Well, I have to say, as the video was playing, I looked out over the crowd, and I saw some of you all looking at us like we're newlyweds. And we've been married for two years now. I don't really understand that, because this is the longest we've ever been married, going two years already. And the Lord is just really blessed. The traveling, our marriage is now blessed with the baby boy on the way, and we're just really thankful for that. I also wanted to mention to, I see the teen section over here, to any other teens that are here in the service tonight, be careful when you're playing with a globe, because you might end up as a missionary just like me as well. No, I wanted to clarify that God didn't direct me to be a missionary because I spun a globe, but really he began to use his word when I was in high school, and as I began to spend time in God's word, that's really when he began to give me a burden for reaching the lost, and that's really how he directs in our lives. We're thankful for his direction. Well, I want to share some more about Chile. How many of you all have been to a South American or Latin American country? Been able to visit there? OK, so several of you have had that privilege. And you probably noticed, just like when Hallie and I visited Chile, that the people are very relational. The culture is more laid back. The people want to establish a good relationship and get to know you. And I really like that culture. It lends itself to sharing the gospel. It lends itself to the principle of discipleship, like we talked about in the Teen Sunday School class as well. And it's very different from where Hallie and I grew up. Now, we grew up in Atlanta. And so we're very used to a busy schedule, a focus on the to-do list, the next task, just a very busy life. People don't hang around church very long. People don't open up their homes very often. They're much more individualized. And so because of that, it's sometimes more difficult to share the gospel here in the States. Obviously, we still should be, and we should be finding ways to bridge that gap. But I'm excited for the culture in Chile that's a wide open door for sharing the gospel. Now the flip side of that relational culture is that it's a very religious culture as well. It's predominantly Catholic, as you might expect. There's also Jehovah's Witness and Mormonism. The charismatic movement is very strong in Santiago. And so each of these religions, they're Christian-based religions. People in Chile have heard the name of Jesus Christ. They've read bits and pieces of the Bible. They would understand some of the Christian terminology and lingo that we use. But sadly, they don't understand that true faith in Jesus Christ is the only way for salvation. So pray for us as we're communicating the gospel to the people there. We want to be very clear that Jesus Christ is truly God, and that he came down to earth and he became a man. He took on human flesh, and then he lived a sinless life. But then at the end of his life, he died on the cross to pay for the sins that you and I couldn't pay for. And of course, then three days later, he rose from the grave to defeat death and hell. And that's why he's our Savior. That's why we're worshiping him tonight. That's why we're going to look at his word. And that's why we're giving our lives to serve him, because he gave his life for us. And that's also when we begin a relationship with Jesus Christ. We want to be very clear in communicating that to the people in Chile because there's so much religious confusion. So please pray for us with clear communication. Obviously, to communicate clearly, we have to know the language. And they speak Spanish in Chile. Hallie and I both had high school Spanish, so we're about 95% fluent. No, I'm just kidding. We'll be studying Spanish as soon as we arrive in November. We'll take full-time language school with a tutor. We're trying to figure out the details, whether we'll each have a tutor or if we'll share a tutor. We'll see exactly how that works out. But we know it's going to be studying 20 hours a week, studying the written language. So four hours each morning, studying with a tutor to learn the written language. And then we'll be doing ministry and being involved in the church for four hours each afternoon so that we're actually learning the spoken language as well. And Lord willing, within a year, we'll be fluent in it. We can continue studying to have a deeper understanding of the language after that. But pray for us to just be able to acquire the language quickly. Hopefully, even before the baby can speak Spanish, we'll be able to. There's a very good, thriving ministry in Santiago. Jason Holt is the missionary that we're going to be established with. Jason Kenney was the missionary in the video that you would have seen. And he was my mentor. I interned with him for six weeks. And we were sad to hear that he was coming back from the field. We were just so excited to partner with Jason and Jenny Kenney. and to learn ministry from them. But they connected us with Jason Holt, who is a very close partner to them. He's been there for 19 years. He's established three local churches. He started the Bible College that's in Santiago. He's seeing lots of fruit with young men going, being saved in church, going to the Bible College, and then exiting the Bible College and taking over the church plants in Santiago, or even going south of Chile and starting some more churches there. There's one missionary who's gone out to Ecuador from Santiago. So we're praising the Lord for the growth and ministry, the way that the fruit is abounding in Santiago. And Hallie and I just want to jump in and be a part of that. Lord willing, we'll adapt to it quickly and that the Lord will use us there. I want to make sure that I cover all the bases. So let me glance at my notes real quickly. But I want to take questions