Citywide Baptist Church
The Candles of Advent: Love
Matt talks about why love is so central to all that the bible is about
Locations & Times
Citywide Baptist Church (Mornington)
400 Cambridge Rd, Mornington TAS 7018, Australia
Sunday 10:00 AM
Love is at the very center of the Christian story, so is an invitation to love.
To love God:
To love God:
To love each other:
To love our neighbors:
To love our enemies:
Love is all that counts:
We need to be very clear on what love is, and isn't.
For 40 years our culture has told us that love is romance, but that idea is changing. Not one of the top 40 songs this week has love in its title.
For 40 years our culture has told us that love is romance, but that idea is changing. Not one of the top 40 songs this week has love in its title.
Love is extending yourself for the sake of another.
“Since it requires the extension of ourselves, love is always either work or courage. If an act is not one of work or courage, then it is not an act of love. There are no exceptions.”
M. Scott Peck The Road Less Travelled Kindle Edition (2002), Loc 1617
“Since it requires the extension of ourselves, love is always either work or courage. If an act is not one of work or courage, then it is not an act of love. There are no exceptions.”
M. Scott Peck The Road Less Travelled Kindle Edition (2002), Loc 1617
Lyrics
David Guetta and Sia
Let's love, let's love
Let's love, let's love
Let's love
I will never leave your side, my love
Standing right beside you is enough
Count on me if you feel any pain
Talk to me I'll run to you again
You can count on me, and I can count on you
You show up, like I show up
And I'll keep showing up for you
So take my hand, don't be afraid
This too shall pass, this too shall pass
We'll get through it all together
We'll get through it all together
I swear you're safe, this too shall pass
This too shall pass, this too shall pass
And we'll get through it all together
We'll get through it all together
David Guetta and Sia
Let's love, let's love
Let's love, let's love
Let's love
I will never leave your side, my love
Standing right beside you is enough
Count on me if you feel any pain
Talk to me I'll run to you again
You can count on me, and I can count on you
You show up, like I show up
And I'll keep showing up for you
So take my hand, don't be afraid
This too shall pass, this too shall pass
We'll get through it all together
We'll get through it all together
I swear you're safe, this too shall pass
This too shall pass, this too shall pass
And we'll get through it all together
We'll get through it all together
In order to know something or someone you really need to love them.
Love is the deepest mode of knowing, because it is love that, while completely engaging with reality other than itself, affirms and celebrates that other-than-self reality.
N. T. Wright,
Love is the deepest mode of knowing, because it is love that, while completely engaging with reality other than itself, affirms and celebrates that other-than-self reality.
N. T. Wright,
Your capacity for intimacy is limited.
the Dunbar number says you can only have 150 friends
Jesus was very intentional about stewarding his relationships. He invested in 12:
And particularly in 3:
(also Mark 9:2. 13:3, 14:33)
(also Mark 9:2. 13:3, 14:33)
When they were partially trained, he increased the size of the group:
He clearly limited his focus to Jewish people
He didn't let his family set his agenda for him
Loving well means stewarding your heart
We need boundaries to our intimacy in order to love well
A healthy life puts the right people in the right circles of intimacy.
People will move in and out of the circles. It is not loving to have people in the wrong places.
In a healthy life, God is at the center, in an unhealthy life (idolatry) something else is.
A Christian worldview means that friends are fellowship, colleagues (working together on a task) are the church, Customers are the flock you care for and acquaintances are Neighbours.
Our modern world has distorted the circles so we have a lot of acquaintances with little intimacy and not many friends, and even family misses out on appropriate intimacy.
People will move in and out of the circles. It is not loving to have people in the wrong places.
In a healthy life, God is at the center, in an unhealthy life (idolatry) something else is.
A Christian worldview means that friends are fellowship, colleagues (working together on a task) are the church, Customers are the flock you care for and acquaintances are Neighbours.
Our modern world has distorted the circles so we have a lot of acquaintances with little intimacy and not many friends, and even family misses out on appropriate intimacy.
Jesus is the ultimate picture of love, and the one we are to model our lives on
Love requires vulnerability
Hope, Peace, and Joy are all dependent on Love
Small Group Questions:
1)Talk about a time where you felt loved. What was it like?
2)Who are the people in your life that you would say are able to love well?
3)Talk about the Dunbar number. Do you think this is right? What are the implications for you?
4)Would you say that you have all the right people at the right levels of intimacy in your life? Do you need to move some people into more intimacy or move some to less?
5)Have someone read the last two bible readings. Are there any words or phrases that speak to you?
1)Talk about a time where you felt loved. What was it like?
2)Who are the people in your life that you would say are able to love well?
3)Talk about the Dunbar number. Do you think this is right? What are the implications for you?
4)Would you say that you have all the right people at the right levels of intimacy in your life? Do you need to move some people into more intimacy or move some to less?
5)Have someone read the last two bible readings. Are there any words or phrases that speak to you?