It starts as a normal Sunday morning. You misjudge the time and arrive at church three minutes late. Fortunately, they’ve started late again. You find a seat just as the first song starts.

Fifteen minutes later, it’s not your pastor who gets up to deliver the sermon, but a guest speaker.

As he speaks, you find yourself captivated, hanging on every word. You quickly realize this isn’t one of those “been there, done that” sermons. This is stuff you’ve never heard before or at least never spoken of in this way.

The person next to you leans over and whispers, “This guy is amazing.”

But the more you listen, it dawns on you that you know this guy. It’s been a few years since you’ve seen him, but this is the guy. You grew up with him. He lived just down the street.

Now you’re not amazed. You’re just offended. Who made this guy the expert?

Familiarity breads contempt.

This is what happened to Jesus in Mark 6:1-6.

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It’s easy to become so familiar with something or someone that we’re no longer amazed. Even by people and things that should amaze us.

A star-filled night sky is amazing.

The Rocky Mountains are amazing.

The birth of a child is amazing.

The love of God is really amazing.

God loves you.

Ho hum.

No, really. God loves you. God does. God. He loves YOU. You don’t deserve it. You can’t earn it. He just loves you. Because He is love. He cannot do anything but love you.

Have you done something to make God stop loving you?

No, you haven’t.

There’s nothing you can do to make Him stop loving you. You can yell at Him. You can turn your back on Him. You can ignore Him. You can forget Him. You can commit the same sin over and over and over. But you can’t make Him stop loving you. Check out Romans 8:28-39 if you don’t believe me.

Amazing, huh?