What Is Love (2)
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Comments are normal
Illustrations have green line.
Prompts are red.
Introduction
Thank them for joining us for church camp this year.
Ask them if they are ready to get started
Do we have any body that’s in love here tonight? Ashton? Allie? Are y’all in love? its on you can say no Allie we understand. Well can’t we say that we have families that love us? What is love then? I want to hear what y’all have to say. someone give me a definition.
Acknowledge their definitions
introduce theme for church camp
I’m sure that many of you have heard this already but here at church camp this year we are going to be exploring what love is, but more than that, we are going to be exploring God’s love. To kick off Camp tonight we are going to explore what love really is. we’re going to be asking that age old question everyone wants an answer too. What is love?
Key passage: 1 John 4:7-21
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Pray
The Definition of Love:
A feeling of deep affection.
A great interest and pleasure in something.
What does the world say about love?
The world uses love as an excuse for actions.
Love is one of the motivations for murder according to the world
Love is an excuse for theft. I love what you have that I don’t.
The world claims that Love is obsessive.
I think about you all the time because I love you. your always on my mind.
If I don’t watch my show later I will be upset I love that show.
The world says that you can have a purely Platonic love which is something that is generally expressed between friends and family and the world says that you can have erotic love which is generally more sensual and pleases the desires of the flesh.
What Does God Say About Love?
Love is the fulfillment of Gods Law.
Love is a fruit of the spirit
God is Love.
Love in action.
Love is the Fulfillment of Gods Law
Matthew 22:34-40
Romans 13:8-10
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Love is the Fulfillment of Gods Law.
why is this the case?
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Love is a Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5:19-24
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Love is a fruit of the spirit.
How does this help explain to us what love is?
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Now there is a couple of things I want us to examine from this passage.
First we can see that Love comes from God.
This means that for us to experience love in the fullest sense of the word we need to be in a relationship with God.
This passage also details the things that are coming from the desires and evil passions of the flesh.
The passions of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit never mix together. they are like oil and water. this means that Love can not be the cause of the works of the flesh.
God is Love.
1 John 4:7-21
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
God is Love.
What does this big statement from scripture mean for us when we are trying to understand what Love is?
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Love in Action
Romans 5:6-8
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Love in action
What do the actions of Jesus say about Love?
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Scripture Memory: Romans 5:6-8
take a moment to write down the passage above in the space provided. Spend some time meditating on the passage and memorizing it.
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When we read our key passage for church camp we see the greatest demonstration of Love that mankind has ever witnessed. Jesus says this in John 15:13
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
and when we read our key passage we see that Jesus demonstrated his love for us by giving up his life for us all. When we had enmity between us and God he still came and gave his life for ours.
and because of that love which Christ has demonstrated on our behalf we can live without fear. if you remember the passage we read earlier in 1 john, perfect love cast out fear. And today we can live without fear because of the great and real love of Jesus Christ.
Concluding prayer and altar call.
19 We love, because he first loved us.