ICEBREAKER
Who in your life do you look up to as a loving person?
What about them makes them so loving?
VIDEO NOTES
“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” Matthew 22:36-37 NLT
But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:8-10 NLT
Four Motivations
The first purpose of my life is to
My first calling is to
I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. Romans 1:7 NLT
The relationship God made me for is to be
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT
See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! 1 John 3:1 NLT
The #1 thing I need to understand and remember:
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:17-19 NLT
God’s love for me is…
Wide enough to be
Long enough to last
Deep enough to handle
High enough to cover my
Jesus: Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. Matthew 24:12 NLT
Jesus personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross, so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. 1 Peter 2:24 NLT
When you are motivated by God’s love…
1) You stop feeling pressured to
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Romans 5:1 NLT
2) Internally, you feel
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 NLT
3) You become
This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. Ephesians 3:11-12 NLT
4) You have unmistakable
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 NIV
5) You gain the courage to take bigger
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 1 John 4:18 NLT
6) You find yourself
It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:7 MSG
Worship is
May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 NLT
KEY QUESTION
How would your life change if you felt completely and unconditionally loved by God every moment of your life?
OTHER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Optional questions to help dive deeper as time allows
1) Which of the six changes discussed in this message do you find yourself struggling with most often? How could God’s love help?
2) Is there something God is leading you to do, but fear is holding you back?
3) How could this understanding of God’s love change the boldness of your prayers?
4) “Worship is enjoying God’s love and expressing my love back to Him.” Discuss this definition. How is it different than what you might have expected? How does this definition help you understand living a life of worship?
5) What do you expect you will remember from these Bible verses, this message and today’s discussion?
PERSONAL ACTION STEP
If the command to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind seems impossible to fulfill… that’s because it is. Because of our fallen nature, no human being can love God with all of who they are all the time. But to disobey any command of God is sin. Therefore, we are all condemned by our inability to fulfill this one command. The pharisee who was trying to trap Jesus with this question of the greatest commandment trapped himself as Jesus reminded the pharisee of his spiritual bankruptcy.
Through Christ, we have received God’s love, been cleansed from sin, and have the Holy Spirit to help us do the impossible. Our love for God grows as we witness His faithfulness and seek to follow him in all of our life. Each day this week, think of a common task you could start doing as though you were doing it for God. Write that task down. While you do that task, remind yourself of God’s love and grace, and rely on the Holy Spirit to help you do that task unto the Lord.
PRAYER & SUPPORT
Ask how you can pray and support one another this week. Then, close in prayer. Thank God for his love, relax in his love, and then boldly bring your requests to him.