Hey, this is Pastor John Ryan Cantu from PNEUMA Church in Houston, Texas.

Thank you for listening to the message today.

I hope that it blesses you and all those that you share it with.

God bless you.

Are you blessed to be in the house of God this morning?

Amen.

Give God some praise.

Come on.

Give him some praise.

He woke you up today.

He woke you up.

He puts some air in your lungs.

Amen.

I want you to stand with me.

And we're going to go.

You didn't even have to go there because you probably know it by heart.

John 316 and 17.

But for those who don't know it, I have it up here.

I'm going to go ahead and read it.

He says, for God so love of the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Amen.

That's it.

That's the scripture this morning.

Let's go to God and pray.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for this word.

My God, I thank you for what you're doing here.

Lord, I thank you, my God, for your presence.

And I pray right now, Lord, just for open hearts, open minds.

Father God, I pray that you would soften hearts this morning, Father God.

That you would make us attentive to your word, Father God, so that we can receive everything that you want to say through your Holy Spirit.

Father God, I pray that you would be on my lips.

My God, that would be sensitive to whatever you want to do, whatever you want to say, Father God.

And I pray as a result of this word, my God, that you would bring healing, that you would bring conviction, that you would bring freedom, Father God.

And I pray for salvation this morning in the house of God.

We love you and we thank you.

In Jesus name, amen.

Amen, you can be seated this morning.

Amen.

This week, we spent some time in Canada, a town called Banff.

Bamp, and it's probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to.

Really, really nice.

Everywhere we went was nice.

And it just really makes you appreciate the work of our creator.

We have an amazing author and creator, God.

And so everywhere we went was beautiful.

We had an amazing time, probably one of our, one of my top vacations.

And I say that because I have a lot of time to think or prepare for a message this week.

We also had a board meeting yesterday, and I wasn't prepared for that either.

And usually what happens when I go out of town, I plan not to preach that week for that, for that reason, because I don't like to just whip something up.

For me, that's not bringing God my best.

And so, but I also didn't preach twice this month, and I didn't want to not preach again.

And so I say all of this because, you know, if God's hand was in all of this, which I believe it was, he wanted me to preach this message that I'm going to preach today that on any other Sunday, I probably would have not preached.

Because it is very simple, not theologically profound.

In fact, it's probably one of the most basic. messages you might ever hear.

But I came home Saturday morning.

We got home at 2 a.m. in the morning on Saturday.

I just had a burden to remind the church that Jesus loves you.

That's the message.

Jesus loves you.

And not just you, but everyone that he died for, right?

The text says that God so loved the world that whoever would believe in him would not perish.

Jesus said these words.

So in context, he said this to the high, respected Jewish teacher, Nicodemus.

Nicodemus was well versed in the Old Testament and the law.

And so to tell a Jewish teacher that God loves not just Israel, but everyone, that was a big deal.

That would have been controversial.

And today, God still loves everyone.

Everyone.

He loves those who are yet to receive him.

He loves those who are still battling the things of the world.

He loves those who have not yet broken the change.

He loves the Christians and he loves those who he is waiting for.

And I know we all know that.

You all know that we all believe that God is love and that we are loved by God.

And so, you know, I think that's one of the most basic principles of our faith, that God is love.

That's the message this morning.

God is love.

If you were to ever minister to somebody, that's probably where you would start, right?

You would probably start with, hey, Jesus loves you.

God wants you.

He wants a relationship with you.

And you'd probably even start with this verse because it's been. ingrained in the Christian mind that God is love.

But I always have a but.

What we believe, theologically, as Christians, is not always congruent with what we know personally.

That makes sense?

But there's a lot of us who know God theologically, but we struggle to experience all that he is in a personal matter.

So you know God is good because we read that God is good, and we say it all the time at church, and we sing songs about God being good, but you might struggle to experience the goodness of God in your life.

You might struggle to experience the peace of Christ in your life, even though you know that Christ brings peace.

