THE LOVE OF GOD | SUNDAY 19th JAN | PS AARON MORE |

K uh welcome uh if we haven't met my

name is Aaron and

uh it's a good day to be alive isn't it

it's probably a good day to be dead as

well but you know I haven't experienced

that so we'll go with it's a good day to

be alive and

uh hopefully uh you can join us

um at the park I'm sorry my laptop's

just under all my stuff down there

that'll be

amazing thank you thank you uh hopefully

you can join us uh at the park after the

service and also if you're new can we

have that um connect area slide up if

you're new we would love to meet you in

the connect area after the service so we

just have a um special space uh out

there that's designed to connect with

you there so we would uh love to do that

after the service and so last year uh

last week sorry we were talking about uh

new years's and uh how we have this

phrase which is New Year New You and we

talked about how often that's like the

slogan of a gym right like they're like

hey New Year New You and probably what

they usually find is that means New Year

you sign up and then they never see you

right like but they've got the three

Monon subscription and so about February

is the best time to buy a gym membership

cuz everyone selling theirs that they

bought in January and discovered they

weren't going to use and they're locked

into a contract and so sometimes we've

actually found it's New Year same you

right or depending on how Christmas and

New Year's went it's New Year and

there's a little bit more of you but

there's the same you

right and uh you know we talked about

how New Year's resolutions so often

aren't that fashionable anymore right

like you know the '90s everyone did New

Year's resolutions uh they say

statistically if you did do a New Year's

resolution uh we've already passed

quitting day so if you're still doing it

you are statistically in the top percent

because I think quitting day is about

the eth or something like that of

January of when people quit New Year's

resolutions um but you know it's perhaps

more popular or invogue these days to

have a word for the year like abundance

or my year is freedom or uh you know

I've got a a word for the year and I

guess New Years do give us hope that

maybe something is going to change and

maybe something will be different and we

kind of declare in faith it's going to

be a great year and you know I really

hope it is a great year for you but

sometimes we look uh for something new

don't we like as human beings we love

the idea that there would be something

something new I mean the Christian

version of the uh word for the year is

you know we get a prophetic word from a

prophet for the year and I'm not against

that per se but what I do realize is

that many times God is doing different

things in all of our lives so to have

one Prophet say hey here's the word for

2025 probably what you'll find is if you

look far and wide enough you'll find one

that fits you and so you can choose wow

I love this one and this is going to be

me and sometimes we are waiting and we

are looking for something new but

sometimes what we actually need to do is

hold on to the old rather than pursue

something new you know there's that

saying insanity is doing the same thing

over and over again and expecting a

different result but that's only true if

you're doing the wrong thing see some

things actually have to be persisted

with before the fruit comes to be and

sometimes we are so Keen for something

new that we forget that we actually need

to hold on to the old and in the Bible

in the uh in the Old Testament there's

this uh Hebrew word and if we can have

that slide up for H head uh there's a

Hebrew word that actually is translated

the

steadfast love of God and so it's

talking about the love of God that does

not shift it does not change it is there

and it is steadfast through every season

and we may not know what

2025 holds but we can know what is going

to hold on to us and that is the love of

God so sometimes we're so wondering

what's the year going to hold but the

reality is this for some it's going to

be an amazing year for some it's going

to be a hard year but for all of us

there is an invitation to live in the

steadfast love of

God that does not change and so Paul

wrote in Romans 8 now in all these

things we are more than conquerors

through whom Who Loved Us for I'm

persuaded that neither death nor life

nor angels nor

principalities nor things present nor

things to come nor powers nor height nor

depth nor anything else in all creation

shall be able to separate us from the

love of God which is in Christ Jesus our

lord so here Paul writes and he says Hey

There Is This Love of God and there is

absolutely nothing that can separate you

from it whatever you think might be the

thing that's going to separate you from

the love of God he is like there is

nothing in all creation that can

separate you from God's love it's

interesting that he starts by saying I

am persuaded see it was something that

he had to come to that point of living

in this reality that he was persuaded by

the love of God how would 2025 be for

you if you lived 24/7 assured of God's

love towards you when we live assured of

the love of God everything changes I

remember when SAR and I first started

dating you know I wouldn't say maybe she

didn't quite love me yet the charm

hadn't reached its full but you know we

were dating and uh she said yes to a

date so that was good and I used to work

with a friend of my sisters I worked at

the Inland Revenue uh Jesus like TX

collectors so I thought hey why not um

get in on a little bit of that action I

found out not many other people do um

but I was working at Inland revenue and

I actually worked with a friend of my

sisters and my sister came up to me one

day and said uh she kind of said it like

a bit of with with a little bit too much

surprise in her voice she said have you

got a girlfriend like it was a like

something strange is going on and

um I was like well yes but I'm like but

how do you know cuz there was no way I

was telling my older sister that I um

had a girlfriend and she's like Oh sha

who works with you she could just

tell and I was so angry I was like what

do you mean she could tell oh she just

asked me cuz the way you walk around the

office is different I'm like shut up

it's

not and uh I remember I was so flipping

angry that like that that I thought here

I was cool calm collected but obviously

I was some soppy mushy Love Struck um

young man and

uh you know that maybe wasn't even love

I was maybe just uh had some positive

human affirmation don't you love that as

a romantic way of describing the early

days of our relationship probably guys

probably don't describe the early days

of your relationship as as positive

human affirmation

um SAR did well didn't

[Laughter]

