Big Thought: As we grow in holiness, we will love both the and the more and more.
I. Being to love by God.
a. He us on love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ESV) – Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
b. He us to love.
John 15:12 (ESV) – This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
c. He love.
John 3:16 (ESV) – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 5:8 (ESV) – But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:9-10 (ESV) – In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
d. He us to love.
John 15:5 (ESV) – I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Philippians 2:13 (ESV) – For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
II. We love the .
a. We love our church family.
1 John 3:14a (ESV) – We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.
Romans 12:9-10 (ESV) – Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Membership : Why should I be a member of a local church?
Reasons:
1. Christ is to the church.
Ephesians 5:25b (ESV) – … as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
2. We are commanded to live out the “.”
1 John 4:7a (ESV) – Beloved, let us love one another…
3. .
Hebrews 13:17 (ESV) – Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
A Reason: It is an for society.
A Reason: It who can be counted on.
A Reason: It produces spiritual .
b. We love our church family.
2 Corinthians 8:1-4 (ESV) – We want you to know brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints –
III. We love the .
a. Live quietly – Having a holy .
b. Mind your own affairs – Living with a holy .
c. Working with our hands to be to others – Doing holy .