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 who you share it with.

God bless you.

Praise God.

Let's go to the word.

Matthew 22 And we're gonna read 34 through 38.

Matthew 22, 34 through 38.

And if you have it, you can let me know you have it.

Amen.

Praise the Lord.

We got it.

The word says this, but when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?

And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

This is the first and greatest commandment.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for this word that you have spoken over your servant, my God, to deliver to your people, my God.

I pray, Lord, as I have received it, they would receive it, my God.

I pray that our hearts would be open, our minds would be open, my God, to whatever you want to do, whatever you want to say this morning, Father God, that this would lead us to deeper communion with you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

You can be seated.

Hallelujah.

I titled my sermon The Greatest.

The Greatest.

If you're taking notes, you can write that at the top of your page with big letters.

The greatest.

Underline it, circle it, highlight it.

I I want to preach uh this this message that I've I've preached before.

Actually, I've preached this within the last couple years.

And so for many of you, this is going to be pretty familiar.

But I, you know, I think.

There's a lot of sermons that need to be preached often, right?

And this is one of them.

This is one of those sermons that I believe needs to be at least heard.

Once a year, because this is the most important command that God gave to his people, and we are the people of God.

Amen.

Jesus is quoting here from Deuteronomy 6.

Deuteronomy 6 is what is known as the Shema or the Shemach, if you want to be Hebraically correct.

The Shema.

Is probably the most important piece of instruction that God gave to the people of Israel right before Moses ' death.

It is still considered to be a central tenet of the Jewish faith.

In traditional Jewish culture, they actually recite the Shema twice daily, once when they wake up and once before they go to bed.

This is the greatest Commandment ever given to God's people.

Shema means to hear But more than just to hear, this is a call to attention.

This is a call to attention with the intention that everything that is about to be heard will be practiced and lived out.

So we're going to talk about it this morning.

So hopefully you are hearing with the intention to live this out God says, Jesus says, love the Lord your God with everything.

Now we we all know how important it is to love God.

We say it all the time.

I love you, Jesus.

We just sang about it.

I love you, Jesus.

We write songs about it, about how much we love God, but What is loving God?

I don't know if you've ever thought about it.

What does loving God actually like translate to?

Because you know there's people in the church who I think love ministry more than they love God.

You know what I mean?

And they don't realize it because they think ministry is the same thing as God.

But they love ministry more than they love God.

There's people who love worship songs more than they love the God that those worship songs are about.

And you can't worship God unless a certain song is playing.

There's people who love the community.

They love coming to church more than they love God.

There's people who love to be used by God more than they enjoy just sitting in the presence of God, enjoying his spirit.

There's people who love uh other things, things that are connected to God more than they love God Himself.

Can we just can we just be real?

We're gonna be real People connect God to all these different things, but it's not God that they love.

It's the connection to all these things that they love in the name of God.

It's the problem that Jesus stated in Matthew 7.

He says, Not everybody who calls me Lord is going to see the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father.

He says, On that day, many will say to me, Lord, but did we not prophesy in your name?

Did we not cast out demons in your name?

Didn't we do mighty works and miracles in your name?

And I will declare to them, depart from me, I never even knew you.

Isn't that crazy that one day Jesus will look at people in the eye that we, the church, considered holy men and women of God, full of anointing, and knew how to do leadership?

Who unbeknownst to us didn't even have a true relationship with the Lord.

They had more of a relationship with the church and the ministry.

Jesus says, I I never even knew you.

So we have to be able to strip ourselves of everything Listen, we got to be able to strip ourselves of everything that connects us to God and still know how to have a real connection directly to his heart.

Did you get that?

I need you to lock in today.

I need you to get this.

Because because like when you're going on a road trip and and you lose signal and you can't access Spotify that worship playlist, do you still worship or are you like I've got to wait till I have signal again?

To worship.

You know what I mean?

When the church community isn't the same as what it used to be.

When when the people that were once there when you first got saved aren't there anymore.

