Episode 6
Essentials (Part 3): Grace and the Great Commandment at the Core
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Heaven Earth Church emerges as a sanctuary for individuals who find themselves on the fringes of traditional religious structures. From its inception, the church has sought to embrace and honor the diverse narratives of its congregants, recognizing that every human experience weaves into the larger tapestry of divine storytelling. This episode delves into the heartfelt testimonies of those who have discovered or reawakened their faith within the church community. Through the lens of these personal accounts, the listeners are invited to reflect on the profound connections between individual stories and the overarching narrative of God's love, illustrating the church's commitment to inclusivity and understanding. The discussion highlights the transformative power of faith as it intersects with the complexities of human experience, emphasizing that within each story lies a facet of divine truth waiting to be uncovered.
Pastor Ross Stackhouse leads a compelling conversation centered around the concept of grace and the Great Commandments, elucidating the foundational principles that guide the church's mission. He articulates how these commandments serve as the bedrock for a life steeped in love and service. By dissecting the nuances of biblical law, he invites listeners to engage with scripture not merely as a set of rules but as a vibrant framework for living out one's faith authentically. The episode challenges the audience to consider how adherence to these commandments fosters a deeper connection with both God and one's neighbors, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling spiritual journey.
As the episode unfolds, it becomes apparent that the church's essence lies in its dedication to cultivating a community where grace abounds and love prevails. Through interactive elements, such as quizzes and reflections, the church seeks to engage its listeners actively, making the experience both educational and spiritually enriching. This dynamic approach not only deepens the understanding of scripture but also reinforces the church's ethos of meeting individuals where they are, fostering an environment where faith can flourish amidst life's uncertainties. By the conclusion, listeners are left with a renewed sense of purpose, encouraged to embody the principles of grace and love in their daily lives, thus becoming catalysts for positive change within their own communities.
Takeaways:
- Heaven Earth Church aims to welcome individuals who do not conform to traditional church norms, creating a space for all.
- The podcast emphasizes the importance of understanding personal stories to appreciate the divine narrative within each life.
- At the essence of religious practice lies the call to love God fully and to love one's neighbor as oneself.
- Listeners are invited to engage with the community through Sunday conversations, fostering a deeper connection with faith.
- The teachings presented advocate for a nuanced interpretation of biblical laws, distinguishing between commandments, regulations, and case laws.
- The central message underscores that the love of God is transformative and foundational to a fulfilling life.
Links referenced in this episode:
Transcript
Welcome to Heaven Earth Church.
Speaker A:My name is Ross Stackhouse.
Speaker A:I'm the founding pastor of Heaven Earth Church.
Speaker A:From the beginning, our heart was to be a church for people who don't fit neatly into church.
Speaker A:Our heart is to meet people where they are, to learn their stories, to honor their stories.
Speaker A:Because in every human story is God's story.
Speaker A:In this podcast, you'll hear more about the people who now call Heaven Earth Church home.
Speaker A:Their stories, in many cases of misfits who are discovering or rediscovering faith.
Speaker A:If you want to know more about us, you can go to heavenorthchurch.org Otherwise, we invite you now into the story.
Speaker B:Hello, good people.
Speaker B:Brad Miller here, the producer of the Heaven Earth Church podcast.
Speaker B:One of the main benefits of being a part of the Heaven Earth Church community is our Sunday morning conversations taught by founding pastor Ross Stackhouse.
Speaker B:You can watch and participate in the Sunday morning conversation this Sunday morning, 9:30am Eastern time at YouTube.com heavenerthchurch.
Speaker B:The audio version of the Sunday morning conversation is available here on the podcast, which you can find at Apple Podcasts, Spotify and on the website, which is heavenearthchurch.org this is part three of the Essentials message series, Grace and the Great Commandments with Pastor Ross Stackhouse.
Speaker A:Well, let's have a moment of silence and then prayer and then we'll have some conversation.
Speaker A:Lord, I ask that you would help us to see, help us to feel again, to believe again.
Speaker A:If our hearts have become hardened, if we have become jaded, Lord, soften our hearts, renew us so that we can plug into the beautiful things that you have for us, namely your extraordinary love.
Speaker A:Thank you for revealing that love to us in Jesus.
Speaker A:It's in his name we pray.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:All right, so now we're going to take Angela Spiel.
Speaker A:There's a quiz, by the way today, so hope you were paying attention.
Speaker A:It's kind of a.
Speaker A:Do you want to go to law school?
Speaker A:Well, we'll give you a little taste.
Speaker A:All right, so if you don't know.
Speaker A:So here's the context when you hear in the New Testament, when someone asks Jesus about the law, like what's the most important commandment or piece of instruction in the law that refers to the first five books of the Bible?
Speaker A:Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Speaker A:They were instructions that were supposed to be a sort of way of life for God's people, the Israelites.
Speaker A:Now, in Jesus's time, there are different groups of people who had their views about how do you follow that law?
Speaker A:And what do you pay attention to?
Speaker A:Some people thought that you paid attention to the law and the commentary on the law.
Speaker A:Anybody know what party that was?
Speaker A:Starts with a P?
Speaker A:The Pharisees.
