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Message from Chuck Allen on August 15, 2022
In this episode of the weekday podcast, Pastor Chuck Allen dives into Deuteronomy 6:4-9, focusing on the call to love God with all your heart, soul, and strength. He reminds us that this isn't just a command for Israel, but for every follower of Jesus—our love for God should be complete and unreserved. Pastor Chuck shares some lighthearted stories to emphasize how our actions reflect our devotion to God. Ultimately, he encourages us to love God fully, with all that we are, and to be in awe of Him each day.
Thanks for joining me on today's weekday podcast, where today I want us to talk about something that Bobby and I taught on yesterday, and that is Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4-9.
Let me read it to you in the message. "Attention, Israel..." and there's an exclamation point. It's like, don't miss this. This is a big deal. "God, our God, God, the one and only!" Then he says, "love God, your God, with your whole heart. Love him with all that's in you. Love him with all you've got." This exhortation to love God is found 10 times in Deuteronomy, and nowhere else do you see it this highlighted. I mean, it's basic, it's essential, it's a creed of Judaism, but it is and should be birthed within the heart of every follower of Jesus. It is used to open every Jewish service, and it is an element that we should never forget.
It is the first and greatest commandment, according to Jesus in Matthew 22. "This love of God involves the entire person, our heart, our soul, our strength. Our heart regarded as the seat of the mind and the will, it controls the emotions." You know, the Hebrew word for the word soul is a lot more difficult to define, but it seems to refer to the source of life and vitality, or even to one's own being. The two terms, heart and soul, indicate that we're to love God with unreserved devotion. We're to also to love with all of our might or all of our strength. The people of Israel are to exhibit a love which dominates their emotions, it directs how they think, and it is a dynamic that should direct their actions. And this degree of love will be evident to God and others.
I read in a commentary this story, it said, "the sign said, honk if you love Jesus, so I honked and a policeman arrested me for disturbing the peace in a quiet hospital zone. The sign said, smile if you love Jesus, so I smiled all day and people asked me if I was high. The sign said, wave if you love Jesus, so I waved with both hands, lost control of my car and crashed in the back of a bus. Oh God, if I cannot honk or smile or wave, how will Jesus know that I love him?"
Deuteronomy 6, verse 5 gives us the answer. It says, "love God, your God, with all your heart, love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got, mind, soul, strength." This is how we are to love him. A person has to experience the love that this commandment requires before we can teach it to other people. Think about that.
There's an old saying, "be careful what you set your heart on for it might come true." History surely proves this. Thomas Edison fell in love with invention. Henry Ford fell in love with motor cars. Kettering fell in love with research and the Wright brothers fell in love with airplanes. Their hearts control their time, their energy, their direction and their output. And look at the results. Love, my friend, is the most powerful force in the world. Want power, the heart, is the strongest impetus for the will, power, the head.
My friend, when the Lord gives us directions to love him with all of our heart, with all of our mind and with all of our soul, what he's saying is, I want all of you and I want you to be fearfully loving of me. In other words, I want you to be in awe of me and give me all your love.
God bless you, friend, love Him with all your heart today. And thanks for joining me on today's weekday podcast.
Chuck is the Lead Pastor at Sugar Hill Church. He’s been the Lead Pastor since 2011, but he’s been around Sugar Hill Church since 2008. Since day one, Chuck’s passion has been to encourage others with this one big belief: “You can do this! You can love God with all your heart, mind and soul and be normal!" You will often hear him say, “the Bible is a very big deal, Jesus is the very biggest deal and living that out always involves serving people here and around the globe.” Chuck's passion is to graciously lead people to Jesus and create a simple path for them to grow in their faith. Some of his goals are to reduce the dropout rate in our local schools, serve with our missions partners well, lead our church and families with a healthy fiscal plan, and in the future, to provide transitional housing for single moms. Chuck and his wife, Jenny, stay plenty busy with six daughters, three son-in-laws, five grandkids and an awesome dog, Kirby. They are foodies and enjoy eating through the Atlanta Magazine Top 50 Restaurants. Chuck’s favorite things to do include fishing, reading, writing and cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs!
Bobby serves as both the Associate Pastor and the Teaching Pastor at Sugar Hill Church. He has been on staff here since December, 2008 (where he started part-time in Student Ministry). Bobby’s passion comes from a love of seeing the light-bulb go on for folks. Whether it’s in a small group, a NEXT gathering, or during a weekend message, he loves seeing people “get it” and apply the truth to their lives. As one of our pastors here, Bobby helps individuals take the next steps in their faith, he helps the church fulfill its God-given mission, and he gives day-to-day direction to our Adult Ministries, Communications, and Finance teams. In his spare time, you can find Bobby riding his motorcycle, working out, reading, or eating gas station tacos. He and his wife, Laura, have been married since January, 2011, and they have a very “manly” 10lb cockapoo named Ollie. He would love to connect more, so find him on social media (@bobbymcgraw) or check out his blog at yourbetterstory.com.
