Sermon Transcript

Welcome to kick-off weekend! Are you excited to be in church? It has been a great day! Let me invite you to open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 3. You know, with our kick-off, it’s always a good season to measure our progress. How many of you have one of those places in your house where you mark the height of your kid every year? And it just keeps astonishing you at the growth, right?

This is a great time to do that over the course of this weekend, as we start a new ministry year, to kind of look back on some things that God has done. There are ten thousand reasons we can give Him glory. It’s all His. It’s His church, and we stand back and say, “Lord, this is Your doing—and we stand in awe of it!”

Maybe this is even something that is new for you—to plug into our church, maybe even within the last year. And you might not even understand from where we have come. Let me just give you a little glimpse; it’s always great to kind of take a glance in the rearview mirror. I’m training a fifteen-year-old how to drive a car, and one of the techniques is, every now and then, you need to glance in the rearview mirror to see where you came from, right? So let’s just take a little glance.

How many of you remember the days when this church used to meet on a basketball floor? Does anybody remember those hard brown metal chairs? And, here you have this cushy thing. It’s so easy for you to come to church now, right? Let me show you a little bit of the progress of what’s happened over the course of the last seven-and-a-half years.

As we kind of got started, thirteen people just got together in Bob Hogarth’s basement and said, “Let’s start a church!” and believed God, and began to pray, “Lord, send us a pastor!” And they couldn’t find one, so they hired me. And so, I became number fourteen, and it took off and there we go.

And then, all of a sudden, there’s this church that approaches us and says, “What if we put two churches into one?”—and we did that. Do you know that the average attendance of Harvest Bible Chapel, over the course of the last month, was over fifteen-hundred people? That’s from where we have come. I don’t know what that does for you, but that stresses me out! As a pastor, those are the sheep that I’m responsible for!

We passed the stage long ago where I know everybody’s name; I’m just trying to make sure I know the names of everybody on the staff. That is a great thing to celebrate. You may say, “Oh, you’re just trying to make it all about numbers!” Well, no, it’s not about numbers—but every one of those numbers as a name, and every one of those names is a potential disciple. We’re a disciple-making church, so we should be grateful for every person who comes through those doors. Really, there are a lot more people who come through the doors than that chart actually represents.

Those people are generous people, did you know that? This is a good time to kind of take a glance at the gauges. Here’s one of the gauges we look at to see whether or not we’re a generous church. You can kind of see how the Lord has used God’s people to fund the ministry that goes on around here, over the course of the year.

Twelve months ago I stood here and told you our annual budget would be, by faith, $1.82 million. That’s the money that we wanted to spend on making disciples. As of last week, you exceeded that goal again, like you have every year. What you actually gave was $1.87 million. That represented a $35,000 weekly need.

How many of you, when you’re bored in church, you check the bulleting to see the “score” down at the bottom, and to see, “Are we catching up? Are we ahead, are we behind?” All that. Well, you’ve seen that $35,000 weekly need number? Today, that number changed, didn’t it? That’s because we’re starting a new fiscal year as we start a new ministry year, and what we’re believing God for, to provide the funding necessary for making disciples around here, in the next twelve months, is $2.3 million, which represents about a $43,000 weekly need.

Now, some of you who haven’t been throwing in, this is a great time for you to develop the discipline of generosity. It’s not that the people who have been coming need to give more, it’s just that some of the people who have been coming and benefitting from the church now need to contribute to the mission of the church. I know what some of you are saying: “I would love to fund the mission of the church if I could just understand what you’re doing. Why does this church exist, and where does all that money go, and why are you doing that?”

I’m glad you asked. We put a little video together to try to communicate to you what we’re doing around here. Why does Harvest Bible Chapel exist? Here’s the answer. [4 Pillars video shown.] Glory to God! He is fulfilling His promise to build His church; the gates of hell shall not prevail against it! This church is a testimony that God’s promise is true.

