Have you ever had a conversation with a person who really likes to talk about themselves? While it is normal in conversation to talk about your own experiences and ideas, there’s something unmistakable in certain people who cross the line into self-absorbed. When you notice it, you first marvel at their ability to take any topic and turn it back to themselves. But before long, you are looking for a way out. Love isn’t about ‘me’ at all. We read about this in our description on love from 1 Corinthians 13 because it says love is not ‘self-seeking’. We have many examples in Scripture of how this principle of love plays out. We’ll take time this morning to hear from one of our missionaries, Roberta Nagel, as she gives us an update on her ministry. And we’ll explore how we can practice loving others by not making it all about ‘me’!

For the past few years, Father’s Day has been a special service at Hope. We turn the morning over to our HopeKids ministry and enjoy watching and participating in what God is doing in our children. Kids have always been a big deal to our church family, so we show up and support them, we serve them and teach them, and most of all, we love them. VBS is only a few short weeks away, and we’ll need all hands on deck. But we serve kids every single week, and we love doing it. Come out and lend your support and encouragement to our kids and our ministry leaders as they take over our service this morning.

Think for a minute about someone you love. We probably think of feelings first when we try to identify love. While love definitely includes feelings, it is much more. In fact, when we read the description of love in 1 Corinthians 13, we find a very different picture of love. Love is choices, and probably not ones you ‘feel’ like making. As we continue to talk about the practice it takes to be a Christian, we’re going to shift to talking about loving people. And we’re starting with ‘love is patient’ and ‘love is kind’. Chances are you’ve thought of yourself as ‘loving’ someone with whom you were also impatient and unkind. So let’s think through what kind of practices it takes and what patience and kindness bring to our lives.

Did you ever wish you could win the lottery? Maybe you dream of all the bills you’ll pay off or all the stuff you’ll buy. In your best moments, you think about all the people you’ll help. But did you ever think that giving away what you get for free doesn’t mean as much to your soul as giving away what you earn yourself? It’s even possible that a large amount of money that suddenly appears in your life could be detrimental to your well-being. Today we’re going to look at a story from the life of David where he makes a statement that should challenge us in our service toward the Lord. Do we just give the Lord the left-overs or extras? Or do we give Him something that actually costs us personally? This idea of sacrifice is central to living out a deep love for Jesus. Today, we start looking at things we need to practice as believers, and in connection to loving God, we need to practice sacrifice.

One of the best parts of your birthday as a kid is the presents you get. A close second is the cake. No one seems to get tired of getting presents and eating cake. Underneath the rituals, a birthday celebration has deeper meaning. We gather to celebrate the blessing of life and God’s gift of another year of living. People need patterns like this as we navigate the ups and downs of our days. As our study through Numbers concludes, we’re going to take a survey of a couple of chapters near the end of the book where God gives instructions to His people on regular patterns of celebration and ritual with deeper meaning. These symbols and actions were to help Israel stay connected and faithful to their Lord. And it just could be that we need symbols and actions as well – patterns that help us remember who God is, what He’s done, and how we are connected to Him.

Have you ever thought that someone was ‘holding on too long’? Maybe it was an athlete who couldn’t recognize that their time was over, or someone who found a look they liked years ago and held onto it decades more than they should have. The reality of time for all of us is that we grow older and eventually our time on this earth is done. What should we do with that? In this story about Moses, we see the moment where he passes on his calling and position to Joshua. It wasn’t something that happened suddenly; Joshua had been around for a while as Moses’ right hand man. Things like pride and sentiment can hold us back from paving the way for others. But with a cause as great as ours, we can’t afford to drop the ball. We should live for what matters, and work so that others will pick up where we leave off.

If you grew up with siblings, you may have experienced this dynamic. In a specific situation, you made a deal together meant to sidestep the bickering and fighting that naturally happens between siblings. Whether it was who got to sit in the front seat, or who got to pick the restaurant, or even who got to play first with a favorite toy, you all agreed. And then someone decided it was unfair! This kind of reality isn’t limited to sibling debates. When a group of people or a leader try to come up with guidelines and rules meant to help everyone, it often misses someone. And the only way we find that out is to live through the setup for a little while before the flaws start showing up. The Law that Israel had been given had a hole in it, and after living with the law for a while, some women point it out. This short story in Numbers points to both the courage of these women for speaking up, and the heart of Israel’s leaders in addressing it. It’s also an example for God’s people today to faithful reflect His heart in our dealings with one another.

The idea behind Judo is to use your enemy’s strength against them. You take their energy and redirect it to their own damage. There are few things more demoralizing than fighting or working really hard, but only causing damage to yourself. As Balaam’s story comes to a close, it does so with an amazing twist. God has stopped him from speaking any kind of curse on God’s people. So Balaam gives advice behind the scenes to the Moabites. He tells them to seduce Israel so they will bring a curse on themselves. This tactic enables Balaam to bring a curse on Israel even though he was thwarted in his attempts to do it through prophecy. It illustrates the true nature of sin and how those who choose it bring their demise on themselves. As we look at this story, let’s allow God to search our hearts for how we are treating the sin in our lives and the damage it is doing.

If you are ever in the position to train someone for any reason, you’ll find yourself making promises. You tell that that if they do certain things, they will like the outcome, and if they do other things, they will not. If you are the trainer, you probably have experience with both types of outcomes and you’re trying your best to pass along a roadmap to what works and what doesn’t. The prophecies of Balaam reflect this characteristic from God as well. They tell of the good that God does to those who trust in Him and are His. And they tell of the judgment to be faced by those who reject Him in spite of His invitation to come and worship. God is not making this up as He goes; He is instead giving us instruction on the way to life and warning against the path to death. In His grace, He even gives this to those who will ultimately reject Him in rebellion. As the people of God we should take both comfort and warning. We will be held by His good hand, but when we push away what He tells us, we too will face destruction.

As we celebrate together today, we are overwhelmed with the grace of God. He has come to save us and we, by faith, have been raised spiritually to new life. For each person who has experienced this, it is the greatest gift we’ve ever been given. Before we know Jesus, we understand that life is the most precious gift we ever get. And after we put our faith in Jesus, we know that eternal life is immeasurably more. So we’re going to look at the impact of the resurrection today. What happens when we put our trust in Jesus and how does His resurrection affect our lives? To do that, we’re going to go back to a story that Jesus uses to illustrate what He was going to go through on Good Friday and Easter. And then we’ll ask the Lord to show us where we need to bring the full impact of His resurrection into our lives.