Can you still worship when there's no ministry to lead, when there's when there's nothing to be used in?

Is God still central to everything in your life?

I think that's a question that we have to wrestle with every single day.

We got to think about it enough times.

I think it's a good idea to test it.

This is why sabbaticals are important.

And sabbaticals aren't just for ministry leaders or pastors.

I think everybody should take a sabbatical.

Everybody should take some time to rest with God.

Where you pull away from the work that you're doing for God and just be with God.

Like Mary.

Like Jesus would often do.

Jesus.

Would hustle all day long and then he would pull away and he would be one-on-one with his father.

A sabbatical when when you pull away even from the community of faith.

From the church to be alone with God like Jacob did when he sent his family, his tribe away.

He was like, Y'all go, y'all keep going I gotta have a moment with God.

And that night, all night long, he wrestled with the angel of the Lord.

He needed to get some things off his chest that he couldn't say with other people around We need to take some time to learn how to pray and worship without music.

That's one way to worship, it's not the only way.

And so I would challenge you to put your love for God to the test and make sure it's genuine.

And you might find out, man, it's really hard for me to pray without music.

And I start to pray, and my mind starts to drift.

And I get bored when I'm reading the Bible, you might you might find that you can't come to the altar call without praying for somebody because you don't know how to have an encounter with God on your own at the altar.

You always gotta be praying for somebody else you might find that you go to vacation and not once do you even look at the Bible or talk about God.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking these connections to God.

I love ministry, I love preaching, I love counseling, I love praying over people, I love worship.

And we're always encouraging people to plug into these things because at first that's what you need.

You need to plug into the church to connect to God.

You need to study the word to become a disciple of Jesus.

You need to come to the nights of worship to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

But we also need to learn how to unplug from all of that to connect directly to the heart of God.

You hearing me today?

Sorry, I still got a little bit of residual phlegmas or something.

Sorry.

Look, sometimes I'll be honest with you, I've caught myself.

Sometimes it's it's more music than it is worship.

Sometimes it's more ministry than it is worship.

I want to be able to touch God's heart even when all of these connections to God are not accessible.

If I'm stripped of everything, if I'm alone in the desert and I got no phone and I got no company.

I got no instruments to play.

I want to still be able to touch God's heart and move his heart with my worship when I am stripped of everything.

And I'm willing to bet that many people in the church of God are operating from love that is not 100% pure.

And if that's anybody here today, I I want I just want to encourage you to get back.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I want to encourage you to get back to the heart of God, man.

Rekindle that love for the Lord once again.

Fall in love with God once again.

It is the greatest. commandment that we have.

It's the greatest thing that you can do in this life is love the Lord.

And I know it's so simple.

And maybe, maybe that's why this message doesn't get preached that much because it's too simple.

We're like, yeah, we we all love God.

Why do we gotta preach about it?

Sometimes we convince ourselves that we're still in love with God because we're going through the motions.

One of the first questions that I ask married couples in marriage counseling is, do you still love each other?

The first thing I ask.

Because depending on that, it's going to depend on how we move forward.

Is there still love here?

And you know what?

You might be surprised to know this, but about 50% of the couples that I asked that question to say, I don't know.

They they say, and I appreciate their honesty.

They say it right there in front of each other.

I don't know because they they never they they stopped thinking about that question, which is the reason that they got married in the first place.

I don't know if we love each other in the a anymore.

I I d I I didn't I never thought about it.

I mean we still live together We still sleep in the same bed together.

We still go on dates every now and then.

We we still parent together.

We go on vacation.

They still do all the things that married couples do.

But then they get to a point where they don't even know if the love is there anymore And they're wondering why they're so tired in their marriage, why they're so depleted in their marriage, why they're always bickering at each other, why there's no happiness and joy in the marriage, because you lost the most essential thing.

That fuels the marriage.

If I were to ever stop loving my wife, she would know it.

She would she'd feel it.