As a result, God’s church is getting bigger. I want you to know that there has never been a meeting, there has never been a strategy, there has never been a goal set for Harvest Bible Chapel to get bigger. We have not spent a single second of time trying to figure that out, because we know, biblically—that is God’s responsibility. From the beginning, we have said we are not going to focus on a quantity of disciples—we are going to focus on a quality of discipleship. So, if it’s Gods responsibility to make the church bigger, what would be our responsibility?

And, with this, I would like to announce to you our theme for the next ministry year. We try to do this subtly. It kind of sneaks up on you. But here it is. If it is God’s responsibility to make us bigger, it is our responsibility to–do what? It is to go deeper. And that is what we’re going to focus on over the course of the next twelve months.

The reason that is so essential is because, as the church gets bigger it bears more weight. The more fruit it produces and that hangs on those vine and branches…if there is not a deep root system, what’s going to happen the first time that the winds of opposition or tribulation or persecution come? What’s going to happen to that tree–or, in our analogy, the church? It’s going to collapse from its own weight. And so, if we’re getting bigger, we’d better be intentional about going deeper! That is what God wants us to do.

Now, a lot of people don’t like to go deep, and if you’re here this morning and you say, “I’m not quite sure. That’s kind of intimidating. I don’t think I’m ready to go there,”—that’s okay. As a matter of fact, bigger churches seem to attract more “toe-dippers.” Do you know what a toe-dipper is?

How many of you, when you come to a large body of water, you find the deepest part and just plunge right in? I mean, you’re not concerned about what the temperature is—you know you’re going to get wet totally, anyway, so you just dive right in. Some of you are like that. Some of you are like me, however. I’m a toe-dipper. I have ten toes—each individual toe reaches the water at a different time, okay? Because I’m not quite sure I’m going to like the temperature. I don’t want to go too deep too fast.  I have to kind of adjust to what’s happening in the water. Some people come to church like that—as a matter of fact, we all kind of come to church like that, and we all kind of come to Christ like that.

Most of us did not respond in repentance and faith and surrender the first time you were ever introduced to the gospel of Jesus Christ. You began to slowly soften as God began to warm your heart, and you gradually, and then fully and finally, dove in. No matter how deep you are already, or how shallow you may be, God is calling you deeper into His fullness and into faith. That’s what we’re going to be studying here in Ephesians 3. It’s okay if you’re a toe-dipper. It is not okay if you only want to swim in the kiddie pool. You are too big, and there is too much at stake, and there is way too much going for you to spend your time just splashing around, wearing those floaties down in the shallow end.

And, if you’re looking for a hot tub where you can just kind of sit back and kick your feet up…that’s not this church, okay? You can find a hot tub church out there somewhere; that’s not going to work here. We’re going to make you feel really uncomfortable if you’re just looking for a place to just kind of sit and consume and absorb. God is calling you to swim deep. We’re going to look at that, here, from this passage—in just a moment.

Now, think about it. The reason you want to go deep is because the deeper you go, the greater joy you experience in His presence. The deeper you love, the deeper you trust God in the midst of all the chaos that’s going on. The deeper the calm; you know, deep waters are calm on the surface, aren’t they? And if you’re in the deep end, you can experience a calm when everybody else is splashing around in their chaos, wondering, “How are we going to get out of this thing alive?” But a deep Christian understands, “I can trust; I can rest. I am supported; I’m not going to sink in the middle of this thing. I’m in deep waters, but God has me.” And so, you experience a greater calm, a greater trust and a greater intimacy with Christ.

And as you experience a greater nearness and closeness and fullness with Christ, do you know what you also experience? You experience a greater intimacy and a greater purity, because He begins to clean up areas of your life where He has access—where once He did not. So, that’s what we’re interested in. And when you get a deeper love and a deeper trust and a deeper intimacy and a deeper purity, do you know what you have? You have a deeper impact in your community and on those around you.

