Amen. Good morning, everybody. Y'all give the worship team a hand as they have a seat. Thank you.
How's everybody doing? Is it still raining? What? No? Yes? A couple of y'all came in hugging me, apologizing for your witness. So.
How many of y'all are ready for some sunshine? Yes. Woo! I don't see it coming. But, you know, we keep believing.
And y'all deal with flooding. Man, y'all encounter any of the roads closed off? Man, craft was flooded the other day and homes. Man, crazy amounts of rain. The news was saying this could be a once-in-a-generational amount of rain that we've received. So. Wild. But how many of you agree it's a great time to be alive?
And this is the day the Lord has made, regardless of what our eyes see and what we experience. And so, guys, we are thankful to have all of y'all together. I know we've got a crew watching online. Y'all give the live stream crew a hand. Thank you for joining us this morning.
I know it might have been too rainy. Maybe you've flooded at home. Those of you who did, actually, whether you're here or watching online, man, I know there's some folks that have experienced some damage and such at home. And we were just trying to keep our pool from overflowing and some different things. And so, man, we're just standing and agreeing that anybody who's experienced damage and stuff, guys, the Bible says we can declare a return when things are stolen from us. Amen. And so we just declare that over you in Jesus' name.
We want to welcome you, whether you're part of the Harvest family or whether you're a guest. Thanks so much for being here. We don't take it for granted for a moment. We believe that the Holy Spirit brings every person in on purpose because He has something He wants to speak to you today. So thank you for being here. Thank you for worshiping Him with us first at the beginning of the week.
I did want to mention, as I always do, we ask everybody every week to fill out our connection form. And you can see a link to that on the screen. There's also probably a chair in front of you. It's got a QR code. If you scan that real quick, you can fill out your connection form. And if you could do that for us, we would certainly appreciate it. If you're part of the Harvest family, it just allows us to make sure your information is up to date and know that you are here. And if you are a guest with us, it allows us also to get a little information from you but to reach out to you and let you know how much we appreciate your visit.
And as I always mention at the bottom of that, there's a place for prayer needs. Please, whatever it is you believe in God for in your life, how many of you know there's power in agreement? Let us come in agreement with you. So put your prayer needs down there. And we've got a prayer team. They're committed to praying over those prayer needs every day this week, and we're believing for breakthrough in your life.
Lastly, if you haven't yet done so and you are a guest with us, if you would stop at the connection desk on your way out, it's out in the lobby. If you haven't already done so, there's somebody there that would love to meet you and greet you. They've got a gift for you and just let you know how much we appreciate you visiting with us this morning.
Oh, good morning again, everybody. Welcome to church. Thank you so much for being here. We are a family of Christ followers. We love God. We love people. We serve the world as the hands and feet of Jesus.
Harvest family, what's our vision? Make, grow, and equip followers of Jesus to fulfill their God-given purpose in life. And we do that through community, discipleship, and outreach.
So, guys, yes, we are entering into a new series that will start today. We'll continue next Sunday. And then it will all culminate three weeks from today on Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday. And, guys, I believe it's going to be powerful. That's on Sunday, April 20th. Invite folks to come, guys. We put invite cards in all of your chairs. If you need more, we'll get you more at the Connection Desk and whatever you need.
Continue to share the social media posts. We got the video going up this week. We started a campaign this past week. I don't know how many of y'all have seen the video that's coming. Some of y'all helped make this video over the last few weeks. And so check it out. You'll see it pop up on Instagram and Facebook and different things.
Madison did tell me there were a couple of people, a couple of videos that didn't come out. So if you're wondering, where am I? Why am I not in that video? Something happened to a little bit of the video. But, man, it's powerful.
So, anyway, we're starting this series, this brand-new series called "Love Pursued Across Eternity" as we move into Resurrection Sunday.