Theologically, you know that every morning you should be getting up and you should be rejoicing because this is the day that the Lord has made.

I will rejoice and be glad.

But in reality, most days you wake up in a bad mood, and you probably stay in a bad mood.

So, I mean, your theology, our theology tells us one thing, but experience tells us another thing.

And there's people in the room this morning who proclaim these things about God, but in their soul, there's a little bit of doubt.

What you know about God, church, has to go deeper than just a theology.

It's got to be lived.

It's got to be applied.

It's got to be experience.

There has to be a healthy balance between what you read and what you hear about God and what you actually experience when you commune with God.

Am I talking to anybody this morning?

When you're applying for a job, education is great, but what's a little bit better?

Experience.

They want to know that you've actually been in the field.

You know what you're doing through practice, not just theory.

And so the same is true with our first. faith.

If you have not experienced God in your life on a deep and personal level, I'm sorry, but the theology will only take you so far.

Theology is good.

I love theology.

But to know God personally is different than just knowing God theologically.

And, you know, today I vow to not beat anybody up today.

I don't, I want to encourage you today.

I want to encourage you because like I said, I think somebody just needs to be reminded of that very simple truth that they are loved by God because even though you've believed it, you haven't really experienced it in a while.

And maybe you're getting tired of hearing and believing and you want to start seeing and knowing.

Because every Sunday you hear that God loves you.

When you read the Bible, you read that God loves you.

You choose to believe it because you're a Christian.

But because it's been a while since you've actually felt something, you start to get tired of worshipping.

Let's be honest.

Maybe you're getting tired of being positive all the time and having the faith all the time.

And you're tired of things not changing when you're asking God to change my situation and you're starting to let that question creep in that I've asked so many times.

Maybe you've asked, does God really care about me?

Do I really matter to God?

Am I just small potatoes to God?

Does God have bigger things and bigger people to worry about?

Does God call just a few people and forget about me?

I don't know why, but I just, man, I felt so strongly to tell somebody this morning.

I don't know who.

Jesus loves you, man.

Jesus loves you.

And he is not forgotten about you.

You are still on his mind.

He's already proved it.

God so loved the world.

That includes you that he gave.

See, we're always talking about as Christians that we need to be prepared to give.

We need to be prepared to sell everything and give it to the poor to follow Jesus.

We need to be prepared to leave father and mother to be a disciple of Jesus.

We need to be prepared for when Jesus calls.

But God isn't just prepared to love you.

He already gave.

He didn't just, he's not prepared to give.

He already gave you everything.

Through Jesus, he gave his only soul. son.

He left his heavenly throne.

He gave up his blood.

He gave up his life.

When I was meditating on this word, man, I almost wept because there's Christians who are being lied to by their experiences and by the enemy and by maybe other people who are trying to deceive them into thinking that they really aren't loved by God.

You are loved by God.

You are.

And I want that to be more than just your theology.

Theology is important.

It's what grounds you.

It's what keeps you going even when you don't feel it.

But I also, I want you to feel it.

I want you to know it.

I want you to know that because God means to hurt you or harm you, but rather to build you up and mold you and strengthen you.

I want you to know that.

But there's only so much that theology can do without a personal experience.

And I love educating Christians, and I believe discipleship includes educating people in the Word of God theologically, but you have to experience something real with God to actually know it.

It's one thing to know. something by theory.

It's another thing to know it by experience.

We live in a world that doesn't know the love of God like we do.

See, no.

Live in a world that doesn't know the love of Christ like we do.

We live in a world where I was looking at several statistics, say, give the same number, that like in America alone, there's about 20 million people that are currently dealing with, depression.

That's just what we know.

We know that there's been a lost sense of identity.

We live in a time where so many people are looking for their identity.

They're looking for a purpose in anything but God.

They're trying to find fulfillment in people, in careers, and and callings, but everything but God.