So, let’s see it here from Ephesians chapter 3, this theme of “deeper.” These are some of the most rich passages in the Bible! Have you ever had a piece of cheesecake and you couldn’t finish it—not because you didn’t want to, but because it was so rich you just couldn’t take another bite? That is what this section of Scripture is like. We’re going to spend the next four weeks talking about this theme of Deeper. Then when we finish that, we’re going to take about half of this ministry year and week-by-week we’re going to go verse-by-verse through the entire book of Ephesians.

Right now, we’re just going to skim over the heart—the core—of this book, and it begins in Ephesians chapter 3. I’ll read verses 17, 18 and 19: “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and,” what’s that next word? “…depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” So, we’re going to go deeper this year, and I want to invite you into that process.

Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go:

 

1. Deeper through faith. From entry-level belief to all-access trust. (v. 17)

 

Deeper through faith–that’s what the passage says here in verse 17: “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…” Every inch of progress you make, you make through faith. It is what God calls us to. He reveals who He is through His Word. I wrap my mind and my being around that and I trust that what God has to say is true. If you’re going to move deeper, you’re going to have to move deeper through faith.

And notice here, it says, “So that Christ may dwell…” Do you see that little word “dwell” there in verse 17? That is one of the most important words for someone who wants to move from the shallow end to the deep end. Let me explain what that word means, as best I can.

That word does not mean the initial point where Christ enters your life by faith. There is an initial sense—and I trust you’ve had that sense. If you have never trusted Christ initially for salvation, repenting of sin and giving your life to Him as Lord and Savior, you can do that now. And when that happens, do you know what happens? Christ moves into your heart! He lives in you. The word “dwell” means “to abide.” It means “to become a resident,” and if you have not had the experience of Christ taking up residence in your heart, you have not even had the initial entry-level belief required for salvation. Good news! You’ve come to the right place! That can happen right here, right now—if, by faith, you say, “You know what? I am empty, and I want Christ in my life, to dwell in my life.” That can happen right here, right now, by faith. Trust that what He did on that cross was for you, repent of sin—and He will take up residence in your heart.

But listen, this verse of Scripture was written to people who had already had that experience. And so, to “dwell” means more than just an entry-level belief. It’s not that I come to your house and you let me in the entryway and say, “Don’t take another step!” To “dwell” means you give me an all-access pass to your home. It is the difference between you being a guest at a hotel and the owner of the home. Do you understand the difference?

If you go to a hotel and you rent a room, they give you a key to only one room. It would be rude—and probably illegal—for you to try to get into another room in the hotel. You say, “Well, I’m a resident here. I belong here!” No, you got access to one room. You’re expected to leave the room relatively unchanged, except for some surface cleaning. You’re not allowed to redecorate, you really shouldn’t move the furniture, and don’t take anything that is supposed to be there for the next guest, right? That’s the way that many of us have invited Christ to dwell in our hearts. We want Him in, but we do not want Him to have access to any other place but the entryway. Now, if you own the home, not only do you get all access to every room in the home, you have the right to make whatever change you want to make!

Last night, my wife introduced me to a new program. Actually, she introduced me to a whole new channel–on the satellite dish. I don’t even know what the letters are for—it has an H, a G—I think I understand the T and the V, but I don’t even know. There’s this program called “Fixer Upper.” You know? You’re disciples of Fixer Upper! What are their names? You even know their names! Some of you don’t even know a Bible verse, but you know the names—you’re disciples of these people!

And what do they do? They buy this home—it’s a complete wreck! They bought this home in Waco, Texas—isn’t every home in Waco, Texas a wreck? And so, they buy these homes and in just a few weeks, they completely transform the entire house. Why? Because they own it, and they can do whatever they want to! They can take the dark paint and turn it into bright colors; they can knock out walls and put walls in—and that’s the kind of all-access that Christ wants from every believer. Do you understand the difference between the shallow hotel experience and the deep homeowner experience? If you’ve only given Christ entry-level access, He wants to take you deeper.

