Love Is A Verb
Love Is A Verb Part 4
September 24, 2023 • Ps Anthony Liebenberg • Matthew 22:37, Romans 13:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:5, Galatians 5:13, John 15:8
As we conclude the series of Love Is A Verb, Ps Anthony teaches us on justice and righteousness in relation to love. Throughout the Bible we see God's justice and His righteousness. We see and learn about right and wrong through Him in both the old and new testament. He is still the same God. In Matthew 22:37Jesus teaches us to love God and others. Every commandment in the Bible is based on these two - they sum up all the law. Romans 13:8 Teaches us that love is the fulfillment of the law, it doesn't replace it. Hence the word teaches us that love covers a multitude of sins. 1. True love to our neighbor covers everything. The truth is, if we don't love ourselves the way we should then we cannot love each other the way we should. If we love others then we are aware of them and how we treat them. This is because love never hurts others. Therefore we need to reflect on what we do to others and how we treat them. We must remember that loving God means honoring Him, therefore if we love Him then we wouldn't hurt His children. If we love His children then we would not seek evil for them but we would be seeking blessings for them. 2. Clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ Love is a dress code. 1 Thessalonians 5:5 tells us to put on faith and love as a breastplate and hope of salvation as a helmet. As followers of Christ, this is what we ought to do. We are representatives of our Father therefore, we should love as He loves because He is Love. Therefore, we must wear love and hope proudly because they are a choice. We can either choose to be loving or not. 3. It's all in the walk Love is a verb - it's an action. Galatians 5:13 teaches us to serve one another in love. We should not tear each other apart with words. Our speech must be seasoned with love. In everything that we do, we must be led by the spirit - we must walk by the spirit. As followers of Christ, the Holy Spirit guides us and provides us with fruit and one of the fruits of the spirit is love. If we walk with the Spirit then we will be loving. John 15:8 tells us that God wants us to be fruitful therefore this can be achieved in loving others. If we don't know how to love others then we must love Him and He will teach us and show us how to love others. Because God is Love. To love is a choice, it's a decision, so choose wisely.
Love Is A Verb Part 3
September 17, 2023 • Ps Bruce McCleland • John 3:16, Ephesians 1:4–14, Romans 10:14, Acts 1:8, Ephesians 4:11
This week, Pastor Bruce takes us through the foundation of our belief system - John 3:16 (For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.). Sometimes we can acknowledge that God loved us so much but we don't walk in that love. In the scripture, we see that God addresses two groups of people -He goes from a corporate communal word to a very individual word (From: World to Whoever). He often relates His word to a population and then attaches it to an individual. We see this in the old testament with the nation of Israel and the many individual prophets. We see this in the Lord's prayer as well. We see the use of 'us and we' later on becoming more individualistic. It can be said that the Lord’s prayer is a corporate prayer with individual conviction. In the word we continue to see that God emphatically and intentionally chose us. He chose us in word and in deed. We are saved because he chose us and we choose Him. However, there are those who have not chosen Him. There are those who have not heard about Him as well. And, there are those who have not heard about Him because the ones who he's chosen and have chosen Him, haven't told the ones who haven't heard about Him yet about His good news. So, love is a verb, therefore, in us sharing His good news we are showing love. Truth is, there are many people who don't know that God loves them. They have not heard the good news. Sadly, the world is used to a very flawed picture of love but love is pure and perfected in God. Therefore, we need to take that love God has given us and share it with others. Love has to be more than a personal conviction but it has to be a way in which we reach others. Therefore, as a sign of our love, devotion and the work of the Holy Spirit, we must pray for opportunities to talk about God - to share about His love. We must find ways to invite people to church and cell groups - we must invite them to fellowship and pray for them. These are some of the things we need to do: - Pray for people - Bless people - Invite them to fellowship As we do these then we grow and we build others in the body of Christ. So, here is a question to think about: How is your world reaching out to His? How is your story aligning with how much He loves you and is that love affecting you, is it moving you? Is it compelling you to act?
