Matt:
Well, good morning, church. It is great to have you in the house this morning, and it has been such a special morning already. You know, coming out of the Daniel series, we knew that this week was coming. So for weeks now, we have been praying that God would show up in a special way today, on this day that we point at what is love, what does love look like in the context of marriage, in the context of following the Lord. And today, we are honored to have not just a special guest with us, but a friend. I told the last services, you know, when you have a guest speaker in, a lot of times you have to spend a lot of time on context, a lot of time on who we are as a church, who we are as a community. But this morning, we have a friend, a neighbor, and a guy that we've been walking with on just friendship and relationship for years that's gonna bring the word with us this morning.
Not only is he a friend of Burn Hickory, he is actually almost married to Burn Hickory. Uh, it is Wayne and Sandra Morris's son-in-law. And I want you this morning to give a huge Burn Hickory welcome to our friend, a great pastor, great communicator, a great comedian. Come on, Mr. Ken Kington, and share the work with us this morning, buddy. It's been a great morning.

Ken:
Thanks, it does. That's awesome. Well, it is an honor to be here. I'm super pumped about tonight, but I'm actually even more excited about this morning. And, and even though he said that, and we have lived in this area for 26 years, 27, um, I realize not everybody's has any clue who I am. Um, I was one of the original comics on Netflix. I've got a, a Prime, uh, Amazon Prime special and I'm known for comedy all over. But even with that, I'm willing to bet there's probably 80% here. How many of you before this moment have never seen me before in your entire life? Raise your hands. That is so awesome. Uh, because I've never seen you before either. So we're on the same page. I, I just gotta say I'm, I'm so, I'm thankful for a lot, but I love that it's fall.
Does anybody else love this weather? It's not hot anymore. I mean, I love this weather. And I know not everybody loves fall weather, but normal people do. So I, I love the weather and I love just kind of the idea of love. I love large ground beef pepperoni and mushroom pizzas. I love Waffle House. Waffle House is my jam. I am a Waffle House, Walmart kind of guy. I just, I, I love it. I love my wife. I love my three kids who are now 28, 27 and 23. I love my kids. I love, I love being on the, on the road for a vacation. My in-laws who Matt mentioned, they own a house down on Gulf Shores. I love, this is my happy place. I love being under shade tre - shade tent on Gulf Shores Beach with a large Yeti full of Splenda sweet un - tea and a bag full of dark chocolate covered cashews from Buc-ee's.
That is, that is my happy place. I love that. I love that we're empty nesters. We had friends who are just like, "Oh man, empty nester. Are you okay? Is it all right?" And I was like, "You know, it was really hard for about an hour." And then, wow, we are loving it. I love that. I do love my in-laws. I've got the greatest in-laws ever. I love... I, and it, we say love so often that I think it's kind of missed or lost the direction of what it was really created to be. And this morning I want us to just take a really look at that because if you ask society, what is love? If you're watching movies or TV or whatever, love is something to do with romance, something to do with sex, something to do with feelings. And, and the people just like, "Oh, you'll know it when you have it." Really?
And then just to just follow your feelings. Let me just tell you, you follow your feelings and it'll run into a wall called reality and it'll, it'll leave you hurt, broken and regret. But what God designed was the idea of real love and lasting love. And he made us to desire that. So how can we find something that we, we haven't defined? So this morning I just want to, no matter where you are, whether you're a student, which I was, and I, there was a Bible study one time, this guy said we're gonna speak on relationships. And man, I was 13 and I had my pen and paper because I had these things called hormones going and girls were no longer gross. And I'm like, wow. And he, he made this sentiment. He goes, "Uh, hey, so let's dive right into it." And he says, "When you're dating, how far is too far?
Is that a question?" I'm like, "That's a good question, you know?" And he says, "Well, let me just tell you this. And the way God's word's set up is there's no right answer to a wrong question." And I was like, "What?" And it just hit me between the eyes. And from there on, I'm like, "Okay, God, what do you say about it? 'Cause if you created all this and you want me to experience to the full, how did you create it? What is it?" So I'm like, "All right, how do we get to that point?" So I wanna give you a definition this morning of love. It's based on a two-year study that I did back when I was single in my, in mid-late 20s. And, um, I went on a two-year dating sabbatical, which is a spiritual way of saying I didn't have a date for two years.