What if you were to invite me into your home, and I stepped into the entryway there, and you were making final preparations for a wonderful meal, and you said, “I’ve gotta go and finish up dinner—it will take me about five minutes—but I want you to just make yourself at home.” I’m like, “Okay,” and I make my way into the living room and I kinda look at the chairs. “That one’s for Mama Bear and that one’s for Papa Bear,” and I find the chair I want to sit in and I start to put myself in this chair, and you race out of the kitchen and grab me and say, “No, no, no! Not that chair! That’s my husband’s chair and he has some sanctification issues and he doesn’t like anyone else sitting in his chair! You’ll need to find another chair.” “Okay, no problem.”

I realize maybe I don’t really want to sit—maybe I’ll just kind of make my way over here to the bookshelves. I look at the bookshelves, and I see a book that looks interesting. It happens to be an antique Bible. I wonder how old that Bible is, and I’m about to grab it, and you race out of the kitchen, and you slap my hand and you say, “Don’t touch that Bible! That is an antique Bible, and it’s worth millions of dollars, and it’s about to fall apart—and we need to get it rebound. Just don’t touch that Bible!” I’m like, “Okay,” and you go back in the kitchen.

I walk down the hallway, and I’m looking at rows of doors and I begin to put my hand on a doorknob. You race out of the kitchen and you tackle me—and you say, “No! Not that door! That’s the closet where we shoved all the junk! The house looks clean out here, but that’s where all the stuff is and you might get hurt if you open it.” How many of you have a door like that? Okay, good. “You don’t have access to that!”

Well, pretty soon, I begin to figure out that what you meant when you said, “Make yourself at home,” doesn’t really mean, “Make yourself at home.” “Make yourself at home,” means you have all access. Everything that’s mine is yours. Do you know the best way to understand that little word “dwell”? It means that Christ would make Himself at home in your hearts. To have access behind every curtain, into every cabinet. That He would see the lustful thoughts. That you would give Him access to the containers of bitterness that are hidden away in the corner closets, and that you would allow Him, as the owner of you, to make whatever change He deems necessary.

Do you know what happens to a Christian who wants to go deeper? Pretty soon those dark colors of despair and hopelessness are changed to bright colors of joy and trust. He begins to rip out the carpets that are stained with immorality and idolatry, and He begins to remodel areas of your home. He begins to rip out cabinets that are full of containers of sin—and replaces that with purity. That’s what it means to move from entry-level belief to all-access trust.

Do you treat Christ like He is the homeowner, or do you treat Him like He’s a hotel guest? Have you given Him access to the entryway, yet you don’t allow Him to go into the deepest recesses of your heart? That’s where we want to go this year, and that’s what this passage is talking about. “So that Christ may dwell. . .” make Himself at home, settle down into “your hearts. . .” Interesting, it doesn’t say, “Into your mind.” This is not an intellectual process; it’s not a rational process. This is something that is at the very control center of our being—our heart. “…Through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ. . .”

So, let’s look here at the second part of verse 17. Here’s the second thing we’re going to learn: God wants to take us:

 

2. Deeper in love: From shallow admiration to passionate adoration. (v. 17b)

 

Do you see it there in verse 17? “. . .that you, being rooted and grounded,”  next two words “in love. . .” This love that he’s speaking of here is an “agape”–that’s the Greek word–love. It’s different than a sentimental love, it’s different than a family love, it’s different than a sexual love. It’s talking about a self-sacrificing love. And when we are rooted in that kind of love, we will have deeper impact.

Now, it’s important to understand—the love that he’s talking about here. I contemplated this and studied it out. What I believe it’s teaching here is this. This is not God’s love for me…he talks about that later—we’re going to get to that…but this is my love for God and my love for others and my love for the lost. So, he’s talking about being rooted and grounded in a love relationship to Christ. That means we are going to go deeper when we move from shallow admiration to passionate adoration of Christ.

