Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the importance of drawing near to God to truly understand His love and heart for us. He highlights that our perception of love is often distorted by worldly influences and that we must seek a deeper relationship with God to experience His unconditional love. The sermon also discusses the significance of family as a reflection of God's love and the dangers of a dysfunctional family structure, which can hinder our understanding of divine love. Beach encourages the congregation to overcome their fears of intimacy with God and each other, reminding them that true joy and healing come from this closeness. Ultimately, he calls for a community that embodies the love of Christ, fostering genuine relationships that reflect God's heart.

Thank you for your presence, Lord, that is so real in our hearts. So real, Lord. Thank you for your word that is unchanging, infallible, and that faithfully, when the Holy Spirit is teaching us, faithfully leads us to you, to your Son, and to your wonderful ways. Lord, I pray that you'll help us to continue to hear your heart, to hear your word, and that we might be changed and transformed, Lord, into passionate lovers of Jesus Christ. Oh God, please make this thing a love affair. Deliver us, Lord, from understanding you in any other way other than a lovely God who is deeply in love with us and who seeks that we might be deeply in love with him. Help us to see, Lord, this love. Lord, help us, Lord, because we know that we have never seen perfect love on earth, and we don't really understand it or know what it's about. And oftentimes, Lord, we come to you with wrong ideas that we have gotten from the world or from imperfect role models, and we've got to get delivered from them, Lord. Help us today, Lord. Give us a baptism into your love. Give us a baptism into your word. Lord, your word is the only reliable source that we have today that can teach us the true nature of your heart, the true nature of your Son, the true nature of your ways. God, help us today to be able to receive from your word, through the Holy Spirit, a proper view of who you are and what you have done and what you seek to do in us and through us by the power of your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, for the testimonies today, what Norman shared and how we are so prone to rejoice at an initial encounter with you. But as we develop expectations that aren't met, our joy can turn to anger. Rescue us, Lord. Help us today, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. The Lord is a passionate, loving God. Do you know him as a loving God? Do you know why God created the family? God created the family because the family is God's earthly means by which he reveals himself to us. The family is a wonderful thought in God's eyes, in God's heart, isn't it? A normal family or a biblical family is a picture, a vivid description, a vivid picture of what God wants to be in our lives. Take, for example, when a child is first born. Now, if you're living—now, by the way, the reason why the family is under attack is because Satan knows. Destroy the family, and you've destroyed the essential place that God has ordained to begin the process of him revealing himself to the human race. Destroy the family. That's why our families are under attack. But just think for a moment with me as we begin to look into God's word and touch on a number of issues today. Just think about the family. In a normal family, when a baby is born, what is your first instinct? You want to touch your baby, right? Then what do you want to do? You want to kiss your baby 10,000 times on its forehead, right? Don't you just love to kiss your baby when it's born? I'm looking at these little newborns here and how vivid it is. Isn't it just a natural instinct? And you want to cuddle your baby. You want to love your baby. Listen, you want your baby to be intoxicated with love. Now, you know there's something about that that's got the handwriting of heaven all over it, doesn't it? Parental instinct. Take that newborn baby, love it, kiss it, embrace it. A mom's instinct to put the baby on her breast and to watch an amazing thing begin to happen with baby that is breastfed. You know what that is? There's an eye-bonding contact that begins to take place when baby begins to be breastfed. What is happening here? It is a bond that is being developed, the bond of love, the bond of love. This is a vivid picture of God's ways in relation to what he wants to do with us as our Father in heaven. He wants us to understand that as a mother and a father would adore and love their child and want to embrace it and want to love it and hug it and just envelop it in its love, in their love. So that's exactly what God wants us to do. And you know it's statistically true that in countries where the natural, normal instincts of parenthood are either illegal or stifled by horrible laws and rules, that children grow up and they have a distorted view of life. That there's something about being loved and being embraced that is a vital part of a normal, natural maturing process, something about it. And likewise, God's love for us is essential. We have to pray, God, help me to understand your love, because love brings healing. God's love, understanding God's love brings healing. It brings security. It brings a sense of significance, understanding that if God loves me, then I don't have to believe the lie that there's no value in living. I don't have to believe the lie that there's no value. And it's in the family setting that we grow together and learn together and we become vulnerable and we share each other's hearts in the family setting. And the reason why the church is so important is because the church is to either amplify