She'd feel it.

If there's ever a day that you know is really busy and I don't and I don't text her, I'll get home and she'll be like, Do you even love me?

We gotta check each other sometimes.

But seriously, if if I genuinely didn't love my wife anymore, she she would know it, she would feel it.

But that doesn't mean that everybody else would know it.

Because I might still open the door for her and we might still be in the same room together.

We might still hold hands.

We might still pray over each other.

We might still buy each other gifts.

On our birthdays, we might still post sweet things on our anniversary, and everybody's like, oh, they still love each other.

But to my wife, all of that would just sound like noise.

And a lot and I love you would just be noise.

A kiss would mean nothing.

A hug would be empty because beneath anything that I do or say, she would know that there's nothing there.

And you know what Paul says?

Paul says uh about our our Paul says without love our worship is like a clinging symbol.

Right?

He says if I speak in tongues of men and of angels, or roshombariakara shendara, I could say all of that.

But if I've got not love, I have nothing.

It's like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

He says, if I've got prophetic powers and I speak over your life, thus says the Lord over your life today And I have all the mysteries and I know all the knowledge.

And I call your name.

And you're like, how did he know my name?

He said my birthday high here.

How did he know all of that?

And and I have faith that can move mountains, but I've got not love.

I have nothing.

If I give everything I have to the poor, if I even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't have love, I've got nothing.

You see what that when you do you understand what that means?

That means that when the worship team is playing songs and all of us are in one accord and we're singing songs and we're saying, God We love you, we worship you, but there's no actual love in our worship.

You know what it sounds like to God?

Let me I'll shout you right now.

This is what it sounds like Y'all ready for this?

It's annoying.

It doesn't sound good.

Now to everybody else in the room, it might sound beautiful.

When not not that, but when the worship team is playing And and they're ministering, but there's no love.

That's exactly what it sounds like to the Lord.

It's noise.

I saw some of you doing this.

That's what God is doing.

Make it stop.

He's saying he loves me.

He's saying he worships me.

He's saying I honor you with everything.

You are worthy of it all.

But it's fake.

I don't want to hear it.

It's annoying.

Your worship is actually annoying to God when there's no love behind it.

That's what this verse is saying.

That whenever what whatever we do that is void of love, it's actually annoying to God.

It's a nuisance to God.

Now, on the contrary, you got people.

Who can sing who who sing who should not be singing.

Right?

And y'all know me, I don't judge easily, but I will judge you if you sing out loud and you got an ugly voice.

That's just that's how the Lord created me.

Put that thing away.

But it's okay because you don't sing for me.

You don't sing to me.

To the Lord.

That little voice that sounds like Kermit the frog man is like a symphony to the Lord man it's like a a heavenly host of angels in a choir singing some songs and God loves it Your love touches the heart of God.

I'm gonna tell you again: your love touches the heart of God more than what you do for God, more than your hands, more than your voice.

Your love touches the heart of God.

This is why David was sought after by God.

We look at David and we're like, why him?

That guy committed adultery and then he committed murder.

And then and then he didn't even want to take accountability when he was called out at first.

Like, why?

Why David?

But the Bible says that he was a man after God's own heart.

He loved God, even though he had so many flaws, and God sought him.

Your love touches God's heart.

Moses says in Deuteronomy six.

This is as they're about to enter the land of promise.

They're about to get into a season of abundance and blessing.

They're about to conquer the land and be victorious.

And there's so much for them to celebrate.

He says, Here Oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.

Jesus says this is the greatest commandment.

That honestly, we've given so little priority to.

You know, when we disciple people, what do we do?

We disciple them in the word.

We do Bible study.

We unpack the word.

We interpret the word.

We tell them, hey, this is what this means. 66 books of the Bible.

There's four gospels.

We disciple people in the word.

We teach them spiritual formation and ministry and leadership skills, all of which are good.

Jesus modeled this.

But we also need to teach people the importance of loving God.

First and foremost.