Speaker A:They thought that, hey, we can pay attention to the law and the commentary on the law.
Speaker A:There was another sort of party that said, nuh, it's just the law, baby.
Speaker A:No commentary.
Speaker A:They were the Sadducees.
Speaker A:Did you know that there was a two party system in Jesus time?
Speaker A:Kind of not the same thing, but similar.
Speaker A:Right, Andy?
Speaker A:Similar, yeah.
Speaker A:So in the law here in the last book, you have that phrase, why did that happen?
Speaker A:Nope, nope, nope.
Speaker A:We don't want that.
Speaker A:Go back.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:So commandments, regulations and case laws.
Speaker A:That is something that's so important when you read the Bible.
Speaker A:What I've seen is where this applies.
Speaker A:People have read instructions in the Old Testament like they're all the same, like they all have the same weight and they do not.
Speaker A:Some things in the Old Testaments, in Old Testament are stone.
Speaker A:They're commandments, statutes.
Speaker A:Some things are sand, regulations, and some things are the water, the case law.
Speaker A:They do not all have the same weight or place in the first five books.
Speaker A:Are you with me?
Speaker A:You follow me?
Speaker A:I want to make sure that you get this today.
Speaker A:So it's not the same, but we have a.
Speaker A:In our time, it's not dissimilar.
Speaker A:We have laws, right?
Speaker A:We have this thing called the Constitution.
Speaker A:Have you heard of it?
Speaker A:I hear some of your wheels turning.
Speaker A:Hold on.
Speaker A:We have regulations that come from departments in the government, like the Department of Insurance.
Speaker A:Thank you, Director of Compliance.
Speaker A:I appreciate that.
Speaker A:Then we have case laws, which there's a court that made a decision that sort of is a commentary on how to live out the law and that sets a precedent.
Speaker A:Are you still with me?
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:The same is somewhat true in the Bible.
Speaker A:So we're going to play a little game.
Speaker A:Is it statute, commandment, regulation or case law?
Speaker A:I only have three examples, so it's not that fun.
Speaker A:I know that you were dying to play this game today.
Speaker A:I know Heather was like, I hope we play statute, case law or regulation.
Speaker A:It's a favorite game.
Speaker A:Now if there are some poor persons among you, say one of your fellow Israelites in one of your cities in the land that the Lord God is giving you.
Speaker A:Don't be hard hearted or tight fisted toward your poor fellow Israelites.
Speaker A:To the contrary, open your hand wide to them.
Speaker A:You must generously lend to them whatever they need.
Speaker A:But watch yourself, make sure no wicked thought crosses your mind.
Speaker A:Such as the seventh year is coming.
Speaker A:What's the seventh year?
Speaker A:Every seventh year, there was some bit of debt cancellation.
Speaker A:That's in the Bible, you betcha.
Speaker A:And then every 49 years, almost 50 years, there was something called the jubilee, where the whole society gets reset, debts are forgiven.
Speaker A:Slaves who are.
Speaker A:It's not slave.
Speaker A:Slavery like we think of in our time is more.
Speaker A:You indebted yourself to someone and it paid off.
Speaker A:You became their servant.
Speaker A:Slaves get released, land gets reset.
Speaker A:It was also called the year of the Lord's favorite.
Speaker A:There was a guy by the name of Jesus who said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me.
Speaker A:It has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, released to the captives, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
Speaker A:So this person's like, hey, are these people?
Speaker A:Don't be thinking to yourself, the seventh year is coming.
Speaker A:So I'm not going to loan to them right now because they're going to get it canceled in a month.
Speaker A:If you do that, they'll cry out to the Lord and you will be guilty of sin.
Speaker A:Is this a statute, case law or regulation?
Speaker A:Tucker?
Speaker A:Case law.
Speaker A:I had to think about there for a minute.
Speaker A:Okay, we got to vote for case law.
Speaker A:You think regulation?
Speaker A:Angela thinks regulation.
Speaker A:Trick question.
Speaker A:There's a little bit of both in here.
Speaker A:Perhaps the first part might be more regulation.
Speaker A:So you have the stone.
Speaker A:What's the stone here?
Speaker A:What's the law that you can't see here, that the regulation is kind of filling in and saying, like, this is how you need to stay in the boundaries of that law.
Speaker A:What law is it?
Speaker A:What was it?
Speaker A:Uh, oh, love your neighbor as yourself.
Speaker A:That, my friends, is the stone in this case.
Speaker A:And it ain't just any stone.
Speaker A:I was gonna get two big old stones from outside, but they're covered in stone and frozen to the ground.
Speaker A:So imagine that these are stones.
Speaker A:In fact, we wouldn't be far off.
Speaker A:Jesus said he, we're going to talk about this.
Speaker A:He says, there are two great commands, and the whole law and prophets depend on these two.
Speaker A:Number one, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
Speaker A:Hear, O God.
Speaker A:Hear, O Israel.
Speaker A:The Lord your God is one.
Speaker A:Shall love him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
Speaker A:Stone one, there are stones and then there are stones.
Speaker A:Just like our Constitution.
Speaker A:We got, like, laws, but then we have the Bill of Rights.
Speaker A:Those are the big stones.
