Come for Love

Greeting

Good morning! My name is Joel Cossins, and I’m the pastor here at Libby COTN. I’d like to welcome all of our guests here today, especially to those of you checking us out online. Hello! If you’ve not yet visited us in person, I look forward to the day we can welcome you to our fellowship. You should know when you visit, you will most likely be invited to stay after, as we have a potluck every Sunday after the service—unless otherwise noted. So, come hungry for an encounter with JESUS and bring your appetite for food, as well!

Announce text: Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Key Text: Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Review

Our FATHER really is desiring to see transformation in and through HIS kids

It seems HIS vehicle is through fasting & prayer

Both a pruning—purification—and an adding to that HE is doing

It’s important to remember this is a season …

40 days of intentionally leaning into HIS Presence

seeking HIM in prayer & fasting

for transformation in ...

our lives as individuals & in our family

our church fellowship (our body)

our community

It’s also important for us to remember this is a season within a season ...

a season of change

at the onset and throughout this season of change, GOD is extending an invitation to rest in HIS Presence

the first Sunday in Lent, we began with a burning invitation

Our text was Psalm 95 which presented a heartfelt appeal for worship

emphasizing both celebration and caution as it invites us to acknowledge God's power and mercy

while reminding us of the importance of listening to His voice and not hardening our hearts

Big Idea: Worship is an active engagement that requires both joy and a vigilant heart, calling us not only to celebrate God’s majesty but to continually seek His presence and guidance in our lives.

requires both joy & a vigilant heart … Wednesday night

sometimes spiritual warfare

don’t feel like praising

praise is a weapon

vigilant heart - praise anyway

not dependent on how we feel

our feelings have nothing to do with it

joy isn’t a feeling … it’s a fruit

let part of your worship be confession—the FATHER knows anyway

confess how you’re feeling and ask the FATHER

to change your disposition

to enable you to praise, anyway

to make you a ...

true worshipers in Spirit & in Truth

that is a prayer our FATHER will always honor

when it’s from a sincere (vigilant) heart (again, not emotion rather a choice)

sometimes HE transforms our disposition before HE transforms our situation

and we find joy in the midst of—while we’re going through the difficulty

because it is a fruit of the SPIRIT

and we’re engaging in SPIRIT and in Truth

So, that first Sunday, we discovered that genuine worship not only involves celebrating God’s goodness

but also requires a posture of humility and responsiveness to His guidance and word,

urging those who will listen to avoid spiritual complacency.

the second Sunday in Lent, we explored Psalm 84 and discovered a burning need

a deep yearning for God's presence, illustrating the joy and satisfaction found in communion with Him.

The psalmist highlights the beauty of the dwelling place of the LORD and the blessings that come from being in His Presence.

our Big Idea: Our deepest need is for the Presence of GOD, which brings joy and strength in every season of life.

The psalmist in this passage portrays a heartfelt expression of longing for GOD's temple, depicting it as the ultimate refuge and source of life.

He emphasizes not just the physical structure but the intimate relationship cultivated with GOD through worship.

Each verse in the passage reveals layers of desire and praise, reminding us that true fulfillment comes from being in close proximity to GOD.

So, our greatest fulfillment in this life is found only in GOD's Presence, and that fulfillment creates in us a yearning for GOD that leads to spiritual richness and joy.

While we may face trials—in fact, JESUS assures us that we will—drawing near to GOD provides strength and sustenance for our journey.

last Sunday, we were captivated by GOD’s burning desire for restoration that burns hotter than any distraction or failure we can muster.

we were shocked to discover GOD’s plan for redemption was already declared before HIS judgement had even been carried out.

we saw how the children of Israel turned their backs to GOD despite HIS repeated instruction to correct them

we were reminded that distraction is the quiet thief that steals our course, one diverted step at a time, until righteousness is a memory and evil is our home.

In Jeremiah 32:26-41, God illustrates His unwavering sovereignty over the nations and His intimate knowledge of His people's struggles. He emphasizes that despite the evil they had fallen into and the dire consequences of their actions, He remains committed to their restoration and renewal through a covenant steeped in mercy and faithfulness, intending to bring about a profound transformation in their society and relationship with Him.

Big Idea: GOD's commitment to restoration is unfailing and invites us into a transformative journey that not only renews us but also impacts those around us, revealing His glory in the world.

We were reminded last week that no matter how far we stray from God, His desire is always to draw us back into relationship with Him. It emphasizes that God's plans are not foiled by our failures but rather that He uses them to fulfill His purpose of transformation and restoration.

