Love God First
Sermon Recording
Sermon Outline
Speaker: Rev. Scott Strickman
Sermon Series: Faith, Hope & Love
Deuteronomy 6:1-13 (ESV)
1 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
Sermon Outline
Love for God needs to be our priority because everything else depends upon it.
1. Love God uniquely.
v4 one: alone
v13 "it is the Lord your God you shall fear"
2. Love God wholly.
v5 "all"
vv6-9 "on your heart"
3. Love God responsively.
v4 "hear"
v3 "has promised," v1, 6 "command"
vv10-11 "give," v12 "lest you forget"
Questions for Reflection
What are some things you love? Create a quick list, and consider if God is on that list and where He would rank if you were to try to order the list.
What does it mean to love God alone? Is it wrong to love anything else? Doesn't God tell us to love others? How does this work?
What happens when you love people or things more than (or equal to) God? What symptoms reveal a person is loving the wrong things?
Is God relevant to your whole life? What areas of your life do you not see any connection to God?
What steps can you take to be mindful of God in everything you do? How can love for God shape how you function in places where God is not named or believed?
How should Christians wisely and effectively serve God with the whole of their lives while living in a secularized society? How do we avoid unnecessary offense to others who don't believe? How do we live with sufficient transparency that our lives bear witness to God?
What frustrations, disappointments, resentments, etc. are keeping God out of certain areas of your life? Are there specific areas where faith, repentance and healing are needed? Where do you begin that process with God?
Are you more likely to hear the promise of God and find comfort in it, but not really act on it; or, are you more likely to act in obedience without being grounded in what God has promised? What steps can you take to bring coherence to the pattern of hearing God's promise and commandments?
God doesn't just love us, but the Father loves us "in Christ". How is Jesus the key to our receiving and giving love? How does Jesus bring together what is otherwise separated and disconnected?
Prayer of Confession
Our Father, the only true God: we have strayed and wandered like lost sheep. Failing to put you first, we have looked to people and things as if they had power to reward, protect and save us. We have suffered from the pride of putting ourselves first, and the anxieties of seeing our hopes exposed as false. We have not loved in the way you love. We have taken your love for granted. Thank you for your promise and provision, and forgive us all of our sins. We appeal to you in Christ, who went to the cross for us, and in whom we stand. Amen.