December 1, 2024
Pastor Ryan Cathers
Matthew 22:34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they gathered together. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: New Living Translation
Matthew 22:35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” New Living Translation
Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. New Living Translation
Matthew 22:39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” New Living Translation
How am I loving God?
How am I loving people?
John 13:35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. English Standard Version
God’s love defines and is the basis of our love for others.
1 John 4:7 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. English Standard Version
1 John 4:9 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. English Standard Version
Hebrews 1:3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. New Living Translation
Exodus 34:6 … “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving in iquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” English Standard Version
1 John 4:10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. New Living Translation
God’s love always comes before someone’s behavior.
Love: Seeking the good of others for their own sake, regardless of how they respond.
John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. English Standard Version
1 John 4:11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. New Living Translation
1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers. New Living Translation
Am I loving God by loving people?
1 John 3:16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. New Living Translation
How can I seek this person’s highest good?
What actions will I take to show this?