Christ Church
Love You, Mean It Week 3
Locations & Times
Christ Church Fairgrove Campus
2416 Zion Church Rd, Hickory, NC 28602, USA
Saturday 5:00 PM
Plain Truth: Love is a decision and compassion fuels our redemptive mission.
1) Love is a decision!
A) Listen willingly
B) Learn continually.
C) Love unconditionally.
i) Don't keep score.
ii) Be generous.
iii) Put yourself in their shoes. (Do to others as you would like them to do to you.)
i) Don't keep score.
ii) Be generous.
iii) Put yourself in their shoes. (Do to others as you would like them to do to you.)
2) Compassion compels us to invite others to experience grace.
A) Bless them.
B) Pray for them.
A) Bless them.
B) Pray for them.
Need Prayer?
Submit your prayer request to us. We believe in the power of prayer and diligently pray over each prayer request we receive.
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http://christnc.com/giving/Life Group Lesson for the Week of March 25, 2018
To say, “Love you, mean it” requires action and tough choices. It’s easy to say we love, but difficult to live it out when our flesh and surrounding culture says it’s okay to demonize a person with whom we disagree. Friends tell us we should follow our heart and focus on numero uno. Yet, Jesus does not give His child that advice. Jesus will always push His child beyond his or her limits when it comes to real love. “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you” (Luke 6:27-28). So the question is, do you love like Jesus? He loves to death.
Read Luke 6:27-36
If you love Jesus you will listen to Jesus. He says, “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love you enemies!” (v27a) To love our enemies is not a request, it’s a command to the child who truly desires to follow in the Lord’s footsteps. On the night before Jesus took the cross, He told His disciples: “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you” (John 15:18-19).
1. Think about this fallen world in light of the unfailing love of Christ. Now, think about some of your own life’s experiences. In the deepest place of your heart, ask yourself this question: “Why would Jesus tell me to love my enemies, to do good to those who hate me, to bless those who curse me, and to pray for those who hurt me?”
In His dying breath Jesus prays for His enemies: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34a). The next time you feel ‘nailed’ to a cross you did not ask for, remember this. It is when you choose to emulate your Lord that you “will truly be acting as a child of the Most High, for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked” (Luke 6:35b).
2. You cannot love like this in your own strength. There’s just no way. But are you willing to empty yourself of you? Ask Christ now to infuse you with supernatural ability to love. Your willingness to die to self, and love and forgive like Jesus, may very well open the door for someone to know the Lord personally in his or her heart. Pray now.
If you belong to Christ, it’s no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you (Galatians 2:2) – He has the power to change you! Loving like Jesus is impossible, but He says: “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too” (Mark 11:22-26).
3. Read John 13:1-5. Jesus demonstrates the full extent of His love toward His disciples. Whose feet do you need to wash?
“Do to others as you would like them to do to you… You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate” (Luke 6:31, 36).
To say, “Love you, mean it” requires action and tough choices. It’s easy to say we love, but difficult to live it out when our flesh and surrounding culture says it’s okay to demonize a person with whom we disagree. Friends tell us we should follow our heart and focus on numero uno. Yet, Jesus does not give His child that advice. Jesus will always push His child beyond his or her limits when it comes to real love. “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you” (Luke 6:27-28). So the question is, do you love like Jesus? He loves to death.
Read Luke 6:27-36
If you love Jesus you will listen to Jesus. He says, “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love you enemies!” (v27a) To love our enemies is not a request, it’s a command to the child who truly desires to follow in the Lord’s footsteps. On the night before Jesus took the cross, He told His disciples: “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you” (John 15:18-19).
1. Think about this fallen world in light of the unfailing love of Christ. Now, think about some of your own life’s experiences. In the deepest place of your heart, ask yourself this question: “Why would Jesus tell me to love my enemies, to do good to those who hate me, to bless those who curse me, and to pray for those who hurt me?”
In His dying breath Jesus prays for His enemies: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34a). The next time you feel ‘nailed’ to a cross you did not ask for, remember this. It is when you choose to emulate your Lord that you “will truly be acting as a child of the Most High, for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked” (Luke 6:35b).
2. You cannot love like this in your own strength. There’s just no way. But are you willing to empty yourself of you? Ask Christ now to infuse you with supernatural ability to love. Your willingness to die to self, and love and forgive like Jesus, may very well open the door for someone to know the Lord personally in his or her heart. Pray now.
If you belong to Christ, it’s no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you (Galatians 2:2) – He has the power to change you! Loving like Jesus is impossible, but He says: “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too” (Mark 11:22-26).
3. Read John 13:1-5. Jesus demonstrates the full extent of His love toward His disciples. Whose feet do you need to wash?
“Do to others as you would like them to do to you… You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate” (Luke 6:31, 36).