or make up the lack of a true family identity that some people may have. For example, Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost. Sometimes people become saved to have lived in foster homes all their lives, and they've never understood what it was for some. Sometimes girls never understand that they don't understand what it is for a man to be able to embrace them in purity, because they've never seen a man who loved them. Some children have grown up and they have seen nothing but raging fathers and unfaithful mothers, and it has hurt them. And they come to know Jesus, and they see God loves them, and they're very excited about it, but they still don't have a real good understanding of that love because their mind and their memories and their whole upbringing is bombarded with what they were and what they went through. And that's why it's so vitally important, and that's what we were touching on. That's what you were touching on, Mike. That's why if the community aspect of Christianity is moved, removed, then we're turning it into something that is not God's intention. We're really turning it into a picture of a dysfunctional family in the world, because dysfunctional families in the world are simply families that don't have the capacity to grow together in heart relationship one with another. That's what a dysfunctional family is. It's not a family that is less than perfect because we're all imperfect. It's just dysfunctional means you can't function in heart relationship one with another. And so the church has become dysfunctional because it doesn't want the family aspect, members one of another, accountability, transparency, making room in our heart for others that are different than us. And so we want a Christianity that doesn't require that of us, just like the dysfunctional family in the world wants a family that doesn't require the need to work through issues. And when a natural family exchanges the meaning of a true biblical family for a worldly family, everything starts breaking down. But what do we do to deal with the breaking down? We start drinking the wine of this world, which helps us ignore what's really happening and gives us a false high in joy. And then we start kissing one another and hugging one another like my dad did me. But the smell of being superficial, the smell of a false kind of joy and security is in it because we're really not dealing with heart issues. And this same spirit that is seducing the families is trying to seduce the church to create a Christianity that is shallow. I've been friends with a brother in another country for many, many years. I met him back in 94. And recently, and Carl will like this because it has to do with something we mentioned a few weeks ago. Recently, listen carefully now, listen carefully. Recently, he wrote me and said one of the reasons why, because we were interacting regarding the thought of being near, we hear. As we were talking about last week, the nearer we are, the clearer we hear. But remember the third word, near, clear, and fear. So sometimes we're reluctant to draw near because we know that if we're near, we're going to hear. And that's true in our relationship with one another. I might be reluctant to get too close to my brother Lorenzo because I know if I get too close, he might start telling me some real struggles he's going through, and that might obligate me to care for him. And that might cramp my style. It might force me to have to say, I should go see Lorenzo tonight. But I want to, and it's going to throw me into a real conflict. So I'm going to be friends, but I'm not going to get too near. And that's the way it is with our walk with God too. We want to mention his name. We want to come and sing songs here. This isn't too threatening, is it? This is all right, huh? Everyone can pretty much stay in their own world here. Now does that mean we should throw this whole idea out of gathering? No, there's a place for it. But if this is our Christianity right here, we've lost it, brothers and sisters. Okay. So the brother was talking about, we were talking through email about being near. We hear, but we're, we fear what we might hear. And he said, Phil, I fear that I might hear not God telling me he's called me to be some superstar. I don't fear that. I fear that God might be telling me to make room in my heart for a motherless or for a childless widow. Where's the glory in bearing in your heart the sorrows of a childless widow? Where's the glory? Where's the superstar mentality? It's not there. Making room in your heart for a widow is going to cramp your style big time, isn't it? It's going to cramp all your desires to live a life that satisfies who? You. And so that's why we're reluctant to get too near. We're reluctant to get near to God. What did getting near to God do to the early church? They lost everything because they got so near to God. They started hearing what was important to him. Now this goes along with what Norman was saying. You might at first hear the Lord and it might sound real good, but you get really close to him and you're going to really understand what he's saying. And it's a life like his, a life that empties self for others. And so we're reluctant to get near to God because we're afraid that what we're going to hear is going to be too costly. And that's the same reason why we don't get near one to another. If I get too near to Colette, not physically, because I can be physically near to her and be far away from her. Is that right, Daisy? That's right. I can be physically near to this brother here, even sit next to him, but I might not have any clue what's going on inside. So if I get too near to Colette, I might hear something that indicts me. I might hear something that she's saying that forces me to have to what? Reconsider. Change. Say I'm sorry. Acknowledge pride. Acknowledge insensitivity. So I think I'll put extra hours into my job. Uh-oh, watch out. Should I go here, Lord? No, I'll read my Bible more. Can we actually get into God's word as a smokescreen to be avoiding reality? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Getting into God. It looks so good though, doesn't it, Norman? Looks so good. But God sees what's really going on. You're avoiding reality. What are some other ways we avoid reality? Hobbies. All because of what? Near. The nearer to God's heart, the better we will hear God's heart, which results in what we fear we might hear. So brothers and sisters, what we're hearing today from the Lord is very simple. Don't be afraid to draw near. Don't be afraid to draw near. We won't hear if we're not near. And we don't have to fear to draw near. We should fear not drawing near to God's heart. Let me ask a question now, brothers and sisters, all right? Listen carefully. What are you aspiring to draw near to? I recently read of a young child who was born mentally ill or mentally retarded. Listen carefully, please. And the parents couldn't do anything with the child. Couldn't do anything with the child. And then the thought came to the parents, let's buy a video, a VCR. And they bought the VCR and they bought a video, several videos, of a character in Europe. It's almost like Charlie Chaplin here in America, a comedian. His name is Mr. Bean. And what happened is they put the child in front of the TV, and the child just watched Mr. Bean all his life. Now the child is 19 or 20. And unbelievably, according to the testimony I read, the child's mannerisms and actions are identical to Mr. Bean. Identical. Because all his life, all his life, he had his heart focused and his mind's attention on Mr. Bean. He became just like the thing that his eyes were fixed upon. He became just like it. That's all he knew. Exactly. And so the lesson of the story is we become just like the thing that's got our attention. Just like it. What's got your attention today? Set your things, set your heart on things above, not on things of earth. What's got our attention today? Let's just bow our heart for a few moments before the Lord. Father, we're amazed at your love. We're amazed at your grace. And we're challenged by your word. We're challenged by your word today, Lord. We're challenged by your spirit calling us to draw near to you, to draw near to your heart together. Lord, we're challenged by your spirit's call that we might become a community of believers, a family. We're challenged, Lord, but at the same time, we fear because we know, Lord, that it's a costly thing to draw near to your heart and it's a costly thing to draw near to one another's hearts as we walk in your light. It's costly, Lord, but I pray, Lord, that you will help us to drink of that wine from heaven that will empower us to do this very thing. Lord, we're amazed at your presence. Brothers and sisters, he's here right now. And I sense in my spirit he's here to draw us closer to his heart and to free us from the fears that we have to draw close to his heart. There's healing here as we draw close to his heart and acknowledge him as the source of everything. I just want to make this invitation. Anybody here who would be able to say, yes, Lord, I feel that you are calling me by your word to know you, to know your love, to know your forgiveness, to know what it is to be close to your heart, to be embraced by your love. You may have never come to know Jesus Christ. And today you might be recognizing your need for him. You might be saying, yes, I need him today. I don't know of this love that you speak of. Or you might know him as a couple, as a family. But you've seen the battle that it is to get close to his heart. And you've seen the fears that you have of getting close. But today you want to draw near to his heart. Anyone who would want to say yes to that, let's respond by standing up and all coming together and asking the Lord to help us draw near. Anyone at all who wants to stand together with other brothers and sisters. Maybe you're a family, but you know that it's not trying harder that's going to do it. It's drawing closer to him, drawing closer to him. Everyone together, let's, perhaps you have said yes. I've actually heard the Lord, as I'm, as I've drawn close to him in the past, tell me to make room in my heart for other people. But I've lost that because I get so busy doing my own thing. But today God will renew that call in all of our hearts. Let's just sing this together, this first verse, or and then we'll pray together. All right. Anyone who wants to come and stand, please feel free. Go ahead. Brothers and sisters, listen carefully, please. Everything that we need right now, everything in our lives, the answer is found in drawing near to the heart of God, near to his word and staying there and listening to his heart and his word every day. Everything near to the heart of God. Father, you see that we have gathered here and that we are responding, Lord, to your call of love this morning to get near to your heart. I pray, Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, that every single one of us who have stood up would find in you the power and the courage to draw near to your heart, to draw near to you and your word and to be able to hear your heart and to be able to hear the heart of others. Who here wants to say, Lord, I want to get closer. I want to get nearer to your heart so I can hear the heart of my family better. Every wife here, every husband, every single person. I want to get nearer to your heart so I can hear the heart of my children. I want to get nearer to you, Lord, so I can hear the heart of my brothers and sisters.