And I'm like, God, what is wrong with me? And I got two records I hope nobody can, can break here. I had 18 roommates in my life. I married off 17 roommates and they, they started calling me Preparation K and I'm like, let, no, let's not go down that road. On the other side, I dated seven girls seriously, like more than one time exclusively. Six of them not only broke up with me, but married the next guy they dated. That'll give you a complex. So I got to the point where I'm like, okay, God, what, what's wrong with me? And I really sensed his Holy Spirit going, was that a question or was that a statement? And, and because I'm ready to help when you're ready. And I'm like, okay, let's go. And one of the first processes he took me through was to define love.
And I looked at his word and I wanna give you that definition. There's three components to it. And the first one is simply this. Love is a complete commitment, not a feeling. Are there feelings involved? Absolutely. But if the foundation is feelings, we're in trouble. But when we realize that it's a complete commitment, and let me give you the, a couple very clear verses on this. One is in Luke chapter 22 where Jesus is about to make the greatest, uh, act of love in history. He's taking the punishment for all of us and all our sins and he's about to die on the cross for it. And he's in the garden and he is sweating drops of blood. It is that anxiety producing for him. And he is literally saying to God, the father, I don't wanna do this. I don't wanna be separated. And here's how he put it.
Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours be done. In other words, I don't feel like it, but wherever you designed, I want that. He puts it this way in John 15:13, there's no greater love than, than to lay down one's life for a friend. It's this complete commitment. I don't think I really gathered it because when I got married, I absolutely loved my wife with everything I knew I could love. But this idea of complete commitment, I didn't fully understand until my oldest son was born. And when he was born, my whole world changed, my heart changed. I'm like, I would do anything for this kid. But it was about a year and maybe a year and a few months later that I really got a feel for this idea that it's a complete commitment. It was in the middle of the night.
We hear him screaming and crying. He's maybe a year or two or three months old, and it was my turn. So I went up there stairs and I hear him crying. Right as I walk in the door, the smell hits me. And I mean, it is not a good smell. And I flip on the light and he has gotten sick for the first time and he's scared to death and he has puked all over himself. And I'm just like, okay, I got a, I got a man up here. And I get near him at the crowd. I'm like, it's okay, buddy. It's okay. Well, when he's scared, he just wants to be held. So he grabs me and like, oh man.
And I, so I'm like, I gotta deal with it. I man it up and I clean him up and get all that done and get all it cleaned up and put in the d - got him a clean onesie on and clean the sheets and, and I'm going to put him back in the bed. He would have nothing to do with it. He's just clinging. I'm like, okay, buddy, we'll lay down. So I lay down on the couch and I'm just rubbing his back and I'm like, that was, that was bad. And then he just kind of picks his head up and he goes, hmm. I'm like, what? No. And just. And then he hugs me again. I'm like, oh man. And so I'm up for the next couple hours and I got it all clean up and I set it up. I'm learning from my mistakes.
I put towels around next to the couch so if he gets sick again, I can just go, okay, park it over there and, and we're okay. And about 5:30 in the morning, he had gone all night and it was, it was done and he was done. And I'm, he's cleaned up, I'm cleaned up, and I'm just holding him on my chest. And, and I just really though in that moment, this is love. This is what really love is. When it doesn't sound good, it doesn't feel good, it doesn't smell good, and everything in my body is going, I don't want this, but everything in my heart is going, I'd do anything to be right here. This is where I wanna be. And that's the kind of love that God not only wants us to experience, but wants us to be able to pass on. And I wanna give you a couple different passages here to look at because in this two years, God showed me like in two Peter chapter one verses five through seven, it's a process to love and how to get to love.
There's also Philippians four: eight and nine, it's the character qualities of love. Whatever, whatever's good, whatever is pure, whatever's lovely, whatever's right, whatever is of good report, let your mind dwell on these things. And we can ask, well, am I these qualities? Is he or she these qualities if we're dating and is our relationship reflect these qualities? And it just gives us clarity of what can love be. And then there's the big one. Even if you've never been to church before today, you've heard of, uh, one Corinthians 13. Now, if that's known as the what chapter? The love chapter. We hear it at weddings. It's like one Corinthians 13, all the love. I mean, that's, yeah, the love chapter. Isn't it interesting that we want love, we know we desire love, we know where it is. But let me ask you this. How many of you know how many qualities of love are mentioned in one Corinthians 13?