And so I really, this is going to be kind of setting this up, and I believe this is going to build, you know, into next week. And then that's going to build and culminate, like I say, on Easter Sunday. But, guys, like I say, this is kind of the setup for that. And so I want you to really press in today, and I want you to really grasp a hold of this as we're talking about this love that pursued us across eternity.
And so in this, we've got to understand a few things. Firstly, how many of you know that before the world began, before the stars were set in motion, before the mountains rose, before the oceans roared, before the garden, before sin, before all of that, how many of you know there was God? There was God. There was God.
And understand that how many of you know that God is complete in every way? How many of you know that God needs nothing and He lacks nothing? Amen? He is complete. He is all in all. But here we are, before everything that we know and we can even imagine, still there was God.
And in the stillness of eternity past, God had a desire. And it wasn't a desire just to create. It wasn't a desire just to rule. He had this desire within Him to love and to be loved. And so because we see that in this, we know that God is love, right? Love is the very essence of who He is.
And the dictionary beside the word love, it should say God. Because He is love. So in this, God desired to love and to be loved. And before creation, in the stillness of eternity past, He dreamed of a bride for His son. And you were that dream.
So this is the beginning of our story. And let me tell you, our story does not begin in Genesis chapter 1. Our story begins well beyond that, well before that, in eternity past. And so this first message kind of sets the stage for everything else.
And here's the idea I want you guys to understand. You were loved long before you were ever born. You were loved long before your parents or even your ancestors were ever born. You were loved.
And so to start this off, we're going to have to go back. We're going to go way back. We say to the beginning, and that generally means Genesis chapter 1. No, we're going back even further. And we're going to take a look at where the story really begins.
And you can follow along on the screen. If you have a Bible, I'm going to be jumping around in Scripture today. Or you can follow along. If you have the YouVersion Bible app on your phone or mobile device, you can download that for free. And if you hit more and hit events, our notes will pop up on your screen there.
And you can follow right along from that. So I've got three points for you. Three points. Three things I want you to understand today as we set up this series, okay? Here we go.
Number one. Number one. Love existed before light. Before God ever said, "Let there be light," love existed. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4. Here's what it says. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. Who did the choosing? Did we choose or did He choose? He chose.
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. In love, everybody say in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ Himself. Guys, He chose us in Him before the foundations of the world. And it was in love that He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself.
So right there, it says in love He predestined us. The word love. Anybody know what that word is in Greek? The word agape. Agape in the Greek, it is the highest form expression of love in the Greek language. That's the word that's translated love right here. And it speaks of self-giving, sacrificial, unconditional love. It's not a romantic love. It's not an emotional love. It's a sacrificial love.
And as a matter of fact, it's an act of the will. You know, we say, "Oh, I'm in love." No, you just got an emotional attachment, right? How many of you have gotten to the place in your life, maybe, hopefully, you're probably married, the folks I'm talking to here. And you've been in love, and now love has changed a little bit. And there's times and days that sometimes it's you choose to love.
A couple of times you don't love things in a moment about your significant other. And that's that agape, that's that unconditional love. We continue to love, even if we don't feel like loving. How many of you have been there? Oh, maybe you don't need to raise your hand. Never mind.
Before the world began, the kind of love that God had for us, it wasn't sentimental. It was covenantal. He chose to love you, listen, He chose to love you with the same love that sent Jesus to the cross. How many of you know, if that was an emotional love that God had in that moment, He wouldn't have sent His Son to the cross?
It was an act of His will. Not an emotional love, not a romantic love, not a sentimental love. A self-giving, sacrificial, unconditional love. God's choice was not based on our performance. How many of you are glad for that?
God's choice, it was not based on our performance, but it was rooted in eternal love. Before time began, He was already calling us His very own. Before time began, He was whispering your name and calling you His very own.
We know 1 John 4:8, we just said this a minute ago. God is what? God is love. Love is not something that God does; it's the essence of who He is. God is love. Love existed before anything else did.
