April 14, 2024 | Pastor Brian King
Passage: John 21:4-9
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love." John 15:9
"We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19
"As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, ‘Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ (He did not know what he was saying.)" Luke 9:33
LOVE AS…A feeling to pursue
We are not in control
Looks downward and inward
Danger: “I don’t feel it”
Result: self-centric despair
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." John 15:12-13
"To love is to will the good of the other." - Thomas Aquinas
LOVE AS…A virtue to choose
We are in control
Disguised as looking outward
Danger: “I couldn’t do it”
Result: “self-centric despair”
LOVE AS…A fruit of Jesus’ work
God’s to give
Looks upward and then outward
Result: God-powered love for others
Jesus loves me! He loves me indeed! Alleluia!
God's gift of Love:
Look upward and outward
Embrace this continual process
Be amazed by God’s love for you and through you
Series Information
Have you ever seen an apple tree grow lemons? Of course not! In fact, one of the ways we identify plants and trees is by the kind of fruit it produces. Being a follower of Jesus is a lot like growing a certain kind of tree. Too often the world sees Christians and feel like we claim to be one kind of tree but our fruit looks totally different. So what does the fruit of a Christian look like? Join us as we peel back what it looks like to cultivate a fruit that not only changes our lives but our communities and our world for the better in our new teaching series PEELED: Cultivating What’s Underneath”
