Harmony Christian Church

January 5, 2025 - Snow Day

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Hey, good morning Harmony. I’m so glad that you guys are joining me. In light of having actual in-person church. I’m going to do a quick devotional online for us. I was thinking recently Jenny and I were getting ready for bed and she came to me and she said I just, I just have something to tell you.

And you know in your marriage when your wife says something like that you’re like, what did I do? Did I leave the underwear on the floor again? And instead of it being that it was something really sweet. She said, you used to come to at night before we go to bed and you would give me a good night kiss and you don’t do that anymore. And I thought about it and I was like, yeah, I haven’t done that for a long time.

That was like a long time ago. And I said, baby, I’m so sorry, I haven’t been doing that. And then it hit me. Do you know the reason I stopped giving my wife a good night’s kiss? It was this stupid thing.

Does anybody have one of these? It was a CPAP like I turned into Darth Vader every night. And so every night we would go to sleep and I would just put on the mask, turn into Darth Vader and I’d Roll over and go to sleep. And I stopped giving my wife a good night kiss. It reminds me of our relationship with Jesus and something that Jesus told the church in the city of Ephesus a long time ago, thousands of years ago, in the Book of Revelation.

He’s speaking to the Apostle John, and he says these words to the church in Ephesus. I want you to listen to this. He says this, but here’s something I hold against you. You have turned away from the love you had at first. Jesus looked at this church in Ephesus, and he said, when you guys first fell in love with me, there was something about that love that was changing who you were.

It was making who you were. And he says you have turned away from the love you had at first. And then he says this. Think about how far you’ve fallen. Think about how far you’ve fallen.

Turn, Listen. Turn away from your sins. I don’t know what your life looks like, but my guess is there was a time in your life when you were radically in love with Jesus. My hope is there was a time in your life, and maybe for you right now, that is that time. But my hope is that if.

If that time is not right now, if it was in the past, that you would do what Jesus encourages the Ephesians to do. Listen to what he says. Think about how far you’ve fallen. What was. What was your life like when you first came to know Jesus?

What was it like that got you so passionate and excited? What was it that had not burnt you out and kept you from just being turned on for who Jesus was? You were in love with him. And listen to what he says. Think about how far you’ve fallen.

Turn away from your sins. Then listen to this. Do the things you did at first. When my wife told me about the kisses, you know what I’ve been doing? I’ve been ripping my mask off when she gets into bed and I’ve been rolling over and going and giving her a kiss.

I’ve been like, let’s smoochy, Ruchi baby. Do you know why? Because I’m going back to what I did at first. He doesn’t say, I want you to notice this. He doesn’t say, to go back to the love that you had at first.

That. That was a childish, immature love. What he says is to go back and do what you did at first. Go back and act the way you did at first. I’ll tell you when my relationship with Jesus gets a little bit cold, when I feel a little Distant.

And again, it’s never because Jesus has moved. It’s always because I moved. You know what I do? I go back and I do the things that I did at first. One of those things that I’ve been working on lately is I used to at night, before I had cell phones before life was all crazy and you could keep your mind constantly engaged like you can in today’s world.

I used to lay in bed and I would just pray. And so I’ve been making it a personal practice to go back to that activity and to set my phone down to turn off the lights and just pray even until I fall asleep. Some of you might feel guilty about praying until you fall asleep. That’s a great thing. What else would you rather be doing until you went to sleep?

Pray and talk with God. Spend time with him. He’s not going to be mad if you fall asleep. When Jenny and I were first dating, there were times when we’d be talking on a phone and you’d be talking and you’d be falling asleep as you’re talking. You know why?

Because I loved her so much, I wanted to stay on the phone with her. Right? That’s not a bad thing for you to fall asleep. What if you went back and did the things you did at first with Jesus? What would it look like in your relationship?

Look, I know. I don’t know. I don’t know what this week is going to hold. I don’t know how. You may have lots of time.

You may be stuck at home and you may be get to experience with lots of things, Experiment with lots of things of going back to the way it was with Jesus early in the days when you first fell in love with him. And maybe you’ll have to go right back to work and jump right back into the rigmarole of life. But whatever you do, I hope that you will take the time to slow down a little it and do the things that you did at first with him. Fall back in love with him. Roll over and pucker your lips and give Jesus a big old kiss.

Now that’s a little gross. If you’re a dude, like so maybe there’s something else. Roll over. Give him a hug. Roll over.

Tell him you love him. Roll over and turn to prayer. But do something. Tell Jesus you love him and go back to what you did at first. It will make a difference in your life.

Stop sinning. Go back to what you did at first. Love you guys. And I hope that you have a really great rest of your week. I hope that there isn’t crazy amounts of snow.

And I get to see you soon. But until then, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah, whatever it is. I love you guys. Bye.