I. INTRO:

Freaky Friday The Big Idea: Selfless love breaks down the boundaries between us.

Scene Setup: It is the night of the wedding rehearsal dinner, and high-school-aged Anna and her mother, Tess, still mystically inhabit each other's body. Tess tells Anna to ask Ryan (Tess' fiancé) to postpone the wedding.

Application: The enchantment that caused the body switching could only be undone by an act of selfless love. We are so encouraged by our culture (and by our sin nature) to be self-centered, to look out for our own interests, that putting others first can be a struggle.

DVD Chapter: 11 Start Time: 1:22:24 End Time: 1:26:40

· After making ourselves radical living sacrifices, as we talked about 2wks ago, and committing to using our gifts corporately to build each other up, Paul adds a list of very practical things that should accompany that effort. If we do these things, our lives and our whole community will be transformed!

· Supernatural because it flows from living corporate sacrifices.

II.Loving Sincerely, vs.9-12

· Teddy Roosevelt once commented, “The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get-rich theory of life.”

· What would it be like if everyone here, treated you like royalty and like the brother/sister they loved most in the world? What if they showed it with unbounded energy and enthusiasm? Would this be a great place to be, or what?

· Love is the mark of believers and fulfillment of the law. W/o it, nothing is worth anything.

· 1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.

· If we love God and each other, we must hate what is evil. It is the cancer that kills, destroying our spiritual family, grieving God and cutting us off from His power, and in the process making us killers of our community instead of healers. What are the tainted things that tickle you? Should you hate them, wanting the cancer killed?

· The pain and evil around can cause us to despair. We must not! We need to cling to what is good, and not grow weary.

· We must love each other with commitment, giving priority not to self, but other. We need to do this with energy and passion.

· It needs to be not just talked about, but seen.

Fiddler on the Roof Big Idea: Love’s best expressed when actions/words work together.

Scene Setup: Tevye has just returned from giving his blessing and his permission for Perchik to marry his daughter Hodel, even though his permission was not sought. He gave his permission because it was clear that his daughter loved Perchik. In his attempt to explain to his wife what, then, was an unusual situation, he finds it useful to ask her (he sings to her, actually) if she loves him.

Application: It is simple for people to say they love each other -- it is much more difficult for them to live it out. Our culture has too much of words without deeds.

DVD Chapter: 26 Start Time: 02:06:06 End Time: 02:08:50

III. Loving in some Specific Cases, vs.13, 15, 16

· Can I so love others that my mood is changed by their circumstance, even when it is the opposite of mine? Can I rejoice for them, even though I am suffering at the moment? Can I let go of my celebration to grieve with the hurting?

· Give all equal place. I think I saw a good deal of that at the picnic, and it was so cool.

· We need to be aware of needy brothers & sisters

IV. Loving Enemies, vs.14, 17-21

Les Miserables (1998) The Big Idea: A single act of mercy can change a life for eternity.

Scene Setup: Down and out ex-convict Jean Valjean has found lodging in the home of a kindly bishop. Over dinner, Valjean, recounting the harshness of his imprisonment, blames God as unjust. He looks at the priest, thanks him for the food and the bed, and then exclaims in sarcasm, "And in the morning, I will be a new man!"

That night, he has nightmares about prison. He wakes in a panic, and decides that he must do whatever it takes to insure that he never goes back.

Application: Love enemies. The bishop, by refusing to press his rights, literally redeems Valjean from what would certainly have been a life sentence at hard labor. His gift to Valjean is free, but as with the woman caught in adultery, it comes with a command, that he "go and sin no more." That Valjean strives to keep that command is a testimony to the power of mercy and love, and it shows how we, in modeling God's forgiveness, can help to usher some into His Kingdom.

DVD Chapter: 4 Start Time: 0:06:28 End Time: 0:09:53

· Who in your life is a constant pain? Maybe even intentionally causing problems for you? Got that face in your mind? Bless them!

· Do everything possible to be at peace with all, never giving back evil for evil, but good, letting God deal with injustices.

· Claudio blessing his enemy, through pursuing love.

V. invitation

· Don’t do the expected, shock ‘em! Love and let love overwhelm evil and enemies.