in just a few seconds as well. So if you've got one on the top of your mind, then I'll take it in just a minute. I should mention that Santiago is a city of 8 million people. So it's a massive city. There's lots of opportunity for the gospel. There's lots of need for new churches to be planted. And there are 10 churches that Jason Holt is connected with. And each of those churches have been turned over from a missionary church plant to now a national-led church. So we're praising the Lord for that. The Lord may keep us there in Santiago to continue this church planting movement, but we also are looking for where the Lord is leading if he keeps us in Santiago or maybe if he'll lead us to the southern part of Chile where there's even more great need to plant churches to reach cities south of Santiago. There are cities, the city of Parral, Chile, there's a new church plant there. There's also other cities, Osorno. that we're considering as options to plant churches. So we're looking for the Lord's leading. We'll have about two years to learn the language, to adjust to the culture, and really to be praying about where God would have us start the first church plant. If you've got any questions, I'd love to take them from you at this time while I just make sure I didn't miss anything. Any questions? Some people will ask about the Texas flag on our table. But it's not the Texas flag. It's the Chile flag. They look very similar. And if you look them up and you compare them side by side, they're actually very easy to mistake. Any questions? Yes? The outfit and passage is just a little less than halfway. We are at $20,000 of the $45,000 mark. So a little less than halfway. I'm sorry, let me repeat your question so that the live stream can hear it. You asked about the outfit and passage fund and where we're at with those funds. We're at $20,000 out of $45,000. Any other questions? Yes? Our sending church, the name of our sending church is Bible Baptist Church in Hampton, Georgia. Pastor Lauren Regeer, he's been our pastor for a little over 10 years now. That is the church that Hallie and I grew up in as well as children. Any other questions? Yes, I see, yes, Brother Martin. Yes, you're asking about the political landscape and how they're leaning. They're very left-leaning. It's a democracy currently. Chile has a president who's the youngest president they've had in their history. He's a part of the He's a part of the Communist Party of Chile. And so it's a very left-leaning government. There's actually been lots of political riots, even before the riots we had here in the States, over economics, over politics. And then just last year in September, there was a rewriting of the Constitution that was being voted on. It was named by some of the classic media sites as one of the most left-leaning constitutions worldwide. But we're praising the Lord that the people rejected that rewriting of the Constitution. They've kept the conservative Constitution that right now is that right now Chile has as their governing document. And we're praying that it will stay that way. But it could definitely go south very quickly. We're not sure what the political climate will be like once we arrive, even, or if it will remain stable. Another question? I see one in the back. Yeah, yes, right here. You asked if we would be open to short-term mission trips, and yes, we would be wide open. We would love to have people visit us. We try to make that clear with each church we visit, because we would love to see some teens, we'd love to see some families come down and visit Santiago and see what God is doing there. But at the same time, I'm not sure I would be equipped in November to give you a tour. But we would love to see some short-term mission trips in Santiago. I'll take one more question. If anyone had one last question, I'd love to answer that for you. Okay, well with that, let's turn to Matthew 22. As you're turning there, I just want to mention that we do have prayer cards on the back table. We've also got a prayer letter sign-up sheet. You're welcome to put your email address and your name down, and we'll send out an email prayer letter each month, just updating you on our travels, and then when we get to Chile, what the Lord is doing there. Well, Matthew chapter 22, this is one of my favorite passages. It's a passage that changed the way I looked at my walk with God. It totally revolutionized how I understood Christianity. Now, I received Christ when I was nine years old, so I've been a Christian for quite a while, but I also grew up in a Christian home, so I should have some sort of an advantage with understanding my relationship with God. But sadly, even as a young, As a young, saved Christian, I didn't fully understand my relationship with God. But this passage changed the way I looked at my relationship with God. It also changed the way that I shared the gospel, and the way that I was evangelizing the lost. So, I want each of you to know God, and God desires to have a relationship with us. How many of you know that we serve a relational God? We serve a relational God, and He created us to have a relationship with Him. Even back at the beginning of time, when God created Adam and Eve, He created them for a relationship. And He knew each of them personally and individually, and He talked with Adam and He talked with Eve. And then of course, Adam and Eve took the forbidden fruit, And they both ate of it, they sinned against God, and that sin severed their relationship with God. And since that time, until this day forward, mankind has dealt with a sin problem. And they've dealt with sin one day after the next. And we see all throughout the Old Testament that mankind is dealing with sin, but even before God gave the punishment of the curse. He first promised that there would be a Redeemer who would come to deal a death blow to sin, death, and Satan. And then that promise is echoed again through the Old Testament, over and over again. In the prophecies of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who would come in the New Testament, and then He did. He was born in Matthew. and He lived a sinless life, and then He died for our sins, and rose again from the grave. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, then we begin a relationship with God. Our relationship with God is restored. We're able to know Him personally. God has done everything through Jesus Christ for us to be reconciled to Him. It's now we, as God's creation, get to know our Heavenly Father personally. Now when I try to understand that and to wrap my mind around the fact that God wants to know me personally, I really can't fathom it. I can't understand how my Creator would desire to know me personally and to know each of you as well. But that is the truth and it is how God created us and He desires to have a relationship with us. This is really the difference between Christianity and all other religions. It's that Christianity isn't just a religion, but it's a relationship with God. And 1 John 4.19 puts it this way, we love Him because He first loved us. So this passage really helped me to understand and formulate how I understood my walk with God and my relationship with Him. Look at Matthew 22, and Jesus has been asked several questions by the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and He continues to answer them. He dumbfounds them. Then in verse 34, They want to try it again, so Matthew 22 verse 34 says, But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. I can just imagine all the Pharisees gathering together almost in a huddle, trying to think of a way to stump our Lord Jesus Christ. Then in verse 35, Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Let's pray as we begin. Father, thank you for your word, and I pray that you would help me to share this message clearly, to think clearly and speak clearly. I pray that your word would be prominent and that you'd help us to understand this principle. Father, you know that it's a very simple principle. I pray that you would not only help us to understand it, but help us to just apply this to our lives, to be hearers of the word and not doers only, to fully grasp the meaning of it, but also to see examples in our own lives and areas that we need to change and to work on and to grow in you. I pray that you would be magnified tonight as we read your word. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. the title of this message is Love God First. And the first point is love God. That's very clear in the passage. Jesus Christ says the first and great commandment in verse 37, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Now when he says it's the first and great commandment, he's referring to priority. This is the number one thing. This is the most important thing, that we would love God first. So as Christians, our lives should be summed up as people who love God. At the end of my life, I would love if my gravestone had written on it, here lies a man that loved God. That's how we should be defined. Jesus Christ said it's the first and great commandment. It's the most important thing. My sister was a great example to me in this area of life. She's three years older than me, my sister Cassie, and when she was a senior in high school, I would have been 14 or 15, and I began to notice a pattern in her life. Every morning, if I ever woke up at 6.30, which I didn't normally wake up at 6.30, but when I did, I'd walk out of the room, and I would look to my left, where my sister's room was, and I would see the door was cracked, and the light was on, and she was always sitting on the ground with her Bible, with her legs crossed, reading God's Word. And I began to notice this. It was a pattern in her life. It was something she did every single day. She was busy, she was a senior, she was playing sports and had lots of homework and had plenty of things to do, but she took time for God every single morning. And that began to have an influence on me. I began to realize my sister loves God, and she has a walk with God, and even though I was a Christian at the time, I knew that I didn't love God like she did. And because I began to notice that, I began to work on it in my own life and spend time in God's Word. That's when God really began to work up my heart and make me more like Him, more like His Son. But it wasn't until my freshman year of college that I came across this passage, and I realized that Matthew 22 was the principle that my sister had illustrated for me. She had already showed me how to love God first, but then I read in Matthew 22 that Jesus Christ tells us the number one priority is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. Now I want to clarify the term love, because I've used it a lot already tonight. And I use it frequently. I say that I love my wife, I love our baby, I love missions, or I love coffee, God, and ice cream. So we use the term love for all kinds of things. And you understand that when I use the term love to describe my relationship with ice cream, it's really downplaying the term. It's watering down what I mean by the term love. Love means a feeling of intense affection or to find pleasure in someone. And so when I use the term love with my wife, well, that's an accurate use of the term love. I love her. I find great pleasure in her. But with other things, it doesn't do justice to the term. However, here in the passage, when it says that we should love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, well, this is doing justice to the term. I'm supposed to find great pleasure in God. He is the most satisfying relationship that we have here on Earth or even for eternity. And so if it's hard to picture your relationship with God in this format or as a relationship as though comparable to