Seek First the Kingdom of God - Loving
-
Upload
pip-n-jay-church -
Category
Spiritual
-
view
1.242 -
download
9
description
Transcript of Seek First the Kingdom of God - Loving
04/10/231
SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD - LOVING
Pip’n’Jay 15 February 2011
04/10/232
Seeking the kingdom objectives To understand God’s love and grace To grow in my love for God and his
ways To consider how to love my
neighbour To seek God’s heart how to serve To build God’s kingdom through love
04/10/233
Seek God’s Kingdom here & now, as individuals & together Think about
Loving: Who? Why? Where? & How?
Pray to seek and understand answers for each of us:
By study & discussion of Bible verses
By inspiration/leading of the Holy Spirit
Sharing experiences
04/10/234
Jesus commands – Who to love?
Mark 12 v Reading from verse 28 to verse 34 V29: “ …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 neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these”
& verse 34 “You are not far from the kingdom of God”
04/10/235
What is it to love God?
With all your heart and With all your soul and With all your mind and With all your strength = Every part of me!
04/10/236
Why should I love? I respond to the grace of God I rejoice in the freedom of grace I use freedom to build up others I learn to serve others in love
04/10/237
I use my freedom to …. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us
free” (Galatians 5:1) – Use the freedom. Galatians 5:13 “You, my brothers, were
called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”
& 5:14 “The entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbour as yourself.”
04/10/238
I respond in obedience to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “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 record
of wrongs.”
04/10/239
1 Cor 13:4-7 “Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres.”
04/10/2310
How to love? With all my heart As prompted by
the Holy Spirit By myself quietly With others as a
team Achievement &
brokenness
04/10/2311
From Ephesians 4:32 - Forgive “ Be kind and
compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.”
04/10/2312
Dear friends …. 1 John 4:7-12
04/10/2313
“This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love; not that we loved God , but
that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
04/10/2314
If we love one another ….
“No-one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
(1 John 4:12)
04/10/2315
Dear friends …. 1 John 4:7-12
04/10/2316
Who is God calling me to love and where?
“Do the thing in front of you” – Where I am God will give me the desires of my heart What passions has He given me to build His
kingdom? Where else might God lead me? In the world, at work and in my spare time
04/10/2317
God has given me a heart for ….
Examples of God’s leading – 3 Testimonies
04/10/2318
The heart of God & my heart
04/10/2319
The heart of God God’s concerns for the plight of the poor What does God expect from me? Love the world, be with the sick, the
afflicted and the prisoners Embrace biblical justice for the
oppressed Reach out to the pain of the world with
the good news of Christ
04/10/2320
How well do we follow the heart of God? Do we:
Reach out to, welcome & support the poor? Feed the hungry? Welcome the stranger? Be with the sick and the afflicted? Visit and support the prisoners? Proclaim justice for the oppressed, the
persecuted and those in slavery?
04/10/2321
We serve God by serving others – Colossians 3:23-24“Whatever you do,
work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you
will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
04/10/2322
“It is the Lord Christ you are serving”; are we Bringers of the good
news of Christ? Willing servants? Practical love to our
neighbour? Known for our love
for one another? Building His
kingdom?
04/10/2323
Actions in small groups (Ready to share answers) Pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance Read and meditate on the Bible verse(s) Answer one or two questions as a group Discuss examples of love experienced What is God teaching me? Be ready to share your group’s answers
04/10/2324
Seeking the kingdom objectives To understand God’s love and grace To grow in my love for God and his
ways To consider how to love my
neighbour To seek God’s heart how to serve To build God’s kingdom through love