Love in the Mirror | Week 5

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Man in the Mirror| Week 5 0:00

Love in the mirror. Amen. Somebody. Amen. It isn't just about reflection, it's also about repentance, about renewal, and it all begins with you. Welcome to A-S-G-C-C sermons where faith comes alive and the word of God transforms lives. We're thrilled to have you join us for another inspiring journey into the heart of scripture. Whether you're tuning in from your living room or on the go, we believe that God has a powerful message tailored just for you. At A-S-G-C-C. We're more than a community. We're a family of believers seeking to grow in our relationship with God and one another. Each sermon is a unique opportunity to explore the timeless truths of the Bible. Discovering practical insights that will empower you in your daily walk. So grab your Bible, open your hearts, and let's get ready to embark on a transformative experience. It's not just another sermon, it's a divine encounter. Thank you for joining us on this journey of faith. Let's dive into the word together and allow God's love and wisdom to guide us in every step of life. Welcome to A-S-G-C-C sermons. Amen. So we're talking about love in the mirror. God's remedy for a hateful world. God's remedy for a hateful world. Amen. Somebody. Amen. So we realize that we've looked at love in every direction. Again, loving the family, loving in the church, loving for parents and sisters and brothers. But today, somebody say, but today, but today. But today, God turns the mirror towards us before we can carry love outward. We must confront what's reflected inward, and that is why Jesus says we have to first learn how to love one another, love ourselves before we can love our brothers and sisters. Amen. Somebody. Amen. So family mirrors don't flatter us and they're not meant to flatter us. They tell the truth, and we want that. When you look in your mirror, you are looking for the truth. You are expecting to see a reflection of yourself. You're not looking in the mirror and expecting to see someone else. If you looked in the mirror and you saw someone else who were probably scared of, they lights out of you. Amen. Amen. So you are looking in the mirror so that you can see reflection of yourself. And mirrors expose what we ignore and magnify what we'd rather hide sometimes. And I have a magnifying mirror that I like to look into. And, uh, sometimes I like, geez, you know, and I turn it right back around to a regular mirror because it shows things and high definition. So spiritually, God's word is our mirror. And too many saints, unlike the glass mirror, have stopped looking into it long enough to see what needs fixing. Now we don't mind looking into the glass mirror to see what we need to fix before we walk out the door, but we don't wanna look into the spiritual mirror to see what we need to fix before we walk out the door. And we need to change that. We need to fix what's going on on the inside of us so that, that this sermon, when God gave this portion to me. It made me think about the old Michael Jackson song that says, I'm starting with the man in the mirror. Hmm? He the man in the mirror. He says, oh yeah, I'm asking him to change his ways. Oh, you better change. Amen. No message could have been any clearer. If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, then make the change. He goes on to say, you gotta get it right while you got the time. 'cause when you close your heart, you can't. Then you close your, your, your, your mind. That man, that man. Mm-hmm. So we have to start with a person in the mirror, and that person in the mirror is you. Amen. When I look in the mirror, it's me. So starting with the man in the mirror means taking personal responsibility for change. Amen. Come on, somebody right here, right now. Go ahead, take time out. You've kind of gotten a, a, a adjust of what this message is about to be, uh, is, is going to be about. So take some time. Go ahead and share this message with your family and friends, because let's face it, we all need to hear this message. Do not leave anyone out. Go ahead and share it. Hit the share button in YouTube right now and share this message. If they're not, if they're not available to come live, they can watch it later. Amen. On our podcast channel, even, we even have a new podcast, uh, channel the Awesomeness of God Christian Church. So go ahead and share this message and go ahead and drop in the chat. I just shared the message and I'm so glad I'm, I'm here. I'm glad I have an opportunity to take a look at myself in the mirror this morning. So it's a call to examine. To self-examine and, and it's a call for repentance. So before trying to fix the world, others, or even the church, we have to start with ourselves. Start there. Come on somebody. Mm-hmm. So when Michael in Michael Jackson's, uh, when he sang that song, he says, I'm starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to change his waves. Come on now. So you look in the mirror and you ask yourself to change your waves. He was echoing a timeless biblical truth. The same one. Jesus, Paul and James talk, and James talked a lot about love. So in Jane and and I, we, and I have the scriptures for these three, uh, uh, uh, for you to put on the screen, but we're not going to put 'em on the screen just yet. I'm just gonna read 'em a short portion of them. But it's James chapter one, verses 22, 23 and 24. And of course, my message will be coming from the New Living Translation. And there are times when I'll ask Deac and Damon if he would, uh, read from the, um, teen James version. But right now, James chapter one, verse 23 through 24, and I'm still setting this message up. I'm in my introduction. It says, uh, uh, says the word Jesus. It says the word, and I put in Jesus because we know Jesus is the word. The word is like a mirror that shows us ourselves. It is useless if we walk away. Unchanged. That's what the word is. The word is like a mirror. So that's why we're starting with the man in the mirror. We're starting with the word Jesus Christ. We want to look in that mirror and be able to see a reflection of him. Amen. Second Corinthians, chapter 13 verse verse five says, it calls us to examine ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith. You, you, and you only can do that. You can ask others and prayerfully, they'll be truthful with you, but you need to examine yourself. And Matthew, chapter seven, verses three through five says, Jesus warns us to remove the log from our own eyes while we're trying to remove a little speck from somebody else's eye. It's almost impossible to do when you think about it. So we examine ourselves and make certain that when we look in the mirror that we're lining up with the word. So starting with the man in the mirror is really saying, let transformation begin with me. Mm-hmm. It's admitting, Lord, the