Everybody wanna take a guess? I've heard the most popular is seven, 10. There's 15 qualities of love mentioned there. Isn't it interesting? We know where it is. We want it, but we don't even know it. And it's a great char - qualities of love. And so this is what I did. I'm like, okay, Lord, if, if I wanna be in love, I gotta do this. Okay. So I took one quality a day for 15 days. I'm like, I'm gonna try to focus on it all day and I'm gonna grade myself A, B, C, D, or F. First time I went through it, the first day, love is patient. I failed before lunch. I'm like, God. And then I went through all 15 and I passed maybe three or four. And I'm like, Lord, this is, I, I need help and I'm gonna try it again. And I did it again.
I didn't do a whole lot better. I couldn't even remember what some of them were on the days where I'm like, Lord, at this rate, I'm never gonna get married. Lord, I'm, I, I'm trying, but I'm just not there. And this was the revelation God hit me with. I'm having a devotion and one Corinthians 13, I'm like, Lord, I, I, I'm never gonna get there. And God was just like, in his Holy Spirit, he says, Ken, stop trying because you cannot give what you haven't experienced. And he says, I want you to go through all 15 again every day and I want you to realize this is how God loves me today. He is patient. He is kind when I don't deserve it. And I just went through and I was like, wow, that changed everything. And then there was some great advice along the ways too about love.
My, my mentor, I'll call him Al, because that was his name. And Al, we're at Waffle House one morning and he says, "Hey, Ken." I says, "How's it going?" I'm like, "Good." And he says, "Let me just tell you, this is out of the blue." H says, "What, let me just tell you this. When you find that special someone, you think she's the one, wait." I'm like, "Okay, wait, wait for what?" He says, "Just wait." You give me a little more detail there. He says, "You need to date her through the seasons. Wait a year. She's the right girl at two months. She'll be the writer girl at 12 months." And he says, "But wait." I said, "Okay." He says, "'Cause anybody can fake it for three or four months." He says, "Then you get the real person in there." I'm like, "All right. Well, that, that sounds pretty good." So here's the deal.
If you wanna find love, it's not about answering with a word. It's a commitment to saying, "Okay, God, I wanna know how you define it, how you created it, and how you wanna make it a reality in my life." So it's a complete commitment, the second component to getting real, completely real, or you can say getting transparent if you want. And here's what Jesus says. He says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." First, we gotta get real with God. And here's what I wanna ask a simple question. What part of your life is not great or does not measure up to these qualities, the evidence of love in Galatians chapter five? Love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. What area of life is not that? Maybe it's at school, maybe it's at work, maybe it's at home, maybe it's with kids.
But Lord, that is not the definition of how I'm experiencing right now with my family. Well, he wants us to get real and be honest. I told you about my records with roommates that got married. I was in a lot of weddings. And can I tell you I'm a groomsman in a wedding standing there in the tux watching somebody else get married again and I got the desire to get married. I'm like, great. And I literally had this thoght more than once and I, I'm standing there just praying God, no offense, but I am way better than that guy. And he's getting married. What is the deal? Can I tell you that's where God wants us? And he says, call to me in Jeremiah 33: three, call to me and I will answer. And I will tell you great and unsearchable things that you don't know, but come to me.
Draw near to me and I will draw near to you. And getting honest with him. I, I, I wanna share my two favorite prayers because I believe they apply here. And one of them is simply this. When you get in that area, God, help. That's it. Cross stitch it on a pillow. Put it on your bed. God, help. When I don't understand because he's like, I want to help. My second favorite prayer is one of the most transparent prayers I've ever heard. I'm helping the college students at our church. I'm in my late 20s. We go on a ski retreat to Boone, North Carolina. We had some car trouble going up there, had to go as a group, so we're late getting into town. Everything's closed and we're, we have not eaten in eight or nine hours. I want you to imagine being eight hours, nine hours hungry.
Only place open was a pizza place, my favorite food. Now I want you to imagine sitting at a table and they're bringing out pizzas, your, or your favorite food and you can smell it. I was delirious. I'm like, oh, oh. Somebody said, Hey, we grabbed hands. Somebody pray. There's about 18 or 20 of us. Nobody prayed. I mean, we're all just stunned by this. Finally, Paul, he was a student at Georgia Tech, brand new Christian. Hadn't been a Christian more than a month, never gone to church before that, but he's one of the most genuine, joyful people I've ever met. He's on the end of the table. Nobody's praying. He goes, "I'll pray." And we're like, "We never heard Paul pray. Okay, man, let's pray." And he went, "God, we love pizza. Thanks." And that was it.