she but I remember being so angry that I

had not being as cool calm clicked as I

wanted to be but I could not help but

live in some way projecting differently

because I had someone's acceptance and

can I say this morning when we talk

about the love of God God's love is not

primarily actually a romantic love it's

actually a self sacrificial love it is

love in far greater measure than just to

be defined in romantic terms so you're

here and you're like man he's speaking

on the love of God I don't want to think

about butterflies in my tummy and and

those kind of things like I'm a man

what's going on like we're talking about

a love that actually all of us were

created to live in it's greater than

just a romantic love it's actually a

self-sacrificial love and if we bring

that uh hisid uh uh description up again

it says this

a sense of love and loyalty that

inspires merciful and compassionate

Behavior towards another person that is

God's heart towards us that is what God

wants us to live in and so I'm really

quickly going to look at um one of the

uh strange stories in the Old Testament

we won't go very deep into it this

morning we'll just kind of skim over

over it um it's probably an Old

Testament story that could have been an

episode of Jerry Springer if Jerry

Springer was around then because it's a

little bit freaking weird with some

family Dynamics just saying so um you

know what happens um is

uh Abraham has a promise that he's going

to have a son and so Sarai his wife is

Baron and so after a while she decides

that good idea would be for her husband

to sleep with her maid right so um you

know uh some parts of my family are

dysfunctional uh particularly the

extended family I'm talking about but I

like reading this because it makes my

family look normal

um and so she's like hey why don't you

sleep with my maid servant and that way

you can get pregnant and so he's like

okay and so he goes and does it and she

gets pregnant and then Sarah is all of a

sudden like oh I was fine with it in

concept now that it's happened I'm

actually a little bit angry towards her

and so she goes to Abram and says hey

I'm not that happy uh with her anymore

and I would like to start mistreating

her and Abraham uh and Genesis 166 says

behold your servant is in your power do

to her as you please

then sari doubt harshly with her and she

fled from her I mean I'm making light of

it but this is a horrible story right

like I mean you can imagine the the

words that would be used in today's

language to describe this like the power

and balance the manipulation The

Bullying like like this is a toxic

situation in every sense of the word and

so in the end Sarah is like she is being

mistreated uh sorry hagga is being

mistreated and she's I've got no other

option I'm just going to flee it's kind

of like that song you know should I stay

or should I go it's like neither option

is good you know if I stay there'll be

trouble if I go we'll be double she's

going into the desert like so she is

fleeing into the desert it's not like

there was a good option for her it

wasn't like she could go and get on the

emergency benefit and maybe get a few

weeks and get an accommodation provided

for her she's literally fleeing walking

through the desert and she comes to this

place where there's a pool and um it

says that the angel of the Lord comes to

her and finds her and says what are you

doing where are you going and she says I

am fleeing from my mistress sari the

angel of the Lord said to her return to

your mistress and submit to her now um

we're not going to unpack that this

morning why the lord said that if you

want to know the theological

implications of that come and see Nathan

after the service he'll explain to you

exactly uh why God told her to return to

a toxic situation he's done a

dissertation on it and he'd love to

share that with you uh in point um so we

won't go into that this morning because

Nathan's really a resident expert on

that so the angel of the Lord said to

her I will surely multiply your

Offspring so that they cannot be

numbered for multitude and the angel of

the Lord said behold you are pregnant

and you shall bear a son and you shall

call his name ishmail because the Lord

has listen to your Affliction okay the

next words I want you to understand are

old Covenant prophecy not New Covenant

please do not approach any pregnant

ladies and tell them that their son

shall be a wild donkey of a man like uh

even if you're feeling that just pray it

don't share it like you can pray against

it but uh the angel of the Lord comes

and she's like hey he shall be a wild

donkey of a man not really what you want

is a prophetic word over your child

right and he shall dwell over his

Kingsman so she called the name of the

Lord who spoke to her you are a god of

seeing for she said truly I have seen

him who looks after me and then she goes

on to call the W

the same name after the God who sees

this is interesting because it's

actually the first time and some would

say it depends on how you uh interpret

different scriptures but some would say

this is the only time that a person

actually gave God a name like God

revealed his name many times but this is

the one time where some a person

actually named God and it's alroy The

God Who sees me and so here there is

this Egyptian slave who is being

mistreated who is now pregnant with her

master's child like you can imagine the

level of dysfunction you can imagine how

she feels and then in the midst of that

she has an encounter with God and all of

a sudden realizes that God is the one

who sees me and and she realized she was

not saying hey God's the one who sees me