We have so many people in this world who have nobody to turn to.

They have no community around them.

They've got no godly family, no godly friends.

And I don't want to be so naive to say that God is going to fix every situation, but we also can't devalue the power of a real relationship with Christ.

That probably won't come from you preaching to them.

It'll probably come from them seeing that the love of Christ has changed you.

I've got a, I have a lot of conversations with, you know, strangers.

People walk in to the church all the time.

Many of them need prayer and they need Jesus.

And I've counseled people who are going through like a mess. of a situation, they're feeling hopeless, and they don't go to God because they don't know how to go to God.

So they go to the closest thing that is to God.

They go to the church.

And they say, Pastor, we're going through all of this.

I need some help.

I don't know what to do.

And there's so many different symptoms, whether it be there's marriage problems or there's depression or there's whatever.

And all I can do in a short amount of time is tell these people that they are loved by God.

God, that Jesus wants a relationship with them, and that they have a purpose and that we're created with an intention.

And a lot of times what happens is in that room, in my office, when I say that, it brings people to tears because they're already in emotional state, but very rarely does the theology of God's love heal their souls.

They have to experience it.

They have to plug in.

They have to keep coming.

They have to see the love that has changed me so that they can say, man, I want that.

I want that.

It's one thing to speak about something.

It's another thing to see it.

And there's a lot of Christians, Christians, people in the room who understand the theology of God's love, but they haven't stepped into actually experiencing it.

And so because of that, when you walk in pain, you don't know how to also walk in joy.

How many of you know that as Christians, we're going to walk in pain, but we should always always walk in pain. but we should always be walking in joy.

So if I'm hurt, I'm still rejoicing because God is good and he's been good and I can experience that because I've lived that.

But when all you have is the theology behind it and you haven't actually experienced it's really hard to walk in pain and also in joy.

When you get attacked by life, you also wrestle with doubt and you lose your peace.

But when you know God, when you know him on a deal, deep level and you know that he's got you and that he's not left you when you know that you are in the potter's hands the joy sticks around even though it's a little bit the faith sticks around it might be the size of a mustard seed but it's it's there and i just need somebody to know this morning that jesus loves you jesus loves you i want to go through three things real quick that that i believe contribute to the doubt that god really loves us and cares for for us.

Again, this is a simple message.

Okay.

This might not even be for you.

You might be here.

You're good.

If that's you, I'm going to ask that you just be patient.

Okay.

And just come back next week and they'll probably be a word for you.

But today, I believe that for whoever this is for, even if it's for one person, this could truly build faith and trust because somebody just needs to be reminded that they are loved by God, because everything in their life right now is telling them that they are not and that they have nobody. in their life that loves them, not even God.

And I'm telling you that is a lie from the enemy.

You are loved by the most high God.

Okay?

And so if you already know that and you've experienced it, sit down and just pay attention.

Don't be on your phone or anything.

I'll be honest.

Sometimes I don't feel the love of God in my life.

I know that he loves me, but I don't always feel that he loves me.

And if you're weaker or new, to the faith, not feeling God's love can be very discouraging because humans have a bad habit of equating feeling with truth.

Right.

So if we feel it, it must be true.

If we don't feel it, it must be not true.

Now, the truth is, it's easier for me to feel loved when I feel blessed.

So you don't know.

When I go out of my way for my wife and I do something for her without her asking me to do it, she feels super loved.

When she builds me up with her words, because that's the way that I receive love, without me having to probe and ask, like, so what do you think about my sermon?

You know, like when she just goes out of her way and builds me up with her words, I feel loved by her.

Now, I don't know if you've ever asked yourself this question, but the way that I feel loved, by God is when I feel heard by God.

That's what, man, when God reminds me that he's listening to me, when he gives me a word, because I'm, I'm so often, you know, in my own head and doubting myself and doubting myself as a husband, as a father, as a man, as a pastor, as a leader.

And I'm like, God, am I still called?