I'm convinced God was right there going, "I know you do. Eat it." God is not about flowery religion. He's about real relationships and us getting honest with him. But we need to be, get real with God first. I wanna give you, uh, an example that I hope overwhelms and blows your mind. Everybody take one hand, palm up. One hand, palm up. I want you to close your eyes if you have to, but I want you to imagine yourself at a beach and I want you to pick up a handful of sand at the beach. I wanna ask you a question. How many grains of sand can you hold in your hand? A lot. I want you to imagine putting the sand down and looking in both directions as far as you can see. How much sand is on the beach? How many grains of sand?
A lot more. And yet, in Psalm 139 verses 17 and 18, David writes this, "How precious to me are your thoughts, oh God. How vast is the sum of them? When I had to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand." And every one of those thoughts is for your good and for helping and for details, every one of them about you. I shared that at a college conference. Two guys from Georgia Tech came up the next morning and they said, "Hey, man, really enjoyed last night." I'm like, "Thanks." He goes, "Hey, um, we figured out that sand thing." And I was like, "What, what are you talking about?" He says, "You know the song with sand, the, the beach, we figured it out." I'm like, "What do you mean?" He said, "Well, we got one inch of sand and we literally counted the grains of sand.
And then we went online and found the average width of a beach, and then a man six foot tall looking in both directions and we multiply that out. There's an equation. Do you know how much that is?" I said, "You guys don't date much, do you?" <laugh> And then they're like, "No, but do you wanna know how much?" And they gave me this astronomical number and they said, "Do you know how much that is?" And I'm like, "I have no idea." And they said, "Okay, if you were born mature and you had the ability to think six thoughts per second every second of every hour of every day and you had the ability to stay up 24 hours, you would have to live over 68 years thinking six thoughts per second to have that many thoughts." And I, I didn't have the heart to tell them.
David was speaking metaphorically here, but as I said that and they walked away, God pierced my heart and he, and he just whispered through his spirit, "I can think more than six thoughts per second about you every second of every minute. And every one of those is my love for you and desiring for you to experience who I created you to be." And I began to realize when I get real with God at that level, he is interested in every detail. It's that is when I can start getting completely real with someone else. When Heather and I had started dating, we've been dating for a few months and we're driving to breakfast and I felt no pressure on this relationship. It was just going so well. And I said, "How, how do you feel about where we are?" She goes, "I feel incredible." I said, "Me too." I said, "What's different about this?" And she said, "I don't know about you, but after my last couple relationships, I, I decided, God, I'm gonna stop.
I'm gonna stop trying to think of what he thinks that he thinks I should think about what I should be. I'm done. I'm just, God, you made me this way and this is who I am and I'm gonna seek you and that's enough." And I said, "That's it. Me too." I mean, I looked in the mirror one time, I'm like, "You know what? I got weird hair. My nose is crooked. I'm like a mutt dog. But God, you made me this way. So this is who I am. I'm okay with that. So Lord, I'm gonna quit trying to be something that I'm not." And I realized getting real with him let me get real with her. And my buddy, Al, he gave me a second piece of advice and he says, "When you date her through the seasons, wait." And I'm like, "Okay, what am I waiting for now?" And he says, "Wait until she burps in front of you." Okay?
And he says, "Until she burps in front of you, you haven't seen her be completely real." And I had this mental picture of getting a engagement ring and taking her out for Mexican food every night, make her drink two liters of, you know, Coke and just burr, "Hey, will you marry me?" And just, I didn't do it that way, but it's, it's just that openness to being real. And that genuineness is something that we need to continue into marriage because we're gonna have to be honest and real. Can I tell you, I've been married 31 years. I have never one time in those 30 years woken up in the morning though, what is my objective in my marriage today? What do I want to accomplish? Oh, I know. Today, I wanna frustrate my wife. I mean, I wanna tick her off. I want her so thoroughly confounded by the end of the night, she wonders why she has married me and wished she had not.
That's my goal. I not one time thought that, but I have accomplished that on multiple occasions. <laugh> We gotta get real, and it's okay. We gotta confront that. We gotta deal with it. And this realness, I started, you know what? I got some great advice, you know, have a time where you can get real, make it away from the pressure of the day. And I'm like, all right. So Saturday, and this was in the height of parenting, our kids are small, they're in sports and everything's going crazy. And, and yet we got one day a week. I said, we're going to Dunkin Donuts, one of her favorite places. And we'd sit there. We'd talk about everything the previous week, what's coming up the next week. And then we'd talk, is there anything frustrating you? Is there anything you want to accomplish? And after we went through that, we'd say, "Hey, is you, is there anything you think is not on the table that you can't ask about?" A couple times she said, "Yeah, one of them was finances." I'm like, "What, what about finances?
