Sermons On Line

  Audio Sermons
by Pastor Koo

Give Up and Take Up for Lent
Growing Spiritually
Victory In Jesus
Freedom In Christ
I'd Rather Have Jesus
The Language of Faith
Repent for Advent
Season of Waiting
Love Covers All
A Growing Church
Controlling Your Tongue
Persistent Yet Humble Faith
Testimony of God
Put On A New Self
Bread from Heaven
Spiritual Warfare
Purpose of the Storm
Weddings at Moore's Chapel
A Christian Father's Love
The Lord Needs it
The Easter Story
Commitment To God
Repent for Christmas
Jesus Is My Dearest Friend
Give Your Talents to God
Look Up to Jesus, Have Faith
God's Economy - God's Grace
Following Jesus Means...
Promise vs. Performance
An Invitation From Heaven
Christian Challenges
Using Our Talents
Jesus Is Coming

Table of Contents
Moore's Pastors
Church History
Ministries
Moore's Music
Special Events
Newsletter
Christian Fun
Christian Videos

"Just Love the Lord"
Simple, But Covers All

Scripture - Mark 12: 28-34

Audio Link:  Love - Simple, But Covers All

In today’s Scripture, one of the Scribes came to Jesus with a sincere question. His question was: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important? The Scribes were experts in Jewish laws and spent much time discussing and trying to distinguish major and minor laws. This Scribe’s question was not asking Jesus to set up one law as the most important, but to point out which types of commandments should have more priority.

Jesus answered with the familiar words of the Great Shema (meaning “Hear, Oh Israel”): God is one; love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). This is a quotation from Deuteronomy, so it was not something that the scribes had not heard before. The faith of Israel could be summed up in the Shema, the expectation to love God with one’s whole being—heart, soul, and strength. Jesus wisely answered his question.

When the Scribe came to Jesus, Jesus told him what the top priority in life was. It all begins with loving God. Jesus taught that love for God involves every aspect of our being. Jesus’ purpose was to show that a person’s total being must be involved in loving God. Nothing must be held back because God holds nothing back. To truly love God, we must love Him in all we do. Loving God is mandatory for a dynamic spiritual life. This is the top priority.

However, it seems like a “mission impossible” for us. Jesus’ command – love your God with all your heart, soul, and strength – looks too hard to fulfill. How we can love God with all our heart, soul, and strength? We are too busy living! We’re either working, studying, taking care of loved ones; how can we spend all day only thinking about and loving God? It seems impossible, but ever since I fell in love, I found the answer.

Have you ever loved anyone? If you have had any experience in loving someone, you will understand what Jesus is saying: “Love your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.” When I fell in love with SunAe, I began to love her with all my heart, soul, and strength. When I had a delicious meal, I thought about her. When I saw a good movie, I wanted to share it with her. When I was with her, even when I was hungry, I didn’t feel it; even when I was tired, I didn’t feel sleepy at all; even when I was stressed, I didn’t see any problems.

All of these things originated from the love in my heart. If we really fall in love with God, our thought, words, and actions will spontaneously show how much we love God. We love Him with all our heart, soul, and strength voluntarily, rather than being forced to. We love God because we truly want to love God and be in a relationship with him. We love God not because we are afraid of the consequences of not loving God.

How do we know that we love God with all our being? I read somewhere that there are only two things we can’t hide: the fact that one is drunk, and the fact that one is in love. A high school senior Cory said to his father at breakfast one morning, “Dad, I’m going to get married.” “How do you know you’re ready to get married?” asked the father. “Are you in love?” “Of course,” said the son. “How do you know you’re in love, Cory?” asked the father. “Last night, as I was kissing my girlfriend good-night, her dog bit me and I didn’t feel the pain until I got home.”

We should ask these questions to ourselves regarding the proof of loving God with our whole being. As you consider your devotion to God, does He have all of you? Is He the focus of your affections? Is your love for Him real? Is your faith fully informed or based on blind trust? Do you strive to love and serve Him energetically? Have you devoted all your physical and material capabilities to Him? Loving with all our being is not so much about our source of love; it is when we know where our hearts lie.

There is a second important law. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Jesus continued with the familiar words of Leviticus 19:13, commanding all to love their neighbors as they love themselves. This law focuses on “horizontal” relationships—our dealing with fellow human beings. A person cannot maintain a good “vertical” relationship with God (loving God) without also caring for his or her neighbors. We know that when Jesus said to love your neighbor he meant everyone around us, not just those live next door. So if we connect the two commandments, we can then see that to love God, we must also love our neighbors.

I want to share a true inspirational story with you regarding the ability to love your neighbors. For 26 years, a man known only as Secret Santa has roamed the streets every December quietly giving people money. He started with $5 and $10 bills. As his fortune grew, so did the gifts. In recent years, Secret Santa has been handing out $100 bills, sometimes two or three at a time, to people in thrift stores, diners, and parking lots. So far, he’s anonymously given out about $1.3 million. It’s been a long-held holiday mystery: Who is Secret Santa? He is Larry Stewart, a 58-year-old businessman from the Kansas City suburb, who made his millions in cable television and long-distance telephone service.

His holiday giving started in December 1979 when he was nursing his wounds at a drive-in restaurant after getting fired. It was the second year in a row he had been fired the week before Christmas. “It was cold and this car hop didn’t have on a very big jacket, and I thought to myself, ‘I think I got it bad. She’s out there in this cold making nickels and dimes,’” he said. He gave her $20 and told her to keep the change. “And suddenly I saw her lips begin to tremble and tears begin to flow down her cheeks. She said, ‘Sir, you have no idea what this means to me.’” Stewart went to the bank that day and took out $200, then drove around looking for people who could use a lift. That was his “Christmas present to himself.” He’s hit the streets each December since.

Doctors told Stewart last April that he had cancer of the esophagus and it had spread to his liver. He’s lost about 100 pounds, but has held onto his white hair. The treatment costs more than $16,000 a month, not including the cost of traveling to Houston every two weeks and staying there for five or six days. He now has two months off, but returns for treatment in February. His insurance company won’t cover the cost of the treatment, which has left him concerned about his finances and his family.

Now, his mission is bigger than handing out $100 bills. Stewart wants to speak to community groups about his devotion to kindness and to inspire others to donate their time and money. “That’s what we’re here for,” Stewart says, “to help other people out.” What a wonderful life he leads!

Let’s go back to today’s Scripture. In answer to the Scribe’s question, Jesus explained that there is no commandment greater than these—loving God and loving others. The Ten Commandments and all the other Old Testament laws are summarized in these two laws. By fulfilling these two commands to love God totally and love others as oneself, a person will keep all the other commands. According to Jesus, they are simple, but cover all. Jesus placed love for God at the heart of the law; love for our neighbors should and will spring naturally from this as a consequence. If we say that we love God, and do not love our neighbors, we are hypocrites.

Millions today no longer look for satisfaction through a loving relationship with God and other people. They are busy seeking their own fulfillment. As children of God, our calling is to love with all our being, God who first loved us, and to love others as we love ourselves. This is the path, not only to a joy-filled, satisfying life, but also to get the Kingdom of God in this world.
Let these two commands, loving God and loving our neighbors, rule our thoughts, decisions, and actions. When we are uncertain about what to do, we need to ask ourselves which course of action best demonstrates love for God and love for others. Loving God and loving our neighbors is more important to God than offerings and sacrifices. Let us remember that loving God and loving our neighbors is simple, but covers all
 

This Sunday's choir selection:   Song of Love