world can't change if I say the same. Amen. If you want the world to change, then you have to change. Come on somebody. Amen. Uh, it's humility before holiness. You have to humble. We have to humble ourselves, looking at our own reflection through the word of God. Amen. I said the word of God, not some book that you've pulled off the Sheriff that talks about motivating you to be a good person. Being a good person is not enough. We have to line up with the word of God. Amen. And allowing the Holy Spirit to correct us, to cleanse us and to renew us first. Mm. Thank you, holy Spirit. You are responsible for you and your relationship with the Lord. That's why on this morning, I believe this sermon speaks so powerful. Love in the mirror. Amen. Somebody. Amen. It isn't just about reflection, it's also about repentance, about renewal, and it all begins with you. Amen. Someone, amen. Someone, some encourage me, drop me an amen in the chat if you're listening to me this morning. So, you know, church, we lift our hands high in worship we do, but yet those same hands won't reach across the aisle or won't reach across to your family members or or your coworkers or whatever to make reconciliation. We can shout hallelujah with passion, but we still speak harshly to one another. We still speak about one another all the time. Hmm. I'm saying we here because we, we all need to change. We can all do better. We declare I love the Lord, yet we roll our eyes and close our hearts and, and turn our backs on the very ones that Jesus himself died for. Amen. Let that settle in just for a moment. He stretched his arms wide for us, but we can't even reach across the aisles to help others. Every time we reject someone made in his image, we smear the reflection of his love in our lives. And you and I both know a mirror that's dirty and foggy and not clean, doesn't give a good reflection of who you are. You in there, you're trying to clean that mirror because you wanna see you a foggy mirror. You can't see yourself. And only the Holy Spirit can cleanse our spiritual mirrors because love that only lives inside the church. If you can only love inside the church or you can only love inside your home, that type of love never reaches the heart of God. Hmm. But that's the only love that you have for you and yours, and that's it. If your love only exists inside a church building in worship, when you smile or service, you see everybody walking in the church and everybody's, uh, kissing each other on the cheek and everybody's shaking hands and everybody's smiling and laughing and, but, but that disappears when you leave the sanctuary. That love was never truly God. It's not true. Love oh, oh boy. Hmm. It's quiet. It's quiet in that chat this morning. So heaven doesn't recognize a love that's conditional, you know? Uh, it's based on how you act or how I act based on what I do based, based what your love is, based on how much you love me back is performative, you know, or loca or location based. Depends on where I am, how is is how I'm going to act, or how much love I'm going to show. If I'm in church, I'm gonna show all types of love. If I'm at home, I may show love. I may not. If I'm in the streets, I may sh I probably won't. If I'm in a grocery store, I'm not gonna show any love. So if it stops at the church or church door, or it's location based, it's not divine love. God says it's emotional religion. Emotional religion. And I, I wanna talk about emotional religion because you know, a lot of us, we, we have no clue what that is, but you can understand that love has nothing to do with your emotions. So what is emotional religion? I am so glad you asked because emotional religion is when our faith is driven by feelings instead of transformation. Deacon Damon, you preached a, a couple sermons based on that. Our emotions. So, emotional religion is when your faith is driven by feelings and stands instead of transformation instead of the Holy Spirit. It's worship that feels good, but it doesn't produce change in your life. It's shouting, singing, and serving without totally and completely surrendering our lives to the Lord. I don't wanna stand here and preach just to be preaching. I wanna preach because I've surrendered my life to the Lord and I've made changes in my life and I'm and, and I'm continually to make the changes that I need in my life. And it's not easy all the time, but it is totally and completely necessary. Amen. Someone emotional religion reacts true relationship responds. Amen. Emotional religion says, I'll praise when I feel his presence when I'm in church and I feel his presence, I'll praise depending on the song and who's singing it, but real relationship with the Lord says, I praise him because he's worthy. Even when I don't feel him, even when the person that I love to hear singing isn't singing, even when the song is not on that I wanna hear, I'm gonna praise him because of who he is. Yes, it confesses. You know, it's, it's not about, uh, go goosebumps. Uh, uh, you know, it's about the glory of the Lord. Amen. Come on, somebody. So emotional religion is loud on Sunday, but silent on Monday. Now, I can even hear my little grandson in the background saying, amen. He may not understand all that I'm saying, but he's agreeing with it. Amen. And in his soul, God can do a work. Amen. Mm. So it can lift hands and worship. Emotional religion can lift hands in worship, but refuses to forgive. A coworker refuses to forgive a friend refuses to forgive a, a family member. It knows how to express love in service when it's around people, but it doesn't extend. And, and the love struggle and we all struggle there. It's love that stops at the sanctuary door. Hmm. Alright. And like I said earlier, if it stops at the church door, it is not divine love. It's emotional religion, and we have to get out of that emotional religion. Emotional religion seeks in experience, true relationship seeks obedience. There's a difference. It chases moments instead of maturity, the father wants us to be mature in him. Paul says, I, we were studying a few weeks ago in one Corinthians where Paul says, I can't even come to you and speak true words of God to you because you're not ready, you're not mature enough, you are still drinking milk when you should be feasting on, on, on solid foods. Come on somebody. It's in the word. Mm-hmm. It wants revival without repentance. Emotional religion wants revival without repentance, and that's impossible. Digg, it wants breakthrough without brokenness. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to break us so that we can be broken before a holy God. It wants the feelings of fire without the cost of faithfulness. That's emotional religion, relationship, and true religion costs us something Emotional. Religion performs. And trust me, I am not here to perform for you. Hmm. Spiritual relationship wants us to be transformed, and that's why I'm here. Amen. Emotional religion says, I felt God today. He preached, they sang, and I felt God. But you know what true relationship says? True relationship says, I became more like God today. Hallelujah. Not that you felt him, but that you became more like him. And that's what we want. Jesus Christ modeled the behavior that he wants us to have when he was in this earth. And emotional religion feels good in service, but changes nothing in your soul. God isn't looking for emotional religion. Time is out for playing those games. He's looking for relationship enduring love. Amen. Somebody. Amen. Amen. So now we're, we're ready to open up the word of God with you. Uh, we're gonna go to one John chapter four. We are going to look at verse 20 and 21 and for our tech ministry, that's slide number one. One John chapter four, verses 20 through 21. Say, amen somebody. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen to the word of God. You always wanna give God's word and amen. And John says, if someone says, I love God, but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar. For if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God whom we cannot see. And he has given us this command. Those who love God must also love their fellow believers. He says it's a command family. That's not a suggestion right there. Look at it. That's a command, John. He doesn't write that. You should, he writes, you must those who love God must also love their fellow believers. So those who love God must also love their fellow believers. You can't say you love God. You've never even seen them. Uh, John is saying. But say you hate your brothers and sisters or hate your brothers and sisters. 'cause most folks won't actually say it, but that's how they feel. That's not a suggestion. It's a command. And before we, you, you go on and soothe yourself into saying, I don't hate them. I just don't deal with them before you sit there and say that, and I'm sure you've heard it, if you haven't said it yourself, let's be real. That's being indifferent. And indifference is hatred in disguise. Yes, that's exactly what I said. Indifference is hatred in disguise because love avoids. If love avoids. It's not love because the Bible says love abides. I understand you can't be around people all the time certain folks, but you still have to love them. You can't be indifferent to them. What do I mean by that? True love doesn't retreat. It reacts true love. It reacts. Now it, you may end up having to fall back, but that's not your starting point. Come on, somebody. True love doesn't retaliate. It doesn't retaliate. The Bible says true love restores. True love doesn't mirror the the offense. You don't do tit for tat. That's not true love. We wanna mirror Christ. The love of Christ doesn't run from rejection. A lot of times we wanna run from rejection. We wanna run from the situation. It's easier, but we have to run towards that situation with redemption. Man, if we could just start practicing this, how much better off our lives would be, you're going to feel some way about it. You're gonna feel like you're being used and abused at times. I know we don't like that. But love doesn't wait to be asked. Love initiates. Jesus didn't wait for us to ask him for to forgive us. He already forgave us. He forgave us when he died on that cross. He paid our sin debt in full. We never have to worry about our sin ever again. If we accept him as our Lord and Savior. Come on, somebody. We have to do that. Love doesn't say when you change, I'll become a better person. When you change, I'll love you. When you make changes, then I'll come closer to you. That's not love. The Bible says God had his son die for us even while we were still what enemies with him. He didn't wait for us to change. Even while you are broken, even while you're going through your mess, even while you're not the way I want you to be, I'm still coming for you. I'm still going to die on that cross for you. I'm still going to be here for you. We have to get there. True love isn't fragile, deacon Damon. It's fierce. True love is fierce and it fights. And we're gonna be studying. You know what true love is? In a few chapters in First Corinthians where we are now, and I'm also gonna bring it here in this love series because we have to get this true. Love isn't fragile, it doesn't break. It's the kind of love that stayed on the cross. Hmm. When the nails were there, it didn't quit. It's the kind of love that prayed father, forgive them while they were killing him and mocking him. It's the kind of love that went looking for Peter after Peter denied him and called him back into the ministry and back into his destiny. How many of you would've done that? How many of you could have seen your friend denying you? When you were in trouble, when you needed them the most, they pretended like they didn't even know you. Hmm, come on somebody. Now I'm preaching the truth this morning. It's the kind of love that that looked Judas in the eye and still called him friend, knowing what he was going to do. That's the love that reaches across betrayal, across failure, across distance, and says, you can't push me away. I'm anchored in grace. Hallelujah. That's not the world's kind of love. That's not emotional love. That's Christ kinda love. And if we, and if we claim we belong to him, then that's the kinda love. The world needs to see in us. Now, let's be honest, I always have to say this loving like this isn't easy. Amen. If it was, we would all be there. Mm. It's not natural. Leaner. It's supernatural. Amen. Because everything in us wants to protect us, wants us to withdraw, wants us to prove a point to make sure that we are the one that's right. We wanna argue that point. We gotta be right, or we withdraw. We protect ourselves. But love like Christ requires sacrifice and surrender. It is not easy. Deacon Damon. It is not easy. Deacon Alexander. It is not easy. If it were, we would all already be there. It means choosing to forgive when you still feel the hurt. When you still feel the sting, I forgive you. It's okay. It is all right. It means praying for the one who broke you. That's a powerful thing right there. When you pray for someone who broke you, who deliberately misused you, who calls you harm, it means staying kind. When your flesh wants to clap back, it's hard. It, let me just say it like this. It's hard for me. Maybe it's easy for you guys, but it's hard for me. This kinda love costs you something. It costs you your pride. You gotta give up that pride. It costs you comfort sometimes. Sometimes it even costs you closure. Mm, it costs you your friendships. Sometimes family members, sometimes it costs some things, but there is a reward in there as well, and that reward is freedom because when you love like Christ, nothing and no one can chain your heart ever again. You're free. No more chains on your heart. When you love like that. It doesn't matter what the other person says or does. I love you regardless of who you are, regardless of what you do to me. I'm gonna continue to love you. That doesn't mean you have to stay in their face constantly. I wanna make that clear. That doesn't mean you have to stay there and let them continue to beat up on you in harm. That's not what I mean. But that what they do doesn't change the love I'm talking about the love that you have for that individual. You continue to love them loving. Like this hurts, but it heals. It heals you if you hop. If you have to walk away, you can do it in love. Amen. Somebody. Amen. It stretches you, but it also sanctifies you. It humbles you, but it also makes you whole. And that's what I want for my life. I wanna be healed, I wanna be sanctified. I wanna be made whole in every area of my life. And the only thing that can do that is your love walk. So I pray, God help me. Help me in my love walk. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. And that's when you begin to look less like the one who hurt you and more like the one who loves you endlessly. And that's, and who, who can heal you. And, and when I say the one I'm talking about the capital. ONE, Jesus. In he alone. Amen. Somebody. So, amen. Now, let's look at some more scripture that teaches about indifference, because I want us to understand that you may say, well, I don't hate them, but if you are indifferent towards them, in God's eyes, it's, hey. God is very particular and he knows your motives. He is not, he's not interested in your words and how you change your words and how you try to make things seem a certain type of way. You can change up a word to make it seem indifferent from what it really is. No, he knows your heart. He knows your motives. He knows that's what you're really saying is, I don't care. They mean nothing to me. You, you, you, you nonchalant to, to towards that person or towards those people. God knows exactly what, what you mean by all of that. So, deacon Damon, uh, first John, chapter three, verse 17. And for the tech team, this is slide number two. Amen. Somebody slide number two, guys, go with me to John, first John, chapter three, verse 17. First John chapter three, verse 17. Have you shared the message yet? If you haven't shared the message, go ahead and do so. Please. We need folks to join this live stream to hear this message. Thank you Lord. Amen. First John chapter three, verse 17, and I'm reading from the King James version and it reads on this wise, but who so half this world good and see his brother have needs and shut it up. His battle of compassion from him. How D it the love of God in him. Amen. Now, that's a question. That's a good question. Deacon Damon, if you have enough money to live well and you see a brother or sister in need, but show no compassion, John says, well, how can God's love being you? That's a very good question, and John is asking you that question on this morning. I'm asking you that question this morning. Indifference is not neutrality, it's absence of compassion that's showing no compassion. Amen. Hatred says, I wish you no harm. I wish you harm. Sorry, hatred goes, goes, goes on and says, I wish you harm. I, I you need, I want you harmed. I I want to get back. I, I wish you were dead. And difference says, I don't care if you're dead or alive. You see the difference between hatred and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and indifference. I don't care if you are harmed. I don't care if you're dead of life. It doesn't matter to me. And different looks like walking past a hungry man because you are not the one who's hungry. It looks like scrolling past a prayer request because you've already got your breakthrough. So I'm not worried about, I'm not gonna stop and pray for that person. I don't have time. You may not say that, but that's indifference. You just don't care one way or the other. It looks like seeing a sister or brother struggling and saying, struggling. That's not my problem. They should have done this. They should have done that. When they had money. I saw them over here doing this. That's in, that's indifference. It looks like ignoring injustice because it didn't touch your doorstep. Mm-hmm. You don't care one way or the other. As long as it doesn't affect you, you could care less. As long as it doesn't affect your children, you could care less. That's indifference, and Jesus has an entire parable that speaks to that. It looks like watching the vision in the church and saying, as long as my ministry is fine, I'm fine. And difference is the quiet sin that kills compassion. You guys. It kills your compassion and you become numb to other, other people's struggles and other people's situations. And the more awful and bad things happen in this world, the more indifferent we become. There was a time when you would hear of a shooting or a kid getting shot or something going on in the school system. Everybody was stopped what they were doing and be glued to the television about, oh my God, church is asking for prayer. All types of, you know, things. But now we are like, oh man, and, and, and we go right on. And that's what has happened to us. We have become indifferent. And that means hatred in the, in the eyes of the Lord. We have to stop doing that and realize what it is we're doing and become and come back to the type of love God want us to have for everybody, not just you and yours. It doesn't throw stones, indifference doesn't throw the stone. It simply refuses to care that someone is bleeding, that someone else threw the stone and hit you and hit that person over the head. They're bleeding. You didn't throw the stone, but you don't care that it was uh, thrown and you don't care that the person is bleeding you. Your heart has become calloused. It doesn't curse you, but it also is not gonna cross the street to help you. You guys will know where I'm going with this based on the words that I'm saying. If you are a Bible student, you know exactly which parable where I'm going. Like the priest and the Levite, who saw the wounded man. Hmm. Just kept doing what? They just kept walking. As a matter of fact, they crossed the street to make sure they didn't come in direct contact with the man. Amen. They didn't speak hate. They simply stayed silent when love demanded action. Nowadays what they do is take out their phones and start recording the situation. They don't run to help the old lady who just got pushed down on the sidewalk by some thug. They stand there and record it. Everybody take their phones out now and record the hate. They don't run towards it in love. That's being indifferent. It doesn't gossip. It just goes quiet when hurting needs a voice. All of it denies the heart of God who is loved. When you're behaving and acting this way, you are denying the heart of God. You are not showing, first of all, you are not even showing that