that of your wife or your best friend, then this passage is one that I think you'll be encouraged by. That we get to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. That we get to spend our life pursuing a relationship with Him. Turn over to James chapter four. And as you flip there, let me ask you this question. Are you as close to God as you want to be? Now I was asked this question when I was in college and my response to it was, well of course I'm not as close to God as I want to be. I always want to be closer to Him. I can always do better. I can always grow more to be like Him. But then they read this passage, James chapter 4. And in the beginning of this passage it refers to our relationship with others. Then in verse four, it transitions to a relationship with God. Know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God? And then in verse eight, I just want to look at the first phrase, which says, draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Now, the preacher pointed out this passage, and he said, you're always as close to God as you want to be, because the responsibility is on my shoulders. When I've walked away from God, when I'm not drawing close to him, when I'm not prioritizing my relationship with him, then the responsibility is on me. God has done everything necessary for me to have a close walk with Him. He can reconcile us through His Son. So I put my faith in Jesus Christ, then I have a right relationship with God. So the responsibility is for me to walk with God. And whenever I intend to walk away from God, then He's always waiting right where I left Him, waiting for me to come back and to restore the relationship and to spend time with Him again. Turn over to Revelation chapter 4. I'm sure many of you have studied this passage. I'm sorry, Revelation chapter 2. John is writing the words of Jesus Christ to the seven churches, and in chapter 2, he writes to the church of Ephesus. It says in verse 1, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, and jump down to verse 2. I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars, and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Pause there. This is a church that is serving in their community, that's doing their best to promote the gospel, to have ministries in the church. If you were a member of the Ephesus Church, then there would be plenty of ministry opportunities, plenty of ways for you to get involved. But there's a condemnation as well in verse 4 which says, You notice they didn't lose their first love. They left it. They walked away from their first love. At one point, Jesus Christ was their first love. They loved God with all of their heart, with all of their soul, with all of their mind. But now here at this point in the passage, they've left their first love. And it was probably just slow steps or small steps away from God. It was probably just other things that came up that distracted them from the number one priority, but so often this is an illustration of my own life. I can look at times in my life or periods in my life where I'll go for months without spending time in God's Word, without desiring a relationship with Him, without really prioritizing that or giving it any quality time. And God is still waiting for me to come back to him. He says, draw nigh to me and I'll draw nigh to you. The Ephesus Church is sadly an illustration of our lives many times. Well, many of you may be thinking, We've talked about loving God, but what are some specific ways or practical ways that I can love God? And there are a number of ways that we can love God, but I'm going to give you just one tonight, which is reading God's Word. Spend daily time reading God's Word. My challenge to you is that you would make it a priority to take time each morning or each evening and set aside an appointment with God. some time that's scheduled just for Him, that you and God can get together, that you can read His Word and to know Him personally. And make that a priority in your life. This is the way that I grew on my walk with God, and it's interesting, when you find someone who loves God, then they love to read God's Word. But the opposite is true as well. Someone who reads God's Word eventually begins to love God. And sadly, there are some exceptions to that. There are some people who study God's Word for the purpose of twisting it and contorting the Scriptures. But as a general rule, those who love God, love His Word. And that's something that's true for each of us here tonight. When we spend time in God's Word, we'll grow in our love for God as well. God's given us his love letter here, and we've got the opportunity to read it and to know him personally. So let's not neglect that opportunity. I remember when we were in college, or when I was in college actually, and Hallie was back in Georgia still. It was our first year dating. It was a long-distance relationship for part of the year, and we both had iPhones, so typically we would just text each other or FaceTime. We would spend some time each week just FaceTiming each other or calling each other back, trying to keep up with each other and keep the relationship vibrant and alive. I remember sometimes for special events, maybe my birthday or Valentine's Day, I would see a note in my box, and I would go to the mailbox and pull it out, and I would run up to my room, I would get up to the desk, I would open up the envelope, and then I would remember, oh, It's dinner time. I've got to run down and eat dinner, so I would leave it on the desk. And I would eat dinner, and then something else would come up. I would spend some time with friends. There would be a sports practice. There was some work I had to finish. There was some schoolwork I hadn't done. And then it was too late to read the note. And sometimes weeks would go by before I had the time to read her letter. And no, of course not. Of course, I