Do you know the difference? Admiration is when you’re in the stands at a football game, and you give admiration or approval to the people who are way off in the distance, playing the game. But adoration means to give your worship and to actually sacrifice something from yourself to demonstrate your passion toward the object of your love.

So, we’re to be rooted and grounded. Let’s talk about those two words. It’s interesting—he gives us an agricultural illustration—“rooted”—and he gives us an architectural illustration—“grounded.” Let’s first of all talk about “rooted.” What does that mean? Well, it’s obviously talking about the root system. As we talked about earlier, the bigger the tree, the deeper the roots must go. What do roots do? To be rooted means that you have a stability when there is a storm blowing against that which is above the surface.

Have you ever been in a storm? Have you ever had the storms of life rock your world in an unexpected tragedy, a health crisis, a relational conflict? Those are storms that all of us experience.  Why is it that some people wilt and some people get blown over and devastated by those types of tragedies, and the person that experiences the same type of tragedy—sure they experience the pain of that—but somehow they bounce back, and they remain strong even in the midst of the storm. Do you know what the difference is? It’s the root system.

How deep do your roots go? Because I’ve got an announcement to make to you. I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen this year, but you’re going to have a storm blow against you. And if you are a person who just gives shallow admiration to Christ “I’m really glad He lived, He died, He rose again. Great for Him,” and then you go on with the rest of your life as if that really doesn’t make a difference, you’re too shallow to endure the storm.

You are to be rooted—and roots provide stability in the storm. Deep Christians don’t get blown over when the storms of life come. And roots, interestingly, are invisible. Deep Christians don’t care if they ever get noticed. They don’t care if they get applause—they’re not living for man’s applause. All they’re interested in doing is going deeper. The deepest Christian in this church is probably somebody we don’t even know about, because their private life with God is so strong, they don’t need to publicize it. Deep Christians don’t care if they get noticed.

Another thing about roots is–roots are dirty. Get it? Roots get dirty. Deep Christians aren’t afraid to get “dirty.” It was great, this weekend, to be surrounded by an “army of roots!” Do you know about the roots in our church? You see this guy right here? Come here, Bud. Stand up, turn around. Let me introduce you to a root—this is a root right here. This is a guy who bears responsibility. He’s wilting under the pressure. Thank you, brother.

I’m looking around and I’m seeing the root system of this church. Do you know why this church is strong? It’s not because of what happens up here in the visible light. It’s because of some invisible people who know how to pray, who know how to be generous, who know how to bear some weight of responsibility, who know how to do some dirty jobs that don’t get a lot of recognition and don’t get a lot of thanks. That’s why this church is strong! Because some people have decided, “I’m going from shallow admiration to deep, passionate adoration!” It is a labor of love. They are rooted.

And the greatest thing about roots is, roots transport the nutrients for fruit! And where there is no fruit, there is no root. I would look at you, if you want to determine on a depth finder, “Where am I? Shallow? Deep?” Do you know the greatest way to determine that? Determine what kind of spiritual fruit you see being borne in your life. The more fruit, the better the root. And so, if you want to bear much fruit, you’ve got to have deep roots. He tells us to be rooted and grounded in love.

Here’s the second word—“grounded.” It’s an architectural illustration, and it’s the idea of a building that is built upon a deep foundation. It’s interesting–it reminds us of the story, the parable that Jesus told in Luke 6: 47-49. He said, “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” You see, the taller the structure, the deeper the foundation. So, we’re to be rooted, we’re to be grounded in love. What are we saying? It’s going to take more than just a sentimental appreciation for Jesus to get you through the storm.

Deep love for God nourishes life and produces fruit in the midst of spiritual drought all around you. If you’ve got a deep root system, you can survive a spiritual drought. And our country is in the midst of a spiritual drought. Deep love for God grounds you when the winds of opposition are blowing against you. Mark it! The winds of opposition are blowing stronger and stronger for those of us who identify with Christ. And deep love for God stabilizes you in the midst of an earthquake of pain and sorrow and tragedy. Deep Christians adore Christ! They’re rooted and they’re anchored and tethered to this admiration they have for Jesus Christ.