you are human first and foremost because humanity should not act that way. There. There is no way you should be able to sit and watch a person being beat to death while you record it and not try to step in and do something about it. 10 people standing around there with the phone, one person beating another person to death tell me that's not hate. That's why he told the story of the Good Samaritan and the wounded traveler to prove that love isn't proven by emotion or, but by action. There's another portion of Michael Jackson's song that says, I see the kids in the street with not enough to eat. Who am I to be blind? Pretending not to see their needs. Wow. I'm starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to change his weights. Come on now, Lord. Help us. Amen. Somebody. Amen. Slide number three, we're gonna talk about, um, this, this Samaritan, uh, man and, and this wounded traveler. Luke, chapter 10 verse 30. Luke chapter 10, verse 30 a. Jesus replied, A man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road by chance. A priest came along, but he saw. The man lying there. He crossed to the other side of the road and passed by him. Now, this was a preacher de a priest, a temple assistant, walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side, the Levite. Then it despised. Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Now, there's a reason why Jesus starts this out by saying a Jewish man, and then you have a Samaritan, because the Jews and Samaritans, they didn't have anything to do with each other. Mm-hmm. So that's why the words that then are despised Samaritan came along and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him. The Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandage them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an end where he took care of him. The next day, he handed the end keeper, two silver coins, telling him, take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here now. Now, Jesus says, which of these three would, would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits? The man replied, the one who showed him mercy. Then Jesus said, yes. Now go and do the same. So they're the Levite. You know, the priest and the Levite never hit or struck the man yet. Their indifference left him on the ground bleeding and half dead. They didn't care. That's hate. To God that neglect was a, was as damaging as the act of the hate, the hate act itself. The band is beating and, and the man almost to death because you didn't do anything about it. You saw that, that there was a need there. So before we say I'm good, I'm okay. Long as it ain't got nothing to do with me, I don't wanna get involved. We have to ask, is my mirror clean? If your love hasn't reached the person who hurt you, or people who you see are hurting the most, then it hasn't reached maturity. Hmm, you, you, you need to, you need to grow some more. You need to get back on your knees. You need to fast and ask God to help you and teach you how to love more. Slide number four, deep slide number four. James chapter one, verse 23. Because hearing and seeing and reflecting the word is what we wanna see when we look in the mirror. We want to hear, see and reflect the word of God. See, hear and reflect the word of God when we look in the mirror. Amen. Somebody. Amen. Slide number four, James chapter one, verse 23 and 24. James chapter one, verses 23 through 24. And once again, I'm reading from the King James version and it says, if any, be a hearer of the word and not a doer. He is like un to a man, beholden his natural face in a glass where he beholden himself and go with his way and straight way. Forgot what manner of man he was. Amen. So we can't just hear about love. We have to live it. Thank you Deke. Love that never leaves the sanctuary of the church or your home between you and your family hasn't reached the soul. Love needs to reach your soul. You need to mature and grow in love. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says. Anyone that includes you who listens to this word, God has ordained me to preach this word of God. And you listen to this word, but does not do what it says. It's like someone who looks at his face in a mirror after looking at himself. Mm. You go away and you would f immediately forget. Yeah. What your own self looks like. I know when we walk in offense and we gossip and we're jealous, and we're com always comparing ourselves to others, the mirror of our heart is fogged up. Mm. We can't even see. You can't see in a fog mirror. And love is not being seen there. The love of God is not there. But when we walk in mercy and humility, we reflect His glory. Come on, somebody. We reflect His glory. Some of us are professional heroes, duke Deke. We are professional heroes, but we are amateur doers. I'm not. And God says, that is not how it's supposed to be. You're looking at it on the screen. You can't be a professional hero. All you do is hear the word. Hear the word. Hear the word. And notice he didn't say, read the word. He said, hear the word. Because how can they hear without what? Preacher? A preacher. But when we walk in mercy and humility, we reflect his glory. We've taken notes on, on forgiveness, but we're still holding grudges. Some of your Bibles are highlighted, you know, highlight the entire Bible, but you still have no love in your heart. Amen. And Paul says, you can have a whole lot of things going on for you. You can speak in tongues, you can be sing well. You can do all the great things and be able to prophesy and teach, but if you don't have love, you don't have nothing. So we've highlighted verses about patience, but we still snap at everybody at any, any at every, over every little thing. We know what the word says, but we treat it like a suggestion instead of God's final authority. The word is not a suggestion. You don't get to pick and choose. It's his final authority. His word, the Bible says, will be standing when everything else has gone down. When the laws have gone away, when this world have gone away. When you have passed on, the Bible says His word will remain standing. Heaven and earth gone. But his word still standing. His word is the final authority, not the laws of the land. When we only hear and never do, we become spiritual spectators just sitting on the sideline watching others live. What you've learned, you've learned it, but you're not living it. But when we obey, when we act, when we love beyond convenience, our reflection becomes clearer and the world sees Jesus in us. Amen. Somebody, come on now. I'm preaching this morning. Go ahead and gimme an amen in the chat. Say yes, preach, preach. Pastor V, preach slide number five. Hebrews chapter four, verse 12. De Hebrews chapter four, verse 12. And De is reading from the, he's always reading from the Kings James version. And what you see on the screen is a new living translation, so you