“Do You Want A Revolution?” (Full Sermon) | Pastor Max Gomez (Jun 20, 2026)

Galatians 5:22 puts the whole weight on one word: love. Paul says “the fruit of the Spirit is love,” and that one word is not random, not cute, not just another church word. Love is the primary and dominant feature of a follower of Christ. People do not know Christ’s disciples by the church they attend, the bio they write, or the label they wear. They know Christ’s disciples by the way love shows up in flesh and blood.

The image of New York losing its mind over the Knicks presses the question hard: why can people be fanatical about a bouncy ball, but not fanatical about loving a neighbor? Fanaticism for a game can overwhelm police, fill streets, break cars, and shout, “If the Knicks win, call the National Guard.” The same kind of undying devotion ought to rise against racism, sexism, homelessness, human trafficking, and black boys being shot in the streets. The revolution needed in America is not a revolution of violence. The revolution needed is a revolution of love.

The incarnation of Christ is named as the greatest revolution the world has ever seen. God so loved a world infected with sin that Christ came to fix something he did not break. That love is not eros, not phileia, not storge, but agape. Agape is unconditional, unmerited, no strings attached, not drawn to the object because the object is worthy, but because of the character of the One doing the loving.

Paul’s theology makes the cross the definition of love. Galatians 2:20 says Christ “loved me and gave himself for me,” so the love of Christ is defined by the giving of Christ. The same love that drove Christ to the cross is the same love the Spirit produces in the body of Christ. That revelation ought to kill entitlement: God owes nothing, yet every heartbeat, every breath, every blinking eye, every blanket, every friend, every job, every bit of mercy becomes reason to say thank you.

The body metaphor makes love painfully practical. When one hand got caught in the window, the whole body reacted to the pain of one member. Connection is proven by response to pain. A compassionate church cannot throw a ladder down from a safe distance; love jumps into the hole and says, “I’ve been where you’ve been, and I know the way out.”

The Black Panther breakfast programs become a picture of agape against empire. The government feared groceries more than guns because a community that feeds itself, protects itself, and heals itself cannot be controlled. The church’s food drive is not charity as decoration; it is resistance through love. John 15 calls love to lay down life for a friend, and that love must begin inside the body before it can be credible in the city.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Love must get fanatical Fanaticism is not the problem when its object is worthy. The problem is a world that can tear up a city over a basketball game but stay calm while neighbors are crushed by injustice. Love becomes revolutionary when holy intensity turns toward human pain instead of entertainment. [06:44]
• 2. Agape begins at the cross Paul’s word for love is not sentimental affection or natural loyalty. Agape is the love that gives itself away because the lover is good, not because the beloved has earned it. Christ’s death defines love as costly, undeserved, and impossible to separate from sacrifice. [22:39]
• 3. God owes nothing, yet gives everything The cross destroys the spirit of entitlement because sin deserves death, not comfort, convenience, or another day of breath. Gratitude becomes deeper when life itself is seen as mercy, not as a right God failed to improve. Worship grows clean when the soul can say, “You owe me nothing, but thank you.” [26:47]
• 4. Connected bodies answer pain The body does not debate whether the hurting member deserves attention. The whole body reacts because real connection makes another member’s pain impossible to ignore. A church proves its connection to a city not by its name, but by how quickly it moves toward the places where pain is greatest. [33:42]
• 5. Groceries can resist empire Love becomes dangerous to corrupt power when a community learns to feed, protect, invest in, and heal itself. The empire fears a people whose care makes them less controllable. A bag of food given in agape can become a weapon stronger than violence because it announces that hungry neighbors are not disposable. [38:32]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:36] - Do You Want a Revolution?
• [01:21] - Knicks Fanaticism in the Streets
• [06:44] - Fanatical About a Ball, Not Justice
• [10:40] - The Revolution America Needs
• [12:36] - The Fruit of the Spirit Is Love
• [15:33] - What Does Love Look Like?
• [16:46] - Greek Words for Love
• [19:20] - Agape Love Has No Strings
• [22:39] - The Cross Defines Love
• [26:47] - God Owes Nothing, But Thank You
• [30:33] - Love Costs and Sacrifices
• [33:42] - When One Member Hurts
• [36:49] - Groceries, Power, and the Black Panthers
• [41:51] - Greater Love Lays Down Life

1. In Galatians 5:22, which word receives the main focus, and how is that word described as the primary feature of a follower of Christ? [13:15]
2. What contrasts are drawn between being fanatical about a basketball game and being fanatical about loving neighbors and pursuing justice? [06:44]
3. According to Galatians 2:20, what two actions are connected to Christ’s love, and how do those actions define what love looks like? [22:39]
4. In the body picture, what happened when one hand was caught in the window, and what did that reveal about how connected members respond to pain? [33:42]

1. If Paul says the fruit of the Spirit is love, why might love come first in the list rather than simply being one virtue among many? [14:19]
2. Galatians 2:20 says Christ “loved me and gave himself for me.” What does that suggest about the difference between sentimental love and cross-shaped love? [22:44]
3. John 13:35 says people will know Christ’s disciples by their love for one another. Why is love inside the body so important for the church’s witness outside the body? [42:25]
4. A community that feeds, protects, and cares for its people becomes hard to control. Why is practical love—something as simple as groceries—so spiritually and socially powerful? [38:32]

1. What are some things in everyday life that stir up more passion in the heart than loving people does right now? What would it look like for that energy to be redirected toward someone’s real pain this week? [44:01]
2. Christ came to fix something he did not break. Where is there a temptation to say, “I didn’t cause this, so it’s not my responsibility”? What might agape love do instead? [25:28]
3. “God owes me nothing, but thank you” is a hard but freeing confession. Where has entitlement been creeping into the heart lately, and what specific mercies call for fresh gratitude right now? [26:47]
4. Real connection shows up in how people respond to pain. When someone in the church, family, or neighborhood is hurting, is the instinct to move closer, stay distant, or offer help from a safe place? What would moving closer look like? [34:12]
5. Love that sacrifices is more than a donation; it gives something that costs. What kind of giving—time, comfort, money, attention, reputation, convenience—would actually feel costly right now? [30:33]
6. Before love can be credible in the city, it must be real among believers. Is there anyone in the body who has been difficult to love, easy to ignore, or quick to judge? What might loving that person in a concrete way look like this week? [41:47]
7. If loving neighbors can look as practical as feeding hungry people, protecting vulnerable people, or showing up for struggling families, what is one tangible act of resistance-through-love that could be taken in the next seven days? [41:09]