Speaker A:Freedom of speech.
Speaker A:Big one, Right.
Speaker A:Second stone is like, it Jesus says, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Speaker A:The law and the prophets, everything depends on those two.
Speaker A:The stone is love your neighbor.
Speaker A:The regulation is that the case law might be there was a situation in the community where somebody lent some money to somebody or was kind of stingy about lending money.
Speaker A:There was a conflict that arose because there was a money loan of some kind.
Speaker A:And then that seventh year came up, and then there was a dispute.
Speaker A:The court made a ruling.
Speaker A:This is how you should do it.
Speaker A:Case law.
Speaker A:Now, this is probably more regulation.
Speaker A:Let's do.
Speaker A:Do you love this game or what?
Speaker A:Statute, regulation or case law?
Speaker A:Is this the best game you've ever played in your life?
Speaker A:My gosh.
Speaker A:You can play it at home with your friends on a Friday night.
Speaker A:Michael, we could do piles, and then we could do statute, case law, regulation.
Speaker A:All right, here we go.
Speaker A:You ready for this one?
Speaker A:Here's the rule concerning a person who killed someone and is permitted to escape one of these cities and live.
Speaker A:If it is someone who has killed his neighbor accidentally without having hated that person previously.
Speaker A:Or if someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to chop some wood, and while swinging an axe to cut down the tree, the axe head flies off and its handle hits.
Speaker A:And this isn't the Bible.
Speaker A:I tell you, the Bible is weird and hard to read.
Speaker A:It doesn't all weigh the same.
Speaker A:Flies off and hit somebody or that, and it hits the neighbor who subsequently dies.
Speaker A:These kinds of killers may escape to one of these cities and live.
Speaker A:Long story short, it was called a refuge city.
Speaker A:Case law, regulation, statute.
Speaker A:This one's almost certainly in one category.
Speaker A:We have a vote for case law.
Speaker A:This is case law.
Speaker A:Almost certainly there was a situation that arose where somebody was chopping wood out in the forest, was like, hey, Bill, thanks for coming with me today, man.
Speaker A:How's the family?
Speaker A:How's the.
Speaker A:What happened to the axe head, Bill?
Speaker A:Did you see.
Speaker A:Oh, God.
Speaker A:Oh, boy.
Speaker A:And then the family members heard about poor Bill.
Speaker A:They now wanted to destroy this fella.
Speaker A:Case law.
Speaker A:Court made a ruling.
Speaker A:Okay, let Joe, who killed Bill, go to one of these refuge cities where he'll be protected from vengeful family members.
Speaker A:Case law.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:The Bible is laid out this way.
Speaker A:It's hard for us to see this, but a lot of times Jesus was being engaged in a legal debate.
Speaker A:Pharisees, Sadducees, were coming up to him in a legal debate.
Speaker A:They disregarded him.
Speaker A:Why?
Speaker A:Sometimes because he wasn't educated like them.
Speaker A:This guy didn't go to Harvard Law.
Speaker A:What a joke.
Speaker A:Look at this Idiot.
Speaker A:Watch this.
Speaker A:We're gonna go school.
Speaker A:Hey, Jesus, what's the greatest law in the Torah, pal?
Speaker A:There they are.
Speaker A:Jesus left the one political party lawyer group speechless.
Speaker A:And the Pharisees are like, yeah, well, because they're idiots.
Speaker A:Watch what we'll do.
Speaker A:One of them, a legal expert, tested him.
Speaker A:Legal debate teacher.
Speaker A:What's the greatest commandment in the law?
Speaker A:Stone 1.
Speaker A:This is the first and greatest commandment.
Speaker A:They asked for one commandment in the first five books, or maybe including kind of the commentaries on it.
Speaker A:He's answered correctly.
Speaker A:Oh, Jesus ain't done.
Speaker A:Oh, wait, sorry.
Speaker A:I got one more.
Speaker A:The second one's just like it.
Speaker A:You can't separate them.
Speaker A:That's what Jesus is trying to say.
Speaker A:You can't separate the two.
Speaker A:They are the same.
Speaker A:Love your neighbor as yourself.
Speaker A:The law and the prophets.
Speaker A:Any law we see, anything there is case law, regulation, statute.
Speaker A:Oh, and by the way, what the prophets had to say to you and you were ignoring.
Speaker A:What did the prophets say?
Speaker A:The prophet said, you know, all you people were so worried about showing up to church on time and getting all the regulations right and doing all the sacrifices and rituals the right way, man.
Speaker A:You followed them to the letter of the law, but you forgot to love your neighbor, especially the widow orphan stranger among you.
Speaker A:And did you know that God's heart, he would rather you love your neighbor, the orphan widow stranger, from the depths of your heart, than make sure you get every I dotted and T crossed in your Sunday morning rituals.
Speaker A:For the record, Jesus was a fan of both.
Speaker A:Jesus went to synagogue regularly.
Speaker A:So did Paul.
Speaker A:Sometimes people ask me, ross, do I need to come to Sunday church?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Do you?
Speaker A:Do you need to eat vegetables and fruit?
Speaker A:Why do we.
Speaker A:Why are we separating it?
