LIVE THE LOVE:

VERSE:

There's someone sleeping underneath the stars tonight
Someone trying to find their way home
There's someone out there waiting for the light to shine
Someone who is tired of being alone

There's someone out there ready to give up the fight
Someone who is reaching out again
There's someone who is lost inside their last goodbye
Someone who is waiting on a friend

CHORUS:

I wanna live the love, but can I be enough
I wanna be the one who makes a difference in this world
I wanna share the hope, so that everybody knows
Maybe I can be the one who makes a difference in this world.

VERSE 2:

We're called to so much more than just our little lives
There's so much more that aches inside our souls
Inside us there's a spark that sparks a raging fire
That burns deeper than anything we know

CHORUS:

I wanna live the love, but can I be enough
I wanna be the one who makes a difference in this world
I wanna share the hope, so that everybody knows
Maybe I can be the one who makes a difference in this world.

BRIDGE:

There's someone out there waiting for the light to shine
Someone who is tired of being alone

CHORUS:

I wanna live the love, but can I be enough
I wanna be the one who makes a difference in this world
I wanna share the hope, so that everybody knows
Maybe I can be the one who makes a difference in this world.

__________________________________

So the lyric that kind of kick-started this tune was the idea of being the one to make a difference in the world.  The idea that maybe in our little everyday lives, we can actually make a difference in someone else’s everyday life.

We have these opportunities every day to be the hope and love of Jesus.  Sometimes we take them and sometimes we just let them pass us by.

So.  Let’s start with the question.  How can I actually be the love of Jesus in my life? I’m just a bank teller or a bus driver.  I don’t get up on stage or have a platform to make a massive change.  What could I possibly do?

Well, that’s the beauty of all of this.  The idea behind the song and the Live the Love Challenge is that we can be just that.  The love of Jesus in our everyday lives.  We can be the hope of Jesus in our everyday lives.  We can be the kindness of Jesus.  The compassion of Jesus.  The answer for someone.  The reason someone takes their next step to knowing the hope and love of Jesus.

Does this have to be a huge, monumental act?

No.  I’m talking about the little things that we do each and every day.  

Here’s a list of 50 things to think about:

1. Buy coffee for the person behind you in line.
2. Compliment the first three people you talk to today.
3. Send a positive text message to five different people right now.
4. Post inspirational sticky notes around your neighborhood, office, school, etc.
5. Tell someone they dropped a dollar (even though they didn’t). Then give them a dollar.
6. Donate old towels or blankets to an animal shelter.
7. Say hi to the person next to you on the elevator.
8. Surprise a neighbor with freshly baked cookies or treats!
9. Let someone go in front of you in line who only has a few items.
10. Leave a gas gift card at a gas pump.
11. Throw a party to celebrate someone just for being who they are, which is awesome.
12. Have a LinkedIn account? Write a recommendation for co-worker or connection.
13. Leave quarters at the laundromat.
14. Encounter someone in customer service who is especially kind? Take an extra five minutes to tell their manager.
15. Leave unused coupons next to corresponding products in the grocery store.
16. Leave a note on someone’s car telling them how awesome they parked.
17. Try to make sure every person in a group conversation feels included.
18. Write a kind message on your mirror with a dry erase marker for yourself, your significant other or a family member.
19. Place positive body image notes in jean pockets at a department store.
20. Smile at five strangers.
21. Set an alarm on your phone to go off at three different times during the day. In those moments, pray for someone.
22. Send a gratitude email to a coworker who deserves more recognition.
23. Practice self-kindness and spend 30 minutes doing something you love today.
24. Give away stuff for free on Craig’s List.
25. Write a gratitude list in the morning and again in the evening.
26. Know parents who could use a night out? Offer to babysit for free.
27. Hold up positive signs for traffic or in a park for people exercising outside!
28. Return shopping carts for people at the grocery store.
29. Buy a plant. Put it in a terracotta pot. Write positive words that describe a friend on the pot. Give it to that friend!
30. Write a positive comment on your favorite blog, website, or a friend’s social media account.
31. Have a clean up party at a beach or park.
32. While you’re out, compliment a parent on how well-behaved their child is.
33. Leave a kind server the biggest tip you can afford.
34. When you’re throwing something away on the street, pick up any litter around you and put that in the trash too.
35. Pay the toll for the person behind you.
36. Everyone is important. Learn the names of your office security guard, the person at the front desk and other people you see every day. Greet them by name. Also say “hello” to strangers and smile. These acts of kindness are so easy, and they almost always make people smile.
37. Write your partner a list of things you love about them.
38. Purchase extra dog or cat food and bring it to an animal shelter.
39. Find opportunities to give compliments. It costs nothing, takes no time, and could make someone’s entire day. Don’t just think about it. Say it.
40. Take flowers or treats to the nurses’ station at your nearest hospital.
41. Keep an extra umbrella at work, so you can lend it out when it rains.
42. Send a ‘Thank you’ card or note to the officers at your local police or fire station.
43. Take muffins or cookies to your local librarians.
44. Run an errand for a family member who is busy.
45. Leave a box of goodies in your mailbox for your mail carrier.
46. Tape coins around a playground for kids to find.
47. Put your phone away while in the company of others.
48. Email or write to a former teacher who made a difference in your life.
49. When you hear that discouraging voice in your head, tell yourself something positive — you deserve kindness too!
50. Hold the door for someone today.

