All right, we're gonna be in the book of Matthew here in just a minute, chapter number 22. Before we get into the book, have you ever met somebody who is just built for a specific task? You meet them and within a little bit of time you think, you know what, they're just made for that. Here, let's do this. Britt, would you mind going back to the piano just for a second? I want somebody to call out a song that would be a commonly sung song out of our songbooks. It may not be in the songbook, but you guys have 853,000 songs in the songbook, so I'm sure it probably is. But just any hymn, like a favorite. Anybody have a favorite? Just call one out. Okay, wonderful grace of Jesus. Britt, start up into it, would you? Let's sing the first verse and chorus of wonderful grace of Jesus. Wonderful grace of Jesus. Here we go. Ready? Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin. How shall my tongue, how shall my tongue describe it? Where shall its praise begin? Taking away my burden. Taking away my burden. Setting my spirit free. For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. Gents, here we go. Wonderful, the matchless grace, the matchless grace of Jesus. Deeper than the mighty rolling sea, the rolling sea. Higher than the mountains, sparkling like a fountain. All sufficient grace for even me, for even me, da, da, da. than the scope of my transgressions. Sing it greater far than all my sin and shame. Oh magnify the precious name of His name. That was way too high for me at any time of the day. Okay. All right. So we jumped in and we sang a song that, that we enjoy. Somebody give me another one real quickly. Another song that's just kind of a favorite. No pansies allowed. Come on, everybody. What's that? Amazing Grace. First verse. Ready? Let's sing it. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. Okay, one more. One more. Okay, the Old Road Cross. Ms. Britt, I'm sorry though, you need to step down and I'm going to play this one. The Old Road Cross. Let's see. There it is. On a hill far away Stood an old rugged cross The emblem of suffering and shame And I love that old cross Where the dearest and best For a world of loss Okay, I call timeout. Does anybody notice a difference between when Brittany was playing and when I was playing? Just a little bit. Okay, I appreciate that. It's a great song. I don't mean to stop in the middle of it. But here's the point that I'm making. Sometimes when you meet somebody, after not very long at all, you go, they're built for that. Now, they had to work at it. That is, Brittany took lessons and she learned things in order to be able to play the song, but she had to work. Though she had to work at it, it just naturally flows from her. Pastor's wife, Natalie, played for Brittany to sing tonight. And when Brittany and she practiced the other day, Brittany came back after they practiced and she said she nailed it the first time. This was just simple. Well, I'm sure that Miss Natalie has worked quite a bit at playing the piano. However, there's just something, it doesn't take long to find out, ah, they're built for that. That's inside of them. Is there anybody in here that has absolutely no musical ability at all? And you know it. Okay. So if I called you up to come and play for us to sing the old rugged cross, how would it, would it go real well? What if you took eight years of lessons? Well it would be better, but do you think after eight or nine years of lessons it would sound like Natalie or Brittany? Okay, because you're not built for it. Like, I'm not built. I took seven years of lessons, and that's as far as I got on the old rugged cross. And it doesn't take even a non-musical person can figure out pretty quick that that's not necessarily what I am built for. When you meet certain people, you just know, ah, this is the fulfillment of what they are made to do. And vocationally, that is, in the work that people choose, you can tell for yourself or for other people that you know and care about when they find that for which they are called. They're built, they're made for that. That is, they're very good at it and it just seems to flow easily for them. Now, it may be possible for them to do other things and even make a living at other things. they're not gonna be happy about it, and the people that are around them are not gonna be happy about it. Accomplishing what you are built to do allows you to be able to work and live at peace, and the people that are around you to be able to work and live at peace. Now, when it comes to that concept, a little more basic, God has built each of us, every person, God has built for a purpose. He's made us to accomplish something, something that is general, that is something that is true for all of us. Just humanity was built for this. And I'm curious if you happen to know what it is. And here's the way I'm gonna ask. I'm gonna give us a little bit of a quiz. And I'm gonna give to you someone who works in a specific vocation, and I want you to tell me what a person in that vocation, what they do. For instance, if I were to say, what does a baker do? You would say he? He bakes. All right, so a baker bakes. Let's try this one. How about a fisherman? A fisherman fishes. OK, so a baker bakes. A fisherman fishes. A pilot? Okay, pilot flies when