never waited that long. I never let weeks go by before I read her letter. In fact, if she wasn't that important to me, then we probably wouldn't be married today. Whenever I got a letter from Hallie, I would pull it out of the box, I would run up to the room, I would open it, and I would remember, oh, it's dinner time. Well, that doesn't really matter, because I want to read the letter from my girlfriend. It was so important to me to read this love letter from my wife. Yet at the same time, I will... I'll say to myself, if I wake up on time in the morning, then I'll read God's Word. If I have time in between some projects, if I can finish the dishes, if I can send a few emails, if I can finish out some work, if I'm not too tired tonight, then I'll read God's Word. Whenever I get the time, then I'll make some time for God. But at the same time, I say, I love God with all my heart, soul, and mind, and don't prioritize time in His Word. So my challenge to you is to prioritize it, to make your relationship with God so important that you have this time set aside to grow in your walk with Him. So here's a few questions for you. What are some ways that you can grow in your love for God? What are some specific habits you need in your life that would make it natural to grow in your love for God? Who are some people in your life that you need to spend more time with because they're encouraging you to walk closely with the Lord? And in 2023, what are some specific ways you can grow in your walk with God? Or let me ask you even more specifically, tomorrow, what is your plan to spend time in God's Word? Well, let's look at the second point, which Jesus gives to us in Matthew 22. He says in verse 37, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love others is the second point. But I want you to notice, it always comes second. It never comes first. The first point is to love God. The second point is to love others. And as a young Christian, I probably would have thought that the most important thing as a Christian is to share the gospel. And I wouldn't have been far off, but actually, the most important thing is always my relationship with God. The most important thing is to love God first, but you know what the next step is? The natural step after we love God is to love others as we love ourselves. And that comes directly following our love for God. My sister, again, illustrated this for me. Her name's Cassie. She read God's words. She had a huge example on my life, or had a huge influence on my life. But then on the other hand, there's my little sister Holly, and she's four years younger than me. four years younger than me. I said Holly. My wife's name is Hallie. To make matters worse, my oldest brother married a girl named Allie. And so when they're all together, it's Holly, Hallie, and Allie. But my little sister Holly and I, we did not get along. There was constant tension. There was frustration between the two of us. Whenever she came into the room, I was bothered by her. And probably a lot of you have siblings, and you understand what I mean. But I had no love for my little sister. But then my oldest sister would come home. And she was so patient and loving and kind with her two little siblings. And I think you all know why. It's because she loved God first. And the very next step was that she loved her siblings as she loved herself. And I had no love in my heart for God, and I had no love in my heart for my little sister. And so it was impossible for me to have a close relationship with her. But my older sister demonstrated even the second point to me that Jesus Christ gives to us in verse 39. The second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. We'll turn over to James chapter 2. We're just going to read here briefly. where James is rebuking members of the church, Christians, who are not treating each other with the love of Christ. It says in verse one, My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel, there come in also a poor man and vile raiment. And you have respect to him that weareth the gay or good clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place. And say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool. Are you not impartial in yourselves and have become judges of evil thoughts? I think you all are following along, but so far people are coming into the church and members are treating each other differently based on their physical appearance or outward things, externally. Let's continue reading in verse 5. Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs in the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? but ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called? If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. Well here, in this church, the people were treating each other differently with partiality based on external appearance. They didn't like a personality. They didn't like some clothing. They didn't like a social status. And Jesus Christ had already given them the commandment in Matthew 22, to love their neighbor as they love themselves. This is a very simple commandment. It should be very easy for us to apply this. In the way that I want to be treated, I should treat other people. But so often, I'll expect others to be my close friend or to do something in particular for me, but I'm not willing to do it for others. Or I'll expect others not to gossip about me behind my back, but then I'll gossip about others. or I'll ask others to pray for me, and then I forget to pray for the need that they requested as well. And Jesus Christ gives the logical commandment, the very natural commandment, to love others as we love ourselves. But we can only do this when we love God first. But also, consider this, that when we love others as we love ourselves, then we'll share the gospel. I was nine years old when I received Christ. My mom shared the gospel with me, and