Speaker A:Eat your vegetables and your fruit.
Speaker A:Go do church 247 and show up with the community and be.
Speaker A:And rest and be built up.
Speaker A:I don't need to come Sunday morning.
Speaker A:Okay, go on, tell yourself that or whatever the time of community is.
Speaker A:All right, we got to take a detour.
Speaker A:Really quick as I take us on a detour.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What are your thoughts there?
Speaker A:What's that stirring you?
Speaker A:Is this.
Speaker A:Is this new to you or like.
Speaker A:Ross, I already knew all that.
Speaker A:This is all old news.
Speaker A:Boring.
Speaker A:This is new.
Speaker A:It old.
Speaker A:Don't pay attention to the bird.
Speaker A:We're going there next.
Speaker A:Is this old?
Speaker A:Is it new?
Speaker A:It's a new perspective or good perspective?
Speaker A:Christie says, adam, I think that's a helpful perspective, especially when thinking about the Old Testament.
Speaker A:There's a lot of Crap that happens in the Old Testament that people interpret as, this is what God wants, this is how it's supposed to be.
Speaker A:Or this was maybe even a regulation or law at the time.
Speaker A:But God's heart is further reflected, especially in the person of Jesus who says it.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's not exactly.
Speaker A:That's not what it means.
Speaker A:It actually, if you're interpreting this incorrectly, it's unconstitutional, so to speak.
Speaker A:You know, this is how it's supposed to be.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's.
Speaker A:It's a helpful framework for sure.
Speaker A:And I'm going to show you even more how it's.
Speaker A:It's a more helpful framework than we've ever fully captured.
Speaker A:It's built that way on purpose, that there are stones, sand and water, and then there are stones at the foundation of the stones.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Anything else?
Speaker A:Any other thoughts before I go on to this bird, Anyone?
Speaker A:No?
Speaker A:Debbie?
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:We want things to be black and white.
Speaker A:It's a survival technique we have as humans.
Speaker A:We want to make things clear sometimes that aren't so clear.
Speaker A:There are things that are clear for sure.
Speaker A:And Jesus makes this clear.
Speaker A:That's why this framework, it works.
Speaker A:He's going to say, there are some stones that you can always stand on.
Speaker A:Always.
Speaker A:It doesn't mean that we don't care about the sand, the water and the other stones.
Speaker A:We do care about that, but only if we see them in light of the two big stones.
Speaker A:Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
Speaker A:Love your neighbors, yourself.
Speaker A:If you don't know what else to do, go there.
Speaker A:What I want to talk to you about, like, to finish up today to get more thought, like, this is all fun, this legal debate stuff.
Speaker A:I know, I know, it's invigorating, right?
Speaker A:But who cares?
Speaker A:At the end of the day, the people who are not going to church right now and don't care about Jesus.
Speaker A:If I wanted to be like, hey, can I tell you about statutes, case laws and regulations?
Speaker A:They don't care.
Speaker A:They might care how we embody them in a way that is a blessing to them.
Speaker A:They might care about the kind of life we live.
Speaker A:That's what I want to talk about.
Speaker A:I want to talk about how at the core of God's heart, there's a kind of love that we cannot imagine.
Speaker A:I was explaining that to my son the other day.
Speaker A:All parents have done it at some point.
Speaker A:Sorry, son, I'm going to tell on you if you tell me it's not allowed later.
Speaker A:Okay, sorry.
Speaker A:He said he feels like he's the least favorite child.
Speaker A:He was saying it when he was mad.
Speaker A:And I sat down with him and explained, like, you have no idea.
Speaker A:You'll know it one day.
Speaker A:The love that I have for you.
Speaker A:You have no idea.
Speaker A:But one day maybe you'll know.
Speaker A:God is like that times infinity.
Speaker A:At the core of God's heart is a love we cannot imagine.
Speaker A:And yet that's why God became flesh in Jesus.
Speaker A:So that we might not only imagine it but that we'd see it, believe it and that it would become the core of our lives.
Speaker A:That's what I want to talk to you about.
Speaker A:Just like the sun, there is a love that God has for us.
Speaker A:There's.
Speaker A:At the core of God's heart there is a love for us that we cannot imagine.
Speaker A:And yet that's why God became flesh.
Speaker A:So that we could imagine it.
Speaker A:That we could see it, feel it, touch it, believe it.
Speaker A:And that it would then become the core of our lives.
Speaker A:Just like it is the Sons.
Speaker A:I want to talk to you about that.
Speaker A:But first.
Speaker A: It's: Speaker A:You're like, Ross, it feels like we're just starting the sermon.
Speaker A:Well, we're far along.
Speaker A:I promise you.
Speaker A:I think we have to address this first.
Speaker A:I wonder if we have this.
Speaker A:No, I don't mean that you got burned in some relationship and you don't want to date anymore.
Speaker A:That matters.
Speaker A:If you're feeling that today.
Speaker A:We love you.
Speaker A:It matters.
Speaker A:I can't imagine going out in the dating world again.
Speaker A:I wouldn't even know what to do.
Speaker A:I wouldn't know.
Speaker A:So God bless you.
Speaker A:I think instead it's more like this.