God, am I still anointed?

God, am I pleasing you?

And whenever I'm asking those questions, I get in a bad mood.

I get like in this really funky state of mind.

And then God reassures me through a prophetic voice or a song or his or the word.

And he very clearly reaffirms me in that moment.

And it makes me feel good because I feel hurt.

And when I leave the house of God on those days, man, I feel refreshed.

I feel like I've got this, this fresh anointing and calling over my life.

And I'll tell you what, I don't get that every day.

God doesn't always throw me a bone every day. sometimes I go weak, sometimes I go months in my own head, asking for an answer.

And God is not always there to tug on my feelings.

Because you know what?

God is not going to baby you like your spouse does or like your mommy does.

He's not going to give you butterflies every day like you had when you were dating your spouse.

He's not trying to please you like. he's a customer service agent.

And so you have to know that.

I want you to know that.

Before I even get into these three points, feelings are inevitable in every relationship.

But they should not be the dictator of your decisions.

Because too often, when we don't feel loved by God, we suddenly don't feel like going to church.

When we don't feel loved by God, we suddenly don't feel like seeking him through worship.

We stopped feeling grateful.

But I remind you that even Jesus felt anger, felt sorrow.

On the cross, he felt abandonment by his own father, but he knew that his father in heaven had a plan and a purpose because of love.

All that God does for his children is from a place of love.

And so the love that you receive from God, it has got to be more important.

It's got to be more than a feeling.

Yes. the love that you receive from God is got to be more than a feeling because you're not going to feel it every day.

You're not.

I mean, if that's you, I need to learn from you.

Because I don't always feel the warmth of God's presence.

I don't always feel cozy in God's presence.

Sometimes I feel cold.

Sometimes I feel alone.

Sometimes I feel unheard.

But I know that God loves me.

And so the love that God, has for you has to go beyond just what you feel.

When you feel it, soak it up.

When God blesses you, when he answers a prayer, when he does a miracle, soak it up and let that serve as a reminder for the future that you are loved.

But in a moment where you're not feeling it, you've got to know it.

You've got to know it and you've got to hold on to it.

I don't feel love by my wife every day.

She don't love, I'm sure she doesn't feel loved by me every day.

Sometimes we feel annoyed with each other.

Sometimes we feel mad at each other.

But I stay committed to to her because I love her and I know that she loves me even when we don't feel the love in that moment.

And there's going to be plenty of times where you don't naturally feel loved by God.

Hebrew says that God disciplines those he loves.

I don't know.

I don't know about you, but when I was disciplined as a kid, I didn't feel loved.

I felt disciplined.

Right?

That's not a lovely feeling.

And so I want to give you real quick three practical things so that when you're in these moments, you can know that God's love has not failed you.

Amen?

You're still with me?

Okay.

Number one, God is love in the silence.

God is love in the silence.

I know many of you have probably prayed.

You've prayed for God to show you something.

You've prayed for revelation.

You've prayed for God to manifest his glory, but you don't hear his voice.

Or when you do hear his voice, it has nothing to do with what you're asking for, right?

and so you think that your requests are being ignored by God.

And King David knows all about this in Psalms 22.

He says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning?

Oh, God, I cry by day, but you do not answer.

And by night, I find no rest.

When I get to heaven, I'm going to shake David's hand.

And I'm going to thank him for not always feeling the need to be spiritual.

Thank you, David, for keeping it real.

And letting me know that it's not just me who feels this way at times.

The very man who was anointed by the prophet, chosen by God to be king over his people, a man who loved God also felt forsaken by God.

And I'll tell you, and I've seen it so many times, silence can be the killer of your faith.

People are loud.

Christians are loud.

Preachers are loud.

And sometimes, you know, we're loud in the wrong way.

That we lead people astray with our thoughts and our opinions.

But God is very often working in the silence.

And that's because God doesn't always need to speak because he already spoke.

God doesn't need to reaffirm anything that he's already said.