I put my faith in Jesus Christ. I'm thankful for my mother sharing the gospel with me. I also love being a Christian. And I love knowing that I'm gonna spend eternity in heaven with my Savior, but then I'm not always too concerned about people around me who don't know Jesus Christ. Some of my neighbors or people I run into or people I've met out in public, I'm not always concerned about their eternal state. And in those moments, I'm not loving my neighbor as I love myself. I'm so thankful to be a Christian, but I'm not too concerned about them. And 1 John 2 puts it very bluntly, tells us that if we don't love a brother, then we don't actually love God. But we remember from this passage in Matthew 22 that when we love God, then the very natural next step is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. And this is really the passion for missions. This is where the desire comes from. We walk with God each day, and as we love God, then we grow in our love for others as well, and we look for opportunities to share the gospel. It was explained to me like this at one point, where we're like a pitcher, and each time the pitcher needs to be filled up, you put it into the sink and fill it up with the faucet. And then you're able to pour out into other cups. And then you put the pitcher back under the faucet to fill it up again. And you pour out into the other cups. And we are like that. The source of love comes from God. And we need to be filled up from Him. Our source comes from Him. And our relationship with Him matters so much. And it's only until we love Him and walk with Him that we can pour out to others. And we can show the love of Christ to others as well. That's our desire in Chile, to show the love of Christ to those around us, to show them the salvation that Jesus Christ offers, and to make way that they can be saved, that we can see them in eternity also. I'm going to read in John chapter 15. You don't have to turn there. I'm just going to read a few verses. But I want you to hear how Jesus frames it up. This similar idea in John chapter 15, verse 1, which says, I'm the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch of me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Listen to verse 4, the way Jesus Christ describes our relationship with him. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me. Listen to verse 7. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. When we abide in Christ, then we'll bear much fruit. When we love God first, then we'll love our neighbors as we love ourselves. And we want to be used by God in that way. I love this passage because it really gave me clarity for the Christian life. It helped me to understand my relationship with God. It was no longer a list of do's and don'ts. It was no longer just the Ten Commandments or just some rules that I had to follow. but it was a relationship with God. And I can focus on that one thing, to love God first, and then very naturally, out of that love for God, to love others. I want to point out that my sister never would have said that loving me and my little sister was easy. It's not an easy thing to love others as you love yourself, but it is the natural thing after we love God first. As we walk with God, He gives us the desire to share the gospel with the lost. So we want to be looking for those opportunities this week. We'll be praying for your church as you are reaching the lost here in Huntsville and sharing the gospel faithfully and consistently. But as we close, let me ask these questions one more time for each of us to consider. How can we love God more? What are some ways that we can grow in our love for God? Who are some people that we can show the love of Christ to? Who do we know that needs to hear the gospel? But never forget the most important thing, to love God first. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for your word. I pray that you'd use it in our hearts tonight and use it in my life once again to to show me an area where I'm not loving you first, to show me something that I've put as a higher priority than my relationship with you. And pray that you draw us close to you tonight. Father, I pray that as we draw nigh to you, just as you've promised, that you will draw nigh to us. Thank you for the church here that's faithfully serving you. I pray that each of us would have opportunities to reach the lost this week and to share the gospel and be reminded of that priority, but only after we've spent time with you, that we've walked with you, and that you've drawn us close. Father, thank you for your love for us. Thank you for your salvation. I pray that you would be glorified tonight. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you, Joe, showing your presentation and giving us the word of God to go this week and love the Lord and love those around us as well. In his word, be faithful in the word of God. Tomorrow morning in your reading, maybe this evening, personally, privately this week, let's do a better job in drawing closer to the Lord. Let's stand together. Joe and Hallie, if you could make your way to your table there in the lobby and go by and Greet them. Great news that God has provided even since last time we talked to him from here that God has provided their support. And looking forward to getting this young couple on the field and seeing what God can do through them. Let's close in the word of prayer. Father, thank you for this opportunity tonight to be able to be blessed with the word of God. Draw us closer this week. Convict us when we get our priorities out of whack. We put down your love letter and for the busyness of life and the schedule, would we make that our first and foremost priority? And then knowing that all these other things will be added to us as we seek you first. Bless us this evening in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you. You are dismissed. you