can compare and contrast the two. So he's always reading from the King James version. Hebrews chapter four, verse 12. For the word of God is quicker and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even the, and divi piercing even to dividing the under of soul and spirit and of the joints and moral, and is a discern. Of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Amen. Now, he's talking about the word here. The Hebrew writer says, the word of God is alive and powerful. Alive and powerful. The word of God is very, very sharp. Very sharp, sharper than a sword that has two edges cuts when it goes in and it cuts when it comes out, and it divides the soul and the spirit. It cuts between joints and marrows. It exposes your innermost thoughts, your desires. The word that God exposes that, hmm. The word is a living mirror is what is what the Hebrew writer is saying here. The word is a mirror, a living mirror. It doesn't just show us, it searches. It goes beyond just seeing. That's letting you see yourself. It searches you, it goes deep into your soul, your bone and your mirror and the word of God will search you. It will reveal to you who you are. It reveals not only the face we present, but the motives that we protect, the motives that we don't want anybody else to see. Our reason why for doing this and that the, the word of God shows us that it detects that you can't hide anything from the word. You can hide from people, but you can't hide from the word of God. The word says is it cuts between soul and spirit. Between joy and mirror. It exposes our animals thoughts and desires. Innermost expose them, show them to you. It cuts through the mask. Mm-hmm. Through the makeup, through the ministry image, it goes straight to the motive. You can't hide, you can't fool it. You can't pretend like you're doing one thing while you're actually feeling and thinking another one. It knows the difference. It divides between what's sincere and what's false and staged. The word does that no one else can read your mind, but the word of God can. Hmm hmm. It separates performance from purity. Amen. It separates duty from devotion, from you walking around and working, working, working, working and doing this and doing that, showing, trying to show how religious you are. The word of God says, I, I, no, you can't fool me. I wanna see your devotion, not what you do, not your duty, not your performance. It separates your reputation from your righteousness. The word of God does all of that. So when you open your Bible, your Bible opens you. Amen. Let me, let me say that one more time. I want it to sink in. When you open your Bible, come on now. Your Bible opens you, it reads you as you read it. Come on, holy Spirit. And sometimes that cutting hurts, but it's heal. It's a healing kind of hurt. It cuts, but it heals deak at the same time. Amen. It restores because God never wounds us to destroy us. He wounds us to what? Deliver us. Thank you. Thank you. That's why some people avoid the word Deacon Damon. Thank you. They don't wanna read the word because they don't want to face the reflection in it. They don't want the word reading them. They don't want to make the hard changes in their lives. They don't want to start with that person in the mirror. But if you let the word do his work, it won't just expose us wrong. It'll extract. It'll take out what is rotten. It'll prune you, and that's what we want. Come on. That's what I want. I want God's word to change me. When I prepare these words, when I prepare these messages, I'm always saying, God, I know this word is for me. Help me not to just preach this word. Help me not to just hear this word, but God help me to live this word. I, I preached, I, I pray that Deacon Damon, I pray it over my messages. I don't want to be a hypocrite. So we have to let the word work in our lives. It'll pull out pride. It'll carve away bitterness. It'll remove what, what's diseased in us. The what has our spirit bound it will restore us to our back, to our divine nature. You will be a living, walking, talking. Uh, word of the Lord. Your life will reflect that and people will want that. The word doesn't just reveal the problem. It rebuilds the person. It will rebuild, rebuild us. It's, it's made to do that. It's living and powerful. I'm glad that verse is still on the screen for the word of God is alive and it is powerful, and it is meant to cut. It is meant to scar and to get down to the real deal of who you are, so God can change you. It is not just a mirror, it's a scalpel. The word of God is a scalpel. That's why he said it cuts and every cut brings you closer to the image of Christ. Hallelujah. Somebody. Amen. Hallelujah. Just, just, if you can't, don't know what to say, just type in the chat. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Somebody. Slide number six. Uh, second Corinthians chapter 13, verse five. Second Corinthians, chapter 13, verse five. And De Damon, you read this scripture almost every first and third Sunday, a part of this where it says, examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourself. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you. If not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. Isn't that something? Examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith. Examine yourself, test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you. You know he's among us, Dick. He, you know that. You have to know that Jesus Christ is among us. If not, if he's not among us, you have failed the test of genuine faith. Testing yourself isn't condemnation, it's maturity. You are grown enough in, in the word of God to test yourself, to examine yourself. Why? Because you want to be right in the sight of the Lord. You want that special relationship that only being right with him allows you to have. Love is not lip service. Everyone. I don't care how many times a day you tell me you love me. I want you to show me in, in your actions, in your lifestyle. My husband can tell me he loves me all day long, but if your actions is not showing that, if your lifestyle is not showing me that I don't believe you, I won't believe you. Amen. Somebody. Amen. Slide number seven, and we're moving on. I'm, I'm, I'm getting done here with, we're on our SE seven scripture, and that's Matthew chapter seven, verses three and five. Deacon Damon, Matthew, chapter seven, verses three through five. And this is, these are the reason you see this in red. Amen. Somebody is because this is a scripture that Jesus is speaking. He's preaching here. He's talking here. Amen. Come on now. Bring the word Matthew, chapter seven, verses three through five, verse three through five. And it reads on this wide. And why behold is thou the moat that is in thy brother's eye, but consider it not the being that is in your own eye, or how will thou say. To thy brother. Let me pull out the moat out of Dina. And