John 17:24 says, "You loved me before the foundation of the world." Now, we can make that personal, but here's the reality, because we look at things in context here, right? The context is, Jesus is saying this to the Father. We know that Jesus was fully God and fully man, right?
And in this moment, Jesus is speaking to the Father, and He says, "You loved me before the foundations of the world." And so, first off, the word love, what's the word love here? Actually, it's agape-sas, it's close. Agape-sas is the past tense version, past tense of, past tense form of the word agape.
And it refers to an eternal love between the Father and the Son that's rooted in unity and in joy and in shared glory. So, Jesus is speaking of an eternal love shared between Him and the Father, and it is that love that is the source of all creation.
Before God said, "Let there be light," guys, there was already love. Creation wasn't the beginning of God's activity. Creation was the unveiling of God's heart. The first act of God was not of power; it was an act of passion.
It was a deep, eternal desire to share the love within the Trinity with someone else, with a bride. In the book of Hosea, how do you know the book of Hosea? You know the prophet Hosea. God speaks of the prophet Hosea, and He tells him to marry, anybody know her name? Gomer.
Tells him to marry Gomer. And He just, God lays it right out there from the beginning. He says, "I want you to marry Gomer. By the way, she's going to be unfaithful to you." How many of y'all would jump in with both feet on that?
We'd be like, "Lord, can you say that again or give me confirmation or something else, right?" Hosea marries her. He loves her. He marries her. Even after she leaves him, God commands Hosea to pursue her. To pursue her, to buy her back. We know that she ended up in slavery. And to love her still.
Why? Because Hosea's life was a living parable. And really, it's a picture for us today. And here's what it says in Hosea 2:19. It says, "I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice and loving kindness and mercy."
Who does the betrothing? God does. God's the one that does the betrothing. Obviously, it's Hosea speaking here, but like I say, it's a parallel. God's the one who betroths us to Himself. And He does so in righteousness and in justice and loving kindness and in mercy.
By the way, the Hebrew word translated loving kindness is chesed. Everybody say chesed. Get it? Get that little thing going? Ha. Chesed. Deal in Hebrew, you learn some of these ways these things are pronounced.
Chesed can be translated loving kindness. It can also be translated steadfast love. As a matter of fact, this is a covenant word that is often used describing God's faithfulness and His loyalty and His mercy and His love.
So what does that mean? It means the love that's being described here is not, this isn't a temporary love. This isn't a fleeting thing. This goes deeper than a marriage-level love or a marriage-level loyalty. How many of you know that God doesn't date His people? He makes covenants with them. God is all in. Even when we're not, God is all in with both feet.
God marries us with mercy. Even before His people were faithful, even while they were running away, God is a pursuing lover. And His love, again, how many of you are glad that His love is not reactionary? It's eternal. It's fierce. It doesn't wait for performance. It initiates pursuit.
And really this echoes what Paul was talking about in Ephesians 1:4 when he said, "We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world." It actually says in love, right? We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. And Hosea shows that kind of love in action. And it's a love that existed before we were even worthy of it. And it stays even when we wander from it.
Guys, this is the best news ever. God's love doesn't start with your obedience. God's love starts with His nature. His nature is, He is love.
I was thinking about, imagine with me for a moment, maybe a couple who's gone through the adoption process. Anybody ever gone through the adoption process and know that long task? I mean, there's all these things that have to happen in order to adopt a child.
And so you got a couple and they want to adopt, they want to have kids of their very own or they want to add to their family. And so they get this process going and they're waiting for approval. And the days and the weeks and the months or even longer are going by.
And they don't know yet, in many cases, whether it's going to be a boy or a girl. And they don't know how that child is going to respond when they receive it, right? And the thing is, something powerful, though, has already taken root in them. Something has happened in their hearts. They've made room for love.
And so they may not have ever met this child. They may not know its gender. But they've already got a room set aside. And they've begun to fill it with furniture. And they've begun to fold little clothes and maybe decorate and hang pictures and all these different things.
