the first sermon I have to give and God has placed Mark 12:28-34 and Matthew
22:34-40 which talks about the Greatest commandment; love. Mark 12:28-31 reads; One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to
the debate. He realized that Jesus had
answered well, se he asked, “Of all the commandments, with is the most
important?” Jesus replied,
“The most important commandment is this: “Listen, O Israel! The Lord
our God is the one, and only Lord. And
you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all
your strength. The second is equally
important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater
than these.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18. These two statements sum up all the commandments. Love God and Love people! If we truly love God and our neighbor we will
naturally keep all the other commandments.
Being on this trip
has made me realize that I don’t always Love. Love is not what comes naturally. Love is defined in 1 Corinthians 13; Love
is patient, and kind. Love is not
jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It
does not demand it’s own way. It is not
irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but
rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures
through every circumstance.
BUT
How do you Love God
and Love people?
Jesus should be our
example. Scripture teaches us a lot about love, and what Jesus said about love.
The Gospels teaches
us that:
John 3:16 God loves us
God’s
love is not self-centered. God sets the
pattern for true love here. When you
love someone dearly you are willing to give freely to the point of
self-sacrifice. God gave his only Son so
we could have life.
Matthew 22:37 We are to love God
If
we love God we will naturally follow all the commandments. We shouldn’t worry about what we should not
be doing rather we should concentrate on all we can do to show our love for God
and others.
Matthew 6:25-34 Because God loves us, he cares for us
God
doesn’t want us to worry because worry can 1. damage your health 2. disrupt
your productivity 3. negatively affect the way you treat others 4. reduce your ability to trust God. Instead seek God’s will for your life, fill
your life with his desires.
Matthew 5:43-47;
Luke 6:35 God loves even those who hate him; we
are to do the same
Unconditional
love: we so often only love those who
love us. But God clearly tells us in
scripture that we are to love everyone. By loving and praying for our enemies we an overcome evil with
good. With the help of the Holy Spirit
we can show love to everyone. When you
genuinely pray for your enemies the Holy Spirit will turn that prayer into love
for that person.
Luke 15 God seeks out even those most alienated/separated from
him
Jesus
ate with the least of the least, the lowest of the low, the tax
collectors.
Matthew 6:24; 10:37God must be our first love
God
should be our first priority. In America
people are very materialistic, they work for money and money is what they
serve, but God calls us to a higher standard! Matthew 10:37 says: “If you love your father or mother more that you
love me, you are not worthy of being mine, or if you love your son or daughter
more that me, you are not worthy of being mine.” Christian commitment may separate
friends and loved ones. At home my
family and the majority of my friends are not Christians, I could easily let
that separate me from God because conflict often arises, but Christ has set me
apart so I daily chose to pick up my cross and follow him.
John 14:21; 15:10 We love God when we obey him
Jesus
said that his followers show their love for him by obeying him. Love is more than words; it is commitment and
conduct. If you love Christ, then prove
it by obeying what he says in his word.
John 5:41-44 Those who refuse Jesus don’t have God’s love
Whose
praise do you seek? The religious
leaders enjoyed great prestige in Israel, but their stamp fo approbal meant
nothing to Jesus. He was concerned about
God’s approval. This is a good principal
for us. If even the highest officials in
the world approve our actions and God does not, we should be concerned. But if God approves, even though others
don’t, we should be content.
John 15:9 Jesus loves us just at God Loves Jesus
John 3:14, 15;
15:13,14 Jesus proved his love for us by dying
on the cross so that we could live eternally with him
We
are to love each other as Jesus loved us, and he loved us enough to give his
life for us. We may not have to die for
someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love: listening,
helping, encouraging, giving. How can
you apply that to someone today?
John 17:21-26 The love between God and Jesus is the perfect example
of how we are to love others
Matthew 5:40-42;
10:42 We are to love one another (john 13:34,
35) and demonstrated that love
Love
is an attitude that reveals itself in action. You can love like Jesus loved by helping when it’s not convenient, by
giving when it hurts, by devoting energy to others welfare rather then our own,
by absorbing hurts from others without complaining or fighting back. When you do this people will know you are
different because this kind of love is not easy!
Luke 16:13 We are not to love the praise
of people (John 12:43), selfish recognition (matthew 23:6), earthly belonging
(luke 6:19-31), or anything more than God
Praise
from others is short-lived, we should be more concerned about God’s eternal
acceptance than about the temporary approval of other people
The
Pharisees had hypocritical attitudes, they knew scripture but did not live by
it, we can not let ourselves become like the Pharisees. We are to read and know the scriptures and
let it shape and change our lives
Mark 10:21; John
10:11-15 Jesus’ love extends to each individual
Jesus
showed genuine love for this man knowing that this man might not follow
him. Love is able to give tough
advice. Christ’s love is complete. He
loved us enough to die for us and he loves us enough to talk straight to us and
give us life-changing challenges.
Matthew 26:31-35 Jesus wants us to love him through the good and
through the difficult times
Jesus
knew Peter would deny him three times, but he still wanted Peter to love him
through both the good and difficult.
John 21:15-17 Jesus wants our love to be genuine
asked Peter 3 times if he loved him, because three times Peter had denied
knowing Jesus. Jesus used two different
forms of the word love. The first time
love is translated into the greek word agape meaning self-sacrificial
love. The second time Jesus focused on
Peter alone but still used the greek word agape. The third time Jesus used the greek word
phileo meaning affection, or brotherly love, making the question in turn say
Are you even my friend? Jesus doesn’t settle for superficial answers, and he
knows our heart. What would you do if Jesus asked you Do you love me? Do you really love me? Are you even my friend?
If
we as a people never experience any of the supernatural but yet everything is
dominated by agape love, self-sacrificial love as defined in 1 Corinthians 13
then we will not have missed the boat. It’s all about Love!
