Get Busy Loving
Who Are We? 2025 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsIn this short but powerful passage from Ephesians 4:15–16, Paul reframes Christian maturity—not as knowledge accumulation, but as love in action. Maturity is measured by how we speak, serve, and build up one another in love. As we learn to love like Christ, the Church grows stronger, deeper, and wider in mission. This message is a call to move from passive church attendance to active, Spirit-led love. Speaking the truth in love takes practice—but it is also the clearest sign that Christ is growing in us.
Notes
Transcript
Series: Who Are We?
Sermon Title: Get Busy Loving
Subtitle: Learning to Love Like Jesus Grows the Church and Changes the World
Opening Paragraph & Hook Phrase:
Last week, we looked at God's growth plan for the Church:
Get Unified in the Spirit
Get Equipped for the Work
Get Busy Loving
This week, we lean into the final step in that growth plan: The ministry of love.
Have you ever tried to love someone who was hard to love? Maybe you tried to say the right thing, but it came out wrong. Or maybe you said nothing, because you didn’t know how to say it in love.
Let’s define our terms:
Truth is not personal opinion—it is the unchanging Word of God. Jesus said in John 17:17, "Your word is truth." Truth tells us who God is, who we are, and how we are called to live. But truth alone isn’t enough.
Biblical love is more than a feeling—it’s sacrificial, self-giving, and anchored in God’s character. Love seeks the highest good of another, even at personal cost. It’s the love described in 1 Corinthians 13:
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
We’re called to grow in both. But that growth takes practice. Because Christian maturity isn’t about how much Bible you know—it’s about how well you love.
🔁 Hook Phrase: I’m spiritually mature when I love people well.
Sermon Outline: “Get Busy Loving” (Ephesians 4:15–16)
Sermon Outline: “Get Busy Loving” (Ephesians 4:15–16)
📌 1. Maturity Is Measured by Love
📌 1. Maturity Is Measured by Love
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
Christian Maturity is taking on the Character of God.
Christian Maturity is taking on the Character of God.
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.
Words reveal your character and shape those around you.
Words reveal your character and shape those around you.
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Paul says that growing into Christ—the Head—means growing in how we speak, serve, and love others.
Paul says that growing into Christ—the Head—means growing in how we speak, serve, and love others.
Paul reinforces this in 1 Corinthians 13:1–3
Paul reinforces this in 1 Corinthians 13:1–3
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
📷 Illustration: Years ago, a group of researchers conducted a study in a school where teachers were told that certain students had shown unusually high potential based on a recent test. The truth? The students were picked at random.
But something amazing happened: those randomly labeled “gifted” began performing better—not because they were different, but because their teachers expected more, encouraged more, and spoke differently to them.
Their success wasn’t tied to their IQ—it was tied to the words spoken over them.
The same is true in the Church. Words spoken in love—affirmation, correction, encouragement—have the power to shape someone’s identity and growth.
You can call someone up… or shut someone down.
You can label someone broken… or remind them they’re chosen.
You can speak from frustration… or speak from Christ.
True maturity is not how much you know, but how well you love.
📝 Application: Ask yourself, “Does love shape my tone, my timing, and my motives?” Because in Christ’s eyes, you can’t measure maturity apart from love.
📌 2. Truth in Love Takes Practice
📌 2. Truth in Love Takes Practice
Speaking the truth in love isn’t automatic—it’s spiritual skill-building. You grow in it like you grow in anything: with intention, humility, and practice.
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
Truth is establish through the Word of God
Truth is establish through the Word of God
The Word of God is our foundation for truth. Jesus said in John 17:17
The Word of God is our foundation for truth. Jesus said in John 17:17
17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
The Spoken Word of God bring healing and comfort to the soul.
The Spoken Word of God bring healing and comfort to the soul.
20 My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.
Speaking the truth in the love requires skillfulness in the Word.
Speaking the truth in the love requires skillfulness in the Word.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
We struggle to know what to say if we don’t know what God said.
We struggle to know what to say if we don’t know what God said.
That sword can cut deep when needed—but in the hands of someone mature, it becomes a scalpel, used with precision to heal, not to harm.
Truth spoken in love begins with a heart posture of God.
Truth spoken in love begins with a heart posture of God.
The Greek word agape is blanketed as unconditional. That’s not necessarily wrong but is the end result.
The noun ἀγάπη (agapē) carries the sense of affectionate regard or benevolence toward someone.
📷 Illustration: Like a surgeon uses a scalpel to heal—not harm—we must use truth carefully, prayerfully, and lovingly. The Word of God can convict, correct, and comfort—but only if we handle it with the heart of Christ.
📌 3. Love Builds the Body and Grows the Mission
📌 3. Love Builds the Body and Grows the Mission
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
God spoke truth and love through Jesus.
God spoke truth and love through Jesus.
Jesus is the Word: The physical expression of God
Jesus is the Word: The physical expression of God
God has spoken to us through his Son.
God has spoken to us through his Son.
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
God spoke love through Jesus
God spoke love through Jesus
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
When love is missing, the mission stalls.
When love is missing, the mission stalls.
A Mature disciple is a conduit of love.
A Mature disciple is a conduit of love.
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Jesus is the message. Jesus is the model. When we love like Him, the mission moves forward.
Jesus is the message. Jesus is the model. When we love like Him, the mission moves forward.
📷 Illustration: A healthy heart pumps blood to every part of the body. If the heart fails, nothing works. Love is the heart of the Church.
📝 Application: Where can you build someone up in love this week—through encouragement, correction, service, or presence?
🏁 Conclusion & Next Steps
🏁 Conclusion & Next Steps
Dissatisfaction – Tired of shallow faith or surface-level relationships?
Vision – Picture a church so filled with truth and love that our community can’t ignore it.
First Step – Practice truth in love. Step into someone’s life this week—not with judgment, but with Jesus.
🙏 Altar Call / Gospel Invitation
If you need to receive the love of Christ—we are equipped to share it with you. If you’re ready to grow in your faith and love—we are equipped to help you take your next step.
And if you are equipped to love—begin building the body by investing that love in others.
Come today. Don’t leave disconnected. Don’t leave unchanged.
Jesus didn’t just tell you the truth—He proved His love.
🔁 We don’t grow up until we learn to love.
📹 YouTube/Streaming Synopsis:
Christian maturity isn’t just about what you know—it’s about how well you love. In this short, powerful message from Ephesians 4:15–16, Pastor Bill Sizemore challenges the church to grow by speaking the truth in love and building one another up. Learn how love is not only the measure of growth—it’s the mission.