And maybe they speak the child's name in prayer. And they dream about holding them. And maybe they even look at photos or ultrasounds or whatever it may be. And maybe they even cry tears of longing.
Guys, this is a love that begins before relationship has ever begun. It's not based on performance. The child hasn't done anything to earn this, right? In many cases, this child isn't even born yet. But the parents already love them fully and deeply because they've made room for love in their hearts.
That's what it's like with God. Before God said, "Let there be light," He was whispering your name. Before God said, "Let there be light," He was already setting His affections on you. Before He said, "Let there be light," He had already made room. Not in His world that He was going to create, but in His heart.
And here's the deal, guys. You are not a cosmic accident. You are not a result of randomness. You are not an afterthought. You were formed in love. You were chosen in love. And you were pursued in love.
Your story begins long before Genesis chapter 1. It begins in the heart of a God who is love. That's my first point. Love existed before light.
Number two, the bride was in His heart from the start. I didn't mean to make that rhyme. I'm just, it's just that cool. It came out like that.
Again, going back to John chapter 17 for a minute. Again, this is Jesus speaking to the Father. And he says, "You loved me before the foundation of the world." And then he goes on and gives kind of a why. He said, "So that they may see my glory which you have given me."
You have loved me for the foundation of the world so that they, who do you think they is? If you're here today and you're alive and breathing, raise your hand. You are they. That's not your pronoun. You're counted in that number.
Remember, the Father loved Jesus, one of the reasons being so that we may see His glory which the Father had given Him. Guys, again, Jesus reveals the eternal love between Himself and the Father. A love that now He's inviting us into. His bride was in view even then.
In Genesis chapter 2, verse 21, you guys are very familiar with this. Here's what it says. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man. Y'all remember this, right? And jump on down to verse 23. It says, "The rib the Lord God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man."
Let's talk about that for a minute. Again, I've got quite a few Hebrew and Greek words I'm going to give you today. The Hebrew word translated rib here is tesela. Everybody say tesela.
In English, it would be T-S-E-L-A. Tesela. And it can be translated rib. It can also be translated side. So the rib the Lord had taken from the man He made into a woman. That's tesela.
Now this word tesela is also used a couple more times in Scripture. We find it in Exodus chapter 25 and Exodus chapter 26. You know what it refers to? It refers to the two side walls of the tabernacle. And it speaks of it being something sacred, something structural, something protective.
This is what God took from the man and He formed woman out of. How many of you know that Eve was not created from the dust like Adam was? Eve wasn't taken from Adam's head and wasn't taken from his foot. She was taken from his side, right? Isn't that what it says?
Guys, the bride also comes from Christ's side. We'll talk more about that in a minute. But the bride comes from Christ's side as one equal in love and intimately close to His heart. It's a prophetic image of the church being formed from Christ.
Romans 5:14, here's what it says. It says, "Adam is a type of Him," capital H, who's it talking about? Talking about Jesus. Everybody say Jesus. Adam is a type of Him who was to come. Adam was a prophetic figure. His story is a foreshadowing of Christ and His relationship with His bride.
You know Adam and Eve are a foreshadowing of Christ and His relationship with His bride? Revelation 19:7 says this, "Let us be glad and rejoice for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready."
Guys, you may have never heard this before, but this life that we're living, especially those of us who have made Jesus Lord of our life, who have surrendered our lives to Him, it is heading somewhere. Heaven is not the end. Heaven's really the beginning.
But here's the thing. All of human history is leading to a grand wedding. That's what we're headed toward. This is the eternal purpose of God's pursuit. The bride was not an afterthought. The bride was the purpose of all this. The bride was the purpose of creation.
Just as Eve was in Adam, even before she was ever revealed, the church was in Christ before the church was ever revealed. Is this making sense? Y'all hear what I'm saying?
God dreamed, had this desire for a companion, a bride for His son, one who would love Him freely in return. Before there was sin, before there was a fall, there was a wedding planned. Picture in Genesis that moment.