There’s a ton more….but….you get the idea.

So. To really get down the root of all of this, let’s start with the Author of it all.  Jesus.

His ministry on this Earth each and every day taught us love.  How to love, how to give love, how to be love and how to live the love.

Jesus himself said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” (Matthew 22:37-39, ESV). 

And this was Jesus’ response to the question, “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” - referring, of course, to the Law of Moses.

Until Jesus came, the second greatest command as stated in the Old Testament (Leviticus 19) was completely adequate. In fact, I think it was the best we could hope for in terms of loving another human being. This is The Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12): Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

But throw into the mix the fact that sometimes we don’t even love ourselves. Sometimes we can truly struggle to like what we are, who we are, and certainly what we do. How can we be expected to love others as we love ourselves if we don’t even know how to love ourselves? 

There are days when many of us struggle just to be nice to ourselves. So how can we love better? Jesus gives the answer.

In the gospel of John, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34). 

Jesus has raised the bar. Not that he has made it more difficult to love, quite the contrary.  With this command he also promises to pour out the love of God into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, thus enabling us to love beyond human capacity, but the idea of love itself has been raised.

No longer are we called to love others as we would like to be loved, as we desire to be loved, as we are able to humanly love. Now, with Jesus’ advent, we are called to love others with self-sacrifice - to actually consider others better than ourselves. 

In John 15:13, Jesus said that no greater love can be expressed than the willingness to lay down your life for another person.

This is exactly what Jesus did. In showing us the greatest gift of self-sacrifice through the cross, Jesus teaches us how to love like God loves. And, through his resurrection, Jesus shows us that such love is without doubt.

So, the lyric of this song in the verses talks all about different examples of folks struggling:

There’s someone sleeping underneath the stars tonight, someone trying to find their way home

There’s someone out there waiting for the light to shine, someone who is tired of being alone

There’s someone out there ready to give up the fight, someone who is reaching out again

There’s someone who is lost inside their last goodbye, someone who is waiting on a friend

We all have someone like this in our lives, or we all come in contact with someone like this as we live our lives.  We live in the world.  It’s just a basic fact.

So the chorus comes in, breaking through the focus on everyone else and focusing in on the singer.

I wanna live the love, but can I be enough,

I wanna be the one who makes a difference in this world

I wanna share the hope, so that everybody knows

Maybe I could be the one who makes a difference In this world…

You see, we all have this innate desire in us to do good, to make a change…but…sometimes our egos and our self doubt can get in the way.  Sometimes our fear gets in the way.  

When I sing “I wanna live the love, but can I be enough”, i think there’s a little bit of that feeling in everyone.  Can I be enough?  Will I do enough?  Can I push past my fear to be enough?

Yes, I know I should do this, do that, but really….can i make a difference?  Does what I do really impact or change the way someone thinks about the world…or to break it down into a much smaller destination…the way someone thinks about their day?

Because…I don’t know about you but I’ve had folks come up to me and tell me that a word, a phrase, a song, a lyric, a quick email or postcard or note, has made the difference in the day.

So Jesus teaches us about love.  All the time.

1. Love Is The Most Important Commandment

Mark 12:28-34 says this:

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

2. Love Is Our Trademark 

John 13:34-35

"As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

3. Love Is Full Of Mercy

Luke 10:25-37 

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and

saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

4. Love Doesn't Get Better Than This

John 15:9-17

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

This is my command: Love each other."

5. Love Is Even For Our Enemies

Matthew 5:43-48

"You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

6. Love Unifies Us With The Father, Son, + Holy Spirit
   
   John 14:15-21
   

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth.

The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.

The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

The list is long on what Jesus teaches about love.  But….let’s keep talking about the song and the truths found in it.

The second verse talks about our calling, about who we are:

We’re called to so much more than just our little lives, there’s so much more that aches inside our souls

Inside us there’s a spark that sparks a raging fire and burns deeper than anything we know

We all have a calling.  We just need to seek it out and grow into it.  We need to work through our own insecurities and let Jesus speak deeply to us.  We need to follow His lead. Follow His path.

