, the moral life that God's called me to.What do you mean?H- I, I, I don't know other ways to show you love.Like, like, I'm l- I'm l- I'mI am loving you by all the things that you just said."You can't say all of that and then say, "Well, I need you to reclaim love."And people have kind of, I feel like, have wrestled with this over the years to try to understand, like, "What is, what is he talking about?"Because they seem so devoted.What could Jesus mean by this?But I think that there are plenty of other examples, if we move it out of the religious and the spiritual and move it into other sorts of arenas, I think we can find similar examples, because this can happen, this can happen in marriages.It can happen in a marriage where one spouse becomes dissatisfied in some ways.Like, "I feel like, I feel like the spark is gone.Like, what is wrong?Like, what's wro- there's some- there's something wrong."And the spouse on theuh, and may- may- maybe it's the wife says this to the husband, the husband's like, "Well, I don't know what you want from me.I go to work every day.I work really hard.I come home and I help with the kids, I help with the chores.I'm always here, I'm always faithful.I've never cheated on you.What could you possibly mean?I'm doing everything.I've been faithful in every way.What could you possibly have to be complaining about?"And the other spouse is like, "I, I know, I know and I, and I see all that and I appreciate it, but there's justthere's s- there's something.There's something."Parenting can be this way.I still remember, it's Father's Day, right?27 and a half years ago.I've talked about this before.Our first daughter was born.One of the most incredible days of my life.My wife had had an emergency C-section, and it was very scary there for a while, but it ended great, but it ended with my wife pretty much knocked out, and for the first hour or so it was just me and this little baby thatthis, this precious little girl that I had just met for the first time, who was and still is this locked-eye-contact-with-you, I'm-gonna-figure-you-out kind of thing.And so, for an hour, we were just kind of like this at each other.Just staring.I'm just like, absolutely melting, and she's like, "All right.Who are you?I guess you're the dad.All right."And, oh, and it could've been 2 minutes, it could've been 2 hours, and I remember just feeling just unbelievable joy and love and like, I will, I will kill, hurt, and maim anyone whoever tries to do any damage to this precious little one.Like, thisshe's, she's everything to me.And I remember feeling that again 3 years later with, wi- with, with our, with our middle daughter, Lauren, and just, you know, aga- it was, it was a different ki- you know, the, the, the birth was different and sh- she was having some problems right afterwards too, and I remember there was this point where like, they wouldn't, they wouldn't bring her to her, and finally Heidi looks at me and is like, "I don't know where she is, but you go and find where she is, and you don't come back until you get her.Bring her to me."And like, and so, "Okay."And so, we did it.Right?And then we got to adopt li- our youngest, uh, several years after that, and just the joys of just meeting these precious little babies and just the overwhelming joy of it, and then parenting starts after that.The nurses are gone, right?And there's more to do 'cause they're helping le- like, why, why don't you come with?It'd be great.And then the kids turn to toddlers, and then preschoolers, and then elementary, and then it shoop, it just goes from there, right?And one day you're just like, "Uh-luh."You're doing everything right.But it's hard, it's difficult, it's challenging, and that joy, that spark can go and it just becomes a job to you.Again, I can, I could do this all day.I could do this with my, with my sports affiliations.I remember when I used to really just loved sports and my teams that I watch.Now it just feels laborious sometimes.Like, I'm so e- I'm so, I'm so stressed that something bad's gonna happen, I'm not just enjoying watching a game that I love to watch anymore.I'm just, I'm just anxious and stressed about it.But I'm always there, I'm always faithful.It's not that I'm not watching, it's not that I'm not there and I don't know all the things, and I'm following everything.But I don'tI'm enjoying it emotionally less.And so, I don't, uh, overwhelm people who don't necessarily like sports.I'll just move on.No matter what your thing is, your big hobby, your, the big, b- maybe it's a cultural thing, a book series, a movie series, a TV series, you're really into it, and then s- and, and you w- you can't rememberyou remember the first time, the first time I was into this.And then eventually it kinda becomes a chore.You know who's the worst at this?Sorry.Star Wars people.Of which I'm one.Right?Now they're putting out all this Star Wars content and all you ever hear about, "Well, that's, that's, that's not Star Wars.That's not Star Wars.That's not Star Wars."And you're watching it just to have something to be mad about later on the internet.And it can be likeI mean, it's like that right now.They're making a, they're making a new Harry Potter, uh, TV series and, I mean, and it seems like every new announcement is just something for the biggest fans to be mad about.Right?Or they're, they're changing.Why?Bah, bah.I don't even know why they're even trying to do that.Like, it justIt's reallyBut do you love Harry Potter?Yes.Do you love Star Wars?Yes.Mm, do you?Do, do you?'Cause sometimes I'll look.I'll just be interacting with somebody.Do you remember what it was like?I do.I was 7 years old when I