We just read just a moment ago where the rib is taken from Adam's side. So picture that moment as Adam wakes up from this deep sleep. He wakes up and standing before him is Eve. And she is flesh of his flesh, right?
And guys, I personally believe, I think he recognized her because she was part of him. God took her out of him. I believe that he recognized, he knew who she was. She was a part of him, she was for him, and he was for her.
And this mirrors Jesus. The Bible calls Jesus the last Adam who slept in death. And we know that the Bible says that from His side, His pure side, blood and water flowed, right? And in the Bible, blood and water symbolizes atonement and new birth.
From His side, the church, His bride would be formed. Creation began, we see in Genesis chapter 2, begins basically with a wedding. Adam and Eve.
And let me tell you, the story we have right now of the Bible ends with a wedding as well. Christ and His bride. And you and me, we are that bride. This is the eternal plan.
Think about a wedding day for a minute. How many of you have ever been the groom who stood up at the front? You married men. You had to stand at the front of the room and you waited for her to come in the door. Any of y'all nervous she wasn't going to come in the door? You're like, "Yeah, no, no."
Standing up there, waiting for her to come. How many of you have ever been to one of those weddings where the bride takes extra long? And they keep coming in and going, "Everything's okay. She's just still getting ready. She's still, I know Jonathan and Latoya just married him a few weeks ago. We're going, where's the bride? They're going, she's still getting ready. She's still getting ready."
Jonathan's standing here going, "She's coming. She's coming. She's coming." The groom stands there and he waits. And eventually those doors open, hopefully. Those doors open, right? And what happens? Everybody rises and the bride enters.
Listen, understand this. At this point, all the planning, all the waiting, all the cost has led to this moment, right? Guys, the church is not just a gathering of saved people. She is the bride, handpicked and prepared for the Son.
Jesus isn't just waiting for workers. He's waiting for His bride. He's waiting for His bride to be ready and to enter. And let me tell you, what a glorious moment. When the bride walks in, all of heaven rises.
As a follower of Christ, you're not just rescued, you're wanted. As a follower of Christ, you're not just forgiven, you're desired. Guys, the Bible says that you were the joy set before Jesus as He endured the cross. The cross was the price of this wedding.
Guys, the church is not an afterthought. It's the heartbeat of God's eternal purpose. And you're not just part of the church; you are part of the bride of Christ.
So love existed long before the light. The bride was in His heart from the start. My last point, my third point, number three, love is the meaning of creation.
And I want you all to hear me in this. Because I keep talking about love from eternity past. A love that transcends time. A love pursued across eternity. How do you know there's no time in eternity? Time exists for us right now on this earth. And once we shed these bodies, time will again be absent.
And here's what it says in Revelation 13:8. It says, it's talking about Jesus. Jesus, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now that may seem kind of confusing to you because you're going, "Jesus, we don't see him. We don't see him slain until the book of Matthew. That's like past the middle of the book. What are you talking about before the foundation of the world?"
Well, guys, let's talk about that for just a minute. The Greek word, I'm going back to the Greek here for a second. When it says the lamb slain, the Greek word translated slain is spazo. And it can mean slain. It can also mean sacrifice. It means butchered.
It's considered a graphic term, which means to kill by violent slaughter. Jesus, the lamb, spazo, violently slaughtered from the foundation of the world. What does this mean?
Guys, regardless of what our culture and people will tell you today, Jesus was not, He did not symbolically die. He wasn't chosen to symbolically die or anything like that. He was eternally appointed to be the sacrificial lamb of God.
From the foundation of the world, Jesus was chosen and handpicked to be the sacrificial lamb of God. Spazo. This word reminds us of the cost of love seen before creation ever began.