We got a budget on this." She goes, "Yeah, but I just, I don't feel like I know everything." And I'm like, "Thanks for sharing it." So once a month I'd print out every account, everything we had and every detail and every goal. I'm like, "Here's where we are." And she was like, "Oh, wow. Well, that makes total sense." And it had a peace because I wanna be totally real in every situation. I know that Matt told me you guys had, uh, Shanti Feldom here and I was, I've done a couple events with her and she made a statement one time. She's talking about relationships. She's talking to men. And she said, "Man, I wanna give you, uh, an insight into women." I'm like, "I'm all ears." And she says, "In men, there's a recording playing, and it's in the background, but it's always play. And every man I've ever met has it." And she said, "It's this playing.
Am I enough? Am I doing enough? Am I making enough? Am, am I spending time enough here? It's always there. Is it enough?" And we feel so much time like it's not. And that's why we, we overachieve in some areas and fail in others and we need God in there. And she said, "I know that's the way it is for men. Let me tell you the female version of that." And she asked the question. She said, "Have you ever told your wife in the morning, Hey, I love you. I'll see you later." She comes home. She goes, "Do you love me?" "Babe, we've been married two decades, three decades. You know I love you, but I, that's, I just need you to hear. "She goes in her mind, that recording is," Are we okay? Are we good? Are we okay? "And I sat there listening going," That, that sounds nice, but that can't be true.
"And she says," Your wife just needs to hear that. "And she described a conflict with her and her husband and how they were in this conflict and she was frustrated and he finally just went," Honey, listen, it's late. We need to go to bed. "And she, he went over and hugged her. She said," I don't feel like a hug, but I didn't know I needed it. Hugged her and said, he said, Listen, we're okay and we're gonna figure this out. We're okay. "And she said her whole countenance just changed. And they went to bed. And I was like," Ah, it's not that easy. "And sure enough, three months later, we'd had some disagreement. I'd come off the road. I am exhausted. It's 11:30. I just wanna go to sleep and she wants to bring it up. And she does, and she's miffed, and she's hot.
And I'm just like shaking my head and I'm just like, I, can I just say I'm sorry and I was wrong and just, we go to bed. She goes," I haven't even said anything yet. "I'm like," I, yeah, but I am, and I don't know. And I'm just frustrated. "And she starts going into it in the middle of it. That thought came to my mind and I just interrupted her. And let me just tell you, that's a bad idea in an argument. <laugh> But it shocked her. And I said," Hey, hey, listen. "And she goes," Let me finish. "I'm like," No. "I said," I, I know this is frustrating you look at me though. We're gonna figure this out. And I'm tired, you're tired. We're gonna figure it out. So here's the deal. Tomorrow after school, we'll talk about it, but look at me right now.
"And I got her really close and I said," We're okay. We're good. "And sh - I'm telling you, I saw her just go," Huh.
"And she walked right past me, got into bed, put her head on the pillow, and she said," Okay, night, love you. "And I was like," You have got to be kidding me. I've been married two decades and this is what I'm missing? "I'm like," Lord, help me here. "And, and, and sure enough, next day we worked through it and it was great. But it's that, it's that transparency and being real with each other to saying," Okay, that's what she needs, that's what I give her. "And then there's a third component, not about just getting real, but giving unconditionally, giving unconditionally. And I, I, I love this verse because it's the most popular verse in our society, John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he created, no. That he forgave? No. That he died on the... No. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
The ultimate component of love is giving unconditionally. I had a buddy in my grooms room at my wedding and he said," Man, you ready? "And I'm like," I am so ready. But waiting this, my whole post-pubescent life, I'm excited. "And he says," Ken, um, are you excited to get married? You want... Heather's, Heather's pretty awesome. She is awesome. "He says," Do you think she's gonna meet your needs and make you happy and, and, and just be the answer to your problems? "I'm like," I, I, yeah, I hope so. "And he goes," And then you're gonna be depressed the rest of your life." <laugh> I'm like," What? "He said," God didn't make her for that. He made marriage. "He says," If you're going in hoping she's gonna give that to you, she's not. If you go in going, God, will you use me as an instrument to help make her happy?
