LifeGroup Notes

INTRO

What one thing most resonated with or challenged you from the message this Sunday?

In your opinion, what is the best love song of all time? Why?

READ
Read Revelation 2:1-7
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Discuss all the positives Jesus had to say about the church. Would He be asable to say the same thing about your Christian life?

Discuss the ways the church at Ephesus has fallen short.

When you first came to faith what did your love for Christ look like? What do you think it means to lose that first love?

How do you keep the passion and enthusiasm alive in your life for following Jesus?

DIG DEEPER
Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-7
12“Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called!
I am he; I am the first,
and I am the last.
13My hand laid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I call to them,
they stand forth together.
14“Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;
he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,
and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken and called him;
I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
16 Draw near to me, hear this:
from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
from the time it came to be I have been there.”
And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.
17Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you to profit,
who leads you in the way you should go.
18 Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;

Why do you think Paul wrote about love to the Corinthians?

This love seems so beautiful and simple in this passage. Why is loving like this so difficult?

What do the verses 1-3 say about the value of spiritual gifts?

In what practical ways can you show a love that never fails?

BIG IDEA
Sometimes, We read these passages and are tempted to think “I know all of this.” The problem is that the church of Ephesus knew all of this too but they had forgotten it. They had forgotten the love they had at first. We must remember our first love that is Christ. Our love for Christ must always be guarded and nurtured, or it will diminish over time.

PERSONAL REFLECTION

If Jesus were to write you a letter telling you to turn back to the way you started, what would be in that letter?

Read 1 Corinthians 4-7, replacing the word love with Jesus. Note some insights of Jesus’ love and care for us that you observe from this exercise.