somebody says, I'm more interested in them landing the airplane. Well, you got to stay in the air before you can land. So a baker bakes, a fisherman fishes, a pilot flies. And here's one that's always interesting to hear what the guys had to say. A seamstress A seamstress sews, they don't seam, guys. Okay, so let's back up and answer out loud, if you will please. Even if it's not your normal habit, I want you to answer out loud. A baker? Okay. A fisherman? A pilot? Mm-hmm. A seamstress? Okay, last one. A Christian? Okay, let's stop just for a second, because this is super insightful. It's just interesting, all the different answers that we would get. Okay, we know what a baker does. And the success or failure of a baker is dependent upon them knowing what it is they're supposed to do and doing it. That is, accomplishing that for which they're built vocationally. Now, could a baker ever sell stuff? Does a baker ever have to order stuff? Does a baker make connections with community people in order to allow their business to grow? Obviously, yes. All of that is true. But a baker cannot be successful as a baker unless he or she bakes, because that's what a baker does. A pilot, same thing with flying. A seamstress with sewing. A fisherman with fishing. That is, there may be a number of things that they may do, but their success in their vocation is dependent upon them knowing and doing that for which they have been vocationally created. Okay, then how is it going to be possible? Just think with me. How will it be possible for us who name the name of Jesus Christ to be, pardon the phrase, successful in what we are as Christians if we don't really know what it is we're supposed to do in the first place. A baker bakes, a fisherman fishes, a seamstress sews, a pilot flies, a Christian, and then we have a plethora of answers, all of which are probably good things. But there is one answer. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who made it super, super plain in Matthew chapter number 22. So if you have your Bible, look down at verse number 34, because in verse number 34, we jump into a time when someone asked the Lord Jesus basically the same question that I've asked you tonight. All right, Matthew 22, beginning in verse number 34, the Bible says, but when the Pharisees had heard that Jesus had put the Sadducees to silence, Now remember, Pharisees, Sadducees, basically two religious groups of people, both Jewish, but different lines of thinking. In today's terms, we would call them different denominations. So the Pharisees heard that Jesus had put the Sadducees to silence, and then the Pharisees were gathered together, verse 35. Then one of the Pharisees, which was a lawyer, don't think he sued people, he studied the law of God. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question. tempting him and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Now stop real quickly and look up here. Some of you already know the next verse. So you may be ahead of me just a little bit. But in essence what this lawyer is asking the Lord Jesus is in order to try to trick him up and trip him is, in essence, this. He's saying, okay, Lord, Master, of all the commandments that God has given to us, and there's a bunch of them in the Old Testament, of all the commandments, what is the most important? I'm a child of God, I'm a Jewish person, what is the most important thing for me to take care of? Okay, now stop for a second and think. Is this the first time that the Lord Jesus had ever been asked questions for the purpose of tripping him up or tricking him? No. Typically, when Christ was asked questions for the purpose of tripping him up or tricking him, what was Jesus's response? He would on occasion use scripture when it was for the purpose of tripping him up. Most often he would ask them a question back. Sometimes Totally ignore on one occasion. We know he bends down in the sand and begins to write in the sand But it's interesting to me that this time, the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't even seem to hesitate, but he takes this opportunity to explain something to his disciples, and the Pharisees, and perhaps the Sadducees that were still standing around, and anybody with an earshot. In fact, in my mind, the Bible doesn't say this, but you kinda get this feel when you read through it. It's almost as if the Lord Jesus Christ perhaps called his disciples in to make sure they got this. Master, what's the what's the first and great commandment? What is the most important thing that we're supposed to do and the Lord Jesus Christ says The first and great commandment is this Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. Another passage says, with all thy strength. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Next verse. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And then verse 40 says, on these two commandments, that you love God and love others, hang all the law and the prophets. In other words, what that is saying is, everything else falls in line. Everything else goes into place when I take care of this first and great commandment. Or rather, if any of these other things I try to do without taking care of the first two, then these will never be what they're supposed to be. So that, I don't know who said what when I asked what a Christian does, but somebody might say a Christian prays, or a Christian witnesses, or a Christian shares the gospel, or a Christian reads the Bible. A number of things that people could say that are all in and of themselves good things. But friend, listen to this, please get this. It is not possible Me to do any of these things in the way that God wants me to do them Unless it comes first through the first and second commandments in importance namely That I love the Lord my God with all my heart soul mind and strength and that I love my neighbor as myself Because on these two hang all the law and the prophets. Okay, so let me make the statement, and this is the whole point of the service. I'm gonna prove it to you quickly. We're gonna look at how it applies to our life, and our time will be finished here tonight and for this week. But this is valuable, so please don't miss it. Here's the statement. There is nothing more important than your relationship with God. There's nothing more important than your relationship with God. Well, somebody says, shouldn't we share the gospel? Yes. But if you share the gospel outside of a relationship with God, you are doing it in your own strength, in your own power, has no eternal consequences. And even if you continue to do it, continue to do it, and continue to do it, at some point you'll burn out because you have nothing on the inside to give. Well somebody says, shouldn't a Christian do good things and be holy? Yes, but you can't do that outside of God giving you the ability to do it. And all of this comes through the funnel of a relationship with God. There is nothing more important than your relationship with God. And you can see this in basically any portion of of the Bible. Think of Genesis. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Let me, let me do a little quiz because you guys look like you've been going to services all week long. So I want to make sure that you're staying with me. Anybody know in creation what God created on the day, on the first day? Day, day number one He said, let there be, okay there was light. Second day, He separates the waters above from the waters below. He creates the, the firmament, the sky, the space between, between the waters. Day number three, Anybody happen to be a Genesis record fanatic and you happen to know day number three what was created? That's day four. Close. Land. That's it. The land, trees, flowers, vegetation. Day number four. Sun, moon, stars. Day number five. Birds to fly in the air, fish to swim in the sea. Day number six. All the other animals. And the Bible says that God took the dust of the ground, and He forms man out of the dust of the ground, and He breathes into his nostrils, nose and mouth, He breathes into his nostrils the breath of life, and man becomes a living... Okay. And the creation of mankind was different than the rest of creation. The making of man out of the dust of the ground was different. The Bible says that God, when He created man, He made him in his own image. Well, what's that about? Well, there's a number of things that are included in that. Some things we may not even understand yet, but among those things that God created us in his own image, among those things that it means is that God made us as a reflection, like unto himself. For instance, we believe from the scriptures that God is a triune God. The Father, Son, Holy Spirit. One God, three persons. Okay, you have a body, a soul, and a spirit. You're one person, there's three parts. All of your parts are connected. That is, if you separate your body from your soul, you're dead. But, God, we're just a reflection of who God is. So then, why did God create us in His own image? Well, among other things, God created us in His own image because He created us for a purpose. We were made for something. We were built for something, and that something is a relationship with Him. It's interesting that in the book of Genesis, when the Bible gives the account of sin coming into the world and separation, death by sin, that the scriptures tell us that up until this point, God would come and walk with man. That is, that they would speak to each other. There was a relationship, a fellowship, and then sin enters into the world through disobedience, and that separation comes from that. But here's the point I want you to see from Genesis. God created us for the purpose of a relationship. That's what we were made for. Like Brittany can get up and you can say the name of a song that she knows and she can play it and you go, oh wow, yeah, she's good at that. She's just built for that. I get to the piano, you name a song and I go, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. I can't find it because I'm not built for that. We are built for, all of us are made for a relationship with God. Okay, but then sin enters into the world and a separation comes. So then God removes his hand and says, man, I'm finished with you. Be on your own. Live out the rest of your life. Die. I care not for you. Is this what happens? Genesis 3 15 God begins to say and he continues to say and to show and to prophesy for the next 4,000 years in essence someday He says I'm gonna send someone who's gonna restore again the relationship between God