Speaker A:Dad, what is that?
Speaker A:No, not a female.
Speaker A:No, that's a male, dad.
Speaker A:Okay, we'll dispute it later.
Speaker A:Dad, we'll dispute it.
Speaker A:We'll have a legal dispute.
Speaker A:That's a male eastern bluebird.
Speaker A:And one came to our backyard the other day.
Speaker A:My dad has been a bird watcher my whole life.
Speaker A:He would keep a list in the mornings of every bird that came to the backyard.
Speaker A:It's a holy thing.
Speaker A:It's a holy way of noticing.
Speaker A:Bird watching is.
Speaker A:It's like a spiritual practice.
Speaker A:And so when a bluebird.
Speaker A:I don't know what it is about bluebirds.
Speaker A:I literally almost tried to tie in the name of bluebird into our church.
Speaker A: It's in my journal from: Speaker A:We came up with a much more easier, simpler name.
Speaker A:Heaven Earth Church.
Speaker A:Not simpler.
Speaker A:Anyways, there's something about a bluebird when it comes to my backyard.
Speaker A:I could see it a thousand times and I'LL say, wow.
Speaker A:I don't know what it is.
Speaker A:It's stunning to me that.
Speaker A:Like the royal sort of blue, I'm astounded by every time.
Speaker A:But for whatever reason, I don't feel that way about a cardinal.
Speaker A:Cardinal?
Speaker A:Ho hum.
Speaker A:It's a cardinal.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Keep it to yourself, dad.
Speaker A:I know exactly what you're thinking, old man.
Speaker A:There's a joke he told one time that we may not tell in church.
Speaker A:Anyways, I don't feel the same way about a cardinal.
Speaker A:I don't know why I overlook the cardinal.
Speaker A:I don't notice it.
Speaker A:I don't care as much.
Speaker A:But I tell you what, if a cardinal graced me, or if she did, they're both wonderful with her presence.
Speaker A:His presence in my backyard for the first time, I would run down everyone I could find and be like, you have to see what's in my backyard.
Speaker A:It's the most stunning animal you've seen, the most vibrant red.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't get it.
Speaker A:I didn't know this thing existed.
Speaker A:Just like I felt.
Speaker A:I was driving on from Stones Crossing, where it curves to Worstville.
Speaker A:A bald eagle swooped down over my car and I was like, oh my God, Dad.
Speaker A:It still happens.
Speaker A:Bald eagles.
Speaker A:I've seen a few, but I don't know what it is.
Speaker A:I don't feel that way about a cardinal.
Speaker A:I think we see God's love like I see a cardinal.
Speaker A:I think we're jaded at the sound of it, jaded at the sight of it.
Speaker A:And it makes me so sad for me, because it's the very thing, the very thing that will liberate me, the very thing that will lead me into the life of freedom and wholeness, the eternal kind of life that Jesus promised me.
Speaker A:But I can't hear it anymore because I've heard about the love of God my whole life.
Speaker A: I've heard Matthew: Speaker A:Probably heard a good 50 sermons on it.
Speaker A:Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
Speaker A:Love your neighbors yourself.
Speaker A:I've heard God is love so many times.
Speaker A:It's like a cardinal to me.
Speaker A:I don't care if it's a state bird.
Speaker A:See so many of them, I don't even care.
Speaker A:So I hope today and in the days to come, in the years to come, the love of God is more to you like a bluebird is to me.
Speaker A:And I also hope that I appreciate a cardinal again.
Speaker A:You either one works.
Speaker A:I know many of you sitting out there today Many of you online, your heart is hardened to the love of God and you have good reason for it.
Speaker A:There were people who claimed God's love alongside you and they did harm to you.
Speaker A:So a little part of your heart got hard and it happened again and again and again and again until your heart was much like one of these stones.
Speaker A:I couldn't say anything today to change that.
Speaker A:The only thing that can change it is the Holy Spirit of God and the fire of the Spirit that might come to your heart and soften it.
Speaker A:Today, I pray that you discovered the beauty of God's love again.
Speaker A:So I'm just going to spend.
Speaker A: It's: Speaker A:I need about nine more minutes to keep going with this concept of the love of God, this reality of the love of God, because it's a love that we cannot imagine that is still true no matter what somebody did to us, no matter how hard our lives have been.
Speaker A:I'm convinced from the depth of my soul that there is this love that God has in the core of God's heart.
Speaker A:That is a love we cannot imagine.
Speaker A:And yet that's why Jesus became flesh, so that we could imagine it, so that we could touch it, that we could feel it, and that we believe it.
Speaker A:And then it become the core of our lives, too.
Speaker A:The very core of our lives.
Speaker A:The beauty about Jesus is he is like those great stones in a human person.
Speaker A:He's showing us how if we live by these stones, we will be living our best life now.
Speaker A:I do not mean the Joel Osteen version.
Speaker A:That's not living your best life now.
Speaker A:And I don't even mean like what, like for Juniper.
Speaker A:Our little Juniper living her best life is bottle in one hand.
Speaker A:Danny, go on the screen.
Speaker A:Bet she's living her best life now.
Speaker A:I'm talking about Jesus's version of your best life, that he knows how you're created.