Once he said it, it's done, it's in stone.

He is not like man who he should lie.

He's not a man to go back on his promises.

His promises are yes and amen.

That's the God who I serve.

But because we have been so ingrained with not being able to trust people because people are fickle.

And even the people that we love betray us sometimes.

Sometimes we think that God is one of them.

And God will say, no, if I said it once, that's all I need to do.

He doesn't need to speak again.

He doesn't always need to work because he's already worked it out.

But the natural reaction to silence is curiosity.

When God gets silent, we get curious.

You know, whenever you text somebody and they don't reply, they hate me.

They must hate me.

I must have offended them.

Or when your wife is quiet, men, you're wondering what you did wrong.

What I do?

What did I say?

Is she hungry?

Is she sad?

Then you ask.

And she's like, I'm fine.

And then she's quiet again.

Then you have more questions.

When God doesn't answer and when he doesn't speak or when he takes a step back, we get curious.

And I'll tell you, man, that these thoughts have come to my mind.

I'm going to be vulnerable as well.

Like, I've thought, is God mad at me?

I've thought, is he done with me?

Has he rejected me?

Have I failed him too many times?

But that same David, who felt abounded by God, also remember. the God that he served.

In the very same passage, he says, yet you are holy.

You are enthroned on the praises of Israel.

And you are fathers trusted.

They trusted and you delivered them.

To you, they cried and were rescued.

And you, they trusted and were not put to shame.

When God is silent, church, I want you to get this.

When God is silent, your praise needs to be loud.

Okay?

Because when God is silent, a lot of times we get silent.

When God is silent, we, we get quiet and the devil likes to take that as an opportunity to throw you some lies.

The devil likes to take that as an opportunity to end the silence, get really, really loud.

And you're only going to listen to the voice that you hear.

So when God is silent, your praise, your worship has got to be louder than it's ever been before.

Our relationship with God is a two-way street.

And you know what?

There was a time when God called you and you didn't answer.

There was a time when God spoke over your life and you didn't move.

And yet he waited for you.

He didn't stop pursuing you, even though he knew you would sin and you would disappoint.

He loved you enough to wait in your silence.

And so when God is silent in my life, should I not pursue him all the same?

Should I not wait on him all the same?

Because if he did it for me, how could I not do it for my holy God?

God is not mad at you, he's not done with you, he's not forgotten about. you.

If there's one thing that I know about being in a silent sanctuary, oh man, how many times I've prayed right here when nobody has been in the room throughout the week.

And I'm praying.

And when I pray, I like to walk.

And I'm praying.

And I'm in a desperate moment saying, God, I need to hear you.

I want to hear you.

And I've asked them, Lord, speak to me audibly.

God, throw me something.

Give me a sign.

I need to know.

I need to know.

I need to know. what you're thinking.

Stop making me guess.

If there's anything that I've learned in a quiet worship room is that when I don't hear him, I still feel closer to him because I'm forced to pursue him.

When God is quiet, that's when wisdom, that's when discernment has to be strengthened.

It's when I can't get lazy with my Christianity.

It's when I need to trust in the spirit's work in my life.

The silence builds our faith.

I don't know what I'm talking to, but let me tell you again, the silence is meant to build your faith.

God loves you enough to be silent.

God loves you enough not to speak every single word where your foot should step.

He loves you enough to build you up.

That's the first one.

Number two, God is love in the trouble.

So the temptation of silence is to get curious with God.

The temptation of trouble is to think that God just doesn't care about us.

Why am I going through this?

Why am I experiencing trouble?

The gospel tells us that the night Jesus was arrested, his soul was troubled.

It was sorrowful.

The Greek word for troubled is ad domino. which means to be distressed and in anxiety.

Jesus felt distressed and anxious.

And man, you know me, I just, I like to wonder like what the thoughts were that Jesus was dealing with.

What was he saying to himself?

What was he thinking?