Because if my kids grow up to be the greatest preachers and expositors of the word and great leaders, and they're in church week after week, but they don't actually have love for God, I have failed as a parent.

I've failed them.

And the greatest mistake that we make, church, listen, the greatest mistake that we make as parents is thinking that all of that will naturally lead To loving God.

Oh, well, if they're in the church, they'll love God.

Oh, if they read the Bible, then they'll love God.

If they go to children's church, then they'll love God.

Not always.

How many people do we know who grew up in the church?

They can quote scripture.

They know all the songs that we know.

And they've deconstructed their faith.

They've torn it down.

They're not in the church anymore.

They're speaking negatively about the church.

They despise the people in the church.

How many people do you know like that?

Show of hands.

I I know plenty of people.

That were raised in the church who are no longer in the church.

We have to instruct people on how to love God How to find God, how to seek God, how to worship God.

That's the greatest commandment.

As Christians, we've uh I I think we're so concerned with so many other things Like we're concerned with what we can do as Christians and what we shouldn't do as Christians.

And how can I live out my calling?

And how can I be a more effective minister, a better leader?

How can I stop sinning?

How can I have more spiritual gifts?

These are all good things to be concerned with, but what if we put all of our energy into just loving God with everything Then everything will just fall into place so naturally.

Because when you love God in this way, the question of what you can do and shouldn't do becomes irrelevant.

Because what you shouldn't do, it doesn't even come to mind because you are pursuing God so hard.

Everything that you do, you want to do it to please him.

When you love God in this way, all you want to do is obey Him.

And and it's not a fight anymore.

It's not like, but God, I don't want to do it.

God, I don't like doing that.

No, when you love God more, the obedience flows naturally.

He can call you.

You to go where you never wanted to go, but you'll go because you love them.

And all the habitual sin that you dealt with that people ask me every single day, Pastor, how do I how do I stop sinning with this sin If you just loved God more, that's where your energy would be.

You would have no time to think about the things that you struggled with before Loving God, it's so simple, so simple, but it's the greatest commandment that we don't even preach.

That we don't even teach.

Love the Lord your God.

You know there's 613 laws in the Torah.

That's from Genesis to Deuteronomy.

That's a lot of laws.

That includes the the the Ten Commandments and laws about the Sabbath and circumcision and commands to be holy and set apart and commands to honor your parents and Commands to not be covetous and commit adultery and all these things that Jesus could have said, but instead he sums them up all in one.

If you love God, everything else will fall into place.

We have overcomplicated our Christian walk And we have poured all of our energy into things that are connected to God, things that are godly, but they're not God.

But because they're godly, we justify it.

There was a time where I loved studying the word of God more than I loved praying to God.

There was a time where I loved doing ministry and singing on the worship team and writing songs that would hopefully be heard more than I loved being alone with God in His presence in the silence.

There was a time where I loved community and and I just loved hanging out with people in the church and breaking bread and fellowshipping and talking to people about God more than I love talking directly to my father.

I loved the things that connected me to God more than I actually loved the source.

And can I tell you that God doesn't care if He has your hands and your feet and your mouth and your eyes if He also doesn't have your heart?

God needs your heart first, and everything else will follow.

We need to fall in love with the God that we worship.

You hearing me today?

Y'all quiet Fearing God is good, obeying God is good, serving God is good, but don't forget to love Him.

That's the great commandment.

Even greater than Than to obey.

I mean, we you know, we know that to obey is better than sacrifice to love is better than to obey because you can you can obey somebody that you don't love.

You can serve someone you don't love.

But all it's gonna take is a really bad day to say, hey, enough is enough.

I'm done.

I'm done serving.

I'm done obeying.

I quit.

Going to another church.

I'm not going to church anymore at all.

But when you love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, there is nothing that will keep you from pursuing God.

I know I'm preaching to a bunch of Christians and y'all are like, man, we all love God, Pastor.

We good.

I'm not trying to convince you to love God.

