Love Rules – Part 8: Serious Love Matthew Luke 10:25-37
Sunday October 26, 2014
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
–Jesus from Matthew 22:37-40
The Apostle Paul said it too…
The commandments, “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Romans 13:9-10
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:14
The Story of the Good Samaritan
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ Luke 10:25-37
So how do we love our neighbors as ourselves?
Ways We All Love Ourselves
- I provide for myself
- I protect myself
- I improve myself
Getting Serious about Loving My Neighbors:
In my neighborhood,
my weekly circle,
and in the world…
How can I provide for others?
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How can I protect others?
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How can I improve others?
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Love Rules – Part 7: Who’s Your Neighbor? Matthew Luke 10:25-37
Sunday October 19, 2014
“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:28-31
Good Question, Great Answer
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Luke 10:25-37
Step 1…in following Jesus’ lead is recognizing
who your neighbor is…
Your neighbor is not defined by:
Geography
Affiliation
Affinity
Your neighbor is defined by:
Anyone
Anytime
Anywhere
that is in NEED
Step 2…in loving our neighbors is linking our success in life to the success of others.
We are ALL connected as God’s Family
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:34-40
Love Rules Part 6: Mind & Strength 1 John 4:18 Sunday October 12, 2014
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30
Story 1
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19
Loving God with all my mind…
- What do I allow to occupy my thoughts?
- How do I best keep focused on God?
- How can God’s mission in the world benefit from putting my mind to work?
Story Two
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him.
“Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Mark 10:17-22
Loving God with all my strength…
- What am I good at?
- What life experiences have I had?
- What resources are at my disposal?
Loving God with all my mind and strength…
- Intentionally keeping God on my mind and pursuing Him with my thoughts.
- Unleashing all that God has put under my control to work for His purposes.
Love Rules – Part 5: Heart & Soul 1 John 4:18 Sunday October 5th, 2014
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30
Loving God with all my heart…
Biblical meaning of Heart:
Our inner feelings, desires, and thoughts;
the source of emotions that we express to others.
Question:
How well do I express my heart to God?
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Luke 7:36-47
How well do I express my heart to God?
- Am I able to share all my feelings God: good, bad, & ugly?
- How real do I let myself be with God – or do I stay polite and superficial?
- What am I holding onto that needs to be expressed to God?
Loving God with all my soul…
Biblical meaning of soul:
Our eternal nature, unique inividuality,
ultimate core-identity.
Question:
Do I fully identify myself with God?
Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
Do I fully identify myself with God?
- Whose eyes do I see myself through?
- Who do I want to emulate and be like?
- Whose cause am I most willing to fight for?
Loving God with all my heart and soul…
- Sharing all my thoughts, feelings, and desires with my heavenly Father – who happens to be my best friend!
- Living in the truth that my core identity, the real me, is unconditionally loved forever by the Person who counts the most!
Love Rules – Part 4: Fearless 1 John 4:18 Sunday September 28, 2014
What are your afraid of?
Fears That Can Drive Our Lives
- Death, Disease, & Dying
- Loneliness
- The Unknown/Future
- Financial Loss/Hardship
- Rejection
- Failure
- Abandoment
- Change
- Betrayal
There is no fear in love.
But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears
is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18
How we deal with our fears
reveals how well we feel loved.
Perfect love, we know, casts out fear. But so do several others things—ignorance, alcohol, passion, presumption, and stupidity. It is very desirable that we should all advance to that perfection of love in which we shall fear no longer; but it is very undesirable, until we have reached that state, that we should allow any inferior agent to cast out our fear.
-C.S. Lewis, The World’s Last Night
What could I do if I felt perfectly loved?
Feel safe amidst attack.
When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:32-34
Live securely without much.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. Luke 12:32-34
Resist unwise choices.
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’ Luke 4:5-8
Trust God’s will over mine.