behold, a bean is in diona, thou hypocrite. Mm-hmm. First cast out the bean from D and then shall thou see clearly to cast out the moat out of thy brother's eye. Woo. Now, now, Jesus was Jesus te Now he was a teacher. Now you guys know Jesus was a teacher and he, he, he taught and he said some very powerful words here. This is the word of God. Jesus has said, said this. I guess he could allow somebody else to say it, but he wanted to make sure that he was the one that said this. He says, don't you worry about the spec to in somebody, in, in somebody else's eye. When you have a log in your own eye, you got a big old log in your eye and you concerned about little.in somebody else's eye. He says, how can you think of saying to your friend, let me help you. Get rid of that speck in your eye when you can't get past the log in your own eye. Jesus says, when you do that, you are a hypocrite. First, get rid of the log in your own eye. Then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in somebody else's eyes. Look at the person in the mirror. Amen. Start with you. So before we diagnose others, God says, deal with your reflection. Start with the man in the mirror. Ask him to change his ways. Before you post about love, make sure your private mirror agrees with that post. I don't like it when I see a post from people who call themselves Christians on one day, and then two or three days later I see a post of them cursing somebody out. Hmm. At least be consistent on screen. Don't, don't let me see you doing one thing, saying one thing and doing another. Jesus said, that's a hypocrite. So before you post about love, make sure your private mirror agrees with that post. Sometimes the reason we can't see others clearly is because our own lenses are smeared with pride, greed, pain, bitterness hurt. We judge what they did without acknowledging what you did and is still doing. Jesus says, you're hypocrite. We criticize their stumble while focusing. On their scars, their stumbles, but not paying attention to our stumbling and our scars and what we are doing to others and even ourselves at times. Don't focus on other people's hurts and disappointments if you're not willing to be there to help them. He says you do that first, then you'd be able to deal with them. Come on somebody. That's why Jesus used the image of a log and a speck. There's a whole difference between a big old log and a tiny little speck, and you got that big old log in your eyes trying to help somebody else take the speck out of theirs. He was showing us that spiritual blindness isn't about eyesight. It's a heart problem. It's heart sight, not eyesight, but heart sight. Don't worry about that. Worry about what's in here. Amen. The heart. What is your, what is your heart singing? When your heart is right, your view clears up, you can see better. Amen. Somebody. Amen. Your, your motives are pure and your mercy shows up when your heart is right, and when your reflection is humble, your relationships start to heal. Oh man, somebody. Romans chapter 12 verse two. Romans chapter 12, verse two, and slide number eight, and it reads, I'm gonna move on. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person. By changing the way you think God wants to do what? Change the way you think. Amen. Then you'll learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Don't follow the world's way of love. Don't follow the world's way of looking in the mirror, then walking away and not remembering what they see. But let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Hmm. Start with the man in the mirror. Transformation is love made visible. People need. People should be able to see your transformation. They should be able to see that you've changed your life since you became saved and love the Lord. They should. They should see your obedient, your obedience to him. The mirror changes, the ministry changes your life, changes how you act and treat people, and even yourself. What changes if you love only those who love you? Jesus tells us on slide number nine, if you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Luke chapter six. If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sins. Love those who love them. And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sins do that much. And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sins will lend to other sinner for full return. Jesus is asking a lot of questions here and then he says, love your enemies. Do good to them, lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward in heaven will be very great and you will truly be acting as children of the most high. For he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate just as your father is compassionate man, Jesus requires a lot of us. He sets the standard and the standard is very high deed. There is no low bar in Christianity. There is no low bar. It's all high. And our father expects a lot of us, and he, and he wouldn't expect it of us if we couldn't do it. Why? Because we have Holy Spirit right here helping us each and every day to love like this. This is Jesus teaching us that love rises above all things and, and it, and he doesn't care if it's reciprocal or not. See, anybody can love people who love them back. That's why he says, oh no, I'm not talking about no reciprocal. I'm not about rep reciprocity here. Everybody wants, you know, this quid pro quo thing. You love me. I love you. No, it's not reciprocal. But kingdom love, we move. We move out in love first. We don't wait for somebody else to love even when it's not returned. Now that girl preaching right there. I'm preaching to myself this morning and I know God is pleased 'cause I feel his presence all over me right now. He calls us to me to mercy that mirrors his own. Are you showing that type of mercy? That's how the world knows that we belongs to him. He says, every time you forgive someone who wronged you, you polish your mirror. And everybody loves a I know I do when I go in the bathroom. I love my mirror to look clean and nice. I don't want anything distracting my reflection. I wanna know what I look like. Amen. Every time you bless someone who betrayed you, heaven catches the reflection every time you choose. Love when hate feels easier and hate always feels easier. You guys, it does. You look more like the father. Let it go. Whatever it is, you must let it go. The hurt, the pain, whatever it was, whatever it is, let it go. Forgive. Amen. Every time you choose love, when hate feels easier, you look more like your father who was in heaven. When you don't, then you, that's not your father. Then you know who is. Jesus explained that already. You, you are like your, you are like your father, the devil who is a hater and a murderer from the beginning. That's when God says, there's my child. When you love the way he wants you to love, he points you out. He's proud of you. That one belongs to me. He's