I'm trying to convince you to love Him more.

That's the message that I've come heavy burdened with today.

Y'all love God?

Great.

Love Him more.

Don't be satisfied with yesterday's love.

Don't be satisfied with today's love.

Love him more every single day.

That has become a daily prayer of mine.

I and I don't know why I'd never prayed it before, but it's become a prayer of mine.

Every single day, Lord, help me to love you more today than I did yesterday.

I want to love you more today than I did yesterday.

The greatest commandment requires intention.

Now , before I we we leave, I want to give you something real practical here, okay?

Because we talked about loving God, but but but we need to answer the question of how we love God more.

How does how does our love for God actually grow and mature?

Uh without stagnation.

I'm gonna give you three things real quick.

Real quick.

The first one is gonna be more practical than the final two.

The final two will be more spiritual and biblical.

Number one is kind of a clump of things.

We 're just gonna call them connections.

So number one, how do we love God more intentionally?

You connect.

Somebody say connect Somebody say it like you're awake.

Connect.

And as much as I've kind of spoken negatively in this sermon against the connections.

These are actually ways to increase our love for God.

Regular church attendance, community, fellowship, studying the word, listening to worship music, obeying the call of ministry.

Doing these things can help us love God more.

The important thing to be cautious of is that these don't become the things that we fall in love with.

But rather remain tools that take us deeper into who God is to love him more.

A big part of the reason that I love God so much today is because I grew up in the church.

I grew up around Bible study.

I grew up hearing and learning the worship songs.

But today I don't need those things.

I don't depend on those things for my love for God.

Rather, they've become expressions of my love.

I come to church because I want to be with my church family, worshiping my Lord and Savior.

I read the word because I want to know more of him.

I want to go deeper into his word.

I worship because it is an expression of my love for him.

So do these things more.

Come to church more.

Jam out the worship songs.

More.

Read the Bible.

More.

Get discipled.

More.

Connect.

But then don't be afraid to pull away every now and then.

To make sure that that love is genuine and that you can still connect to the heart of God without needing anything else.

Connect.

Connect.

Number two.

Here.

Somebody say that with me?

Here.

So the word Shema is used ninety times in the book of Deuteronomy. 90 times Hearing is a very important theme in the Old Testament, and it's actually structured around this commandment for us to love the Lord.

It's also a pretty Big theme in the New Testament.

Jesus says, whoever hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

So the more we hear from God, the easier it is to love him.

That's just that's just how it is.

The more you hear from God, the easier it is to love him.

And I said earlier that that Shema is a call to attention with the intention that everything that we hear from him will be practiced and lived out.

So The worship songs aren't just to entertain us.

See you or no?

Worship songs are for us to connect to God.

When you're reading the words on the screen, don't just read them, don't just hum them, don't just sing them, but know what it's saying about the God that we're declaring about.

Hear what is being said and declared in those worship songs.

Worship is not just entertainment, it's hearing.

Bible study is not just for education.

Hear what God is saying through His Word.

God doesn't care how theologically uh smart you are if you don't practice it.

If you don't take it to heart, if you don't know who your identity is, here Prayer.

When you go to God in prayer, it's not just about requesting a bunch of things and Lord, I need this and give me this, and it's about hearing on the other side what God is saying.

You know, if there's one thing that Eli, Eli the priest did right, it was directing the young prophet Samuel into relationship with the Lord.

The Bible says that Samuel, he keeps hearing the call of God, but he doesn't know what it is.

He keeps hearing his name, but he's unsure of what or who is calling him.

How many times do we We hear worship songs and hear sermons and hear podcasts and hear godly counsel and we leave the same.

Like as if we're unsure of what it is we just heard.

Now Eli could have said, Bro, Samuel, that's that's the Lord.

He's calling you.

That's awesome, man.

You're so young too, good for you, and puffed him up.

But instead, Eli invited Samuel to have a conversation with God.

You know what he says?