saw the very first Star Wars movie in the theater.I remember that feeling.It wasn't something to be analyzed.It wasn't something to be critiqued.You know?Uh, I'm, I'm not sitting here trying to deeply analyze the social commentary that George Lucas is trying to make on society and war in general.I'm just like, "Oh, that's a robot.It's so cool."I've never seen anything like this before.And then eventually, you forget what it was like to experience it as a kid when you're 50 and you're just kind of over-analyzing everything.You still love it, but do you?And Jesus is like, "Man, you're doing everything right.Man, you're theYou're, you're theYou're, you're, you're my biggest fans.You come to all the meetings.You're following all the rules.You believe all the right things.But do you lo- do you love me?Where's the spark?Where's the life?Where's the love?Where's the joy?You've lost it."And if you've been walking with God for a while, I mean, maybe you do remember that time, that, that, that first freedom that you felt when the burden of sin was kind of taken off of you when you placed your f- faith in Jesus, and just the, the joy that was with it.And, and there was just a deep emotional love, relational connection with God, and a deep appreciation for Jesus and who He is and what He's done.And eventually, it became a job.It became a routine.It became a series of disciplines that I do in order to be a, a good member of the team.And it isn't necessarily a decision that was made.It is just a thing that just kind of routine can, can do to us.And it, and it, and it can happen any number of ways in any number of contexts where I started something and became something out of love and joy and devotion, and suddenly it just kind of became something that I do.And Jesus is like, "Man, I appreciate everything that you're doing.I'm so glad that you're here today.I'm glad, I'm glad that you're ch- worshiping today.I'm glad that you are faithfully giving to your church.I'm glad that you're doing your best to represent me well in your private life and out there with other people, and you're, you're holding back the pressures to think differently or behave differently because it would be easier to fit in.And, and I'm not asking you toI'm not asking you to stop any ofBut what I am saying is that I, I w- I w- I w- want you.I want your heart.I want your whole heart.I want, I want the joy and the life and the love and the relationship.I want that back."And then he wraps it up by saying this."To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life."And the reward, the victoryWhen you are victorious, what you get: eternal life.Eternal life is what is at the end of this.Now, I just wanna be really clear.There's gonna be a lot of these kind of, if you're victorious, then you're gonna get this, and all of them kind of revolve some way around eternal life.And I don't want you to read this conditionally, like it's a, like it's a veiled threat.Like if you aren't victorious, then you're going to not get this.That's not how he means it.It's not talking about that you can lose the gift of life that God has given you once you receive it through Jesus Christ.It's not what he's talking about.I don't wanna get into it too much.If you wannaIf you want, if you want to hear me rant about this incessantly, follow the Cultivate podcast.There are at least 3 episodes that we've recorded over the last few weeks where I'm ranting about it for at least 10 to 15 minutes.It's very important that you understand that the relationship that you have with God is secure.That's not what he's talking about.This is what victory will bring.When you have made it all the way through and we stay connected, and whatever all of this is that's coming at the end of Revelation, and you make it all the way through, me, you, together in Heaven, with the tree you read about in Genesis, connected and- and loving one another, living life together forever.Eventually, all this pressure is gonna be gone.All the stress is gonna be gone.All the pulls in all the different directions.And it's just gonna be me, you, and life forever.Let's- let's get it now.Let's get it now.Let's- let's- let's get it back now.I love your devotion.I love your faithfulness.But I want you to feel that love and relationship and connection again.and you'll be victorious.You'll have- you'll- you'll- you'll have won all of this.Because me and you, the tree of life, eternal life, forever.And it is not something that you have to wait for.You can wait for this culmination, but the closeness, the love, the life, we- we can have it now again.Thanks for your devotion.Fall in love with me again.Let me pray.God, I am, I'm just very thankful for the devotion of the people who are here on a cloudy day in the summer.On a Sunday morning, God, that people would come, because they know what is right.It's the right thing to do, to connect, to sing, to hear.God, I thank you for their faithful giving, faithful living.God, I thank you just for all the wrestling that I know that is going on in the hearts and minds as we try to live in a world where sometimes it can be difficult to hold to the truths that, God, you teach.But God, I pray that deeper than that for all of us, we would have a heart-on-heart connection with you.That we would live in the joy that comes from a relationship with you.And that, God, that it would be more than just a job.It'd be more than that.It would be a real relationship with you.So God, I pray that we can rekindle that.And God, for those of us who have never experienced God, that we would give our hearts and lives fully to you right now, accepting what your son Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.And being free from sin.Experiencing life through your resurrection.And that, God, that that joy would be something that, God, that's- it would not be something that fades away.That it'd be something that would be with us, that we would carry with us all the way through.And that we would be victorious.And it is in your son's name that we pray.Amen.presence.In a grace so relentless.I am won.By perfect love.Wrapped within the arms of Heaven.In a peace that lasts forever.Sinking deep.In mercy's sea.I'm wide awake.Drawing close, stood by grace.And oh, my heart is Yours.All fear removed.breathe you in.Lean into your love.Oh, your love.When I'm lost, you pursue me.Lift my head to see.Glory, Lord ofSo beIn the center of your face.My secret place.I'm wide awake.Drawing close, stood by grace.And all my heart is yours.All fear removed.I breathe you in.Lean into your love.love so deep.It's washing over me.Your face is all I seek.You are my everything.Jesus Christ.You are my one desire.Lord, hear my only cry.Tolove so deep.It's washing over me.Your face is all I seek.You are my everything.Jesus Christ.You are my one desire.Lord, hear my only cry.To know you all my life.I'm wideDrawing close, stood by grace.And all my heart is yours.All fear removed.I breathe you in.Lean into your love.Oh, your love.Yeah, Grove Church, and we just invite you to respond in some way as we lift the words to this final song together.That might mean standing up, it might mean praying in the place where you are sitting.Could mean going to the back and kneeling at the cross or taking communion, that's available back there as well.But we just invite you to, to respond in some way as we sing of God's amazing grace.dead now I live for God has raised oh that grace what have you done murdered for me on that cross accused in absence of wrong my sin washed away in your bloodmuch to make sense of it now I know that your love breaks my fall the scandal of grace you died in my place so willingly I want to be like you give all I have just to know youwe just want to say thank you this morning that you, you do.You want our hearts, not just dos and the don'ts and the practice.Those, those things are important, but, don't stop there.You, you love us.And, um, what you desire and invite us to, to love you back and to have that kind of relationship.A relationship that has sparks, that is, um, that is, is powerful and not just rote memory, but something that's much, much deeper.Father, would you, would you just remind us of it?Would, would you let this be a day, a week, uh, a summer of remembrance of who you are and what you've done and, how you love us and what it means to walk with you and to have a relationship with you?And, yeah, Father, we just ask that you would, you do that to your glory.Amen.Amen.Yeah, go ahead and have a seat.I, I don't know why but, uh, lately there I've just been captivated by sunsets.Um, I- I don't know for- they've just been especially beautiful.I've been to some places where I've gotten to see, uh, the sunset and have had the time to stop and really, really look at it a little bit.And I was just thinking about it this morning because it's right?It's like happens every day.Like I mean, you know, I, I don't know that I can go back and remember the first, the first sunset that I saw that I was just looked at it and was just amazed.Um, but I know as a, as a kid, I mean, that, you know, I remember kind of looking and, and feeling that feeling that can just, can just get old and you can start to go through the day and just forget it.And, and I was thinking about that 'cause it really is.I mean, have you looked at the sunset in a while?I challenge, that's my challenge today.Um, because in the, in the same way, I mean, I can look back and remember the first time that the Gospel really like hit and made sense to me.And I realized that this God, in spite of me running from him, in spite of me going my own way and doing my own thing and sinning against him, that he would chase me down.With the blood of his own Son he would, he would buy me back.By his free gift and him doing all the work he would, he would, he would accept me and invite me into this relationship that we're talking about.And how beautiful and incredibleastoundingly that that was the first time when IAnd, yeah, it is.We just, uh, just like the Ephesians, it feels like over time we start to, we start to forget, and, um, so, man, I just really appreciate the, appreciate the challenge this morning.This, this series, as we look at these different churches and these different letters, it's just going to be emp- be reallythe service, but just as a reminder, uh, be looking at your email.You can go to the website and find out about the different events that we've got going on and the ways that you can get connected.If this is your first, first time to be with us, we really would like to meet you.Uh, one of the staff will be in the back of the room at that table I was talking about.Dads, I don't know if you missed it on the way in, but we've got a dad's donuts and dad jokes table out there.We've, we've got a church member who has really taken this upon herself and is just making these days really, really special.Now, Mama's Day, you know, we got a photo op.We're not doing that on Dad's Day because dads don't want to take pictures, so if you want to take a picture of the d- donuts and dad's table, feel free, 'cause it is pretty incredible, but more just to eat a donut and look at some of these jokes, 'cause they're pretty funny.Um, but you guys, other than that, y'all just have a great week, and I will see you next Sunday.