mine. Amen. And that's what we wanna hear. So, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm going to stop here. And I will pick up with, uh, a little bit more of this. Next time I'm gonna talk about distorted reflections. Hmm. When, when, when, when you're, when you look in the mirror and, and you see something that's distorted, you don't, you don't see a real true, good reflection. Reflection is something re re that's distorted. And at that point, that's when you wanna start talking to the Lord. And you wanna start saying, search me. Oh God, search my heart. Test me. Because listen, now I'm talking to the Christians. Right now, I'm, I'm, I'm talking to Christians. You know, I'm closing up my notes and I'm gonna get down here to my altar call. But I, I'm talking to Christian right now. Listen, I. When I preach, I thank, thank God for the world. Mm-hmm. But when I preach, I'm preaching to Christiandom my call and my burden is to the church. I realized that several years ago. Thank God I pray that the world is listening. I pray that their lives are changed. But when I preach, when God called me to preach, he didn't call me to preach to this world. He called me to preach To those of you who say you love God. Who, who say you are a Christian, who say you, your lives have been changed, that you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior. My believers in Christ, I preach to you. I'm edifying the church because there's a problem in the church. Until we get the church right, we can forget about getting the world right. I'm speaking to you when I'm talking. I'm talking to believers. This word is for believers. It is not for the world. It is, but first and foremost, it's for you. You have to be that look in the mirror. You have to make the changes that the world needs. Come on man. And until we do that, we can't expect for this world to change. You can complain all you want to, but if you haven't made that change, your complaint is useless. You have to start with you now. That's all. Holy Spirit right there, 100%. Start with you and now my alter call for you on this morning and I'm moving out of your way because I feel like you know, I've done what God has called me to do this morning. Amen. Somebody. Amen. I, I feel like I have done what God has called me to do on this morning, and you feel that release. It's all right. You, you feel the release. And God has released me on this morning, my soul. It is, it is well with my soul. Hallelujah. Somebody. It's well with my soul and I give God thanks and praise on this morning. So this is, this is your man in the mirror moment. If there's anyone, uh, you withheld grace from, call their name in this prayer and release them the prayer that we are about to pray right here in a, in a few minutes. If there's anyone that you've withheld grace from, that you've not forgiven, hmm. If you've been preaching love, but living guarded and not truly showing mature love, showing indifference, just living your life by emotions, having that emotional religion, let the Holy Spirit reopen your heart this morning. Amen. If you've lost your reflection and resentment, today is your restoration, God wants to set you free. Come to the altar. I know you are not here in the in a sanctuary, but come to the altar in your heart, the altar of your heart. Not because you're guilty, but because you're growing. If you are believer, God is not calling you guilty. He's not condemning you. He wants to restore you. He wants to redeem you. He wants to grow you up. He wants to mature you. Let God take your cloudy reflection, that old dirty mirror, that old fogged up mirror and turn it into clarity. Let him show you you. And the only way God can show you you is you gotta get into that word and you gotta hear this word and you gotta do what it tells you to do. Amen. So you can show the world him. Now am my closing prayer. I want you guys to bow your head with me right now. And repeat these words after me. Father, we stand before you. No filters, no mass. Just mirror us. Father, wash us in your word. Until we, until we see your reflection in us. Forgive us for preaching love louder than we practice it. Father, break every spirit of pride, bitterness, and judgment that distorts your image in us, creating us a clean heart, God, and renew a right spirit within us. Lord, renew our minds. Teach us to start with a person in the mirror, to repent quickly, to forgive freely, and to love fully. Hmm. Thank you, Jesus. Let our homes reflect your kindness. Let our churches, uh, reflect your unity and your words of truth. Of truth. When people look at us, father, let them catch a glimpse of you pure love, perfect grace, unchanging mercy, father Jesus. In Jesus' mighty name, Jesus Lord, cleanse our mirrors on this morning. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, I know that God heard you and I know that he's going to do great things in your life. Come back on next week, there's more. We are gonna talk about the distorted mirror, but God wants the best for you. He wants to give you everything he has. We have to be obedient to him and learn to love the way he loves. Thank you so much for joining us today on A-S-G-C-C sermons. We hope this time of worship, reflection, and teaching has been a source of inspiration and encouragement to you. As we come to an end of our time together, we want to extend a heartfelt invitation to those who may be listening or watching. If you've been touched by today's message and feel the stirring in your heart, we want you to know that God loves you unconditionally. The journey of faith is a personal one, and we believe that God is reaching out to you right now where you are. If you haven't experienced a life-changing love of Jesus Christ, we want to give you an opportunity to invite him in your life. If you desire to know God personally, to experience this forgiveness and receive the gift of eternal life, we invite you to pray with us right now. You can simply repeat after me. Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you just as I am. I recognize that I'm in need of your love and forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and I accept him as my Lord and Savior. I repent of my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and make me a new creation. Thank you for the gift of eternal life. I surrender my life to you and I choose to follow you from this day forward. And Jesus name I pray, amen. If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, we want to congratulate you on the most important decision of your life. We encourage you to connect with a local church, read the Bible, and spend time in prayer to nurture your newfound relationship with God. Thank you for being a part of the A-S-G-C-C family today. We look forward to the amazing journey ahead with you. Remember, God loves you and we do too. May His grace and his peace be with you always.