Speaker A:He knows how a human is made to live.
Speaker A:He knows how human functions at optimum sort of speed.
Speaker A:So that's why he becomes flesh, to invite us into that.
Speaker A:I just want to show you how, like, Jesus's followers started to discover this love for themselves.
Speaker A:And it was like a big aha moment for them.
Speaker A:It transformed their lives from the inside out so that it became the core of their lives.
Speaker A:And they started to get this whole thing about how these two great stones are the thing and how everything depends on that and how your whole life is an opportunity to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
Speaker A:Love your neighbors, yourself, every minute of every day is an opportunity to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
Speaker A:And love your neighbors yourself.
Speaker A:I can love the Lord God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength.
Speaker A:When I'm out grocery shopping.
Speaker A:You bet.
Speaker A:You bet.
Speaker A:If you notice people, if you notice the person checking you out.
Speaker A:I don't mean like checking you out.
Speaker A:You know what I mean.
Speaker A:I mean, if they check you out, that's fine, too.
Speaker A:But good for you.
Speaker A:If you notice people and you love your neighbor like you would want to be loved, that is an offering to God.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker A:So wonderful.
Speaker A:And we can love the Lord right here together.
Speaker A:We're doing it right now.
Speaker A:You're doing it.
Speaker A:You're doing it.
Speaker A:You showed up today.
Speaker A:You showed up today because you're seeking God's presence.
Speaker A:You don't want your heart to be hardened.
Speaker A:You don't want to be jaded by love.
Speaker A:You don't want to suffer from love fatigue.
Speaker A:You want to be reinvigorated.
Speaker A:You want to be resurrected from the dead.
Speaker A:Praise God, I do, too.
Speaker A:Let it be.
Speaker A:I just want to show you how these people caught wind of it.
Speaker A:Paul, I love this guy.
Speaker A:He gets such a bad rep because he's misinterpreted.
Speaker A:People turn Paul's letters into case laws and regulations.
Speaker A:Yuck.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:These letters were just a witness to his experience of discovering God's love for the first time.
Speaker A:Paul was a lawyer amongst the lawyers.
Speaker A:Harvard law educated.
Speaker A:I think he was from the tribe of Benjamin.
Speaker A:It's a big deal.
Speaker A:He had it all figured out.
Speaker A:He was the top of the heap.
Speaker A:And then he encountered this risen guy named Jesus.
Speaker A:And for the first time, he was like, oh, my God, he loves us.
Speaker A:Paul wasn't even aware of the problem he had in his life.
Speaker A:He was doing all these things, even religion, to try to get God to like him more.
Speaker A:He was hustling his whole life for more worth.
Speaker A:He was trying to get to the top and using religion as the means.
Speaker A:And then he met this risen Jesus who just said, my love for you is the same.
Speaker A:You can only wake up to my love.
Speaker A:You can't increase it or diminish it.
Speaker A:I love you just the way you are, man.
Speaker A:Wake up, be transformed.
Speaker A:Live for it.
Speaker A:And he started to get it.
Speaker A:He says it in Romans, like Ross.
Speaker A:We always go to this verse.
Speaker A:Yeah, because it's Paul's awakening.
Speaker A:He started living for Jesus.
Speaker A:He was not.
Speaker A:He didn't suffer from love fatigue anymore.
Speaker A:He said, in all these things, we win a sweeping victory through the One who loved us.
Speaker A:Convinced that nothing can separate us from God's love in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Speaker A:I'm convinced that.
Speaker A:I'm convinced that.
Speaker A:I'm convinced that not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things.
Speaker A:Not powers, height or depth or any other thing that is created.
Speaker A:That's a description of a free person.
Speaker A:I have nothing to fear.
Speaker A:Nothing because of this love I have discovered.
Speaker A:And then he realized this too, man.
Speaker A:He was the lawyer of lawyers.
Speaker A:He loved dotting the I's and crossing the T's.
Speaker A:And then he got it.
Speaker A:He got what the two stones were about.
Speaker A:Listen to what he says.
Speaker A:Don't be in debt to anyone except for the obligation to love each other.
Speaker A:The only debt that you have to pay every day is the love that you owe to people.
Speaker A:The commandments.
Speaker A:Don't commit adultery.
Speaker A:Don't murder.
Speaker A:Don't steal.
Speaker A:Don't desire what others had.
Speaker A:Those are big stones.
Speaker A:That's like the Bill of Rights in the Bible.
Speaker A:They're all summed up in one word.
Speaker A:You go ahead and read it.
Speaker A:1, 2, 3.
Speaker A:You sound so excited about it.
Speaker A:Look at this.
Speaker A:The letter of James.
Speaker A:You do well when you fulfill the royal law found in scripture.
Speaker A:You're getting it.
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker A:I know the snow hasn't frozen you to death today.
Speaker A:And then Jesus makes it even simpler.
Speaker A:He is trying to give us stones to stand on.
Speaker A:But more importantly, he's trying to give us a holy fire that transforms our hearts and becomes the core of our lives.
Speaker A:Jesus says this, I give you a new commandment, my son.
Speaker A:Just memorized this verse.