This means that, guys, the cross wasn't just a reaction to man's sin. So when we look in Genesis chapter 3 and Adam and Eve's sin, God wasn't all of a sudden trying to come up with a plan B. He wasn't calling for a meeting of the hosts of heaven. "Oh my gosh, what are we going to do? I know. We're going to send Jesus to the cross."
No, guys, that's not the way it worked. God knew the cost of love from the beginning. God knew the cost of love before He created, and He still chose to create.
You see what I'm saying? Does this make sense? Does this deepen the love that you have, your understanding of the love of God?
2 Timothy 1:9 says, "God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling according to His own purpose and grace which He was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity." Guys, God's purpose was not invented in time. It was set in motion in eternity.
The purpose of God is rooted in grace and in love. God's grace, how are you thankful for God's grace? God's grace began, His grace toward you began in eternity.
1 Peter 1:20 says, "He," it's about Jesus. "He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest." We could say He was made flesh. God put on flesh, right? Became man, dwelt among us. He was made manifest in the last times for the sake of who? Us.
Jesus' sacrificial mission was always part of God's plan. The cross is the heart of that plan, and so are you and I. Guys, creation, creation is not random. Creation is not accidental. Creation is intentional.
The world, this world wasn't made to be impressive. It was made to be intimate. God created the heavens, the cosmos to give His son a bride, and let me tell you, the cross was already written into the story.
And that's not a show of weakness. That's a show of love. God knew full well that in order to gain His bride, that His son would have to lay down His life. And still, He created.
Love was the beginning, love was the cost, and love was the meaning of it all. How do you remember the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis chapter 22? Now remember this? God gives Abraham the promised son, right?
And here a little while down the line, God says, "Hey, I want you to go up Mount Moriah. I want you to go sacrifice your promised son." How many of you as a parent would agree that would be a tragic day?
But we see in Scripture, we don't see any evidence that Abraham hesitated because he knew and trusted God and he knew that God would provide. He knew that God would, he trusted that God would come through. And what does God do? He does. As a matter of fact, there was already a ram waiting in the thicket, right? Isn't that what the Bible says?
Love provides what love requires. And this story was a foreshadowing of another father who in the same way would not withhold his only son. But this time, how do you know, there would be no substitute, right? Jesus is the lamb.
And he was already in place before the foundation of the world. Example that I was thinking of there was that of a firefighter. We have any firefighters in the room? Anybody ever been a firefighter? Volunteer firefighter? No firefighter. We need some fire. There we go. We got a couple volunteers. No.
We love volunteer firefighters just the same. Guys, somebody who's a firefighter is used to putting their life on the line and running into danger. But imagine this person who's a firefighter and they quickly arrive at a fire and they recognize that it's their own home and it's their child inside.
Do you think that firefighter, does he stop and hesitate and go, "Is it worth it?" Do they stop and calculate the pain? What do you do, man? Women can be firefighters too. What do we do? Y'all go sit there and let your kid burn in a house? No.
You're going to run in, right? Because love counts no cost too high. That's the kind of love Christ showed on the cross. Not because we earned it, but because His love refused to leave us behind.
How do you know? He had every right and every chance to at Adam and Eve, with Noah. Actually, we can give example after example after that. He had every chance to bail on this. But in His great love, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, right?
Here's the deal, guys. You have never been part of a meaningless story. From the moment God imagined creation, He imagined you and whispered your name. The cross, listen, the cross was not just God coming in and cleaning up your mess.
The cross was God fulfilling His mission, a mission of love. And if that's true, then your value isn't based on what you do. It's not based on how you feel. It's not based on what you've been through. Your value is found in this.
God would rather die and lay down His life than to lose you. That is the love of our God. Amen?
Guys, this is part one. We're going to continue next week as we talk about the price of pursuit. And then we're going to finish on Resurrection Sunday. And I've just subtitled it, "The Bridegroom Rises." And we're going to jump both feet into that. It's going to be good.
I invite you to bring friends and family and acquaintances. We're going to lead them to Jesus together two weeks from today.