Announce text again: Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Scripture Reading

Deuteronomy 30:11–20 NIV

11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. 15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Prayer for added blessing to the reading of the Word

half-way point of Lent

hope taking serious the command of GOD to seek HIM in prayer & fasting

The title of our message this morning is A Burning Love.

Deuteronomy 30:11–20 presents a profound moment as Moses conveys God's plea to the Israelites to choose life and blessing. This passage emphasizes the accessibility of God's commands, the consequences of disobedience, and the life-giving power found in loving God wholeheartedly. It reveals the depth of God's desire for His people to thrive in a relationship with Him, where their choices can reflect His love.

Big Idea: True life and blessing flow from a heartfelt commitment to love and obey God, reminding us that our choices reveal our deepest affections.

In the message this morning, we will discover that our choices have significant spiritual implications. It will reinforce the idea that obedience is not just a duty but a loving response to God’s grace, portraying a picture of an engaged faith that results in genuine blessings from God.

Introduction

“The Road Not Taken” is a popular poem by Robert Frost. Many of you, no doubt, are familiar with this poem, but allow me to read it to you this morning.

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

This beautiful poem pictures the author as a traveler standing at a fork in the road. He examines both options and ends up taking the one less traveled. He considers coming back one day and taking the other path but realizes how difficult it is to find your way back to that original place. As he imagines his future, he realizes all the difference that choosing which road to take can make. In other words, the poet is presented with two options and faces the ramifications of making his choice.

As we begin to unpack this passage, we first need to recognize the tension that lies within the text itself.

As I did last week, I wanted to read this in a larger context to gain a fuller understanding about this choice being presented to the children of Israel. And like last week, the Lord immediately was speaking to me through the text preceeding our passage this morning. I think it is important for me to read through some of that to help frame this text for us, but also because the Father was speaking prophetically through the text to me for how this applies to us.

Turn to, read, and comment on chapters 29-30 leading into our text this morning

Moses is standing before the Israelites at a critical moment, and he presents them with a stark reality: there are two ways before them, and their choice will determine everything. Let’s look closely at what this text reveals about the trouble they faced.

◆ TROUBLE IN THE TEXT

There are two ways before the Israelites.

In this Deuteronomy text, the Israelites are presented with two ways: life and prosperity, or death and destruction. Loving the Lord and following God’s commands, or being disobedient and worshiping other gods.

They are presented with a choice, and their choice will have consequences.

With obedience comes life and blessing in the promised land. They will thrive and live in peace.

With disobedience comes destruction because their sin will fester and infect them and their land.

Unlike the situation in the Robert Frost poem, God is straightforward with the Israelites about where their choice will take them.

The Israelites know the consequences of their choice.

They are told in even more detail in Deuteronomy 28.

But here’s the remarkable thing: even as Moses lays out the consequences of disobedience, he doesn’t leave them without hope. God’s love and God’s word are not distant or inaccessible—they are near. In fact, God is pleading with them to choose life. This is where we find the grace embedded in the text itself, and it’s worth pausing to consider what that means for us today.

◆ GRACE IN THE TEXT

God’s love and God’s word are very near.

And God begs them to choose life. God wants that for them.

God is clear that what the Israelites are being asked to do is not difficult. God is not asking them to reach to the heavens or cross the sea in order to obey God’s commands. What does He say in v.14?

Deuteronomy 30:14 NIV

14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

God is saying, “You don’t need to search for the right path! I have set it right in front of you! I have made the choice obvious for you. So please choose life!”

Yet they still choose wrong.

And we know the rest of the story—they do indeed face destruction and are taken off into captivity.

Like Robert Frost, they discover that they have gone down one path for too long, and it is hard to get back.

Now, as we move from the ancient text to our present reality, we have to ask ourselves: does this same dynamic play out in our lives? Unfortunately, yes. We too often choose the wrong path, sometimes without even realizing it. The question is, how do we recognize when we’ve gone down a road that leads away from life? Let’s examine the trouble we face in our world.

◆ TROUBLE IN THE WORLD

We choose the wrong path too sometimes.

Unfortunately, church, we too often choose the wrong path.

We may not think we have. After all, we are here on a Sunday morning, worshiping God. Surely, this is a sign that we are on the right path.

But have we loved God with our whole heart? Have we loved our neighbor as ourselves? Have we actively sought God’s justice in the world? Or do we turn a blind eye to the ways that others are being exploited and oppressed?

The truth is, sometimes while you are on the path, it is hard to know if you are on the right one.

We often interpret Robert Frost’s poem to assume that he made the right choice, that at the end he is looking back and is grateful for the choice he made.