Speaker A:Fired me up.
Speaker A:I was so happy for him.
Speaker A:I hope it becomes a part of his heart.
Speaker A:I got one job in many ways.
Speaker A:When I pray with him at night, I say, God, I pray that you bless these children so they know how much you love them and how much we love them.
Speaker A:Love each other.
Speaker A:This is the.
Speaker A:Think of the biggest stone that you can think of.
Speaker A:Everything rests on this.
Speaker A:Love each other.
Speaker A:Just as I have loved you, so you must also love each other.
Speaker A:But Ross, I don't know how Jesus has loved me, if I'm honest.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:The pursuit of the follower of Jesus is to find out and to go share it.
Speaker A:Everything is a response to grace.
Speaker A:So now I've buried the lead.
Speaker A:That's why we talked about all this today.
Speaker A:And I'm almost done, I promise.
Speaker A:We've been talking about our discipleship essentials at Heaven Earth Church.
Speaker A:We have our community core values.
Speaker A:The boundaries within which we want to travel as a Community.
Speaker A:But then we have these deeper things.
Speaker A:They're kind of the stones of heaven, Earth church, our discipleship essentials.
Speaker A:And number three is we want to live with grace and the great commands at the core of our lives.
Speaker A:That is our collective pursuit.
Speaker A:If you want to be an apprentice of Jesus, you live with grace and the great commands at the core of your life.
Speaker A:Everything is a response to grace.
Speaker A:Everything.
Speaker A:Our entire lives are a response to grace.
Speaker A:We were created out of grace.
Speaker A:What is grace?
Speaker A:It's love that we didn't necessarily do anything to earn, but God just did it.
Speaker A:Because love is at the core of God's heart.
Speaker A:God created the whole entire thing.
Speaker A:Big bang.
Speaker A:And all because God was like, I could do this by myself, but I don't want to.
Speaker A:I want to share it.
Speaker A:Out of love.
Speaker A:And when humans went their own way and did their own thing, like, you know what?
Speaker A:I'm pretty cool.
Speaker A:I can do my own thing.
Speaker A:God kept chasing them down.
Speaker A:Big old fancy word for that in the Methodist Church is prevenient grace.
Speaker A:It just means that God keeps chasing and chasing and keeps a fire burning in you when you don't even care.
Speaker A:But then Jesus comes in the flesh to, like, make that flame, like, come alive.
Speaker A:So you turn around and follow him and wake up to what God feels for you and that you grow in that love.
Speaker A:You keep growing up from a little baby to an adolescent, awkward as they are.
Speaker A:Teenager, Even more awkward.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Right into a fully mature adult.
Speaker A:Everything is a response to grace our entire lives.
Speaker A:And so this is my prayer for you.
Speaker A:And then I'll ask you what you think.
Speaker A:Then we're done.
Speaker A:It's Paul's prayer we read so many times.
Speaker A:We'll read this over and again in this church.
Speaker A:God.
Speaker A:This is Paul.
Speaker A:God gave his grace to me, the least of all God's people.
Speaker A:Do you see it?
Speaker A:Did I tell you?
Speaker A:He has an insecurity problem?
Speaker A:But he probably felt bad because he spent the early part of his life persecuting Christians and beating them up because he was a good lawyer.
Speaker A:Christians were out there violating all the stones, so you had to punish them.
Speaker A:He didn't realize Jesus was the embodiment of the great stones.
Speaker A:God gave his grace to me, the least of all God's people, to preach the good news about the immeasurable riches of Christ to the Gentiles.
Speaker A:God sent me to reveal the secret plan that had been hidden since the beginning of time by God who created everything.
Speaker A:God's purpose is now to show the rulers and powers in the heavens.
Speaker A:The many different varieties of his wisdom through the church.
Speaker A:This was consistent with the plan he had from the beginning of time that he accomplished through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Speaker A:This guy had an awakening.
Speaker A:He was like, I have discovered something that I did not think possible.
Speaker A:In Christ.
Speaker A:We have bold and confident access to God through faith in Him.
Speaker A:So then I ask you to not become discouraged by what I'm suffering for you, which is your glory.
Speaker A:He is working hard so other people discover it.
Speaker A:This is why I kneel before the Father and this is my prayer for you.
Speaker A:Every ethnic group in heaven and or on earth is recognized by Him.
Speaker A:I ask that he will strengthen you and your inner selves from the riches of his glory through the Spirit.
Speaker A:I ask that Christ will live in your hearts through faith as a result of having strong roots in love.
Speaker A:I ask that you'll have the power to grasp love's width and length, height and depth together with all believers.
Speaker A:I ask that you'll know the love of Christ that is beyond knowledge, so that you will be filled entirely with the fullness of God.
Speaker A:Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:I often ask it.
Speaker A:Now I will to close.
Speaker A:What's this stirring in you online folks too?
Speaker A:Let's hear from you.
Speaker A:What's this making you think?
Speaker A:Is it making you feel?
Speaker A:Is it making you wonder?
Speaker A:We just did about 38 sermons in one.
Speaker A:So if you're a little foggy in the brain, I get it.
Speaker A:Maybe 50 sermons in one.