Will you give me the opportunity to meet her needs? Will you give me the, the opportunity, the, the gifting, whatever, to try to make her happy? "He says," You let God do that. You'll find fulfillment at levels you never dream possible. You'll find peace in a way that you can't imagine, but it's not about what you get. It's about what you give. "I was like," Wow, that's amazing. "See, I was giving, I was giving wholeheartedly, but not unconditionally. Giving everything I had, hoping to just get a little bit in return. And what God says is," No, you gotta let me fill that part. I just want you to give unconditionally to her. "And I got this, I got this visual. God dropped it in my lap. I was speaking at a conference once. It was in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Pigeon River, water's flowing, it rained, it's just roaring down.
And I, I'm sitting on this rock getting ready for the morning when out of the corner of my eye, I see this little girl walking right on the edge of the bank with a four-foot drop off, and I'm thinking if she s, if she slips, she's gone and there's nothing I can do. She looked to me at four years old, bleached blonde hair, blue eyes, just a Cute little thing. Found out later her name was Tommy, but I, I looked over and I said, "Hey." And she went, "Hey." And I motioned for her to come away from the edge. I said, "Come here." And she walks over here. I said, "Hey, what's your name?" She goes, "What's your name?" I said, "I'm Ken." I said, "What are you doing?" She said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I'm skipping rocks. You wanna skip rocks?" And she said, "Yeah." And so we start throwing rocks in the river.
I said, um, "Are you staying in the cabin here?" She said, "Uh-huh." I said, "Are your parents here?" And she goes, "Yeah." "Do they know you're down here by yourself? "She said," I don't know. "I'm like," Okay. "I said," Well, why don't we skip some rocks, then we'll go tell them. "She goes," Okay. "And so we start walking up this trail. She grabs my finger like I guess that she did with her dad, but I was a single guy. Girls never did that to me. And, and I'm walking up, found out she's the associate pastor's youngest daughter, four years old. Had no idea what that time meant to her. That night I'm in front of the fireplace on the couch and I see all these students mingling around and there's a kind of a break in the, in the crowd. And I look and it's Tommy.
And she's walking through. She walks right over to the couch, climbs up on the couch right next to me, sits next, scoots over next to me, she nuggles her shoulder underneath my arm. Now girls never did that to me before. And I just went," Hey. "She goes," Hi. "I said," What do you want? "And she just looks up with those piercing blue eyes and she's just," Um, I just wanted to be with you.
"I, I was giving her my keys and my wallet and just that messed me up. I'm driving to Knoxville the next day to do a show and I'm just like," Lord, I, I'm never gonna be able to have kids because I mean, that kid's not even mine. All she did was look at me and I'm giving her everything I got. "You can't parent that way. And God whispered in my heart," Ken, I just wanted you to catch a glimpse of how I feel about you every day. All I wanna do is give you what's best. And all, all I want you to do is come to me and let me teach you how to have that. "And it just, it changed everything for me. And I wanna just wrap this way. Take that definition and ask yourself," What area of my life is not full of the evidence of love?
" Galatians five says the fruit of the evidence of this is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. What area of my life is not representative of that because that's the area where God wants to show us love and us experience that. The world looks at his truth and he says things like in Ephesians," Does it really say wives submit to your husbands? "Yeah, it does. See, I don't think that's right. Women should. I'm like," Oh, well, you're not a woman. "And he's talking to women there. To men, he says in two, three verses later," Husbands love your wives as Christ died, love the church and died for it. "See, it's a complete both ways. And what you really missed was before he says that to either of them, he says it to both of them in verse 21," Submit to one another.
"That's where joy happens. When I'm saying," You know what? I'm submitting to you whether you do to me or not, I am submitting because I want God's best. "It's not based on what somebody else does. It's based on what God says and what I just choose to apply. So this morning, I want to just, if you're here and it appears like most of you are, there's two groups. One, I want to ask you when we sing this song to just pray, Lord, what area of my life is not full of your love and that you want to change? And if you're here and you don't know that relationship with God, I pray that you'd realize it's simple. It's simply saying, God, you are God and I'm not. And Lord, I confess I've messed up and, and I've sinned. I need you. I want you. You created it.
I want to experience it. And he says, I stand at the door and knock. If you open the door, I will come in. It's inviting him in. He says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is God and believe that the Father raised him from the dead, you will be saved. He says, I'll come in. That's, that's what you gotta believe. He's God, you're not.