and man and 4,000 years later the Lord Jesus Christ comes to this earth. He lives a perfect life We cannot live dies a death on the cross. He doesn't deserve to die. Why I Why does Christ die? Why is his blood shed? Why the burial? Why the resurrection? Why the crown of thorns? Why the spear thrust in the side? Why the hands nailed to the cross? Why the mockery? Why all of this? And the answer is... Because God desires to have a relationship with His creation, with us. And the only way that He could have a relationship with us is if sin, which separates us from Him, is taken out of the way, being nailed to the cross of the Holy One. And that's exactly the reason why Christ died. Sometimes in preaching the gospel, I will say, sometimes in witnessing, you might say, hey, would you like to go to heaven? Let me tell you how you can go to heaven. And that's not necessarily wrong, but it's not actually the point. If by heaven you mean streets of gold, a beautiful tree, a beautiful river, mansions or rooms in a mansion, depending on how you interpret the passage. If that's the idea of what salvation is all about, it misses the point. Heaven is heaven, not because of what is there, but because of who is there. And salvation is salvation, not because I get to go from this earth to a beautiful place with streets of gold, but because I am reconnected to my Creator. I finally get to come back to that which I was built for. Am able to have that which hinders that stops and separates me from God Set aside and I am brought according to Peter by Christ to the father There is one God and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus mediator a go-between and Christ brings us to God I'm telling you There is nothing more important than your relationship with God. He created us for it. He sent his son to sacrifice his life so that we might have this relationship. There is nothing more important than your relationship with God. Now, since that is true, I want to give you four practical things to consider and our time is finished. Number one, make sure it's God that you love. Make sure it's God that you love. Here's the deal. I don't automatically love God just by virtue of the fact that I'm a Christian. Now obviously for me to become a Christian, there had to be a time when I loved God. But my saying, I'm a Christian, I'm a believer, does not connect, it does not necessarily make it so that I already love God with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind. Is there a connection? Yes. Is there some amount of love? Yes. But with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, all my strength? And sometimes, though I am, a child of the king, my heart can be pulled from the king by things that are either wrong or right things in an improper priority place. In other words, things that just begin to pull my heart away from the Lord. Again, as the songwriter said, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. And then the plea, take my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Here's what I just want you to consider. Is it God that you love? In 1 John, John in a very practical passage says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. That is, if I live for the things of this world, if I'm in love with the things of this world, whether they are in and of themselves wicked or wrong or not, if my heart seeks after them to the exclusion of my relationship with the Lord, then they have become a problem. And anything can do this, or anything can be used this way. I was preaching on this passage up on Kodiak Island, Alaska. When I got finished preaching, there was a young lady who came and spoke to me. And the next night, I think, she came back and she handed me a letter. She said, oh, the Lord has been teaching me about what you were preaching about last night. She handed me this letter where basically she gave her testimony of her finding out the importance of her relationship with the Lord. and what had been pulling her away from it. And here's what she said in her letter. She said that she was a she enjoyed social media, which isn't in and of itself wrong. I wish it were. I'd love to be able to preach against it, but I can't. It's not in and of itself wrong. But she said. I took notice one day and realized that I was checking in with Facebook 35 times a day and I was checking in with God three times a day. Now the point is not, hey, make sure you keep a tally. Make sure you keep a tally. And however many times you check this, then you pray, that's Pharisaical. That's what the Pharisees would do. That's not it. What I'm saying to you is something as simple as social media can be used just to pull our hearts away. It's not necessarily wrong. Any hobby can. Cars, hunting, I enjoy sports. Anything even family things that are good That can be used to pull our hearts away from God I'm telling you there's nothing more important than your relationship with God Make sure it's God that you love and if there's something that stands between if there's something that stands between you and Your relationship with the Lord. It may be something that needs to be set aside completely Or it may be something that you're going to have to put back in its proper place. And put as the in the forefront of your mind, there's