he sees how Wicked I am he sees my

mistakes he sees that no she was seeing

the god of

compassion

2025 looks different when we live under

this Revelation that God actually sees

us David continued this theme uh in

Psalm 17 he used this phrase where he

said keep me as the apple of your eye

and and this word the apple of your eye

it's actually a beautiful word picture

what it really means is it's the

reflection of another in your eye so it

is as God's looking at you it is your

reflection in the eye of God that God is

looking at you with compassion with

Grace With Love towards you and it is

like you are the reflection in God's

eye I read uh this passage in Genesis 16

probably about a month ago and I was

actually just in uh I I was having a bad

few days and I remember just realizing

in the midst of it wow God you see me

like you actually see me yes I know you

love everyone yes it's great because

sometimes we feel we talk about the love

of God and it's like that's great but he

loves everyone right and sometimes when

we emphasize that he loves everyone the

feeling can actually be well it's the

same as him not loving me personally

because he does

everyone but hagga had this Revelation

hagga sorry had this Revelation that God

saw her Jesus continued this thought in

Luke 12 where he said ah not five

sparrows sold for two pennies and not

one of them is forgotten before God why

even the here of your head are all

numbered uh as a bold man I take offense

but they won't give me a woke version of

the Bible so we'll continue

uh he doesn't need much counting for

mine um but he says fear not you are of

more value than many sparrows and here

the thought is that that intimate things

of your life as seen by

God but sometimes we live apart from

this reality don't we in fact may I be

so bold to suggest many times we live

apart from this reality that we are seen

by God and his love is stretching

towards us see many times we live apart

from that for two reasons number one we

actually have a mindset that if God is

looking at us and if God is seeing us my

goodness he's seeing a lot of rubbish

and and a lot of things that aren't

right in our lives and we would never

pretend that in a humanistic way that

we're all wonderful and none of us have

issues right but at the same time when

God looks at us yes he sees that but he

is actually looking at us with his

loving kindness with his

steadfast love or sometimes we're

actually like I don't want God to to see

God's love and affirmation for me cuz I

actually want to earn it myself

I actually want to do stuff myself that

make me a a worthy human I don't want to

just have to receive it from God I

actually want to live it myself and so

here haga has this revelation of God

looking at her and that

changes

everything you know I know this morning

there will be people online there will

be people here and in person person that

maybe you've come into church this

morning and you're actually like man I

feel like not seen within this church

and my prayer is that it wouldn't be the

case for anyone but I know in this

number of people there will be people

who come in and feel like man I I I'm

not seen and it's something to feel not

seen isn't it I remember I went to a

church in LA and it was at the end of my

sabatical a couple of years ago and it

was right in the heart of Hollywood like

it was an amazing Church I'd followed

the pastor there for a number of years

so I was really excited to go to this

church and uh I remember going and it's

it it's right in the heart of Hollywood

and everyone is beautiful at this church

like I remember I was scared to show my

teeth cuz I was like they'll think we

don't have dentists in New Zealand cuz

everyone had perfect teeth like just

amazing teeth I was like now you're all

looking at my teeth and I'm freaking out

but anyway I was like man don't show

your teeth like they're going to I'm

sure they're nudging each other going

they don't have dentists in New Zealand

who knew cuz these people were

beautiful they were beautiful and also

uh this was just my experience not

particularly

friendly so I remember I uh went in and

they um like it was a amazing church and

it was cool and they had like you had

both uh hot coffee and cold brew and I

was like oh how amazing so I went and

got a cold brew and and um and then

realized and I kind of looked around and

there's this Courtyard and I'm standing

by myself in the courtyard drinking a

cold brew and I'm like trying not to be

that person who's like who's going to

come and talk to me because you know

sometimes people come into churches and

they're like I'm just looking to see how

long it takes someone to come and talk

to

me funnily enough that kind of repels

people there's kind of an unspoken

attitude that it's like I had someone

one time tell me I timed and it took 6

minutes and 32 seconds for someone to

come and talk to me I'm like man they

came and talked to you that's a miracle

if you were projecting

that so so I realized I'm standing there

and this is what's going through my mind

I'm like no one's very friendly and I'm

like as I'm thinking no one's very

friendly I'm probably projecting anti

friendliness I'm like what do I do and

then I'm going around a loop of my head

I'm overthinking at Mark it's going

round and round I'm like what do I do

and I look across and the pastor who's

famous well Christian famous right like

you know there's a difference between

famous and Christian famous he's

Christian famous but because they're all

so cool like not very many people are

talking to him and he's talking to a

couple and he finishes talking to them