We have no way of knowing.

All we know is that Jesus prayed, Father, if you will, let this cup pass from me.

Take this trouble from me.

And I know we've all prayed versions of that.

I've prayed many versions of that.

God take this from me, remove me from this, let this pass already.

I'm sick of dealing with this.

I'm troubled.

I'm stressed.

I'm anxious.

And again, these are moments when we aren't feeling the love of God over our lives.

And all we can do is ask why.

Why, God?

Why am I going through this?

Why is this happening to me?

Is anybody in a season of why right now?

That's all.

You can raise your hand.

Yeah.

There's people that are in a season of why.

And you know what I've realized in my, I've been a Christian a long time.

Sometimes there's not a why.

There's not a why.

You get sick.

There's not always a why.

Somebody that you love passes away.

There's not always a why.

I've experienced God's love through trouble and in trouble.

There's two different things.

See, sometimes God causes us. the trouble.

Sometimes the trouble is necessary to produce a desired outcome.

In the case of Jesus, his troubles were a result of what he needed to do to bring salvation to people.

He had to go through the trouble.

So God was loving Jesus and at the same time loving us through the trouble that Jesus experienced.

It's because of his love that he caused the trouble.

But sometimes, the trouble isn't because God, it's because of me.

It's because the decision I made, because I did something dumb.

And the decision, you know, or somebody else did something to harm me.

You know, it wasn't God.

When we ask God, Lord, why is such evil happening to me?

It's not because God caused you trouble to teach you something, but he will love you while you're there.

He's still going to love you in the trouble.

He will love you in the pain. and in the distress that comes with living in this world.

We're always trying to make sense of things, man, and the things that we go through.

And not everything is always going to make sense, but remember that Jesus loved you in his trouble, Jesus loved you in his pain, Jesus loved you in his humiliation and persecution, knowing that when trouble came to your doorstep, you wouldn't easily love him back.

God hasn't stopped loving you in your anguish.

He hasn't stopped loving you in your sorrow.

He still loves you.

The last one.

I don't have the worship team come up.

God loves you in your shame.

God loves you in your shame.

I felt this one hard, man.

Because there's so many people who can handle the silence.

They can handle the pain.

They're used to it.

But you can't handle the shame. like Peter who denied Jesus three times after assuring Jesus that he would never do such a thing he retreated from the disciples and he went back to his old life the shame that you deal with it tells you that you're not even worthy of God's love maybe you should go back to your life with your old friends where you feel more like yourself because in the presence of a holy God you feel unworthy to even stand but Paul tells the Corinthians that that their grief leads to repentance that leads to salvation.

That's godly grief.

The grief that you experience is meant to make you turn away from what you did to a God that can heal you of your past.

That's what is there for.

That's the Holy Spirit's version of conviction.

Your grief.

It's godly grief.

And it makes you make better decisions than what you've done in the past. but for a lot of people that I've talked to, it's not just about what you've done.

It's about who you think you still are.

I'm going to say that one again.

I want you to get it.

You know that grief leads to repentance that leads to salvation, but you're thinking of terms of what you've done.

God can heal you of your sins. but you're still convinced that you're a sinner.

You still think that that's who you are.

And because you think that that's who you are, you hold on to that shame.

You can't let it go because you think it's a part of your identity.

That's the shame that kills you.

The shame of who you think you are is what kills you.

I'm a lustful person.

I'm a prideful person.

I'm a hateful person.

I'm an angry person.

I'm a bitter person. and you ask God, how can you love me with all of this being such a part of who I still am?

And so you think, well, maybe I need to leave the church for a little bit and I got to work on myself and I got to fix myself.

And then maybe I can be worthy of the love of God and feel better about myself because I'm not that person anymore.

Let me tell you, beloved family, you will never be worthy of God's love.

Never.

That's why grace is a gift.

It's undeserved.

There's nothing we could do.

There's nothing I can do.