nothing more important than my relationship with God. Make sure it's God that I love. Secondly, ask God to increase your love. Ask God to increase your love. Hey, did you know that if you pray anything according to the will of God, that we know that He hears us, and we know that if He hears us, then we have that for which we ask? So that when I ask something that is in accordance to the will of God, then I can know that I'm gonna receive it from God. I can pray in total faith, knowing that God's gonna give it. So let me ask you a question. If God built me for the purpose of a relationship with Him, and if God allowed His Son to be sacrificed on the cross for the purpose of restoring that relationship when sin broke it. Do you think that it's according to the will of God to allow my relationship with Him to increase? So that if I come to God and I say, God, would you please help my heart to love you more? Would you please cause me to hunger and thirst after you? Would you help me to desire you like the deer pants after the water brook? Would you please bind my heart to yours with a chain that cannot be broken and draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, precious Lord? Do you think that's a prayer request that God would be happy to answer? I think so. So that even if you're here and in honesty, in honesty, you're thinking to yourself, Tim, I wish I wanted that relationship. But to be perfectly honest, on the inside, I'm a little bit cold or dead towards the things of the Lord right now. I wish I wanted it. But if I'm being truthful, the spark isn't there. It's not alive. It's not vivacious. That's something you can ask God about. And it may not be an instantaneous the first time you ask, all of a sudden there's a flame. But you continue to ask the Lord. And he'll hear you. And he will answer. Now, just in all fairness. If you ask God to increase your love for him, it may be that right now you're not even aware of some things that you're holding on to that's hindering you from being able to love the Lord the way that he wants you to. And he may have to remove your fingers from some things and pull some things out of your life. And sometimes that can be a little bit hard or even a little bit painful. but the end result of accomplishing, oh, that for which I was built, of a relationship with God, you can't improve on that. So make sure it's God that you love. Number two, ask God to increase your love. Thirdly, since there's nothing more important than my relationship with God, number three, spend the time. Spend the time. This gets super practical. But the only way relationships are built is by spending time. True? If you're married, you really should be shaking your head right now. Yes. The only way relationships are built, the way that relationships increase, the way that love grows is by time spent. Sometimes in dealing with kiddos and preaching on the family, somebody will make the statement, which I think is a little bit silly, where they say, well, I like to spend quality time I don't get quantity time, I do quality time. All right. You really, you really can't have in relationships quality time unless there's a quantity of it. Now, it is true that none of us may be able to invest the amount of time with any relationship that we would like to or wish we could. But there's got to be time spent of a relationship that's going to be built. When Brittany and I met, we met our freshman, I think I told you this, we met our freshman year of college. And we started spending time, and the time we spent together was basically at meals. We were both heavily involved in our majors, and then we both were involved in sports and things like that. Time was pretty precious in those days. And so every meal, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, depending on what part of the country you're originally from, and supper, we would eat together. And that was our time spent. So let's just say, for sake of illustration, that Brittany and I have met one another. This is at college. We've met one another. And we've gotten past just the first like stage. And we've realized that there's a possibility of this going somewhere. Like, like, yes, we're interested in this relationship for possibly the future. So we decided we're going to spend breakfast, lunch, and supper together. So this is what we're going to do. And one morning I called Brittany on the phone before breakfast and I say, Brittany, look, sorry, I'm not going to be able to make it to breakfast. I'll see you at lunch. Lunchtime rolls around. Can't spend time with her at lunch. Supper time rolls around. Can't spend time with her at supper because I have other stuff going on. And this happens not only the first day, but it happens the second day. third day in a row. Every meal, I call her, I meet with her, sorry, I can't come. Okay, ladies, how is this relationship gonna go for us? Do you know what it means to get the boot? Boing! Well, why? Because any relationship that is going to go anywhere is a relationship that has to have time spent in it. Okay, stop! Just in case any of you have going across your brain right now the word devotions. That's not what I'm talking about. For what it's worth, I don't love the word devotions. It's a good word, but as soon as