Back to You: Why Our Love for God Fades & How to Return

Introduction

In this sermon, Pastor Elisha explored Jesus’s call to “return to your first love” in "Back to You: Why Our Love for God Fades & How to Return". He explained that Christianity is not merely about routines, doctrine, or religious activity, but about intimacy and relationship with Christ. Even faithful believers can slowly drift spiritually while still appearing active outwardly.

The message challenged the church to examine whether they are truly abiding in Jesus or simply functioning through familiarity and habit.

Key Points

1. First Love Is About Intimacy With Jesus

Pastor Elisha explained that first love is not emotional excitement, but a genuine awakening to the reality and beauty of Christ. Salvation must move beyond inherited tradition or routine into a personal encounter with Jesus.

2. We Can Know About God Without Truly Knowing Him

Using Nicodemus as an example, the sermon highlighted that biblical knowledge and religious discipline are not the same as intimacy with God. Faith cannot be inherited through family or church culture — every believer must personally encounter Christ.

3. Familiarity Can Slowly Kill Wonder

Believers can attend church, serve, worship, and hear sermons regularly while slowly losing awe and affection for God. Familiarity without intimacy leads to spiritual numbness.

4. Christianity Can Become Performance-Based

Pastor Elisha warned that faith can slowly turn into duty, ministry performance, or maintaining appearances. While performance may sustain activity, only love can sustain genuine spiritual life.

5. Competing Loves Distract Our Hearts

Modern life constantly competes for our affection through success, entertainment, achievement, validation, and distractions. When these become central, our hearts drift away from God.

6. The Human Soul Was Made for Communion With God

True fulfillment cannot be found in temporary things. The deepest need of the human heart is communion and relationship with God.

7. Returning to First Love Requires Intention

Pastor Elisha encouraged the church to:

• remember the gospel,
• return to abiding in Christ,
• create space for stillness and prayer,
• remove distractions,
• and reorder their loves by placing Jesus back at the center.

Conclusion

Pastor Elisha closed with a powerful reminder that Jesus is still calling His people tenderly:

“Return to Me.”

The sermon challenged believers to move beyond empty routines and rediscover intimacy with Christ. Whether first-generation or second-generation Christians, everyone must personally return to Jesus, abide in Him daily, and allow their hearts to burn with love for Him once again.