He says, go lie down, and if he calls you again, you shall say, speak, Lord, for your servant hears I'm hearing you.

God, I am putting myself under your voice to receive revelation from you.

I want to hear from you.

I don't wanna assume things, I don't wanna interpret things, I wanna hear your voice And when you're hearing from God, it means, listen, it means that you're actually close enough and attentive enough to hear him.

That makes it easier to love him more.

But Pastor, sometimes I pray and I don't hear anything.

God doesn't visit me in my dreams like he visits all the sisters in church.

God doesn't speak prophetically to me.

God never he never picks me out when the prophets here.

He never never gives me a word.

God doesn't speak to me.

Jesus says, seek and you shall find.

The problem is, I think we're seeking, but we're seeking the wrong thing.

We're seeking answers instead of God's glory.

We're seeking provision, we're seeking God's hands more than we're seeking his face.

Moses said, Hey, I don't want anything else.

I don't need the blessings.

If you're not gonna go with me, I just want more of your glory.

Show me your glory, and that's why Moses was the Prophet of whom God had a relationship that was described as face to face.

Moses Didn't care about anything else except for the glory of God.

God, if your presence doesn't go with me, I don't want anything.

I don't care about the blessings.

I don't care about the abundance because there is no abundance without you, Lord.

But we have to be close enough to hear him.

Are you hearing me today?

We gotta be close enough.

Oh, it's because I don't hear him.

Get closer.

Get closer.

Get closer.

Get closer.

We're all we're always waiting for God to come to us.

Go to God.

Seek Him.

Pursue Him.

Follow Him.

We we we want to hear from God when it's an emergency, not casually.

See who no?

Yeah, we we don't call nine one the 911 operator to have a conversation with her.

You don't go to the doctor's office just to be like, hey, I kind of wanted to chat.

I'm grateful that we have those services available to us when we need them, but I don't love my doctor.

I honestly I hope I'd never see him again.

I hope I never have to have a conversation with the 911 operator.

I love my wife I love my friends.

I love many of you.

I love most of most of you.

I love all of you, all of you, all of you.

From the abundance of the I love all of you.

I love all of you and and and to many of you I have conversations with regularly.

Pastor Danny, one of my best friends, I talk to this guy every single day.

I love this guy.

He talks to me, I talk to him, and and I don't even have to hear what he says to me to know what he's going through because I know him.

My wife doesn't need to say a word to me, and I can still perceive when something's wrong because I know her.

The more you talk to God out of love, the more you will hear from him.

I promise you, man.

Test my words.

And the more you hear God speak, the more you love him.

Because it it goes from God to servant to servant to friend.

Jesus says, I no longer call you servants, I now call you friends.

Now, he's still God, and we are still his servants.

But the more you hear from him and dwell with him, the more mature the relationship becomes.

So hear what the Lord says through his word.

Hear the truths and the worship songs that you sing and hear what he says about you in scripture.

Do you know that God talks about you in scripture About how he loves you, about how he knows you, about how he has a plan for you, about how he desires you, about how he wants to give you peace, about how he created you, about how he calls you friend.

Hear, people of God, what God has said about you in his word.

So, to love God more intentionally, we have to connect.

But not just connect, we also have to hear.

And the last one, and I'm almost done, remember.

Somebody say remember.

Remember is another theme in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy is Moses ' farewell address to the people that he's been pastoring for 40 years.

He's pastored these guys for 40 years.

In the wilderness.

And now he's preparing them spiritually for when they finally go to the promised land.

Now listen, listen.

If you haven't heard anything I've said, start listening now.

Moses is nervous for his people.

Can I tell you why Moses is nervous because he knows that these people that he's led for 40 years in the wilderness have only known the wilderness.

Some of these people were born in the wilderness.

They they they had a rough it for 40 years sleeping next to serpents and scorpions and depending on food that falls from heaven that gets on the ground is all dirty That's what they knew.