we think devotions, immediately we think of something we check off of our list so that we can have a guilt-free day. because good Christians have their devotions. We read our chapter in Proverbs, and we read out of our Baptist bread, and then we read somewhere in the New Testament, and that's what, and if you're a really, really good Christian, then you read like three chapters a day, and that's how you know you're really deep, and you're a good Christian. Okay, forgive me. That's like a husband taking out his wife because it's the right thing for a husband to do. I take out my wife. I read a book that says husbands are supposed to make sure they take their wife on dates, and so we go out, and we eat, and I have my list of subject matter to talk with her about. And I read it off, and then we go home, and I go, we've got a great relationship. I took my wife out to eat. Okay. Yes, no, no. Well, a good steak place. So the point, the point is, is that time spent is just that. It's time spent. So that when I'm riding in the car, I can talk to God. Wouldn't it be great to wake up in the morning and be able to say, good morning, Father. And then throughout the day, just speak with Him and listen. And yes, take time to read His Word, that's important. And set aside some time where you focus in. All of that is right and good. But it's about a relationship. Spending the time so make sure it's God that you love ask God to increase your love spend the time and then Lastly the fourth thing if there's nothing more important in my relationship with the Lord then lastly live it out Live it out. That is live out your relationship with God finish this verse for me if you will, please Jesus said if you love me Okay, so it's interesting that he does connect loving him to the keeping of his commandments. Now, the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is what Christ told his disciples, was in essence boiled down to the second part of Matthew chapter 22 verse number 37. Namely, Jesus said, hey this is the commandment that I have for you, that ye Do you remember? Love one another. That is, my love for other people, my reaching out, my ministering to other people, my sharing the gospel, my living my life in concern for you instead of myself, my putting off the old man and and putting on the new man while the renovation of my mind becomes all about you instead of all about me, where I work in order that I may have to give, where I speak the truth because we're members of one of another, where I edify because it's gonna minister grace to the hearers, where it's all about you instead of all about me. That is the service and commandment of the Lord. That is what we must do if our relationship, if our love for God is going to increase. And sometimes good Christians who go to church and have their devotions and want to love God and want to know what it is to have a vivacious relationship with God end up with all kind of stuff coming into them. They read, they pray, they do all the stuff, but there's no outflow of service to other people. And if you have a body of water where there's income but there's no outflow, it grows stagnant and it dies. And it could be that in this group there's some hearts that that's exactly where you are. Your relationship with God is stagnated. It's dull. It's not fresh. It's not the springs of living water springing up inside. It's not the water from the well of which Jesus told the woman. And it could be that it's not a matter that you don't know enough or even that you're not spending the time and perhaps you're even asking. And as far as you know, there's nothing that's a hindrance right now to your relationship with the Lord. But it could be in all of this It's still all about you And you're not reaching out as I reach out and serve other people I need more from God Therefore I have more to give and it's just a flow through like rivers like rain that comes and washes and This is the relationship that God designed and desires to have with his people. There is nothing more important than your relationship with God. Make sure it's God that you love. Ask God to increase your love. Spend the time and purposefully live it out. Here we go. Ready? A baker? You know this one already. You can answer it. A fisherman? Yes. A pilot? Yes. A seamstress? A Christian? Loves God with all their heart, soul, mind, strength. This is the first and great commandment. Second, love your neighbor as yourself, because on these two, everything else falls in line. Forget these. These are works of the flesh that will be burned up with a stumble. Father, help us, please, to recognize the value and importance of our relationship with you. Spark in us, please, dear God, the desire for more of you. Give us opportunities of service for you and for others, to others, so that we can continue to receive from you. And then Father, fulfill that for which we have been created. Allow us to find that purpose, to recognize the satisfaction, to enjoy the joy that is our fullness. Help us, dear Father, to return to that for which you created us and for which Christ died. And I ask this, dear God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, Father, the desires and tendencies and bent of our flesh is in opposition to this. We need empowering from