I'm going to go ahead and begin wrapping up. If you want to stand to your feet, I would appreciate it. I want to invite the worship team to come up. Guys, this is your origin story. This is your beginning.
I don't know what your life looked like. I don't know the circumstances. You might have come from what seems like just a terrible background in this life, whatever else. Guys, look deeper.
You were known and you were seen before the foundations of the earth, and God Almighty was whispering your name. You were not born by accident. You were not born into chaos. You were born from eternal love.
Now the Bible says without Jesus, we know that we were born under a curse, right? Because of the sins of our ancestors and our sins. But that was part of God's plan of love from the get-go. He knew the choices we would make. And He already had the answer. He already had it in place before we could ever send the first time.
He was already pursuing us before we were ever even born. Let's just close our eyes across this place for a minute. And I want you guys to just allow the Holy Spirit just to minister to you for a few moments.
As the love of God is evident in this place today, I want you to just feel His loving embrace. God loves you so much. God loves you so much. He loves you so much.
With your eyes closed, just focus on that love for the next few moments. I'm going to speak a few things. I want you to just receive these as you meditate on His love.
Before time began, love existed. Before creation, you were in God's heart. Before sin, the cross was already in motion. Before the first sunrise, there was a bridegroom dreaming of His bride.
Guys, this is your story. This is your truth. This is your identity. This is your value. This is your worth. This is your truth. I don't know what the world has told you. I don't know what your family has told you. I don't know what your coworkers or classmates have told you. But this is your truth.
This is the truth of who you are. Before time began, the Father saw you. The Son loved you. And the Spirit of God longed to dwell within you.
Let this just reshape your identity for a moment. Change your thought process. Reject thoughts. Reject words that people have spoken over your life, telling you that you're unworthy or that you're rejected or that you're not good enough or you don't look a certain way.
Begin rejecting those thoughts. Put them out of your mind right now in Jesus' name. And receive the Word of the Lord. You're not just saved. You are chosen. You're not just forgiven. You are pursued. You're not just useful for God's purposes. You are beloved.
So guys, live like you're wanted. Live like you're pursued. Live like you're the bride of Christ Jesus. Because you are.
Lord, I ask right now for each one here. Holy Spirit, I thank you that you're healing hearts right now. You're healing wounds and disappointment and rejection and all these different things that have been carried through different people's lives into this room today.
God, we reject anything that is not aligned with our God-given identity. We recognize who you are and who you created us to be. We recognize that you loved us before the foundations of the world. It doesn't matter our past. You knew every mistake we would make. We knew everything we would do that would dishonor your name. And yet, Jesus still died for us while we were yet sinners.
And so God, today we embrace your love. We step into who you've created us to be. Jesus, we thank you for being the Lamb that was slain at the foundations of the earth before time ever began. Amen.
Thank you, Lord God, for loving us. Thank you for choosing us. Thank you for making a place in your heart. Lord, may we live as a people pursued in love across eternity. May your love be our beginning, our middle, and our end. God, we love you, and we live our lives to lay down for your sake, for your call.
Lord, we thank you for who you are. Guys, we're going to take just a moment before we close. And we're just going to sing this worship song. We're going to sing for just a couple of moments.
And I just want you to allow God to touch your heart, wherever you may be at. Maybe you have struggled with so much rejection and fear and all these different things. As you are the bride of Jesus Christ.
Allow the Holy Spirit as we worship. Allow Him to do a work in you. Allow Him to bring healing to you. Allow Him to love on you. Allow Him to reveal more and more of your identity. Allow Him to show you the way that He sees you.
Through His eyes. You have your own preconception of who you are, by what others have spoken over you. And how you've judged yourself by your successes or failures. That's not how God sees you.
Allow yourself in the next few minutes to see yourself the way that He sees you. Called and chosen specifically as a bride for His Son. Let's press into worship for just a few moments. Pastor Sean will close this out.
on Apr 06, 2025