He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:41-42
The Key to Experiencing God’s Perfect Love:
Acting Like God is My Perfect Dad
And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1
Love Rules Part 3: Like Nothing Else 1 Corinthians 13:1-8
Sunday September 21, 2014
“True love…you could not ask for a more noble cause than that.”
-Inigo Montoya
The Biblical Definition of True Love:
The purposeful commitment
to sacrificial action for another.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:1-8
God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
1 John 4:16
Since the Bible defines God literally as love, God’s personality contains all the attributes of love described in this passage.
Detailing God’s Love
| patient | kind | not envious | not boastful |
| not proud | notdishonoring | notself-seeking | not easily angered |
| keeps no record of wrongs | does not delight in evil | rejoices with the truth | always protects |
| always trusts | always hopes | always perseveres | never fails |
What have you been missing in your life?
________________________________________
________________________________________
|
patient = peaceful |
kind =cared for | not envious =cherished | not boastful =intrigued |
|
not proud =
____________ |
not dishonoring = motivated |
notself-seeking = ____________ |
not easily angered =
____________ |
|
keeps no record of wrongs = free |
does not delight in evil = ___________ | rejoices with the truth = ____________ |
always protects =
safe |
| always trusts= _____________ | always hopes = ___________ | always perseveres =treasured |
never fails =
____________ |
How Could God’s Love Change You?
________________________________
________________________________
Continue to reflect on the overwhelming depth of God’s love for you and try to soak in the reality of how He feels toward you!
God’s love is like nothing else you can ever find or gain in this world!
Love Rules Part 2: What Comes First 1 John 4:19 Sunday September 14, 2014
God Makes the First Move
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:10..19
God is always first in everything. He takes the initiative. The only reason you can love God or anybody else is because God first loved you. And he showed that love by sending Jesus Christ to Earth to die for you. —Rick Warren
God’s Love for You Predates Everything
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ…In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. Ephesians 1:4..11
You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you.”
-Aslan the Lion from The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them…” John 6:44
God Desires You ‘As Is’
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8
We all have flaws – big ones! We’ve all made choices that have hurt ourselves and others along the way. We’re all damaged goods but that has nothing to do with God’s desire for to be in relationship with us. His love is unconditional!
God initiates a relationship with us out of His love for us.
God’s love for us began before anything began.
God loves us regardless of our flaws, mistakes, and problems.
…And wait till you see how God’s love is like nothing else you can experience in this world!
Love Rules – Part 1: Mission Statement Matthew 22:34-40 Sunday September 7, 2014
Our Mission Statement: Love God, Love Your Neighbor
Tracing the roots to our Mission…
The ‘Big 10’ Commandments
1. Don’t Have Other Gods 6. Don’t Murder
2. Don’t Make Images of God 7. Don’t Cheat
3. Don’t misuse God’s name 8. Don’t Steal
4. Don’t Work on the Sabbath 9. Don’t Lie
5. Honor Parents 10. Don’t Covet
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
However, there are 613 commandments in the Old Testament
248 Positive Commandments (do’s)
365 Negative Commandments (don’ts)
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:34-40
Jesus Simplifies All That God Desires For Us:
Experience a loving, personal relationship with God that involves your entire life and personality.
Be so filled with security, self-esteem, and joy that you can make everyone around you an equal priority as yourself.
Definition of Biblical Love:
The purposeful commitment to sacrificial action for another.
Jesus simplifies our life mission down to two expressions of love:
1A. I was created to be in personal relationship with God and learn how to love with every part of my being.
- Heart…How can I align my passions in life with God’s will?
- Soul…Do I see my identity as a child of God?
- Mind…How can I learn more about God’s will for my life?
- Strength…Am I using my talents & resources for God?
1B. I was created to care for other people in the same way I care for myself…
Ways I Love Myself
- I provide for myself
- I protect myself
- I improve myself
Question: How can I do the same for others?
The Key to Fulfilling Our Mission:
Experiencing God’s Love
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
We can’t make a dent in our mission until we are rooted in the love of Jesus.
So the next few weeks of this series will focus on understanding and embracing God’s love for us.