Then, one more thing is this: God’s going to call us this year to deeper comprehension:

 

3. Deeper to comprehend: From surface affirmation to boundless saturation. (v. 18-19)

 

Look at it here in verse 18: “. . .may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Now, in order to go deeper, you have to understand—you have no capacity to do this. Do you see the word “strength” there in verse 18? He’s acknowledging that, apart from Christ, we have no strength. When he uses the word strength there, he’s not talking about going from a little strength to a little more strength; he’s talking about going from no strength to much strength. That is a picture of God’s grace. God must provide the strength; God must provide the ability for you to even comprehend what I’m talking about right now!

If you’re scratching your head, “I have no idea what he’s talking about right now,” either I’m a really bad preacher, which may be the case, or God is not strengthening you to comprehend the grace and the love that He is offering to you. You need to pray for strength—ask God to give you the strength to comprehend.

The word “comprehend” there means “to know”—to have access to the revealed knowledge of God. Now, this is a mysterious thing. This is not book knowledge, this is not classroom work. This is something the Spirit of God has to do in those who are hungry to go deeper. So, we need to understand; it is a mysterious thing. It’s hard to define, it’s hard to describe, but let me offer a caution here before I try to describe it. Do not expect to comprehend everything there is to know about an incomprehensible God, okay? You have a finite mind, and it’s like a speck of dust on the canvas of all that God is. You will never be able to fully comprehend an infinite God. He is incomprehensible! Okay? But this prayer tells us that we can go deeper in the knowledge that God has revealed. God has not revealed everything there is to know about God, but what He has revealed is what we want to go after during this ministry year. So, how can we even measure—with finite minds—an infinite love for God?

And notice here, it does say that what we’re to comprehend in verse 19, is to know the love of Christ. Now, that has to do with Christ’s love for me. The writer puts it in four different ways, for us to try to discover the deeper aspects of the knowledge and the love of Christ. He mentions these four dimensions—it’s an incredible picture here: he talks about the breadth, the length, the height and the depth. So, God’s love is wide, it’s long, it’s high and it is deep!

What is he trying to bring me into? He’s trying to bring me from some surface affirmation of some facts to boundless saturation with the measureless love that Christ has for those in whom He dwells. Would you like to know just a little broader dimension, a little deeper dimension, a little higher dimension of the love of Christ? Let’s see if we can just try to wrap our minds around that for a few minutes.

First of all, let’s talk about this word—the “breadth.” First of all, would you be able to pray this prayer and believe that God is going to take you deeper and just tell Him?

 

• I want to know God’s accepting

How much does God accept you? If you ask a three-year-old, “How much does God love you?”—what is she likely to do? “This much!” And that may be the best way to describe it—it’s just wide. There’s breadth to it. Do you know what the other thing is that you’re saying when you say this? “It’s wide enough for me—with all my baggage, with all my sin. God accepts me! It is a wide love!” That ought to be a motivation for those of us who are trying to make disciples and get the gospel out. Because if God accepted me with all my sin, I can accept others. And so, I can show the love of Christ when I make God’s love wide.

Now, it’s important to understand, some of you are already thinking, “But Jesus said, ‘The way is narrow.’” That’s true, but we shouldn’t make it any more narrow than Jesus made it. It ought to be at least that wide. So, I want to know God’s accepting love.

 

• I want to know God’s lasting

 

What’s the next word? Length. We’ve talked about the breadth—it’s wide—but let’s talk about how long God’s love is; that has to do with God’s lasting love. “God, I want to know Your lasting love!” That means it never has an expiration date. God’s love lasts. It began in eternity past for me, and it will continue into eternity future for all those in Christ. There are no interruptions; God never pushes the pause button and says, “I’m not going to love you today. I just ran out. I was too busy loving Bud, because you know how hard Bud is to love!” No. He loves Bud—and He’s got plenty left over for you, too.

