We LOVE Because He First Loved Us

1John 4:19

Introduction--

• God's Love (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8)

  • Train with two tracks illustration

    • Utilitarian moral philosophy uses this illustration to show we need to act for the greater good.

    • The argument against asks the question: Can such a sacrifice be expected of us?

      • I think the most persuasive answer when you think about it is "yes" but what a challenging situation.

    • God's love is different and on a much greater level

      • God didn't do it out of obligation, compulsion, following some moral standard

      • God didn't even have to do it and He would have been perfectly righteous if He didn't—because we sin and thus deserve spiritual death

        • If we misunderstand this we misunderstand God: He is most gracious and compassionate, loving on a level we stand in awe of!

      • Some other Theological Challenges to understanding God:

        • Humans ask the questions, "Would a loving God send souls to hell? Would someone be eternally separated from God (hell) if they sinned in ignorance—trying their best to be a good person but not knowing any better?"

        • Some of the questions the Scriptures might ask us: "Does God send people to hell or (when we break it down) is it our choice? Is it not a humanistic argument to a spiritual issue we do not understand? Are we spiritually enlightened to the nature of sin, what is sin and how does it affect our relationship to God?"

      • The lights must come on spiritually to begin to understand our loving God

        • God's saving, train and two tracks, is spiritual—involving the deepest, most important issue: dealing with our sin!

        • God is our hero, dealing with our sin by putting it's deserved punishment on His perfect Son!

        • We get to stand in awe of how is saving sacrifice shows the glory of His love!

        • We're also most grateful—a dying to self to become more increasingly grateful—for how He has loved us, choosing us to hear the good news, to have a new birth spiritually, and to come into a relationship with Him!

• We LOVE

  • L for Lord First

    • He takes supremacy

    • His will now trumps ours

    • This doesn't happen without sacrifice, without us denying ourself—putting to death the sinful flesh with the help of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:13)

  • O for Others Focused

    • Your salvation is welling up in you to preach the good news

    • Paul saying, "Woe to me if I don't preach!"

    • The impact of His love is that you can't keep it to yourself

  • V for Volunteering

    • No one has to run after you because you volunteer

  • E for Enthusiastic

    • Rhetorical: Does that mean we're always hopped up on energy drinks or starbucks?

    • Colossians 3:23

• Conclusion

  • Sum it up:

    • We LOVE because He first loved us

      • We put the Lord First because He first loved us

      • We are Others Focused because He first loved us

      • We Volunteer because He first loved us

      • We are Enthusiastic because He first loved us

  • Practical statement that ties it in to a more practical focus for our Semester:

    • We, as the Campus4Christ Campus Ministry, know our 4 points of focus is all out of a heart for God and a response to His love:

      • Connecting to God—Our deepest conviction as disciples is our first love

      • Connecting to one-another—John 13:34-35

      • Connecting the lost to God—It is our Lord's mission statement and therefore ours

      • Connecting to the poor and needy—James 1:27

  • Thanks for coming!

  • Let's have a prayer, a final song, and dismiss for some great fellowship

Harmony With Others

• This lesson is my notes of a lesson done by Brian Craig last November

• Harmony is two notes that sound good together
• Think why some notes do not sound good played together?
• God gave us music for our enjoyment but mostly for His glorification

Isaiah 2:1-4
1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

 2 In the last days 
       the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established 
       as chief among the mountains; 
       it will be raised above the hills, 
       and all nations will stream to it.

 3 Many peoples will come and say, 
       "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, 
       to the house of the God of Jacob. 
       He will teach us his ways, 
       so that we may walk in his paths." 
       The law will go out from Zion, 
       the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

 4 He will judge between the nations 
       and will settle disputes for many peoples. 
       They will beat their swords into plowshares 
       and their spears into pruning hooks. 
       Nation will not take up sword against nation, 
       nor will they train for war anymore.

• Living in harmony is living well together with others
• It is aspired to by so many and yet it is so difficult to live in harmony with others
• God has provided a way for us to do so
• This passage is about 750 years before Jesus and it reveals how He wanted His kingdom to be

Isaiah 11:6-9

6 The wolf will live with the lamb, 
       the leopard will lie down with the goat, 
       the calf and the lion and the yearling ^[a] together; 
       and a little child will lead them.

 7 The cow will feed with the bear, 
       their young will lie down together, 
       and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, 
       and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

 9 They will neither harm nor destroy 
       on all my holy mountain, 
       for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD 
       as the waters cover the sea.

• Word Nazareth is very similar to the word for "branch"
• What did God have in mind if not relationships, people who would not ordinarily get along do in His kingdom?
• This we see only happening by God and His gospel!

Mark 3:13-18
 13Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15and to have authority to drive out demons. 16These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter17James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

• Zealot with a Tax Collector is like a lion and ox eating together!
• If these are Jesus' close twelve, and they were to lead the way, can you imagine the kind of relationships that forge?
• What are you arguing about?
• Jesus makes this possible--He is the conductor that pulls us all together.
• What must we do in order to have harmony?

1.  Learn the song

• Jesus has so much teaching on relationships
• Most of Jesus' teachings are practicals on relationships, how you treat people and how you respond to certain situations
• Jesus not only taught the principles but He was the greatest example of living them out
• And He was killed for it!
• We need to sing the same song together to have harmony, just like we need to be unified as brothers and sisters (Acts 4:32-35)

2.  We got to stay in tune

• Cornerstone--everything aligns itself with that stone
• We need to tune and retune with one-another
• Are you in tune and or retuning yourself with Jesus and His teachings?
• Illustration: a couple of keys out of tune put the whole song out of whack
• Don't take the kingdom for granted
• Protect the unity and the congregation
• Jesus prays for our unity (John 17) because that is the key way Satan preys

Conclusion
What are you doing to promote unity in the body of Christ?  Are you a person who creates disharmony or harmony?  Do you cause disruption in the harmony within the body of Christ?  What needs to change so you can get more in harmony with others in the body of Christ?