What Love’s Got to do With it [NO AUDIO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK]
I. A COMMUNITY of MUTUAL Love (1 John 4:7)
A. We LOVE because we are LOVED (1 John 4:10)
B. We KNOW what love is because it is SHOWN in JESUS (1 John 4:8-10, 16, 19)
C. A DIFFERENT kind of KNOWLEDGE (1 John 4:8, 12)
II. A Love that LEADS to LIFE (and more LOVE) (1 John 4:12)
A. Jesus’ WORDS come full CIRCLE (John 15:4-13)
B. LOVE becomes a mutual INDWELLING (John 15:4; 1 John 4:12-16)
C. My RELATIONSHIP with God is CONNECTED to my relationship with YOU (1 John 4: 20-21)
III. Love brought to it’s FULLNESS (1 John 4:12-18)
A. Love is only Love in KOINONIA (1 John 1:6; 4:12, 20-21)
B. True Love begets CONFIDENCE (1 John 4:16-19)
C. Love makes us LOOK like JESUS (1 John 4:17)
IV. The EASIEST and HARDEST Application
A. Moving from the HEAD to the HEART
B. Be LOVED (1 John 4:7,8,10,11,16)
C. BELOVED, LOVE (1 John 4:7,11-12,20-21)
Questions for Further Reflection
1. When have you experienced the church as a community of mutual love? What contributed to that experience? What, if anything, detracted from that experience?
2. What are some of the unhealthy reasons you have found yourself “loving” God or others?
3. What is something you know with your heart that you haven’t necessarily been able to articulate or understand with your head?
4. In what ways have you found your relationship to God being connected to your relationships with others?
5. What do you imagine it would look like for love to be brought to it’s fullness (perfection) in your own life and relationships? What would change?
6. In what ways are you living in fear? How does that affect your relationships (with God and others)? How does that affect your daily choices, your attitude, your theology?
7. As you reflect on your Christian walk, has your faith journey led you to look more like Jesus or less? What has had the greatest impact in making that difference?
8. Which comes more naturally for you: head knowledge or heart knowledge?
9. What is the greatest obstacle in your life to you feeling and knowing the love of God?
10. What is the greatest obstacle in your life to loving your brothers and sisters around you? Is there someone you need to reach out to in love?