But it doesn’t say that. It simply ends with him recognizing how big a choice it really was. He recognizes that his choice made an enormous difference, but he hasn’t said, and really can’t even know, what kind of difference it made.

He has no way of knowing if he made the right choice because he has no idea where the other path led and what his life would have been like if he had made a different choice.

Thankfully, we do know where the paths of obedience and disobedience lead, and by the grace of God we can be shown the errors of our choices.

But the point of both the poem and Deuteronomy 30 is to not assume that we are on the right path. That is why the poem is called “The Road Not Taken”—it is about questioning the choice that you made.

We have to let God examine us and our choices. We cannot assume that we know best and that we always make the right choice.

Lent is a time to purposely slow down and examine and confess the choices we have made.

The good news is that God doesn’t abandon us when we’ve chosen poorly. He offers renewal again and again. This is the grace that meets us in our world—the promise that we can change direction, that redemption is possible, and that God is still calling us to choose life. Let’s close with this message of hope and renewal.

◆ GRACE IN THE WORLD

We can be renewed again and again.

The good news is that the poor choices we have made do not have to continue ruling our lives. We are never too far down a path to change directions.

God can bring redemption to any and all situations.

Listen to Romans 12:1–2. (Read the passage aloud.)

Romans 12:1–2 NIV

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Again, there are two paths, two ways, two patterns of life set before the people of God.

But thank God that God is a God of renewal!

This is not a one-time choice that can never be changed. It is a constant cycle of choice, examination, renewal.

God offers renewal to us again and again and again and again. And the more we enter into this renewal, the more we find ourselves closer to the pattern of life and love that God desires for us.

God is begging you today, “Choose life. Let me examine you and point out where you have chosen death. And be renewed. It’s right here.”

So, pj … What’s the point?

Conclusion

As we close this message from Deuteronomy 30, hear again the urgent, loving plea of God through Moses:

“I have set before you [today] life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life…” (v. 19)

Two roads lie before every one of us—just like the traveler in Robert Frost’s poem. One path looks easier in the moment, but it leads to spiritual death and emptiness. The other path—the narrow, less-traveled road of wholehearted love and obedience to God—leads to true life, blessing, and joy.

God made the decision simple: the word is not far off — it is in your mouth and in your heart. All He asks is that we love Him, walk in His ways, and obey His commands.

The same choice stands before us today. Every day we stand at a fork in the road. Will we choose the path of self, distraction, and fleeting pleasures, or the path of wholehearted love and obedience to God? Lent is our invitation to examine our steps honestly and turn back to the Lord.

This Lent, let us examine our daily choices honestly. Where have we been choosing the path of self, comfort, or distraction? Where have we turned our backs on God’s voice? The good news is that no one is too far down the wrong road for God’s mercy. He offers renewal again and again.

Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of this passage. He chose the road of obedience all the way to the cross so that we could have life. In Him, the choice is no longer impossible—it is empowered by grace.

So today, hear the Father’s invitation once more: Choose life.

Choose to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. Choose to listen to His voice. Choose to hold fast to Him—for the Lord is your life.

Let’s respond together in prayer.

Closing prayer & Introspection for Communion

Please, bow your head, close your eyes, and listen. Listen to what I am about to read, and then listen to what HOLY SPIRIT is speaking to you in the still, small whisper ...

Read March 10 entry from Experiencing GOD devotional

We’re at the half-way point in the Lenten season. There are three Sundays left, including Easter. Have you taken seriously the call by the FATHER to fast and pray during this season? To intentionally lean into HIS Presence—HIS rest, as HE has instructed us? Have you prayed for transformation in you life and that of your family? Have you prayed for the transformation the FATHER wants to bring to our church fellowship and the extended body of Christ in Libby? Have you prayed for the transformation the FATHER wants to bring to our town of Libby?

It’s not too late! There is grace—even for our failures. Confess your sin today, repent, and turn your eyes to Jesus. He will make all the difference.

Leave time for introspection and private prayer, then at the appropriate time, pray the following.

Heavenly Father, thank You for setting life and blessing before us today. Forgive us for the times we have chosen death and distraction. Soften our hearts, renew our minds, and give us the grace to choose You—today and every day. May our lives declare that we have chosen life in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:24 NASB95

24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

1 Corinthians 11:25 NASB95

25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26 NASB95

24 The Lord bless you, and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’

Numbers 6:27 GW

27 “So whenever they use my name to bless the Israelites, I will bless them.” 

So, receive and go with the blessings of YAHWEH!