I can be as holy as I could possibly be.

I could be holier than any other person in the world.

And I'm still undeserving of the perfect grace of God.

But why does God give grace?

Why does he give such an undeserving gift to an undeserving people?

Because he loves you.

That's why.

It's not based on who you are, what you did.

It's based on who he is.

He is the God of love.

1.

John 4.8 says, and this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him.

And this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation of our sins.

And if I'm talking to you today, I want you to remember Romans 5-8.

We didn't do a lot of exegeting this morning.

I didn't have like an anchor text or anything like that.

Very topical sermon.

I'm not used to it.

I don't like it.

But I want you to remember this.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this.

While we were still, somebody say still.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us in our sin.

When that's who we were, God died for us.

Jesus died for us.

So with whatever shame you're dealing with, that hasn't allowed you to experience the love of God, I'm telling you today, man, God loves you.

And through your shame, he wants to bring healing to your life and transformation to your life.

And he will.

If you just let yourself be loved by the Father, so many of us, so many Christians have yet to let us. to let themselves be loved by the Father.

You love Him.

You love God.

You're thankful for God.

But you're not living as a child loved by the most high God.

And I pray this morning that those of you who are feeling abandoned in the silence, pain in the trouble, and guilt and the shame, that you would know that today through all of that, all of that feeling.

Jesus still loves you.

Don't let the feeling of what you're passing through.

Make you doubt the love that God truly has for you.

You've not stopped mattering to God.

You've not left his mind.

The Apostle Paul knew a life of persecution.

I'm almost done.

He knew a life of persecution.

We all know his story.

He was persecuted.

He was in prison.

He was beat.

He was shipwreck.

I mean, he had the worst life. doing the work of Christ.

Why, God?

Why couldn't I just be comfortable?

Why couldn't you make me comfortable?

Why couldn't you make a way through all of the work that you were calling me to do for you?

Why did you make it so hard?

Why was there trouble?

Why was their opposition?

Why was their imprisonment?

And eventually death, why did you make it so hard?

And when I ask of your grace and when I ask of, of, of, of, of, of your help and to be delivered of the things that I was going through.

You said, my grace is sufficient.

You didn't even get to the cross of the problem.

Why God?

Paul learned some things.

And one of the most beautiful verses about the love of God.

It's not John 316.

It's a great verse.

But it's where Paul coming from a place of experience and hurt and pain and opposition all his life. declares about the love of God that neither death nor life, angels or rulers, things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, no death, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ.

You are loved.

You're loved.

I don't know who that's for.

I don't know who that's for, but you are loved by God.

I want you to stand with me this morning.

If you're going to be baptized, I'm going to go ahead and dismiss you to get dressed.

I want to pray over you first, and then I want to invite you to the altar just to have a personal moment with God.

Lord, I pray over this family this morning, Lord.

I pray over that person right now, Father God, who has been questioning the love that you might have for them, Father.

I pray that for that person who has felt abandoned, who feels alone, Father God.

I pray for that person who has no joy.

My God, they haven't been able to find it in a long time, Lord.

I pray for that person, my God, who's been struggling in the chaos.

My God, they don't even know where peace is.

Father, they know you theologically, my God, and they declare these things, my God.

But they have not felt it, Father God.

They have not known it from a personal experience.

Right now, Lord, I pray over their lives, Father God, that you would inundate them with your love, Father.

Do it, Holy Spirit, right now, Father God.

I pray, Father God, that you would fill them with joy, that you would fill them with peace, Father, God.

That you would remind your children that you are a God who loves His people, Father. strengthen us this morning, my God.

Give hope to the hopeless, Father God.

Give rest, my God, to the rest of us, Father.

In Jesus' name, I pray.

I want you to come forward this morning and just have a moment with God at these altars.

Thanks for listening.

If you'd like some more information on PNEUMA Church, visit us on our website at mypneumachurch.org.

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Thanks again and God bless.

Thank you.