you. We need help and desire even from you. So please give it, dear God. In the name of the Lord Jesus, I ask. Now with heads bowed and eyes closed, before pastor comes and closes the service, Let me just ask, I wonder if there are some tonight who would say, Brother Tim, God has dealt in my heart about one of these areas. Perhaps, perhaps you'd say by an upraised hand tonight, God has shown me that there is something in my life that is a hindrance. I know it is. It's a hindrance to my relationship with the Lord. It's something, whether it's wrong or just in a wrong priority place, it is something that is a hindrance to my relationship with the Lord and that needs to be changed. It needs to be put right. I want to make sure it's God that I love. Hey, may I pray with you about that? Is there anybody like that who'd say by an upraised hand, I know exactly what it is. I know what it is. Okay, God bless you. I'll pray with you. And I'll ask God to give you the courage, the strength, and desire to set it to where it needs to be. Secondly, how about asking God to increase your love? I wonder how many tonight would say, you know what, Brother Tim, that's not something that I'm asking the Lord, but I see how important it is. And I want to begin to ask the Lord to increase my love. That is my desire. And I wanna ask the Lord to increase my love for Him. And you'd say, please pray with me about this request in my life. Anybody like that tonight, may I pray with you? Okay, a number of hands, God bless you. Thirdly, how about spending the time? You know what, this isn't on the forefront of my mind, but I can see that it should be, that I should just throughout the day be speaking to my Lord. Yes, take time to study, and yes, have a list of things that I'm praying for, but just to talk to God and have that be a part of my life. That's where I want to be. I'm gonna make a concerted effort, if God will help me, to just begin to spend time with Him. I haven't been, I need to. Here's my hand. Anybody like that tonight? Yeah, okay. Lord bless you, great. Lastly, how about living it out? You know what? Perhaps I'm feeling a little stagnant because my life of service to others really isn't what it should be. My life is more all about me than it is about others. And I can see that that really should not be that way. And that may be the reason why I'm stagnant. I want that to change. I want to begin to live like Christ did for other people. If God will renovate my way of thinking. I want to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Brother Tim, please pray for me that I'll begin to serve other people instead of living for self. OK. All right. Everybody want to look up this way? Thanks again for your kind attention. And there are a number of people that raised your hand. You raised your hands about a number of things, which means God is speaking to you, for which I'm grateful. I preach this message because I need it as well. And so what I'm gonna do is in just a minute, I'm gonna ask Brittany to play through a song on the piano. When she does, I'm gonna find a place here at the front row, and I'm just gonna kneel before God because I'm still physically able to, and I'm gonna talk to the Lord about what He's dealt in my heart, even while preaching tonight. And I'd like to invite you to join me. If you're physically able, when Brittany begins to play in a minute, you raised your hand about something, I'd like to just invite you to come, find a place here at the front, and let's kneel before our God, and let's seal with God that which is dealt in our hearts concerning. It will help. It will help. So I'd like to invite you and encourage you to do that. Now, if you need counsel about something or have questions, you can talk to pastor, talk to me. We'd be glad to pray with you and for you and give you the counsel that God would give us and the wisdom that God would give us from His word. But don't leave without nailing down. Whatever he's touched your heart about, nail it down. Talk to him about when, about where. Ask him about specifics, whatever you need to do. Take the time that you need, and when you're finished, you can go back to your seat. And when everybody's back to their seat, pastor will close the service as he sees fit. All right, Britt, would you come to the piano? Let me pray. Father, I love you. Hear the prayers that we pray now before thee. As we come before you, we're bending our knee in recognition of our need of you and the great need that we have of a relationship with you so that we can be what you'd have us to be. And we want to shine as lights to others, and we want to share the gospel, and we want to know what it is to live like and walk like Christ and understand your word and all of these things that should be a part of our life. We want all of that, Father. But what we've seen from your word is that there's nothing more important than our relationship with you. And so, Father, as we begin to come before you now and ask you about specifics in that, hear us, give wisdom, give help, give answers, and solidify in our hearts and our consciences the importance of these steps. In Christ's name I ask this. Now with heads bowed and eyes closed as Brittany begins to play, if God's dealt in your heart, feel free to come join.