Love Is A Verb Part 2
September 10, 2023 • Megan McCleland • Psalm 33:5, Luke 10:29, Ephesians 5:1–2, James 1:22–27
As we continue with the series of Love is a verb, Pastor Megan reminds us that love is an action. As God transforms us, we can never stay the same, we are compelled to act. We cannot hear what God wants us to do and stay the same - we have to hear and do. Therefore as a church, we have to be a church in action. As Life Church, one of our core values is social justice. We believe that God has called us to be an extension of His love and work, to defend and protect those who cannot defend themselves. We have to look out for those that are less fortunate and most vulnerable (widows and orphans) as James 1:27 teaches. One way that we do this as a church is through Life Child. This is at the core of what we believe God is using us to do and how we can help the vulnerable. Life Child is our way to make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable. However, this is not the only way, even our cell groups are helping the community and also sharing the gospel. God is building through His church. This is what God has called us to do. The book of James 1:26 teaches us to not to be deceitful in our own hearts. When God transforms us, we are able to help and act freely. The revelation of God changes us and our hearts completely. We are compelled to step out instead of being selfish and focusing on our fleshly desires. When we allow Him to transform us, then we agree to be a part of His plan. We are His hands and feet on this earth, therefore, we should help freely and lovingly. We need to remember that God loves righteousness and justice - Jesus promotes efforts for justice. In the word, we see that He taught His disciples to help others, we see this with the parable of the good Samaritan. Jesus teaches us to love God and to love one another. These are the core principles of being a Christ follower. So as we follow Him, we should not sell lip service, we should not be noisy cymbals but we should be the example of love in action. We ought to take care of one another, just like how the early church did. Ultimately, God wants us to bring a change, this can be at our workplaces, schools and other places where we are. So, we must not shrink back because God wants to use us. As vessels we are called to make a difference. Love compels us to make a difference. It compels us to share the love of God and His gospel because if we don't share Jesus then what's the point? We need to share Jesus with those that are broken, needy and hurt. So, what has God placed in your hands to help your neighbor's and those around you for His kingdom?
Love Is A Verb
September 3, 2023 • Ps Bruce McCleland • Ephesians 5:2, 1 John 4:9, 1 John 4:16, 1 Corinthians 13:4
In this new series: Love is a verb, Pastor Bruce teaches us on love and how much our Father loves us. Love is not a feeling but love moves us into action, it convicts us and moves us. Love compels us into a deep seeded conviction to act - to give sacrificially. It's not merely sentimental nor is it based on physical attraction. With that, we as believers need to redefine the love that God calls us to. Ephesians 5 teaches us that love is an action. Love calls us to sacrifice our offense. The truth is that carrying offense grows anger and hate. It blinds us and keeps us away from loving in a godly way but love moves us in the opposite direction. When we Love someone or something then our feelings compel us to do something. So if we truly say we love God then we walk in His love. We love the way that He loves. Jesus calls us to love one another. This doesn't mean we love only those around us but everyone, including those we don't want to love. He showed us love first by sacrificing Himself and dying on the cross for us (everyone of us) without discrimination. So with that blueprint, we need to love everyone without discrimination. So for us to be able to do that, in order to walk in the way of love then we first need to know and understand how God loves us. We need to know His love so that we can share it with the world and teach them of His kingdom. We are called to be the salt of the earth. So, people will not know and see His kingdom if we don't show it - if we don't follow His precepts. The book of 1 Corinthians 13 verse 4 teaches us the qualities of love. It teaches us what love is. From the book of 1 Corinthians we see that love requires action. Love has a personality and a presence. Where there is an authentic love then people will experience warmth and grace. We will only love if we know how much God loves us. If we don't know the love of God then we will only ever teach the law like the Pharisees. God calls us to love each other and operate in love instead of becoming legalistic. We don't have to be legalistic because God taught us love. We know that His love is fierce and it's strong because HE IS LOVE. God loves us and He affirms us. We cannot be removed from Christ's love because any sin that could separate us from Him was nailed to the cross and paid for by His blood. Sadly, many of us are traumatized by false love because the best version of love that we've received comes from the world. However, we cannot use the world's standard as a way to filter His love, we need to use His word. His love is pure and it's alive. We will only love how God loves only if we know how much God loves us. So, meditate on His word and His love.