Please understand—there’s nothing you could ever do to get God to stop loving you. He never gives up on you. He never lets go of you. No matter what trial or difficulty you may be facing, you never have to ask the question, “God! Do you still love me? Because if You loved me, you wouldn’t be letting this happen!” Oh, yeah, He would! He loves you to the end! He never gives up, He never lets go.

 

• I want to know God’s elevating

 

So, God’s love is wide, God’s love is long. What’s the next word? It’s high! What does it mean for God’s love to be high? Well, it means you can know God’s elevating love. It’s a vertical love. It lifts you up; it takes you from wherever you are and it allows you to soar. It’s really hard to talk about this in the midst of Deeper, but it’s a vertical relationship. God wants to take you from where you are to greater elevation! God’s love lifts you to the highest, most privileged place.

Scripture tells us that we have been raised to life; Scripture tells us that we have been seated in heavenly places. And so, God’s love is not only wide, it is not only long, it is high—it’s an elevating love. Get our eyes off of your circumstances! He wants to elevate your lives. If we really believe that God’s love is higher than any other love, why would we spend so much time seeking lesser loves? God’s love is the highest love. And no matter how poorly your spouse may love you, or how poorly your parents may have loved you, comprehend at a deeper level the heights of God’s love.

 

• I want to know God’s penetrating

 

And then here’s the last thing; the depth of Christ’s love for us. I want to know God’s penetrating love! Do you want to know how deep Christ’s love is for you? He descended from the heights to the depths. He left His throne from heaven, He came to earth. He was born as a little baby. He lived for thirty-three years in a sewer-pit that is this world.

At the end of His lifetime, He didn’t get an upgrade. As a matter of fact, sinful wicked men nailed Him to a cross. He died an unjust death, and then they put Him in a grave–the lowest parts of the earth. Three days later, God’s elevating love brought Him out of that grave–a higher love than man’s hatred of Him. And why did He do all of it? Because He wanted to make His love wide enough for you, long enough for you, high enough for you, deep enough for you. And He wants you to go deep into that kind of love.

Not only that, but He wants to make His way to the deepest parts of you. God’s love goes to the depths of my pain, the depths of my motivation. He goes to the depths of my doubt, and He wants to go to the depths of my sin. God’s love is not a pampering love—God’s love is a penetrating love. God’s love is a perfecting love. He wants to make some renovations in me. You’re a fixer upper, and He wants all access, to make the necessary changes. Do you want to go deeper with Him? Will you allow Him all-access, to go deeper into Him?

Why don’t we just bow our heads right now, and would you express to Him what you just expressed to me? “God, I want to go deeper.” Maybe you just need to admit—you’ve been playing in the kiddie pool, you’ve been a toe-dipper, and you haven’t been very interested in going much deeper than where you are. Maybe you’re afraid. Maybe you’ve been in that deep end before and you had a near-death experience. Maybe you were disappointed by some Christian, and maybe you got hurt in a previous church experience—and you just think it’s safer, kind of splashing around on the shore. God wants you to go deeper. Would you ask Him right now to dwell at a deeper place?

Jesus, I want to thank You that You overcame our opposition, our resistance to You—and You came initially, by faith, into our hearts to live, to reside, to take up residence. What a gracious, loving act that was! For most of us, we’ve been in church, we’ve listened to sermons, we’ve served, we’ve given—and yet, we’re at a point where we need to go deeper. God, I pray that You would speak by Your Spirit to individual hearts. We’re all at different levels, but I want to go on record that I want to go deeper with You. I want to be rooted and grounded in love, that I could comprehend what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth of Your love for me! To give you access to every component part of my heart, and I pray that my friends here would do the same. God, strengthen us by Your grace to know You at a deeper level. We could never fully comprehend Your greatness; we could never fully understand Your measureless love for us. But, God, by Your Spirit, that’s what we want, that’s what we ask for—and we pray in Christ’s name, by faith, Amen.