Speaker A:Heather Law Heather Harris asks.
Speaker A:Well, people online can't hear it.
Speaker A:She asked, like, if Jesus came to embody these foundational stones.
Speaker A:Correct me if I miss it, Heather.
Speaker A:If he came to embody these foundational stones and to help us to like, he came to fulfill them, but also put them at the core of our hearts and lives.
Speaker A:Why do people get so hung up and focused on the case laws and regulations?
Speaker A:Is that right?
Speaker A:Okay, it's a heck of a question.
Speaker A:We need about 14 sermons for that.
Speaker A:I'll give you my theory in about 20 seconds.
Speaker A:A survival technique.
Speaker A:Like, if I don't feel whole, well, secure, the way I feel whole, well, secure, righteous is I insulate myself with, like, the case laws and regulations that I'm following.
Speaker A:Well, I'm following all these rules.
Speaker A:Well, so I'm good.
Speaker A:I'm not like them.
Speaker A:You can't ever conquer these.
Speaker A:You're never going to conquer these.
Speaker A:And human beings want to conquer stuff.
Speaker A:We want to feel like that we've achieved.
Speaker A:We've gotten to the heights.
Speaker A:We're better.
Speaker A:Jesus and God knew very well that one of the first things you do is take all these holy things and turn them into a self righteousness project.
Speaker A:It's what humans do.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So my dad's just commenting on like this comment that you can't increase or diminish God's love.
Speaker A:Kind of only wake up to it.
Speaker A:So many people aren't participating in church because they can't realize that.
Speaker A:And I'd say, dad, they can't realize it because there are many Christians who come to church who haven't realized it fully.
Speaker A:And so they're not embodying it out there in the places where they live, work, learn and play.
Speaker A:Why would I want to be Christian when your life, it doesn't look full of the electricity of God's love?
Speaker A:There are a lot of versions of Christianity I don't want to be part of, frankly.
Speaker A:Doctrine becomes the center.
Speaker A:The case laws and regulations become the center.
Speaker A:Ideas become the center.
Speaker A:For Christianity, the center is one thing.
Speaker A:The love of God is revealed in Christ.
Speaker A:That's it.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:So when you work from the core of these two foundational stones, things have a way of kind of piecing together or even if they don't piece together, you can still land in a good place.
Speaker A:There's a freedom with that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's how we're trying to learn to read scripture together.
Speaker A:For the record in here is to read from the inside out of the core of these two stones.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What else?
Speaker A:Other things.
Speaker A:This is stirring in you, Angela, then, Emily.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, Angela from the lawyer brain.
Speaker A:If churches are like a sort of court or an administrative body, they've like misused their authority.
Speaker A:They've gone kind of overboard with kind of building new regulations and case laws that are very man made, human made, that don't reflect the two great stones and maybe don't even reflect this up here either.
Speaker A:Other.
Speaker A:Oh, Emily, thank you.
Speaker A:Thanks.
Speaker A:Online people.
Speaker A:What else?
Speaker A:What's stern in you?
Speaker A:Anything else, Adam?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, that's a great point.
Speaker A:It goes back to Heather's question about why.
Speaker A:Why do we get lost kind of if these are the core and this is the core that we want to live for, if we want to be changed by Jesus's heart from the inside out such that we embody these like he does, why do we get folk, why do we lose sight and get like stuck in the case laws and regulations?
Speaker A:Religion becomes performance to gather sort of admiration or approval that we're so desperately seeking.
Speaker A:And that's a hollow life.
Speaker A:People become means to an end.
Speaker A:Just like job becomes about performance, your career becomes about performance.
Speaker A:Everything becomes about performance because you're you're trying to gather more worth for yourself.
Speaker A:Essential one is as they come up we want to be shaped by God from the inside out, by continuous companionship with God.
Speaker A:That's discipleship essential one of our church Number two, we don't want to be humble and hungry and willing to seek Jesus.
Speaker A:And number three, we want to live with grace and the great commands at the core.
Speaker A:Those are the first three to discipleship essentials.
Speaker A:The next two weeks we'll do the last two.
Speaker B:Thank you for participating in the conversation happening at Heaven Earth Church.
Speaker B:Your next opportunity to do so live is this Sunday morning, 9:30am Eastern Time, either at the main campus at 3:09 East Main in Whiteland, Indiana or or online at YouTube Live.
Speaker B:That's@YouTube.com heavenerthchurch the audio podcast is always available at Apple Podcast and on Spotify.
Speaker B:You can help others find out about the Heaven Earth Church podcast by going to Apple Podcast and or Spotify and leaving a five star rating and your review.
Speaker B:Instructions on how to do just that and links are in the show notes.
Speaker B:You can always find out more by going to the church website heavenearthchurch.org we.
Speaker A:Want to thank you for spending time with us today.
Speaker A:My name is Ross Stackhouse, the pastor to Heaven Earth Church, and you may think out there that your story is over, but in fact your faith story may just be beginning.
Speaker A:If you want more information about our church or you're interested in the next step, you can go to heavenearthchurch.
Speaker A:Org.
Speaker A:Otherwise, we look forward to being with you next time at the Heaven Earth Church Podcast.
