Source SM Recap: Volume #50

Series: Love IsWeek 4 – “God” The Word: 1 John 4:7-13, Psalm 139:14-17, 1 Corinthians 13:4-10, 13. Main Thought: Love made the first move, we respond to His love.

Message Explanation: God’s love is selfless, PURE and fully available. Love does not define God but GOD defines love.

 But one of the biggest questions that we all struggle with is, "Why do I not FEEL God’s love?"

- We are not seeking God. - We don’t love like God loves. We naturally frustrated with other people, annoying people. - We feel unworthy of God’s love. Feeling separated from God so we try to EARN it instead of simply accepting God’s love. 

The first part of what God reveals to us…

1.       God has UNCONDITIONAL LOVE for us

1 John 4:7-10: “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. ⁸ But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

This is how MUCH God Loves you: “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 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.”

John 1:12 “all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the RIGHT to become children of God.”

God made the FIRST MOVE, we respond to THIS love. 

Do we love God only for what He DOES for us or for WHO He is?

2.     God has ADOPTED us into HIS FAMILY

We can have a personal Relationship with God through Jesus. 1 John 3:1a: “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!”

Parents who adopt a child go through a lot of sacrifice and time. God went through a lot to make us His children.

God knew us before He made us. Your existence is not random or an accident.

Psalm 139:13-18: "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. ¹⁶ You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. ¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! ¹⁸ I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!”

God’s love does not begin with us. It originates FROM God. Because we have received His love, we need to…

3. Start reflecting God’s love to others

The test of Love is how we treat the people right in front of us (family, friends, enemies, teachers…). What actions need to change in order to show them God’s love?

If you and I are going to live like Jesus lived, then we are going to have to love like Jesus loved.

1 John 4:11-12: "Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. “No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”

The 1 Corinthians 13 challenge: ^“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Take the phrase, “Love is patient” and insert my name….”Josh is patient, Josh is kind, Josh is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.”

Do this for every phrase of this verse.

We have an opportunity to reach OUT with God’s love. Commit to loving others the way that God loves us. 

- Thank Him for His love for you - Thank Him for belonging to His Family - Thank Him for dying for you

Element of Fun: The students played the game, ”Bite the Bag.” It was a fun game to watch at all campuses!

Music: Alive, Your Love Never Fails, Your Presence is Heaven to Me, How He Loves (closing).

Favorite Moment: We had 5 students receive Christ this past week at Source!

What’s Next: We are having a special kickoff night for Decrease Weekend!

To watch any of the series messages, check out the vimeo page

Love Is - Week 3

Week 3 – “Action” (The Good Samaritan) Main Thought: Love moves with ACTION to the hurting and broken. The Word: Luke 10:25-37, Galatians 3:26-29, John 15:12

Source SM Recap: Volume #49

Series: Love IsWeek 3 – “Action” The Word: Luke 10:25-37, Galatians 3:26-29, John 15:12 Main Thought: Love moves to the broken and hurting.

Message Explanation: Love is action. That is what this message of Jesus is built upon. To say that we care and do NOTHING reveals that we do not care. The closest that I get to Jesus the more I CARE about what matters to Him. The farther away I get from Jesus the LESS I care about what matters to Him.

1.    Love is the only hope for the world

"This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you." John 15:12

 Luke 10:25-32: “One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” ²⁷ The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” ²⁸ “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” ²⁹ The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits.³¹ “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. ³² A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side."  “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 

People from church passed by the man who was beaten up. Both men, the priest and the Levite were Religious LEADERS. To not ACT is to not CARE at all.

2. Love sees beyond the exterior

Love is colorblind. The love of Jesus is shown in this Parable. Loving your “neighbor” as yourself means to show compassion to whomever, whenever, and however the opportunity is given.

Both had a DEAD faith that didn’t impact anyone outside of the church building.

Definition of Favoritism: A respecter of persons. Exalting someone strictly on a superficial, external basis, such as appearance, race, wealth, or social status. As a follower of Christ, we experience God’s love and we give that same love to people.

The Samaritan man had compassion. The Jewish man lying in agony beside the road and his heart churned within him so that he could not pass by without helping. Jews HATED Samaritans… A Jew would call him a, “Half-Breed” as a racial slur.

But the Good Samaritan looked beyond the outward and saw a person that God loves. That’s the way compassion affects us. Compassion INTERRUPTS. It stirs us; it troubles us, it keeps us awake at night until we do something.

  "Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him."

3.   Love moves to people who are broken and hurting.

 Stop and Listen to those who are hurting: The Samaritan showed compassion.

Risk: For the Samaritan to STOP on this treacherous road would put himself into danger. What If the robbers return? Time: What if I have to get to my next destination and I’m late?

Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”

³⁵ The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins,telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here." The Samaritan gave two days payment for his job. Compassion COSTS us sometimes.  He gave more than enough for the man to stay at the Inn and recover.

³⁶ “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. ³⁷ The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

We treat people differently as if some are more important than others. Jesus’ life changed other people’s lives!

Galatians 3:26-29:“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile,slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

1 John 3:18: ^“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.”

Jesus sees into the heart. He cares for our soul. We are of infinite worth and value to God.

The Good Samaritan story is a story from Jesus while He was on the way to the cross. In this story, we see the Samaritan has compassion upon the people group who hated him and persecuted him. He not only took care of Him but also paid for his whole stay at the lodge so he could receive health. If he didn’t pay for the man, once he was well, he could easily become a slave.

Jesus is the ultimate Good Samaritan. He HEALS our wounds and pays OUR debt so we could be changed.

We can’t build our faith upon what we are GOING to do but upon our ACTION. Who around you needs compassion? Who needs encouragement? Who needs Jesus?

Takeaway: Are you showing favorites in your life? Who is that person that you can show mercy to this week instead of showing favorites? Love moves to the hurting and broken. Will you be the one to show love in action?

Element of Fun: The students played the game, ”Make it or Break it." It was a fun game to watch at all campuses!

Music: We are the Free, God is Able, Give me faith, Jesus Paid it All.

Favorite Moment: Hearing stories of students sharing in their small group. I love knowing that students are discussing and applying God's word to their lives.

What’s Next: We are finishing the series, “Love Is” as we talk about the truth that God IS love.

To watch any of the series messages, check out the vimeo page