We’re called to more than just the existence of getting up, going to work, coming home, having dinner and going to bed.  Sometimes that’s great but there’s all that stuff that happens along the way.

Life is the journey right.

But…what happened on the way to work, who did you bump into, who did you interact with on the train, at the coffee shop, at the diner for breakfast.  Then…what happens when you get to the office and start interacting with people, talking, laughing, hearing about their problems.  How does Jesus fit into that?

Then at lunch…in the afternoon…on the ride home…

You get the picture.  The opportunities to Live the Love are everywhere.  We just need to be seeking them out and acting on them when they arrive.

On the album cover you’ll notice there are lines of words across the entire cover.  These are all synonyms for love.  They are pretty much traits that we find in people that love.  Traits that we find in Jesus.  Traits that we should strive for in our own lives.  

Here are a few of them:  love, kindness, compassion, mercy, hope, grace, devotion, affection, respect, tenderness, friendship, reverence, value, cherish, admire, prize, enjoy, delight, treasure and so on.

You get the idea.  

There are so many ways that we can show love, show kindness, show mercy, show grace.  We just have to look for them in our everyday lives. Look for them in the hours that we have each day.

So today…as you go through your day, live the love.  Be the love. Share the love.

You can be the one who makes a difference in the world today.

As the song ends we hear this chorus singing  “Be the one, share the hope, live the love”

It’s a command, an exhortation or maybe…just a suggestion.  But the message is clear.  We can live the love of Jesus each and every day.  In the small acts and the big ones and everything in between.

Be the one, share the hope, live the love.  Today.

SPEECHLESS

VERSE1:

Here I am again tonight, trying to find the phrase that’s gonna make it right

But You’re just looking for my life, and still I can’t believe it could be that black and white

And I’m searching for the words that I can’t find

CHORUS:

Sometimes I’m left speechless, when I kneel down and pray, In my weakness

Lord You help me find a way, with all the words that I know how to say, I’m left speechless

VERSE 2:

I stare and wonder at the sky (as I look above), the universe, the galaxies, the stars collide

A million pens could never write (the wonders of Your love), the miracles that You have shown me

with these eyes, and I’m searching for the words but they won’t rhyme

CHORUS:
BRIDGE:

Every sunrise, every sunset, every little kiss I can’t forget

every morning, every evening, every minute, second in between

every promise that You ever made, every prayer that I have ever prayed

every smile that takes my breath away, I still can’t find the words to say

CHORUS:

Sometimes I’m left speechless, when I kneel down and pray, In my weakness

Lord You help me find a way, with all the words that I know how to say

And with all the love that You give me today

I’m left speechless

_________________________________

Ah.  This song.  Probably one of my favorites on the album.  The vibe, the arrangement, the sentiment and the lyric…just love it.

So.  Let’s talk a little bit about what leaves us speechless.

What leaves you speechless?

A few things to list out and consider.  A beautiful sunset or sunrise.  A newborn baby.  A miracle.  A healthy report from the doctor.  A story of God’s movement in someone’s life.

The list could go on and on.

So.  Let’s look at Jesus. 

We walked through the book of Matthew verse by verse in our Community.  It was absolutely mind blowing to really study the teachings and walk of Jesus in this way.  We’ve all heard sermons and talks on Jesus and His life but to take it one verse at a time is a completely different way of learning.  We saw things hidden inside the text that I had never seen before.

Jesus continually leaves people speechless.  We see it over and over again in the disciples account and retelling of His story.

Matthew 22 has a great account of Jesus leaving folks speechless. Verses 15 - 22 say this:

That's when the Pharisees plotted a way to trap him into saying something damaging. They sent their disciples, with a few of Herod's followers mixed in, to ask, "Teacher, we know you have integrity, teach the way of God accurately, are indifferent to popular opinion, and don't pander to your students. So tell us honestly: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, "Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me?  Do you have a coin? Let me see it." They handed him a silver piece. “This engraving - who does it look like? And whose name is on it?"  They said, "Caesar." "Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his."  The Pharisees were speechless. They went off shaking their heads.

Now the Pharisees were the teachers of the law.  They were supposed to be the authority on all things religion back in the day.  They were the ones who had an answer for everything.  Yet….not here.

It must have been incredible to watch Jesus in the midst of all of this.  Giving answers that no one had ever heard before.  Healing people that had never thought it was possible.  

Stop and think just for a minute about what this was like.  What did it look like for these folks who were walking with Him and seeing it all in action?  How would it leave you?

It would leave you speechless, right?  

When I was writing this song, I was trying to think about words that are actually about words, about the voice, about speech.  Words that would lean into the idea of phonetics and phonology.  The study of speech.

When thinking about speech, the voice, our words, and the ways that we express ourselves, it’s important to make ourselves aware of not only the audible sounds that we emit but also the spaces in between the sounds.  