And and Moses knows that they're about to get into the promised land, but he's not going to be able to lead them in the promised land.

So in his mind, he's like, what is what is going to happen when they finally get to a land of abundance and blessing?

Are they gonna go buck wild on me?

What is it gonna look like?

Are they gonna abandon the faith And the dependence that they held on to because they 've got so much more security now.

If I'm no if I'm Moses and I'm leading these people and I'm about to die and they're about to get into to abundance, I'm like, guys.

I need you to get this.

And so he says, remember.

Listen, listen, church.

He says, remember where you were Remember that you were slaves to your sin.

Remember you had nothing.

Remember that there was there were chains around you.

Remember what I did about that.

Remember my power over Pharaoh.

Remember how I split the race.

See for your sake, remember what I took you out of.

Remember where you were, and how even there in the desert I supplied for you.

You were in Poverty, you were going through divorce, you were going through depression, but even then I sustained you because I loved you.

Don't forget, don't forget who I am, don't forget who I've been.

Remember.

Remember this one is so powerful to me, man, because sometimes you know what God doesn't speak in certain seasons There are seasons of silence.

And in those seasons of silence come seasons of uncertainty.

And in your flesh, and I'm telling you, I'm speaking from experience, I'm a lifelong Christian.

I've been here many times.

In your flesh, in those seasons of trial and uncertainty, your flesh says, I don't know if God's gonna keep being good to me like he was.

That's the power of remembering.

We serve the same God.

The same God That was there in the wilderness.

We serve the same God that was there in the cancer.

We serve the same God that was there in depression and anxiety.

We serve the same God who sustained us.

Don't forget the God that you serve.

That's the God that we serve.

Thank you, God, for the power of remembrance And John says in 1 John 4. 9, he says, we love because he first loved.

That's a call to remembrance.

That's a call to remember the sacrifice, the pain that was endured, the nails that struck our Lord's hands and feet, the love that it took Jesus to mount himself on that cross Because we remember his love.

That's how I can keep loving him.

Church never stop remembering I'm gonna ask you to stand.

I don't want to just share one last piece of encouragement.

Some of you have heard this before.

I've shared it several times from the pulpit.

There was a there was a time about twelve years ago That I went through a crisis of faith.

Almost lost my faith.

Grown up in the church all my life.

Knew all the worship songs.

Knew what ministry looked like.

Knew what serving looked like, but I was going through a crisis of faith.

It was actually during the time that I was, funny enough, getting my master's in theology It was a it was a time of a lot of questions and a lot of things that that that that were reframing the way of thinking that I had.

A lot of things that were were breaking the mold of the things that I learned.

And I remember being parked right out here.

With my wife, with Melissa.

And there was like a fundraiser going on here.

And I was parked out here.

I was here to pick up some food.

And I had it finally poured out to her.

I said, babe, I think I'm losing my faith right now And there I was in the car crying like like like weeping like a child Because you know what?

That's usually the time that Christians start to deconstruct.

I didn't want to deconstruct.

I was heartbroken.

Because even though my faith was weakening My love for the Lord was so strong because I remembered every experience that I had in his presence.

I remember how he called me when I was about 11 years old right here and how my hands and my voice were anointed to the Lord.

I remember how he used me right here.

From this keyboard.

I remember how he ministered to me in seasons where I wasn't even at church.

I remembered the God that I had a relationship with that I loved so much that it outweighed my loss of faith in that moment.

That is the point, the importance.

Of loving the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

Because when faith fails, when peace fails, when hope fails Paul says , love never fails.

Love never fails.

Church, my encouragement to you today is to love God more.

Love him more.

Seek him more.

And right now the worship team is going to sing.

If you need prayer, the altars are open.

But if you just want to come and have an encounter with the God that you love, that's the call this morning.

These altars are open as the worship team sings.

We thank you, Jesus.

Thanks for listening.

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

If you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe or share it with your friends on social media and tag us.

At My PNEUMA Church.

Thanks again and God bless.