and he just walks across and I'm like ah

I can get a chance to talk to him so I

thought hey hello and he was so friendly

so nice so engaging asked me about New

Zealand I said I'm so excited to come

I've followed your teaching for years

can't wait to hear you preach he said

well I'm actually not preaching this

morning and I'm like oh well at least

the people are

friendly and so I went in and sat down

and uh I'm sitting by myself and this

guy comes up and he is genuinely so

friendly he's got a headset on he goes

hey man uh would you just mind uh

sitting over one seat because I just got

a couple of friends you're by yourself

is that right yeah he goes can you just

slide over one seat and

um and uh that would be amazing so I

just got I need an extra seat for a

friend I was like sure and so I slide

over one seat and um he' just been so

friendly and then I turned back around

to interact with him and he's just got

his back to me and he didn't interact

with me for the next like service go

through there's breaks there's things

and it was like there was this Ultra

friendliness when he wanted the seat

next to me and then as soon as I moved

he like was not interested in talking to

me at all must have been the teeth and

so

I remember sitting there actually

feeling in a crowd like I was alone and

it was the end of a sabatical I'd been

traveling away from my family I was

missing the family I've been traveling

for 2 and a half weeks by myself and I'm

sitting in this crowd I'm all alone with

bad teeth feeling like wow as a side

note seriously I was sitting in the

crowd um feeling insecure about my teeth

I go and get into the Uber and the lady

says to me

you've got very interesting

ears I said well I'm trying to keep my

mouth shut now do have

to without a word of a lie she goes I

think they're psychic

ears I said what I started laughing and

she said don't laugh you've got psychic

ears she'd been really serious I just

begin to laugh and laugh and she said no

they're

psychic I said well could we at least

call them prophetic like

not going to true story so I you know

one day I felt like need ear muffs mouth

guards like uh walking around looking a

bit

different you know my prayer is that

none of us would feel alone in a

crowd but also my prayer is that none of

us would feel separated from God seeing

us and looking towards us because when

we realize that we are seen by God and

His compassion is towards us Everything

Changes some some days I'll stop before

I go into a meeting and I'll I'll just

stop in my car and I'll just be like God

I just remember that your love is

towards me and you see me so good

because I found I'm a much Kinder person

in the meeting if I walk in aware of

God's love towards me wow God I'm so

grateful of Your Love towards me you see

it's not true that all we need is God's

love no we need people as well that's

why God said it's not good for for man

to be

alone but you can have all the people

speaking into your life and we do need

that but there will still be a gap

because we were created to live in the

love of our father how different would

2024 be for us if we lived

aware of the love of God in a greater

measure and so the way I actually want

to close this morning is by uh inviting

you forward for prayer and

um I want to say no one hey you don't

have to respond like uh we never want to

put pressure on people that they have to

respond to something that uncomfortable

responding to but what I do want to say

is this I'm not just asking for prayer

for someone who says wow I feel so far

away from the love of God I'm actually

encouraging all of us that maybe we

could come forward be prayed for by a

leader that God would anoint uh that

they would anoint you that you would

live this year with a greater awareness

of the love of God because I can tell

you I'm certainly having someone lay

hands on me this morning because I want

to live 2025 with a greater awareness of

his love I want to live I don't know

what the year is going to hold but I

want to hold on to this concept that

it's not butterflies in the tummy it's

God's compassion and mercy towards me

and that's what we are created to live

in and that changes everything

man of dating someone for a few

weeks

thanks if dating someone for a couple of

weeks and receiving that affirmation can

change your disposition in such a way

that people

notice what would happen when we walked

and step with the love of God what would

happen in our families what would happen

in our workplace what would happen in

our church if we walked in so aware that

he is looking towards us and so in just

a moment the team are going to pop a

song on and if you don't want prayer you

can just sit and let the words of this

song wash over you but my hope is that

many of us will actually be like God I

want to live with a greater awareness of

Your Love even if you feel like you live

in the love of God we can always live

with a greater a awareness and so I've

asked the elders and pastors to um come

forward and they're going to anoint some

people with oil and just pray a simple

prayer that you would know what it is to

live this year in the love of God Lord I

Thank you that your love and your heart

is towards us Lord I Thank you that your

love is

steadfast God so often we are used to

love being transactional and dependent

on certain circumstances but thank you

that the word describes your love as

steadfast towards us and God I pray that

we would live as people aware of your

steadfast love awesome The Tick Tim are

just going to pop that uh song On and if

you want to come forward for prayer as

that song plays that would be amazing