That’s where the real enchantment happens.  Our silence sometimes is more powerful than our words.  

I use this quote often but it bears repeating.  St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the Gospel and when necessary use words.” 

It’s an amazing and beautiful sentiment.  Our actions speak so much louder than our words.  

So when we get into the thought of the presence of Jesus making us speechless, we get into the idea that being in His presence leaves us speechless.  How does that happen?  Why does that happen?  Does it happen to you often?  Daily? Weekly?

As I travel around from town to town and lead nights of worship and hope, I find that I’m left speechless often. There are nights when I’ll get off the stage, pack up my gear and pray with people.  We’ll share stories and laugh and cry and connect.  Then I load up my gear in the car.  

I’m usually the last one to leave or it’s me and the pastor walking out the door together at the end of the night.  I hear the lock click on the door to the church and we shake hands or hug and thank each other for being open to the idea of hosting these gatherings so that people can experience and encounter Jesus.  

I then head to my car, pull the door open, slide into the front seat and close the door behind me.  

My ears are usually ringing and I feel a sense of exhaustion wash over me.  It’s a good tired.  The kind of tired that you feel when you’ve done something worthwhile, something good.  Something that needed to be done.

Usually before I start the car I just sit for a minute.  Usually I’m left speechless at what’s just happened.  It could be the stories that I’ve just heard of people being overcome with the presence of Jesus in their life. 

It could be the stories of hope that break through the darkness.  It could be a prayer that was prayed or just the way that the room felt as we lifted our hands and hearts to the Savior.  

But almost every night, after every show, I’m left speechless.  It’s the overwhelming feeling that God has moved and continues to move in the midst of the struggles and uncertainties that people face every day.  He continues to walk with us through it all.

I started documenting these moments in a podcast called The Green Room.  You can check it out on your favorite podcast player, Apple, Amazon, Spotify….

But…the point of it all is that we are left speechless because He is just so good to us.

1 Chronicles 16:34 says this. “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”

James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

One more….Psalm 145:5-7 says this.  “I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness.”

I could go on and on about the goodness of God. How He continually leaves us wanting more of Him.  The more we get the more we want.   Once we see His goodness, taste it and experience it, we want more of it.

That’s why we come together each week at church, at worship services, at Bible studies and more.  We are drawn to Him.  The music may be great, the message may be exceptional, the people may be warm and friendly but at the end of the day we are drawn to Him.  

He is the connecting point for all of us.  We are drawn to Him.

And only Him.

You see, this thought and idea of being left speechless because of Jesus is only made complete when we actually have the “speechless moment”.  The moment where we just don’t have the words to say.

When I started this little talk on this song, I gave you some speechless moments.  Now it’s your turn.  What are your speechless moments?  Because as good as it is to take a picture or think about a memory, it’s even better to relive these moments, write them down and really let God speak to us through them.  

So what are your speechless moments?  Do you have one that comes to mind right now?

As it says in Habakkuk 2 verse 20, “But the Lord is in his majestic palace. The whole earth is speechless in his presence!"

The whole Earth is made speechless in His presence.

As we think about our speechless moments, as we relive them, focus on them, we let God into all of it.  We let Him speak through those moments to us.  He comes to life in those moments.

When I was watching the birth of my kids,, as life was breaking through and becoming…i watched them both take their first breath.  I can’t help but think deeper about the moment that I came to know Jesus.  I took my first breath into a new life with Him.

My heart stopped as He took over and then it beat again.  He breathed new life into it.  A life that I can’t explain, that I can’t begin to truly understand.  And He breathed new love into it as well.  A love I can’t explain and a love I can’t begin to truly understand.

This love of the Father leaves us speechless because it’s the pure and unfiltered definition of love.  Not the mess that we’ve made of the word here on Earth.  His definition and example of it is truly unique. It’s something that we can’t understand…yet….

When we encounter it….

It leaves us speechless.

Unable to breath sometimes.

Unable to think.

Unable to comprehend.

Unable to grasp or fathom.  The love of the Father for us.  So pure, so uninhibited, so uncontaminated that it has to leave us speechless.  There’s no other choice.

How could we possibly begin to describe it?  How could we possibly begin to understand it or sometimes even believe it?

That’s the beauty of it.  He gives us this love, this hope, this unaltered view of love. It’s the moon and the stars, it’s the galaxies colliding.  It’s the new fallen snow that glistens in the fresh morning air on a crisp January morning.  It’s the view from the crest of the mountain that begins to shape and mold a new found appreciation for the beauty and magnificence of the Father.

A million pens could never write about the miracles that we’ve been shown in this life.

Be left speechless as you fall deeper into His love, mercy, grace and compassion.