Growing in Love Together
Notes
Transcript
Growing in Love Together
INTRODUCTION
ILL- Toy Story 3 - Sending kids off to college.
One of hardest days being a parent.
But it is what you have raised them to do.
The whole point of parenting is for them to eventually leave.
Children are an arrow in the hand of the warrior- eventually you've done all you can for the arrow it's time to let them go.
However- I've never met a parent who said that their kids were perfect and had it all together when they left.
We hope they continue to grow and mature.
Paul is proud of the church at Philippi. But he knows they need to continue to grow.
He especially wants them to grow in love.
READ Philippians 1:9-11
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Pray
4 Tests of Love
Is it Abundant? (9)
Is it Abundant? (9)
abounding= rich or well supplied- high quantities
ILL- more than enough in the checking account
Abounding= plenty to go around.
Love is the motivating factor behind why Christians do what they do.
“Knowledge”= literally full or advanced knowledge.
Love is not a feeling
Love is acting on knowledge.
Love is something you give despite the worth of the other.
ILL- Marriage
World says to marry who you love.
Bible says to love who you married.
Love is in our hands. We just need to know the best way to love the other person.
“Discernment”= practical application of knowledge- similar to wisdom.
What is the best way to love someone?
ILL- people coming to the church for charity.
What they ask for is not always what is best for them.
Once we figure out what is best for them- is your love abounding or is it limited?
Is it Authentic? (10a)
Is it Authentic? (10a)
Approve= testing for authenticity.
ILL-- Buying 1998 Mustang Cobra
There are fake Cobra’s.
VIN on the car has to be correct.
I wasn’t looking for one that was better than other fake Cobra’s.
I was looking to see if it was authentic.
Is our life authentic= tested by Scripture. Bearing the identification.
We compare our love to Sciprutre
We don’t compare ourselves to other people- then you are comparing yourself to the counterfeit.
“I am better than..” proves you are comparing to the wrong standard.
Ideals are found in Scripture and lived through Jesus.
“Excellence”- what we must be striving for.
Not “better than”, but excellence.
“Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
Is it Sincere? (10b)
Is it Sincere? (10b)
Pure= unadulterated with any other substance or material.
Gr word literally= “tested by light”
ILL- Testing of pottery to make sure cracks aren’t filled in with wax.
Good pots were marked “without offense”
Pure= without offense.
We are called to live lives of true integrity- not fake- not hypocritical.
Christians are not fake.
It is who we are on the inside coming out.
Changed from inside out.= NEW CREATION
Our lives will one day be tried by fire.
Jeremiah 6:27-30
“I have made you a tester of metals among my people, that you may know and test their ways.
They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron; all of them act corruptly.
The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed.
Rejected silver they are called, for the Lord has rejected them.”
ILL- Abel and Ruby- Mindcraft
Smelter- refine the gold to be pure.
Purity only comes through Jesus Christ.
We all have sinned but made pure by the death of Christ.
If we are fake- one day it will be revealed in judgment.
1 John 4:7-9
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
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.
Is it Fruitful? (11)
Is it Fruitful? (11)
lit. “the fruit righteousness produces”
Knowledge and discernment (vs 9), when lived, produces righteousness.
Righteousness= doing what is right.
Our fruit of love brings glory to God.
2 Timothy 4:6-8
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Revelation 4:9-11
And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
CONCLUSION
Directions do you no good if you start in the wrong place.
“go two block, turn right...”
If you think you have arrived in your Christian life- you started in the wrong place.
Perfection is the finishing line.
It starts with salvation through Jesus Christ.
Are you growing in love?
Are you growing in love?
